TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Saturday, Dec. 26, the 361st day of 2020. There are five days left in the year.
Today's Highlight in History: On Dec. 26, 2004, more than 230,000 people, mostly in southern Asia, were killed by a 100-foothigh tsunami triggered by a 9.1-magnitude earthquake beneath the Indian Ocean.
On this date:
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 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 1910, the London Palladium, Britain's famous variety theater, first opened.
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 1941, during World War II, Winston Churchill became the first British prime minister to address a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress.
In 1980, Iranian television footage was broadcast in the United States, showing a dozen of the American hostages sending messages to their families.
In 1985, Ford Motor Company began selling its Taurus and Sable sedans and station wagons.
In 1994, French commandos stormed a hijacked Air France jetliner on the ground in Marseille, killing four Algerian hijackers and freeing 170 hostages.
In 1996, six-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey was found beaten and strangled in the basement of her family's home in Boulder, Colorado. (To date, the slaying remains unsolved.)
In 2003, an earthquake struck the historic Iranian city of Bam, killing at least 26,000 people.
In 2006, former President Gerald R. Ford died in Rancho Mirage, California, at age 93.
Ten years ago: A powerful East Coast blizzard stranded thousands of travelers and dumped more than a foot of snow in some areas.
Five years ago: A new onslaught of tornadoes began erupting in the South; twisters ended up hitting parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Chicago police killed 19-year-old Quintonio LeGrier, a college student who an officer said was coming at him with a bat, and 55-year-old Bettie Jones, a neighbor who police said was shot accidentally.