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360th day of 2010 - 5 remaining
Sunday, December 26, 2010
BOXING DAY
No one seems to know whether the celebration of Boxing Day began in the middle of the 19th century or the middle of the ninth century. What we do know is that it definitely had its origins in England and is always celebrated on this day (except when December 26th falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the official holiday is moved to Monday) with government offices and many businesses closed.
Although folks throughout Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada celebrate Boxing Day, most don’t seem to know where the name originated or what Boxing Day signifies. All the theories of origin have the same theme: Those who considered themselves of a higher social class, gave to those beneath them. The wealthy landowners of the Middle Ages celebrated Christmas on Christmas Day, and their servants who worked for them on Christmas Day were given boxes of food and fruit on December 26th. Leftovers?
Another theory states that, in England, servants would carry boxes to their employers to receive coins, or their employers would leave small earthenware boxes for them filled with money on the day after Christmas. These were special year-end gifts. The first Christmas bonuses?
Still another theory: Church alms boxes were opened on Christmas Day and the contents distributed on December 26th. The first annual holiday-donation solicitation?
Today, Boxing Day is celebrated with family, friends, food, fun and friendship. The boxes involved are more likely to be filled with gifts being exchanged or after-Christmas sale items.
Charles ****ens wrote that Boxing Day was a holiday “… on which postmen, errand boys, and servants of various kinds received a Christmas box of contributions from those whom they serve.”
Now you know where the Christmas fruitcake ends up.
Events December 26
1799 - The late George Washington was eulogized by Congressman Henry Lee, “To the memory of the man, first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.” Washington had died December 14, 1799.
1865 - James H. Mason of Franklin, MA patented the coffee percolator that makes coffee good to the last drop! Mason would have loved all the coffee houses that have popped up throughout the world over the past few years. He’d probably be sitting at home inventing an espressolator or a cap-perc-uccino for next Christmas.
1898 - Pierre and Marie Curie announced their discovery of radium to the world. It was March 1902 before they were able to isolate enough radium to confirm its existence. The Curies were awarded the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics along with Antoine Henri Becquerel.
1902 - Oscar ‘Battling’ Nelson hit the canvas five times in a bout in Hot Springs, SD. That’s not the worst of it. Battling’s opponent, Christy Williams, saw little birdies and ate the canvas 42 times! Wow! That’s a record for knockdowns.
1931 - George Gershwin’s musical, Of Thee I Sing, opened at the Music Box Theatre in New York City. The show became the first American musical to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize.
1932 - 70,000 people were killed in a massive earthquake in China.
1939 - W.C. Handy of Memphis, TN one of the legendary blues composers of all time, recorded the classic St. Louis Blues. W.C. and his band recorded in New York for Varsity Records. Handy was one of the first to use the flat third and seventh notes in his compositions, known in the music world as ‘blue’ notes. On another note, the music awards for blues artists’ are called the W.C. Handy National Blues Awards. Now you know where they got that title.
1941 - Winston Churchill became the first British prime minister to address a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress, warning that the Axis would “stop at nothing that violence or treachery can suggest.”
1943 - The 32,000-ton German battleship Scharnhorst sank off Norway following an Allied attack led by the British battleship Duke of York. Only 36 of the 1,900 crew of the "Scharnhorst" survived. Researchers located the wreck in 2000.
1944 - Tennessee Williams’ play The Glass Menagerie was first performed publicly -- at the Civic Theatre in Chicago.
1946 - The Flamingo Hotel and Casino opened in Las Vegas. The opening entertainment was provided by entertainers Jimmy Durante, Tommy Wonder, Eddie Jackson, Xavier Cugat & his band, and Rose Marie.
1947 - A monster snowstorm hit New York City, dumping up to 26 inches of snow on the Big Apple. It became the worst snowstorm in the city’s history, surpassing the snowfall totals from the Blizzard of 1888, which had 22 inches of the white stuff.
1950 - “Look sharp! Feel sharp! How are you fixed for blades?” The Gillette Safety Razor Company signed agreements for the rights for the next six years to baseball’s World Series and All-Star games. The price tag: $6 million dollars.
1952 - Big Sister was heard for the last time on CBS radio. The show had been on the air for 17 years. Big Sister was the ongoing story of Sue Evans Miller and her relationship with her big sister, Ruth Evans. Actresses who played big sister Ruth over the years: Alice Frost, Nancy Marshall, Marjorie Anderson, Mercedes McCambridge. Little Sister Sue was played by Haila Stoddard, Dorothy McGuire, Peggy Conklin and Fran Carlon.
1954 - One of radio’s most popular programs, The Shadow, lurked around the airwaves for the last time. Vigilante crime-fighter Lamont Cranston battled greed and corruption since 1930. “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows....”
1957 - Elvis Presley got a temporary draft deferment so he could finish the movie King Creole.
1960 - Do Re Mi with Phil Silvers premiered at the St. James Theatre in New York City. The musical ran for 400 Performances.
1963 - Capitol Records rushed to release its first single by the Fab Four, otherwise known as The Beatles. I Want to Hold Your Hand, backed with I Saw Her Standing There, reached #1 on February 1, 1964. The flood of music by John, Paul, George and Ringo had started the British Invasion; changing contemporary music forever.
