Tag Archives: Tidbits for this day in history

December 31 is:
Widely known as New Year’s Eve

On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me . . . . seven swans a-swimming.
For the Catholic interpretation of the significance of each day of Christmas, see: crosswalk.com

On December 31, 1687 the first organized group of Huguenots set sail from the Netherlands to the Dutch East India Company post at the Cape of Good Hope. The largest portion of the Huguenots to settle in the Cape arrived between 1688 and 1689 in seven ships as part of the organized migration, but quite a few arrived as late as 1700; thereafter, the numbers declined and only small groups arrived at a time. Many of these settlers were settled in an area that was later called Franschhoek (Dutch for French Corner), in the present-day Western Cape province of South Africa. A large monument to commemorate the arrival of the Huguenots in South Africa was inaugurated on 7 April 1948 at Franschhoek, where the Huguenot Memorial Museum was erected in 1957.

1695 – A window tax was imposed in England, causing many householders to brick up windows to avoid the tax.

December 31, 1857 – Queen Victoria chose Ottawa, then a small logging town, as the capital of Canada.
According to Wikipedia:

On New Year’s Eve, December 31, 1857, Queen Victoria as a symbolic and political gesture was presented with the responsibility of selecting a location for the permanent capital of the Province of Canada… The ‘Queen’s choice’ turned out to be the small frontier town of Ottawa for two main reasons: Ottawa’s isolated location in a back country surrounded by dense forest far from the American border and situated on a cliff face would make it more defensible from attack. Ottawa was located approximately midway between Toronto and Kingston in (Canada West) and Montreal and Quebec City in (Canada East). Despite Ottawa’s regional isolation it had seasonal water transportation access to Montreal over the Ottawa River and to Kingston via the Rideau Waterway. By 1854 it also had a modern all season Bytown and Prescott Railway that carried passengers, lumber and supplies the 82 kilometre distance to Prescott on the Saint Lawrence River and beyond. The smaller size of the town also made it less prone to rampaging politically motivated mobs, as had happened in the previous Canadian capitals. The government already owned the land that would eventually become Parliament Hill which they thought would be an ideal location for building the Parliament Buildings. Ottawa was the only settlement of any substantial size that was already located directly on the border of French populated former Lower Canada and English populated former Upper Canada thus additionally making the selection an important political compromise. Queen Victoria made her ‘Queen’s choice’ very quickly just before welcoming in the New Year.

1862 – American Civil War: Abraham Lincoln signed an act that admitted West Virginia to the Union, thus dividing Virginia in two. West Virginia was admitted as a state June 20, 1863. See for a discussion on why the two areas split.

Thomas Edison demonstrated incandescent lighting to the public for the first time in 1879. (2012 – Incandescent bulbs are essentially outlawed.)

1907 – The first New Year’s Eve celebration to be held in Times Square was in 1907, (then known as Longacre Square) in New York, New York. (By 1872, the area had become the center of New York’s carriage industry. The area not having previously been named, the city authorities called it Longacre Square after Long Acre in London, where the carriage trade in that city was centered and which was also a home to stables.) Times Square was renamed in April 1904 after The New York Times moved its headquarters to the newly erected Times Building.

The farthing coin ceased to be legal tender in the United Kingdom in 1960. The farthing represented 1/4 of a penny (or a “fourthing”).

The Marshall Plan expired in 1961 after distributing more than $12 billion U.S. dollars in foreign aid to rebuild Europe.

1999 – The United States Government handed control of the Panama Canal (as well all the adjacent land to the canal known as the Panama Canal Zone) to Panama. This act complied with the signing of the 1977 Torrijos–Carter Treaties. The Torrijos–Carter Treaties (Spanish: Tratados Torrijos-Carter) are two treaties signed by the United States and Panama in Washington, D.C., on September 7, 1977, which superseded the Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty of 1903. The treaties guaranteed that Panama would gain control of the Panama Canal after 1999, ending the control of the canal that the U.S. had exercised since 1903. The treaties are named after the two signatories, U.S. President Jimmy Carter and the Commander of Panama’s National Guard, General Omar Torrijos.

    Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
    And never brought to mind?
    Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
    And auld lang syne.

    Chorus

    For auld lang syne, my dear,
    For auld lang syne.
    We'll take a cup o' kindness yet,
    For auld lang syne.

