DAILY ALMANAC
Today is Sunday, Dec. 26, the 360th day of 2021. There are five days left in the year.
On this date 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.”
1908: Jack Johnson became the first African-american boxer to win the world heavyweight championship as he defeated Canadian Tommy Burns in Sydney, Australia.
1917: During World War I, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation authorizing the government to take over operation of the nation’s railroads.
1941: During World War II, Winston Churchill became the first British prime minister to address a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress.
1966: Kwanzaa was first celebrated.
1974: Comedian Jack Benny died in Los Angeles at age 80.
1980: Iranian television footage was broadcast in the United States showing a dozen of the American hostages sending messages to their families.
1994: French commandos stormed a hijacked Air France jetliner on the ground in Marseille, killing four Algerian hijackers and freeing 170 hostages.
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.)
2003: An earthquake struck the historic Iranian city of Bam, killing at least 26,000 people.
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.
2006: Former President Gerald R. Ford died in Rancho Mirage, California, at age 93.
2012: Toyota Motor Corp. said it had reached a settlement worth more than $1 billion in a case involving unintended acceleration problems in its vehicles.
Ten years ago: A heart surgeon and a technician from a Mayo Clinic in Florida, flying across the northern corner of the state to retrieve a heart for transplant, were killed along with the pilot when their helicopter crashed. Drew Brees set the NFL record for yards passing in a season and the New Orleans Saints clinched the NFC South title with a 45-16 victory over the Atlanta Falcons. (The passing record would be broken two years later by Denver’s Peyton Manning.)
Singer Abdul “Duke” Fakir of The Four Tops is 86. “America’s Most Wanted” host John Walsh is 76. Keyboardist Bob Carpenter with The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is 75. Bassist George Porter Junior of The Meters is 74. Humorist David Sedaris is 65. Drummer Drummer Brian Westrum of Sons of the Desert is 59. Drummer Lars Ulrich of Metallica is 58. Country singer Audrey Wiggins is 54. Guitarist J (White Zombie) is 54. Guitarist Peter Klett of Candlebox is 53. Actor-singer Jared Leto of 30 Seconds To Mars is 50. Singer Chris Daughtry (“American Idol”) is 42. Actor Beth Behrs (“The Neighborhood,” “2 Broke Girls”) is 36. Actor Kit Harington (“Game of Thrones”) is 35.