1964 - More Beatles news: The Fab Four got their sixth #1 hit song since February 1, as I Feel Fine became the top tune this day. The first five #1 hits by The Beatles were: I Want to Hold Your Hand, She Loves You, Can’t Buy Me Love, Love Me Do and A Hard Day’s Night.
1967 - A sad day for jazz fans, as the DAVE Brubeck Quartet formally disbanded after sax man Paul Desmond left the group. Desmond was a fixture with the quartet for 16 years and can be heard on all the immortal Brubeck standards, including Take Five.
1969 - The cover of LIFE Double Issue profiled the 1960s “Decade of Tumult and Change.”
1972 - Harry S Truman, 33rd president of the United States, died in Kansas City, Missouri, at the age of 88. Truman’s wife, Bess, died on October 18, 1982. They are buried side by side in the Harry S Truman Library courtyard in Independence, MO.
1974 - Super-star comedian and actor Jack Benny died in Los Angeles at the age of 80.
1977 - Anita Bryant was named one of People magazine’s 25 Most Intriguing People of 1977. U.S. President Jimmy Carter topped the list.
1981 - AC/DC’s album, For Those About to Rock We Salute You was #1 in the U.S. for the first of three weeks. The tracks on the album were: For Those About To Rock (We Salute You), Put the Finger on You, Let’s Get It Up, Inject the Venom, Snowballed, Evil Walks, C.O.D., Breaking the Rules, Night of the Long Knives and Spellbound.
1982 - The Man of the Year in TIME magazine was a non-human for the first time. A computer received the honors as 1982’s “greatest influence for good or evil.”
1984 - House Speaker Tip O’Neill was selected to receive the J. Fred Muggs Award, given by TV Guide for TV goofs and blunders. The Speaker of the House earned the uncoveted prize when he ordered cameras from CSPAN to pan the almost empty House of Representatives while Republicans were making rip-roaring speeches. For those who don’t remember, J. Fred Muggs was the rascally, but cute, chimpanzee that wreaked havoc on the Today show back in the 1950s. The network thought it would be nice to have a cuddly chimp liven things up for a pretty boring DAVE Garroway. Unfortunately, Garroway hated J. Fred Muggs; the chimp knew it and proceeded to terrorize the entire show for quite some time, until Garroway threatened to quit the show. J. Fred was soon history.
1986 - Doug Jarvis, age 31, set a National Hockey League record as he skated in his 916th consecutive game. It was a record that started in 1974. Doug holds the individual record for most consecutive games played (964).
1986 - TV’s longest-running drama was seen for the last time. Search for Tomorrow ended its 35-year run on television. The program, seen on CBS, included show veterans, Wayne Rogers, Jill Clayburgh, Morgan Fairchild and Don Knotts.
1990 - Garry Kasparov beat Anatoly Karpov to retain the world chess championship. This was Karpov’s second attempt at regaining the championship from Kasparov. He had lost the title to Kasparov in 1985 and had tried to get it back in 1987.
1990 - U.S. Census Bureau officials reported that the U.S. population stood at 249,632,692 people.
1994 - French commandos stormed a hijacked Air France jetliner on the ground in Marseilles. The commandos killed four Algerian hijackers and freed 170 hostages. The Air France plane had been hijacked on Dec 24.
1996 - Six-year-old beauty pageant princess JonBenet Ramsey was found beaten and strangled in the basement of her family’s Boulder, Colorado home. Her mother, Patricia Ramsey, phoned police early on the day after Christmas to report that she had found a ransom note demanding $118,000 for JonBenet’s safe return. Eight hours later, JonBenet’s father, John, found his daughter’s body. Days of investigation turned into weeks, weeks into months, months into years -- and the murder remains unsolved.
1997 - South Korean financial markets surged after the International Monetary Fund and the Group of Seven countries agreed on $10 billion emergency loans to Seoul.
1999 - Alfonso Antonio Portillo Cabrera, a populist lawyer, scored a resounding victory in Guatemala’s first peacetime presidential elections in nearly 40 years.
1999 - Singer, songwriter Curtis Mayfield died in Roswell, GA. He was 57 years old. His hits included Superfly, Gypsy Woman and It’s All Right.
2000 - Veteran stage and screen actor Jason Robards died in Bridgeport, CT at 78 years of age. Robards was winner of two Oscars (All the President’s Men and Julia) and one Tony Award (The Disenchanted) during his long and illustrious career.
2001 - Hundreds of Iraqi Kurds, Afghans, Iranians and other refugees tried to march into England through the Channel Tunnel. Some 500 illegal refugees stormed the French entrance in two waves. The tunnel between the UK and France was Closed to passenger and cargo trains after the refugees stormed past security guards and broke through electronic locks.
2002 - Brigitte Boisselier, chemist and head of the Clonaid (human CLONING company), said the world’s first human clone, a 7-pound baby girl, had been delivered by Caesarean section. The claim subsequently has been dismissed by scientists for lack of proof.
2003 - House of Sand and Fog opened in the U.S. The drama/thriller stars Sir Ben Kingsley, Jennifer Connelly, Ron Eldard, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Jonathan Ahdout, Kim ****ens, Frances Fisher and Carlos Gomez.