    And surely you’ll buy your pint cup!
    and surely I’ll buy mine!
    And we’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
    for auld lang syne.

    Chorus

    We two have run about the slopes,
    and picked the daisies fine;
    But we’ve wandered many a weary foot,
    since auld lang syne.

    Chorus

   We two have paddled in the stream,
   from morning sun till dine;
   But seas between us broad have roared
   since auld lang syne.

    Chorus

    And there's a hand, my trusty friend!
    And give's a hand o' thine!
    And we'll take a cup of kindness yet,
    For auld lang syne.

    Chorus

December 26 is:

Boxing Day A holiday traditionally celebrated the day following Christmas Day, when servants and tradespeople would receive gifts, known as a “Christmas box”, from their bosses or employers. Also, a day when you pack up your Christmas gifts in a box for returning to the merchants for refunds.

“On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me . . . two turtledoves.”
For the Catholic interpretation of the significance of each day of Christmas, see: crosswalk.com

National Candy Cane Day

Alms for the Poor

Day of the Wren or Wren’s Day in the Republic of Ireland. See The Irish Used to Celebrate The Day After Christmas by Killing Wrens

George Washington defeated Hessians at Battle of Trenton in American Revolutionary War in 1776.

Publication of Federalist Paper #28: The Idea of Restraining the Legislative Authority in Regard to the Common Defense Considered written by Alexander Hamilton in 1787. This paper continues the discussion of standing armies in peace time with the admission that there may be times when a national government will be required to use force to suppress seditions and insurrections. The safeguard against the use of force against the people is the legislature being representative of the citizens. Hamilton could not foresee a time when the federal government would maintain a military big enough to endanger the liberty of the entire population.

Four thousand people attended George Washington’s funeral in 1799 where Henry Lee III declares him as:

“First in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen.”

Trapped in snow in the Sierra Nevadas and without food, members of the Donner Party resorted to cannibalism in 1846.

James H. Mason of Massachusetts patented first US coffee percolator in 1865.

Birthday of Mao Zedong, (December 26, 1893), Communist leader of the Republic of China, founder of the People’s Republic of China which he governed from 1949 to 1976. Often referred to as “Chairman Mao”, he is credited with bringing China into the modern world, from an agrarian to an industrial society. He is also considered the person most guilty of democide (murder through government action) in human history, being responsible for the deaths of 40-70 million people through starvation, forced labor, and executions.

Judy Garland, 2½, billed as Baby Frances, made her show business debut on December 26, 1924.

Johnny Weissmuller announces his retirement from amateur swimming in 1928, goes on to be a particularly memorable movie star, especially as Tarzan.

On December 26, 1941, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a bill establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day in the United States.

The 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 in 1963.

1972 – Death of Harry S. Truman, thirty-third President of the United States. He became president upon the death of Franklin D Roosevelt. Truman died in Kansas City, Missouri at age 88. He had pneumonia and multiple organ failure.

1982 – Time’s “Man of the Year” is for the first time a non-human, the personal computer.

The Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union met and formally dissolved the USSR in 1991.

2006-Death of Gerald Ford (born Leslie Lynch King, Jr.), thirty-eighth President of the United States. He became president upon the resignation of Richard Nixon. Ford died at age 93 in Rancho Mirage, California of arteriosclerotic cerebrovascular disease.

December 25 is:

Merry Christmas to all!

“On the First Day of Christmas, my true love gave to me: A partridge in a pear tree.”
Teaching the Catholic faith was outlawed in sixteenth-century England. Those who instructed their children in Catholicism could be drawn and quartered. Thus, the church went underground. To hide the important and illegal elements of their teaching, clerics composed poems that seemed silly to most people. But these verses were veiled works that taught the church’s most important tenets. “The Twelve Days of Christmas” is said to be one of these teaching tools.

Most people today believe that the twelve days of Christmas start on December 12th or 13th and run through Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. But in fact, the first day of Christmas is December 25th and the final day is January 5th. Thus, for hundreds of years the Christmas holidays didn’t begin until Christmas Eve and didn’t end until Epiphany.

