Did you know about William Ayers
In 1969, Ayers co-founded the far-left militant organization the Weather Underground, a revolutionary group that sought to overthrow the United States government which they viewed as American imperialism.
Famous Birthdays on December 26
December 26 has 202 recorded notable births across history, from 1194 to 2004. This focused page highlights 20 people with the strongest available profile context.
1944 — William Ayers
American academic and activist
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Famous Birthdays
202 source records
1194 – 2004
Capricorn
Today in history
Major events on December 26
See what else happened on this day in history.
- 1799 Henry Lee III's eulogy to George Washington in congress declares him as "first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen". Source
- 1861 American Civil War: The Trent Affair: Confederate diplomatic envoys James Murray Mason and John Slidell are freed by the United States government, thus easing tensions between the U.S. and the United Kingdom. Source
Did you know about Peter Hillary
When Peter Hillary summited Everest in 1990, he and his father were the first father/son duo to achieve the feat.
Did you know about Albert Gore
Albert Arnold Gore Sr. was an American politician who served as a United States senator from Tennessee from 1953 to 1971.
Did you know about Frank Broyles
Frank Broyles served as the head football coach for one season at the University of Missouri in 1957 and at the University of Arkansas from 1958 to 1976, compiling a career coaching record of 149–62–6.
Did you know about Jean Toomer
The novel intertwines the stories of six women and includes an apparently autobiographical thread; sociologist Charles S. Johnson called it "the most astonishingly brilliant beginning of any Negro writer of his generation".
More major people born on December 26
Notable people are ranked by substantive profile depth and public notability.
1954
Peter Hillary
New Zealand mountaineer and philanthropist
Peter Edmund Hillary is a New Zealand mountaineer and philanthropist. He is the son of Sir Edmund Hillary, who, along with mountaineer Tenzing Norgay, completed the first successful ascent of Mount Everest. When Peter Hillary summited Everest in 1990, he and his father were the first father/son duo to achieve the feat. Hillary has achieved two summits of Everest, an 84-day trek across Antarctica to the South Pole, and an expedition guiding astronaut Neil Armstrong to land a small aircraft at the North Pole. He has climbed many of the world's major peaks, and on 19 June 2008, completed the Seven Summits, reaching the top of the highest mountains on all seven continents, when he summited Denali in Alaska.
1907
Albert Gore
Sr., American lawyer and politician (died 1998)
Albert Arnold Gore Sr. was an American politician who served as a United States senator from Tennessee from 1953 to 1971. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as a U.S. representative from the state's 4th congressional district from 1939 to 1953. He was the father of Al Gore, who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 until 2001, and who held Tennessee's other U.S. Senate seat from 1985 to 1993. A native of Granville, Tennessee, Gore graduated from Middle Tennessee State Teachers College and taught school. From 1932 to 1936 he was superintendent of schools for Smith County. He attended the Nashville Y.M.C.A. Night Law School, now the Nashville School of Law, from which he graduated in 1936.
1924
Frank Broyles
American football player, coach, and sportscaster (died 2017)
John Franklin Broyles was an American college football player and coach, college athletics administrator, and broadcaster. He served as the head football coach for one season at the University of Missouri in 1957 and at the University of Arkansas from 1958 to 1976, compiling a career coaching record of 149–62–6. Broyles was also the athletic director at Arkansas from 1974 to 2007. His mark of 144–58–5 in 19 seasons at the helm of the Arkansas Razorbacks football gives him the most wins and the most coached games of any head coach in program history. With Arkansas, Broyles won seven Southwest Conference titles and his 1964 team was named a national champion by a number of selectors including the Football Writers Association of America.
1894
Jean Toomer
American author and poet (died 1967)
Jean Toomer was an American poet and novelist commonly associated with modernism and the Harlem Renaissance, though he actively resisted the latter association. His reputation stems from his novel Cane (1923), which Toomer wrote during and after a stint as a school principal at a black school in rural Sparta, Georgia. The novel intertwines the stories of six women and includes an apparently autobiographical thread; sociologist Charles S. Johnson called it "the most astonishingly brilliant beginning of any Negro writer of his generation". He resisted being classified as a "Negro" writer and he identified as "American". For more than a decade Toomer was an influential follower and representative of the pioneering spiritual teacher G.I. Gurdjieff.
