12 History Lessons + 7 Births & 7 Deaths for December 26, 2025
Today’s History:
- 1776 – George Washington’s Continental Army attacks at Trenton after crossing the Delaware, scoring a pivotal Revolutionary War victory over Hessian forces.
- 1791 – The French National Convention adopts a decree requiring universal primary schooling for boys and girls (a major early step in state-backed public education).
- 1825 – The Decembrist Revolt in Russia erupts in St. Petersburg as reform-minded officers challenge the tsarist succession and autocracy.
- 1862 – American Civil War: The Battle of Chickasaw Bayou ends in a Confederate defensive victory, repulsing a Union attempt to take Vicksburg.
- 1865 – The Chickamauga Creek area in Georgia is designated, an early milestone in U.S. battlefield preservation that helps seed the later national military park system.
- 1898 – Marie and Pierre Curie announce the discovery of radium, accelerating the scientific revolution around radioactivity.
- 1919 – The Boston Red Sox sell Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees, a baseball business decision that becomes mythologized as the “Curse of the Bambino” era.
- 1941 – Winston Churchill addresses a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress during his wartime visit, reinforcing the Allied partnership after Pearl Harbor.
- 1943 – World War II: The German battleship Scharnhorst is sunk at the Battle of the North Cape, weakening German surface naval power in the Arctic.
- 1972 – The Apollo 17 astronauts return to Earth, closing NASA’s last crewed mission to the Moon (to date).
- 1991 – The Soviet Union formally dissolves, marking the definitive end of the USSR as a political entity and accelerating the post–Cold War order.
- 2004 – The Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami (“Boxing Day Tsunami”) kills hundreds of thousands across multiple countries, becoming one of the deadliest natural disasters in modern history.
Today’s Birthdays:
- 1949 – José Ramos-Horta – East Timorese statesman and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, a central figure in Timor-Leste’s independence movement and national leadership. (76)
- 1956 – David Sedaris – American humorist and essayist known for sharply observed autobiographical writing and bestselling collections. (69)
- 1963 – Lars Ulrich – Danish musician and founding drummer of Metallica, a defining force in modern heavy metal. (62)
- 1971 – Jared Leto – American actor and musician, Academy Award winner and frontman of Thirty Seconds to Mars. (54)
- 1979 – Chris Daughtry – American singer-songwriter, former American Idol finalist and frontman of the rock band Daughtry. (46)
- 1986 – Kit Harington – English actor best known as Jon Snow on Game of Thrones. (39)
- 1990 – Heather Knight – English cricketer and longtime captain, a central leader in modern women’s international cricket. (35)
Today’s Deaths:
- 1530 – Babur – Founder of the Mughal Empire, whose conquests and memoirs helped shape South Asian political and cultural history. (47)
- 1797 – John Wilkes – English journalist and radical politician whose battles over liberty and parliamentary power influenced democratic reform debates. (71)
- 1890 – Heinrich Schliemann – German archaeologist whose excavations at Troy and Mycenae helped define early classical archaeology (and its controversies). (68)
- 1972 – Harry S. Truman – 33rd U.S. President, who led the nation through the end of World War II and the early Cold War. (88)
- 1974 – Jack Benny – American comedian and entertainer whose radio and television work made him a defining figure in 20th-century comedy. (80)
- 2004 – Reggie White – NFL Hall of Fame defensive end, one of football’s most dominant pass rushers and a cultural figure beyond the sport. (43)
- 2006 – Gerald Ford – 38th U.S. President, who assumed office after Watergate and is remembered for a stabilizing post-Nixon presidency. (93)
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