For the Catholic interpretation of the significance of each day of Christmas, see: crosswalk.com

National Pumpkin Pie Day

The American colonists used pumpkin in pie crusts, but not in the filling.
The type of pumpkin pie we know today was not made until the 1700s.
Every year, 50 million pumpkin pies are made using Libby’s canned product.
The world’s largest pumpkin pie weighed over 350 pounds and was made with 80 pounds of pumpkin, 36 pounds of sugar, and 144 eggs.

National “Kiss the Cook” Day

Coronation of Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor, in Rome in the year 800.

The foundation of the Kingdom of Hungary: Hungary was established as a Christian kingdom by Stephen I of Hungary in the year 1000.

1621 Governor William Bradford of Plymouth forbid game playing on Christmas.

1651 Massachusetts General Court ordered a five shilling fine for “observing any such day as Christmas”.

1741 – Astronomer Anders Celsius introduced Centigrade temperature scale based on two easily reproducible natural standards, the freezing and boiling points of water.

1776 – George Washington and his army crossed the Delaware River to attack Great Britain’s Hessian mercenaries in Trenton, New Jersey.

Publication of Federalist Paper #27: The Idea of Restraining the Legislative Authority in Regard to the Common Defense Considered written by Alexander Hamilton in 1787. Hamilton addresses the fear that the federal government requires the aid of a military to enforce its laws. He argues that because the national Senate will consist of men chosen by State Legislatures, the representatives will be men of high morals and good judgement who will not pass laws which require military enforcement. He also says that the more interaction between the federal government and the citizens, the more respect and loyalty will be felt by the citizens.

1818 – Handel’s “Messiah” made its US premiere in Boston. George Frideric Handel’s Messiah was originally an Easter offering. It burst onto the stage of Musick Hall in Dublin on April 13, 1742. The audience swelled to a record 700, as ladies had heeded pleas by management to wear dresses “without Hoops” in order to make “Room for more company.” Handel’s superstar status was not the only draw; many also came to glimpse the contralto, Susannah Cibber, then embroiled in a scandalous divorce.

Read more at: Smithsonian Magazine

Birthday of Clara Barton, (December 35, 1821) the founder of the American Red Cross, born in Oxford, Mass.

U.S. President Andrew Johnson granted unconditional pardon to all Civil War Confederate soldiers in 1868.

“Stars & Stripes Forever” was written by John Philip Sousa on December 25, 1896.

1959: An apprentice engineer from Liverpool named Richard Starkey, then already eighteen, got his first real set of drums for Christmas (the young Starkey’s family couldn’t afford a proper set when he was a child). Later, he would become known as Ringo Starr.

1969: 16-year-old Robbie Bachman of Winnipeg, Canada received his first drum kit for Christmas and begins to play along with his older brother, guitarist Randy. Just three years later, Randy asks him to join his new band, named Bachman-Turner Overdrive.

Mikhail Gorbachev formally resigned as President of USSR in a televised speech on December 25, 1991.

December 23 is:

Roots Day encourages us to look into our heritage, families, family history and ancestry.

National Pfeffernuesse Day Pfeffernüsse are tiny spice cookies, popular as a holiday treat in Germany, Denmark, and The Netherlands.

National Bake Day

George Washington returned home to Mount Vernon on December 23, 1783, after the disbanding of his army following the Revolutionary War.

On this date in 1788, Maryland voted to cede a 100-square-mile area for the seat of the national government. About two-thirds of the area became the District of Columbia.

A Visit from St. Nicholas, also known as “The Night Before Christmas” by Clement C. Moore was published in 1823. From our website at BenneyNLinda.com

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter’s nap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the luster of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

Now! Dasher, now! Dancer, now! Prancer, and Vixen!
On! Comet, on! Cupid, on! Donder and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!”

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

His eyes — how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!”

Following a quarrel with Paul Gauguin, Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh cut off part of his own earlobe in 1888.

The transistor was first demonstrated at Bell Laboratories on December 23, 1947.

First successful kidney transplant was performed by J. Hartwell Harrison and Joseph Murray in 1954.
The procedure was done between identical twins, Ronald and Richard Herrick, to eliminate any problems of an immune reaction. For this and later work, Dr. Murray received the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1990. The recipient, Richard Herrick, died eight years after the transplantation.

The North Tower of the World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York was topped out at 1,368 feet (417 m), making it the tallest building in the world. (1970) When completed in 1973, the South Tower became the second tallest building in the world at 1,362 feet. We lost both on September 11, 2001.