1904
Alejo Carpentier
Swiss-Cuban musicologist and author (died 1980)
Alejo Carpentier y Valmont was a Cuban novelist, essayist, and musicologist who greatly influenced Latin American literature during its famous "boom" period. Born in Lausanne, Switzerland, of French and Russian parentage, Carpentier grew up in Havana, Cuba, and despite his European birthplace, he strongly identified as Cuban throughout his life. He traveled extensively, particularly in France, and to South America and Mexico, where he met prominent members of the Latin American cultural and artistic community. Carpentier took a keen interest in Latin American politics and often aligned himself with revolutionary movements, such as Fidel Castro's Communist Revolution in Cuba in the mid-20th century. Carpentier was jailed and exiled for his leftist political philosophies.
1912
Arsenio Lacson
Filipino journalist and politician, Mayor of Manila (died 1962)
Arsenio Hilario Sison Lacson Sr. was a Filipino lawyer, journalist and politician who gained widespread attention as the 17th Mayor of Manila and the first to be democratically elected. An active executive likened by Time and The New York Times to New York City's Fiorello La Guardia, he was the first Manila mayor to be reelected to three terms, remaining in office for over a decade from January 1952 to April 1962. Nicknamed "Arsenic" and described as "a good man with a bad mouth", Lacson's fiery temperament became a trademark of his political and broadcasting career. He died suddenly from a stroke amidst talk that he was planning to run in the 1965 presidential election.
1867
Phan Bội Châu
Vietnamese activist (died 1940)
Phan Bội Châu was a Vietnamese nationalist and revolutionary. In 1904, he formed a revolutionary organization called Duy Tân Hội and initiated the Đông Du movement. From 1905 to 1908, he lived in Japan where he wrote political tracts calling for the independence of Vietnam from French colonial rule. After being forced to leave Japan, he moved to China where he was influenced by Sun Yat-sen and gradually shifted his political position from monarchist to democrat. In 1912, he disbanded Duy Tân Hội to form Việt Nam Quang Phục Hội, modeled after Sun Yat-sen's republican party. In 1925, French agents seized him in Shanghai. He was convicted of treason and spent the rest of his life under house arrest in Huế.
1960
Cem Uzan
Turkish businessman and politician
Cem Cengiz Uzan is a Turkish businessman and politician involved in the media and banking industries, while also chairing the social liberal Young Party (GENÇPARTİ). His family's media empire at one time included both television stations and print media. His family was one of Turkey's most influential families. His supporters claim Uzan's political rivalry resulted in the group's companies being seized by the government under Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, eventually resulting in Uzan's flight to France to escape what he claimed was political persecution. He has been sentenced in absentia to jail terms in the United Kingdom, United States and Turkey for fraud-related offences. Uzan attempted to buy three units of Trump World Tower, but he ultimately defaulted on the contract and lost an $8 million deposit.
1940
Edward C. Prescott
American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2022)
Edward Christian Prescott was an American economist. He received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics in 2004, sharing the award with Finn E. Kydland, "for their contributions to dynamic macroeconomics: the time consistency of economic policy and the driving forces behind business cycles". This research was primarily conducted while both Kydland and Prescott were affiliated with the Graduate School of Industrial Administration at Carnegie Mellon University. According to the IDEAS/RePEc rankings, he was the 19th most widely cited economist in the world in 2013. In August 2014, Prescott was appointed an Adjunct Distinguished Economic Professor at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra, Australia. Prescott died of cancer on November 6, 2022, at the age of 81.
1628
John Page
English Colonial politician (died 1692)
Colonel John Page was an English-born planter, merchant, slave trader and politician who spent most of his life in North America. Born in Bedfont, Middlesex, Page eventually migrated to the English colony of Virginia, where he lived in Middle Plantation and served as a member of the House of Burgesses from 1665 to 1677 and a member of the Virginia Governor's Council from 1677 to 1692. A wealthy landowner, Page donated land and funds towards construction of the Bruton Parish Church. Page was also involved in the establishment of the College of William & Mary in 1693, as well as being a chief proponent of Middle Plantation being designated the colony's capital in 1698.
1737
Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (died 1815)
Prince Frederick Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld was a military commander in the army of the Holy Roman Empire. He began his career at the age of 18 in a cavalry regiment with which he took part in the Seven Years' War. Coburg's bravery allowed him to quickly rise through the ranks. Promoted to colonel in 1759, he became a general officer in the following years and, in this capacity, took command of an army corps during the Austro-Turkish War. Coburg campaigned successfully in Moldavia where he won the battles of Focşani, Rymnik and Martinestje against the Ottomans, which earned him the rank of field marshal in 1789.