2003 - A 6.6 earthquake devastated the southeastern Iranian city of Bam, 630 miles southeast of the capital Tehran. The quake leveled more than half the city’s houses and its historic mud-brick fortress. At least 30,000 people were killed and over 10,000 were injured.
2004 - The most powerful earthquake in 40 years triggered massive tsunamis (tidal waves) that slammed into villages and seaside resorts across southern and southeast Asia. The initial estimated death toll of 9,000 soon rose to more than 225,000 people in twelve countries. The epicenter of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake was located 155 miles south-southeast of Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province on Sumatra, and six miles under the seabed of the Indian Ocean.
2005 - Memorial services around the world, including one in Banda Aceh, Indonesia attended by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, marked the one-year anniversary of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami which saw 275,000 people killed or left missing.
2006 - Former U.S. President Gerald R. Ford died on this day. The former Michigan Congressman and U.S. Vice-President (under Richard Nixon) had declared “Our long national nightmare is over” as he replaced Richard Nixon as president. But he may have doomed his own chances of being elected when he pardoned his disgraced predecessor.
2007 - An unmanned Russian cargo ship carrying 2 tons of supplies, including holiday gifts, docked at the international space station.
2007 - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ruled that employers could reduce or eliminate health benefits for retirees as they turn 65 and become eligible for Medicare.
2008 - Revolutionary Road opened in U.S. theatres. The drama stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Kathy Bates, Kathryn Hahn, Michael Shannon, Zoe Kazan and David Harbour.
2008 - Chinese warships, armed with special forces, guided missiles and helicopters, set sail for anti-piracy duty off Somalia.
2008 - More from China: The state media reported that nearly 5,000 higher-level Chinese government officials had been punished for corruption during the previous year.
2008 - Russia’s ruble fell to a three-year low against the dollar after the Central Bank allowed a third sharp drop in the currency in five days.
2008 - A power failure during a thunderstorm blacked out Oahu, Hawaii’s population of about 900,000 people. The blackout caught thousands of tourists, including vacationing President-elect Barack Obama, by surprise.
2009 - China unveiled what it said as the fastest rail link in the world. The train connected the cities of Guangzhou and Wuhan at an average speed of 350 km (217 miles) an hour.
2009 - Narain Dutt Tiwari, governor of Andhra Pradesh, in southeastern India, resigned a day after a TV news channel aired a recording allegedly showing the 86-year-old in bed with three women.
Birthdays December 26
1716 - Thomas Gray
poet: Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard: “The paths of glory lead but to the grave.”; also: “...where ignorance is bliss/’Tis folly to be wise.”; died July 30, 1771
1785 - Laurent Clerc
first deaf teacher in U.S.: helped establish American School for the Deaf in Connecticut; died July 18, 1869
1837 - George Dewey
Admiral of the Navy: Spanish-American War: hero of Manila: “You may fire when you are ready, Gridley.”; died Jan 16, 1917
1891 - Henry Miller
author: Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn, Black Spring, Quiet Days in Clichy, The Wisdom of the Heart, Jours tranquilles a Clichy, The Air-Conditioned Nightmare; died Jun 7, 1980
1893 - Mao Tse-Tung (Zedong)
communist-revolutionist: founding father of the People’s Republic of China; died Sep 9, 1976
1914 - Richard Widmark
actor: Judgment at Nuremberg, Murder on the Orient Express, The Halls of Montezuma, How the West was Won, The Alamo, Against All Odds, True Colors; died Mar 24, 2008
1921 - Steve Allen
comedian, author, musician, composer, TV host: The Tonight Show, The Steve Allen Show; films: The Benny Goodman Story, cameo with wife Jayne Meadows: Casino; died Oct 30, 2000
1924 - Frank Broyles
football: University of Arkansas Athletic Director; sportscaster, analyst
1927 - Alan King (Irwin Kniberg)
comedian, TV panelist: Hollywood Squares; producer, actor: The Anderson Tapes, Author! Author!, Casino; Las Vegas performer; died May 9, 2004
1927 - Denis Quilley
actor: Cleopatra [1999], The Marriage of Figaro, A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia, The Shell Seekers, Murder of a Moderate Man; died Oct 5, 2003
1930 - Donald Moffat
actor: Trapped in Paradise, Clear and Present Danger, Tales of the City, The Bonfire of the Vanities, The Bourne Identity, The Best of Times, The Right Stuff, The Long Days of Summer, Winter Kills, Mary White, Showdown, Rachel, Rachel
1935 - Abdul ‘Duke’ Fakir
