Today in History Dec. 26
Today is Tuesday, Dec. 26, the 360th day of 2017. There are five days left in the year. The seven-day African-American holiday Kwanzaa begins today. This is Boxing Day.
On Dec. 26, 1947, heavy snow blanketed the Northeast, burying New York City under 26.4 inches of snow in 16 hours; the severe weather was blamed for some 80 deaths.
In 1776, British forces suffered a major defeat in the Battle of Trenton during the Revolutionary War.
In 1799, former President George Washington was eulogized by Col. Henry Lee as “first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen.”
In 1865, James H. Nason of Franklin, Mass., received a patent for “an improved coffee percolator.”
In 1908, Jack Johnson became the first African-American boxer to win the world heavyweight championship as he defeated Canadian Tommy Burns in Sydney, Australia.
In 1917, during World War I, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation authorizing the government to take over operation of the nation’s railroads.
In 1967, “Magical Mystery Tour,” the Beatles’ poorly received TV special, was broadcast (in black and white) on BBC1.
In 1972, the 33rd president of the United States, Harry S. Truman, died in Kansas City, Mo., at 88.
In 1996, six-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey was found beaten and strangled in the basement of her family’s home in Boulder, Colo. (To date, the slaying remains unsolved.)
“Christmas has come and gone, and – to speak selfishly – am glad of it. The season always gives me the blues in spite of myself, though I manage to get a good deal of pleasure from thinking of the multitudes of happy kids in various parts of the world.”
– Edwin Arlington Robinson, American poet (1869-1935)