December 26 birthdays & history

Famous people born on December 26

• 1893Mao Zedong, Chinese politician, Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party
• 1791Charles Babbage, English mathematician and engineer, invented the Difference engine
• 1891Henry Miller, American author and painter
• 1971Jared Leto, American actor and musician
• 1986Hugo Lloris, French footballer
• 1963Lars Ulrich, Danish-American drummer, songwriter, and producer
• 1904Alejo Carpentier, Swiss-Cuban musicologist and author
• 1986Kit Harington, English actor
• 1990Aaron Ramsey, Welsh footballer
• 1953Henning Schmitz, German drummer

What happened on December 26

• 1709The opera Agrippina, described as George Frideric Handel's first masterpiece, premiered in Venice.
• 1723Johann Sebastian Bach directed the premiere of Darzu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes, his first Christmas cantata composed in Leipzig.
• 1860First Rules derby is held between Sheffield F.C. and Hallam F.C., the oldest football fixture in the world.
• 1871Thespis, the first comic opera by Gilbert and Sullivan, premiered at the Gaiety Theatre in London.
• 1898At the French Academy of Sciences, physicists Pierre and Marie Curie announced the discovery of a new element, naming it radium.
• 1926World premiere of Sibelius's tone poem Tapiola.
• 1941U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a bill establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day in the United States.
• 1941British Prime Minister Winston Churchill addresses a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress.
• 1963The Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "I Saw Her Standing There" are released in the United States, marking the beginning of Beatlemania on an international level.
• 1966The first Kwanzaa is celebrated by Maulana Karenga, the chair of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach.
• 1968The Communist Party of the Philippines is established by Jose Maria Sison, breaking away from the Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas-1930.
• 2025Israel recognises Somaliland as an independent state, becoming the first country to do so.

Also observed on December 26

• Independence and Unity Day (Slovenia)
• Mauro Hamza Day (Houston, Texas)
• Mummer's Day (Padstow, Cornwall)
• The first day of Kwanzaa, celebrated until January 1 (United States)
• The first day of Junkanoo street parade, the second day is on the New Year's Day (The Bahamas)
• Wren Day (Ireland and the Isle of Man)