singer: group: The Four Tops: Baby I Need Your Loving, I Can’t Help Myself, Reach Out I’ll Be There, Standing in the Shadows of Love, Seven Rooms of Gloom, Bernadette, Keeper of the Castle, Ain’t No Woman like the One I’ve Got, When She Was My Girl, Don’t Walk Away
1935 - Norman Ullman
Hockey Hall of Famer : NHL: Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers; career: 490 goals, 739 assists
1936 - (James) Wayne Causey
baseball: Baltimore Orioles, KC Athletics, Chicago White Sox, Atlanta Braves, California Angels
1939 - Ken Howard
composer, songwriter [w/partner Alan Blaikley]: Heart of Rome, I’ve Lost You, Have I The Right?; wrote for Elvis Presly, DAVE Dee, Lulu, Bay City Rollers, Petula Clark, Engelbert Humperdinck, many others
1939 - Phil Spector
‘Tycoon of Teen’: record company executive: originator of Wall of Sound; sang with The Teddy Bears; songwriter: To Know Him is to Love Him, Spanish Harlem; 4/29/09: Spector was sentenced to prison for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson
1940 - Ray (Raymond Michael) Sadecki
baseball: pitcher: SL Cardinals [World Series: 1964], SF Giants, NY Mets [World Series: 1973], Atlanta Braves, KC Royals, Milwaukee Brewers
1945 - Joyce Jillson
actress: Slumber Party ’57, Superchick; syndicated astrology columnist; died Oct 1, 2004
1945 - John Walsh
TV host: America’s Most Wanted; actor: Wrongfully Accused; his six-year-old son Adam was kidnapped and murdered in Florida in 1981; co-founder: National Center for Missing and Exploited Children; author: Tears Of Rage, No Mercy, Public Enemies)
1947 - Carlton (Ernest) ‘Pudge’ Fisk
Baseball Hall of Famer: catcher: Boston Red Sox [all-star: 1972-1974, 1976-1978, 1980/American League Rookie of the Year: 1972/World Series: 1975], Chicago White Sox [all-star: 1981, 1982, 1985, 1991
1948 - DAVE (David Martin) Rader
baseball: catcher: SF Giants, SL Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Red Sox
1948 - Chris (Carroll Christopher) Chambliss
baseball: Cleveland Indians first baseman: American League Rookie of the Year [1971], NY Yankees [World Series: 1976-1978/all-star: 1976], Atlanta Braves
1953 - Charles Lane
director: Sidewalk Stories, True Identity
1954 - Susan Butcher
dogsled racer: won Iditarod Trail race [1986, 1987, 1988, 1990], set record [1990]: 11 days, 1 hour, 53 minutes, 23 seconds
1954 - Ozzie (Osborne Earl) Smith
baseball: ‘The Wizard of Oz’: SD Padres [all-star: 1981], SL Cardinals [World Series: 1982, 1985, 1987/all-star: 1981-1992, 1994-1996]; National League Golden Glove winner [13: 1980-1992]; shortstop records: most years w/500 or more assists [8], most assists in a season [621: 1980], fewest errors in 150 or more games, most years [7] and most consecutive years [4] leading NL in fielding percentages
1961 - John Lynch
actor: Isolation, The Bridge of San Luis Rey, Alien Hunter, Re-inventing Eddie, Best, Sliding Doors
1961 - Tahnee Welch
actress: Falcon Crest, Cocoon series, I Shot Andy Warhol, The Criminal Mind
1963 - Lars Ulrich
musician: drums: group: Metallica: LPs: Kill ’Em All, Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, ...And Justice for All, Metallica or [Black Album], Load, Reload, Garage Inc.
1968 - Dennis Knight
pro wrestler/actor: WWF Superstars of Wrestling, Wrestlemania XII, Royal Rumble, Summerslam, Sunday Night Heat, WWF Backlash, WWF Smackdown!
1969 - Shayla LaVeaux
actress: X-rated films: Naked Truth, Carnival of Knowledge, Orgazmo, Strap-on Sally 10, Dirty Bob’s Xcellent Adventures 35, Suite Seduction, Consenting Adults
1969 - Rene L. Moreno
actor: Heroes, Last Flight Out, Band of Brothers, All Lies End in Murder, Bio-Dome, Young Guns II, Teen Angel, Bones, Sex and the City, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Ugly Betty, Cold Case, Callback, ER
1970 - Willie Williams
football [cornerback]: Western Carolina Univ; NFL: Pittsburgh Steelers, Seattle Seahawks
Chart Toppers December 26
1952I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus (facts) - Jimmy Boyd
Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer (facts) - Gene Autry
White Christmas (facts) - Bing Crosby
Back Street Affair - Webb Pierce
1961The Lion Sleeps Tonight (facts) - The Tokens
Run to Him - Bobby Vee
The Twist (facts) - Chubby Checker
Walk on By - Leroy Van Dyke
1970My Sweet Lord (facts)/Isn’t It a Pity - George Harrison
One Less Bell to Answer (facts) - The Fifth Dimension
Knock Three Times (facts) - Dawn
Rose Garden - Lynn Anderson
1979Escape (The Pina Colada Song) (facts) - Rupert Holmes
Please Don’t Go (facts) - K.C. & The Sunshine Band
Send One Your Love - Stevie Wonder
Happy Birthday Darlin’ - Conway Twitty
1988Every Rose Has Its Thorn (facts) - Poison
My Prerogative - Bobby Brown
Two Hearts (facts) - Phil Collins
When You Say Nothing at All - Keith Whitley
1997Something About the Way You Look Tonight/Candle in the Wind 1997 (facts) - Elton John
How Do I Live (facts) - LeAnn Rimes
My Body - LSG
Longneck Bottle - Garth Brooks
2006Irreplaceable (facts) - Beyoncé
Fergalicious (facts) - Fergie
My Love - Justin Timberlake featuring T.I.
