Boxing Day in the United Kingdom and many other countries, a day of gift giving when boxes of food, clothing and other gifts are traditionally given to employees, tradespeople and other service providers.
EVENTS
- 1776 – The British are defeated in the Battle of Trenton during the American Revolutionary War.
- 1898 – Marie and Pierre Curie announce the isolation of radium.
- 1933 – FM (frequency modulation) radio is patented.
- 1941 – Fourth Thursday of November set as Thanksgiving Day in the US. The holiday has been celebrated officially in the United States since 1863. The first Thanksgiving is thought to have been observed by early settlers in the Massachusetts Bay Colony after their first harvest in 1621.
- 1966 – First Kwanzaa celebrations. The week-long cultural holiday is celebrated among African diaspora in the United States and was created by Maulana Karenga, a professor of Africana Studies and a key figure in the Black Power movement. The holiday is celebrated annually from December 26 to January 1, and it is a recognition of African culture and heritage.
- 1982 – TIME magazine’s ‘Man of the Year’ is the personal computer.
- 2004 – An estimated 230,000 persons were killed and 1.5 million left homeless when a magnitude 9.3 earthquake on the seafloor of the Indian Ocean set off a series of giant tsunami waves that smashed into the shorelines of a dozen countries including Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, India and Somalia.
BIRTHDAYS
- 1791 – Charles Babbage (English mathematician, engineer, invented the Difference engine)
- 1837 – George Dewey (American Admiral)
- 1891 – Henry Miller (American author, painter)
- 1893 – Mao Tse-tung (Chairman of communist China)
- 1921 – Steve Allen (Actor)
- 1954 – Ozzie Smith (Baseball Player)
- 1956 – David Sedaris (American comedian, author, radio host)
- 1971 – Jared Leto (Actor)
- 1979 – Christ Daughtry (Singer)
DEATHS
- 1890 – Heinrich Schliemann (German archaeologist)
- 1972 – Harry S. Truman (American colonel, politician, 33rd President of the United States)
- 1974 – Jack Benny (American actor, comedian)
- 1997 – Cornelius Castoriadis (Greek economist, philosopher)
- 2006 – Gerald Ford (American politician, 38th President of the United States)