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-foot-high 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. Three snowboarders were killed in an avalanche in Provo Canyon, Utah.
• 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. Salvador Jorge Blanco, 84, a former president of the Dominican Republic, died in Santo Domingo. Soul singer-songwriter Teena Marie,
54, died in Pasadena, California. 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. Basketball player Stephen Curry was named The Associated Press
2015 Male Athlete of the Year. One year ago: A winter storm brought downpours and extensive snowfall to parts of Southern California, triggering a tornado and snarling post-Christmas travel. The pilot and six passengers died when a tour helicopter crashed on the top of a mountain on the island of Kauai. Gymnast Simone Biles was named the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year.