Want To - Sugarland
Chart Topper December 26th, 1970...My Sweet Lord - George Harrison
Sunday, December 26, 2010
BOXING DAY
No one seems to know whether the celebration of Boxing Day began in the middle of the 19th century or the middle of the ninth century. What we do know is that it definitely had its origins in England and is always celebrated on this day (except when December 26th falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the official holiday is moved to Monday) with government offices and many businesses closed.
Although folks throughout Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada celebrate Boxing Day, most don’t seem to know where the name originated or what Boxing Day signifies. All the theories of origin have the same theme: Those who considered themselves of a higher social class, gave to those beneath them. The wealthy landowners of the Middle Ages celebrated Christmas on Christmas Day, and their servants who worked for them on Christmas Day were given boxes of food and fruit on December 26th. Leftovers?
Another theory states that, in England, servants would carry boxes to their employers to receive coins, or their employers would leave small earthenware boxes for them filled with money on the day after Christmas. These were special year-end gifts. The first Christmas bonuses?
Still another theory: Church alms boxes were opened on Christmas Day and the contents distributed on December 26th. The first annual holiday-donation solicitation?
Today, Boxing Day is celebrated with family, friends, food, fun and friendship. The boxes involved are more likely to be filled with gifts being exchanged or after-Christmas sale items.
Charles ****ens wrote that Boxing Day was a holiday “… on which postmen, errand boys, and servants of various kinds received a Christmas box of contributions from those whom they serve.”
Now you know where the Christmas fruitcake ends up.
Events December 26
1799 - The late George Washington was eulogized by Congressman Henry Lee, “To the memory of the man, first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.” Washington had died December 14, 1799.
1865 - James H. Mason of Franklin, MA patented the coffee percolator that makes coffee good to the last drop! Mason would have loved all the coffee houses that have popped up throughout the world over the past few years. He’d probably be sitting at home inventing an espressolator or a cap-perc-uccino for next Christmas.
1898 - Pierre and Marie Curie announced their discovery of radium to the world. It was March 1902 before they were able to isolate enough radium to confirm its existence. The Curies were awarded the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics along with Antoine Henri Becquerel.
1902 - Oscar ‘Battling’ Nelson hit the canvas five times in a bout in Hot Springs, SD. That’s not the worst of it. Battling’s opponent, Christy Williams, saw little birdies and ate the canvas 42 times! Wow! That’s a record for knockdowns.
1931 - George Gershwin’s musical, Of Thee I Sing, opened at the Music Box Theatre in New York City. The show became the first American musical to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize.
1932 - 70,000 people were killed in a massive earthquake in China.
1939 - W.C. Handy of Memphis, TN one of the legendary blues composers of all time, recorded the classic St. Louis Blues. W.C. and his band recorded in New York for Varsity Records. Handy was one of the first to use the flat third and seventh notes in his compositions, known in the music world as ‘blue’ notes. On another note, the music awards for blues artists’ are called the W.C. Handy National Blues Awards. Now you know where they got that title.
1941 - Winston Churchill became the first British prime minister to address a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress, warning that the Axis would “stop at nothing that violence or treachery can suggest.”
1943 - The 32,000-ton German battleship Scharnhorst sank off Norway following an Allied attack led by the British battleship Duke of York. Only 36 of the 1,900 crew of the "Scharnhorst" survived. Researchers located the wreck in 2000.
1944 - Tennessee Williams’ play The Glass Menagerie was first performed publicly -- at the Civic Theatre in Chicago.
1946 - The Flamingo Hotel and Casino opened in Las Vegas. The opening entertainment was provided by entertainers Jimmy Durante, Tommy Wonder, Eddie Jackson, Xavier Cugat & his band, and Rose Marie.
1947 - A monster snowstorm hit New York City, dumping up to 26 inches of snow on the Big Apple. It became the worst snowstorm in the city’s history, surpassing the snowfall totals from the Blizzard of 1888, which had 22 inches of the white stuff.
1950 - “Look sharp! Feel sharp! How are you fixed for blades?” The Gillette Safety Razor Company signed agreements for the rights for the next six years to baseball’s World Series and All-Star games. The price tag: $6 million dollars.
1952 - Big Sister was heard for the last time on CBS radio. The show had been on the air for 17 years. Big Sister was the ongoing story of Sue Evans Miller and her relationship with her big sister, Ruth Evans. Actresses who played big sister Ruth over the years: Alice Frost, Nancy Marshall, Marjorie Anderson, Mercedes McCambridge. Little Sister Sue was played by Haila Stoddard, Dorothy McGuire, Peggy Conklin and Fran Carlon.
1954 - One of radio’s most popular programs, The Shadow, lurked around the airwaves for the last time. Vigilante crime-fighter Lamont Cranston battled greed and corruption since 1930. “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows....”
1957 - Elvis Presley got a temporary draft deferment so he could finish the movie King Creole.
1960 - Do Re Mi with Phil Silvers premiered at the St. James Theatre in New York City. The musical ran for 400 Performances.
1963 - Capitol Records rushed to release its first single by the Fab Four, otherwise known as The Beatles. I Want to Hold Your Hand, backed with I Saw Her Standing There, reached #1 on February 1, 1964. The flood of music by John, Paul, George and Ringo had started the British Invasion; changing contemporary music forever.
1964 - More Beatles news: The Fab Four got their sixth #1 hit song since February 1, as I Feel Fine became the top tune this day. The first five #1 hits by The Beatles were: I Want to Hold Your Hand, She Loves You, Can’t Buy Me Love, Love Me Do and A Hard Day’s Night.
1967 - A sad day for jazz fans, as the DAVE Brubeck Quartet formally disbanded after sax man Paul Desmond left the group. Desmond was a fixture with the quartet for 16 years and can be heard on all the immortal Brubeck standards, including Take Five.
1969 - The cover of LIFE Double Issue profiled the 1960s “Decade of Tumult and Change.”
1972 - Harry S Truman, 33rd president of the United States, died in Kansas City, Missouri, at the age of 88. Truman’s wife, Bess, died on October 18, 1982. They are buried side by side in the Harry S Truman Library courtyard in Independence, MO.
1974 - Super-star comedian and actor Jack Benny died in Los Angeles at the age of 80.
1977 - Anita Bryant was named one of People magazine’s 25 Most Intriguing People of 1977. U.S. President Jimmy Carter topped the list.
1981 - AC/DC’s album, For Those About to Rock We Salute You was #1 in the U.S. for the first of three weeks. The tracks on the album were: For Those About To Rock (We Salute You), Put the Finger on You, Let’s Get It Up, Inject the Venom, Snowballed, Evil Walks, C.O.D., Breaking the Rules, Night of the Long Knives and Spellbound.
1982 - The Man of the Year in TIME magazine was a non-human for the first time. A computer received the honors as 1982’s “greatest influence for good or evil.”
1984 - House Speaker Tip O’Neill was selected to receive the J. Fred Muggs Award, given by TV Guide for TV goofs and blunders. The Speaker of the House earned the uncoveted prize when he ordered cameras from CSPAN to pan the almost empty House of Representatives while Republicans were making rip-roaring speeches. For those who don’t remember, J. Fred Muggs was the rascally, but cute, chimpanzee that wreaked havoc on the Today show back in the 1950s. The network thought it would be nice to have a cuddly chimp liven things up for a pretty boring DAVE Garroway. Unfortunately, Garroway hated J. Fred Muggs; the chimp knew it and proceeded to terrorize the entire show for quite some time, until Garroway threatened to quit the show. J. Fred was soon history.
1986 - Doug Jarvis, age 31, set a National Hockey League record as he skated in his 916th consecutive game. It was a record that started in 1974. Doug holds the individual record for most consecutive games played (964).
1986 - TV’s longest-running drama was seen for the last time. Search for Tomorrow ended its 35-year run on television. The program, seen on CBS, included show veterans, Wayne Rogers, Jill Clayburgh, Morgan Fairchild and Don Knotts.
1990 - Garry Kasparov beat Anatoly Karpov to retain the world chess championship. This was Karpov’s second attempt at regaining the championship from Kasparov. He had lost the title to Kasparov in 1985 and had tried to get it back in 1987.
1990 - U.S. Census Bureau officials reported that the U.S. population stood at 249,632,692 people.
1994 - French commandos stormed a hijacked Air France jetliner on the ground in Marseilles. The commandos killed four Algerian hijackers and freed 170 hostages. The Air France plane had been hijacked on Dec 24.
1996 - Six-year-old beauty pageant princess JonBenet Ramsey was found beaten and strangled in the basement of her family’s Boulder, Colorado home. Her mother, Patricia Ramsey, phoned police early on the day after Christmas to report that she had found a ransom note demanding $118,000 for JonBenet’s safe return. Eight hours later, JonBenet’s father, John, found his daughter’s body. Days of investigation turned into weeks, weeks into months, months into years -- and the murder remains unsolved.
1997 - South Korean financial markets surged after the International Monetary Fund and the Group of Seven countries agreed on $10 billion emergency loans to Seoul.
1999 - Alfonso Antonio Portillo Cabrera, a populist lawyer, scored a resounding victory in Guatemala’s first peacetime presidential elections in nearly 40 years.
1999 - Singer, songwriter Curtis Mayfield died in Roswell, GA. He was 57 years old. His hits included Superfly, Gypsy Woman and It’s All Right.
2000 - Veteran stage and screen actor Jason Robards died in Bridgeport, CT at 78 years of age. Robards was winner of two Oscars (All the President’s Men and Julia) and one Tony Award (The Disenchanted) during his long and illustrious career.
2001 - Hundreds of Iraqi Kurds, Afghans, Iranians and other refugees tried to march into England through the Channel Tunnel. Some 500 illegal refugees stormed the French entrance in two waves. The tunnel between the UK and France was Closed to passenger and cargo trains after the refugees stormed past security guards and broke through electronic locks.
2002 - Brigitte Boisselier, chemist and head of the Clonaid (human CLONING company), said the world’s first human clone, a 7-pound baby girl, had been delivered by Caesarean section. The claim subsequently has been dismissed by scientists for lack of proof.
2003 - House of Sand and Fog opened in the U.S. The drama/thriller stars Sir Ben Kingsley, Jennifer Connelly, Ron Eldard, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Jonathan Ahdout, Kim ****ens, Frances Fisher and Carlos Gomez.
2003 - A 6.6 earthquake devastated the southeastern Iranian city of Bam, 630 miles southeast of the capital Tehran. The quake leveled more than half the city’s houses and its historic mud-brick fortress. At least 30,000 people were killed and over 10,000 were injured.
2004 - The most powerful earthquake in 40 years triggered massive tsunamis (tidal waves) that slammed into villages and seaside resorts across southern and southeast Asia. The initial estimated death toll of 9,000 soon rose to more than 225,000 people in twelve countries. The epicenter of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake was located 155 miles south-southeast of Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province on Sumatra, and six miles under the seabed of the Indian Ocean.
2005 - Memorial services around the world, including one in Banda Aceh, Indonesia attended by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, marked the one-year anniversary of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami which saw 275,000 people killed or left missing.
2006 - Former U.S. President Gerald R. Ford died on this day. The former Michigan Congressman and U.S. Vice-President (under Richard Nixon) had declared “Our long national nightmare is over” as he replaced Richard Nixon as president. But he may have doomed his own chances of being elected when he pardoned his disgraced predecessor.
2007 - An unmanned Russian cargo ship carrying 2 tons of supplies, including holiday gifts, docked at the international space station.
2007 - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ruled that employers could reduce or eliminate health benefits for retirees as they turn 65 and become eligible for Medicare.
2008 - Revolutionary Road opened in U.S. theatres. The drama stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Kathy Bates, Kathryn Hahn, Michael Shannon, Zoe Kazan and David Harbour.
2008 - Chinese warships, armed with special forces, guided missiles and helicopters, set sail for anti-piracy duty off Somalia.
2008 - More from China: The state media reported that nearly 5,000 higher-level Chinese government officials had been punished for corruption during the previous year.
2008 - Russia’s ruble fell to a three-year low against the dollar after the Central Bank allowed a third sharp drop in the currency in five days.
2008 - A power failure during a thunderstorm blacked out Oahu, Hawaii’s population of about 900,000 people. The blackout caught thousands of tourists, including vacationing President-elect Barack Obama, by surprise.
2009 - China unveiled what it said as the fastest rail link in the world. The train connected the cities of Guangzhou and Wuhan at an average speed of 350 km (217 miles) an hour.
2009 - Narain Dutt Tiwari, governor of Andhra Pradesh, in southeastern India, resigned a day after a TV news channel aired a recording allegedly showing the 86-year-old in bed with three women.
Birthdays December 26
1716 - Thomas Gray
poet: Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard: “The paths of glory lead but to the grave.”; also: “...where ignorance is bliss/’Tis folly to be wise.”; died July 30, 1771
1785 - Laurent Clerc
first deaf teacher in U.S.: helped establish American School for the Deaf in Connecticut; died July 18, 1869
1837 - George Dewey
Admiral of the Navy: Spanish-American War: hero of Manila: “You may fire when you are ready, Gridley.”; died Jan 16, 1917
1891 - Henry Miller
author: Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn, Black Spring, Quiet Days in Clichy, The Wisdom of the Heart, Jours tranquilles a Clichy, The Air-Conditioned Nightmare; died Jun 7, 1980
1893 - Mao Tse-Tung (Zedong)
communist-revolutionist: founding father of the People’s Republic of China; died Sep 9, 1976
1914 - Richard Widmark
actor: Judgment at Nuremberg, Murder on the Orient Express, The Halls of Montezuma, How the West was Won, The Alamo, Against All Odds, True Colors; died Mar 24, 2008
1921 - Steve Allen
comedian, author, musician, composer, TV host: The Tonight Show, The Steve Allen Show; films: The Benny Goodman Story, cameo with wife Jayne Meadows: Casino; died Oct 30, 2000
1924 - Frank Broyles
football: University of Arkansas Athletic Director; sportscaster, analyst
1927 - Alan King (Irwin Kniberg)
comedian, TV panelist: Hollywood Squares; producer, actor: The Anderson Tapes, Author! Author!, Casino; Las Vegas performer; died May 9, 2004
1927 - Denis Quilley
actor: Cleopatra [1999], The Marriage of Figaro, A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia, The Shell Seekers, Murder of a Moderate Man; died Oct 5, 2003
1930 - Donald Moffat
actor: Trapped in Paradise, Clear and Present Danger, Tales of the City, The Bonfire of the Vanities, The Bourne Identity, The Best of Times, The Right Stuff, The Long Days of Summer, Winter Kills, Mary White, Showdown, Rachel, Rachel
1935 - Abdul ‘Duke’ Fakir
singer: group: The Four Tops: Baby I Need Your Loving, I Can’t Help Myself, Reach Out I’ll Be There, Standing in the Shadows of Love, Seven Rooms of Gloom, Bernadette, Keeper of the Castle, Ain’t No Woman like the One I’ve Got, When She Was My Girl, Don’t Walk Away
1935 - Norman Ullman
Hockey Hall of Famer : NHL: Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers; career: 490 goals, 739 assists
1936 - (James) Wayne Causey
baseball: Baltimore Orioles, KC Athletics, Chicago White Sox, Atlanta Braves, California Angels
1939 - Ken Howard
composer, songwriter [w/partner Alan Blaikley]: Heart of Rome, I’ve Lost You, Have I The Right?; wrote for Elvis Presly, DAVE Dee, Lulu, Bay City Rollers, Petula Clark, Engelbert Humperdinck, many others
1939 - Phil Spector
‘Tycoon of Teen’: record company executive: originator of Wall of Sound; sang with The Teddy Bears; songwriter: To Know Him is to Love Him, Spanish Harlem; 4/29/09: Spector was sentenced to prison for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson
1940 - Ray (Raymond Michael) Sadecki
baseball: pitcher: SL Cardinals [World Series: 1964], SF Giants, NY Mets [World Series: 1973], Atlanta Braves, KC Royals, Milwaukee Brewers
1945 - Joyce Jillson
actress: Slumber Party ’57, Superchick; syndicated astrology columnist; died Oct 1, 2004
1945 - John Walsh
TV host: America’s Most Wanted; actor: Wrongfully Accused; his six-year-old son Adam was kidnapped and murdered in Florida in 1981; co-founder: National Center for Missing and Exploited Children; author: Tears Of Rage, No Mercy, Public Enemies)
1947 - Carlton (Ernest) ‘Pudge’ Fisk
Baseball Hall of Famer: catcher: Boston Red Sox [all-star: 1972-1974, 1976-1978, 1980/American League Rookie of the Year: 1972/World Series: 1975], Chicago White Sox [all-star: 1981, 1982, 1985, 1991
1948 - DAVE (David Martin) Rader
baseball: catcher: SF Giants, SL Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Red Sox
1948 - Chris (Carroll Christopher) Chambliss
baseball: Cleveland Indians first baseman: American League Rookie of the Year [1971], NY Yankees [World Series: 1976-1978/all-star: 1976], Atlanta Braves
1953 - Charles Lane
director: Sidewalk Stories, True Identity
1954 - Susan Butcher
dogsled racer: won Iditarod Trail race [1986, 1987, 1988, 1990], set record [1990]: 11 days, 1 hour, 53 minutes, 23 seconds
1954 - Ozzie (Osborne Earl) Smith
baseball: ‘The Wizard of Oz’: SD Padres [all-star: 1981], SL Cardinals [World Series: 1982, 1985, 1987/all-star: 1981-1992, 1994-1996]; National League Golden Glove winner [13: 1980-1992]; shortstop records: most years w/500 or more assists [8], most assists in a season [621: 1980], fewest errors in 150 or more games, most years [7] and most consecutive years [4] leading NL in fielding percentages
1961 - John Lynch
actor: Isolation, The Bridge of San Luis Rey, Alien Hunter, Re-inventing Eddie, Best, Sliding Doors
1961 - Tahnee Welch
actress: Falcon Crest, Cocoon series, I Shot Andy Warhol, The Criminal Mind
1963 - Lars Ulrich
musician: drums: group: Metallica: LPs: Kill ’Em All, Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, ...And Justice for All, Metallica or [Black Album], Load, Reload, Garage Inc.
1968 - Dennis Knight
pro wrestler/actor: WWF Superstars of Wrestling, Wrestlemania XII, Royal Rumble, Summerslam, Sunday Night Heat, WWF Backlash, WWF Smackdown!
1969 - Shayla LaVeaux
actress: X-rated films: Naked Truth, Carnival of Knowledge, Orgazmo, Strap-on Sally 10, Dirty Bob’s Xcellent Adventures 35, Suite Seduction, Consenting Adults
1969 - Rene L. Moreno
actor: Heroes, Last Flight Out, Band of Brothers, All Lies End in Murder, Bio-Dome, Young Guns II, Teen Angel, Bones, Sex and the City, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Ugly Betty, Cold Case, Callback, ER
1970 - Willie Williams
football [cornerback]: Western Carolina Univ; NFL: Pittsburgh Steelers, Seattle Seahawks
Chart Toppers December 26
1952I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus (facts) - Jimmy Boyd
Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer (facts) - Gene Autry
White Christmas (facts) - Bing Crosby
Back Street Affair - Webb Pierce
1961The Lion Sleeps Tonight (facts) - The Tokens
Run to Him - Bobby Vee
The Twist (facts) - Chubby Checker
Walk on By - Leroy Van Dyke
1970My Sweet Lord (facts)/Isn’t It a Pity - George Harrison
One Less Bell to Answer (facts) - The Fifth Dimension
Knock Three Times (facts) - Dawn
Rose Garden - Lynn Anderson
1979Escape (The Pina Colada Song) (facts) - Rupert Holmes
Please Don’t Go (facts) - K.C. & The Sunshine Band
Send One Your Love - Stevie Wonder
Happy Birthday Darlin’ - Conway Twitty
1988Every Rose Has Its Thorn (facts) - Poison
My Prerogative - Bobby Brown
Two Hearts (facts) - Phil Collins
When You Say Nothing at All - Keith Whitley
1997Something About the Way You Look Tonight/Candle in the Wind 1997 (facts) - Elton John
How Do I Live (facts) - LeAnn Rimes
My Body - LSG
Longneck Bottle - Garth Brooks
2006Irreplaceable (facts) - Beyoncé
Fergalicious (facts) - Fergie
My Love - Justin Timberlake featuring T.I.
Want To - Sugarland
Chart Topper December 26th, 1970...My Sweet Lord - George Harrison