1891
Henry Miller
American author and painter (died 1980)
Henry Valentine Miller was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi-autobiographical novel that blends character study, social criticism, philosophical reflection, stream of consciousness, explicit language, sex, surrealist free association, and mysticism. His most characteristic works of this kind are Tropic of Cancer, Black Spring, Tropic of Capricorn, and the trilogy The Rosy Crucifixion, which are based on his experiences in New York City and Paris, and all of which were banned in the United States until 1961. He also wrote travel memoirs and literary criticism and painted watercolors.
1954
Ozzie Smith
American baseball player and sportscaster
Osborne Earl Smith is an American former professional baseball player. Nicknamed "the Wizard of Oz", Smith played shortstop for the San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals in Major League Baseball (MLB). Renowned for his acrobatic athletic ability, Smith is now widely regarded as one of the greatest defensive players of all time, winning the National League (NL) Gold Glove Award for defensive play at shortstop for 13 consecutive seasons. He was also a 15-time All-Star, accumulated 2,460 hits and 580 stolen bases during his career, and won the National League Silver Slugger Award as the best hitter at shortstop in 1987.
1979
Chris Daughtry
American singer-songwriter and guitarist
Christopher Adam Daughtry is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actor, and comic book artist. He is the lead vocalist and a guitarist for the rock band Daughtry, which he formed after placing fourth on the fifth season of American Idol. Released by RCA Records, Daughtry's self-titled debut album became the fastest selling debut rock album in Nielsen SoundScan history, selling more than one million copies within five weeks of release, and music's top-selling album of 2007. The album was recorded before the band was officially formed, making him the only official member present on the album.
1980
Todd Dunivant
American soccer player
Todd Dunivant is an American soccer executive and former defender who played 13 years in Major League Soccer winning 5 MLS Cup trophies. After retirement he spearheaded the San Francisco Deltas professional soccer team as the Director of Soccer Operations and Business Development, winning the NASL Championship in its expansion season. He served as the president and general manager of Sacramento Republic FC from 2018 to 2025, leading the team to the 2022 U.S. Open Cup Final. Beginning in 2026, Dunivant will be the new sporting director of Major League Soccer side New York City FC.
1992
Jade Thirlwall
English singer
Jade Amelia Thirlwall is an English singer. Her music career began at the age of 15, when she auditioned for The X Factor on three occasions before rising to prominence as a member of the girl group Little Mix. Formed during the show's eighth series, Little Mix became the first group to win the competition, and together went on to release six studio albums and amassed nineteen UK top-ten singles, five of which reached number one. Before going into hiatus in 2022, they became the first girl group to win the Brit Award for British Group.
1885
Bazoline Estelle Usher
African-American educator (died 1992)
Bazoline Estelle Usher was an American educator known for her work in the Atlanta Public Schools. As director of education for African-American children in the district prior to integration, she was the first African American to have an office at Atlanta City Hall. She founded the first Girl Scout troop for African-American girls in Atlanta in 1943. Her career as an educator lasted over 50 years, over 40 of which were in the Atlanta schools. A school in Atlanta is named for her, and in 2014 she was posthumously named a Georgia Woman of Achievement.
1859
William Stephens
American lawyer and politician, 24th Governor of California (died 1944)
William Dennison Stephens was an American federal and state politician. A three-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1911 to 1916, Stephens was the 24th governor of California from 1917 to 1923. Prior to becoming Governor, Stephens served as the 27th lieutenant governor of California from 1916 to 1917, due to the death of John Morton Eshleman, and served a brief time as Mayor of Los Angeles in 1909 due to the resignation of Arthur C. Harper. He served as the 27th Mayor of Los Angeles in 1909.
1989
Yohan Blake
Jamaican sprinter
Yohan Blake is a retired Jamaican sprinter specialising in the 100-metre and 200-metre sprint races. He won gold at the 100 m at the 2011 World Athletics Championships as the youngest 100 m world champion ever, and a silver medal in the 2012 Olympic Games in London in the 100 m and 200 m races for the Jamaican team behind Usain Bolt. His times of 9.75 in 100 m and 19.44 in 200 m are the fastest 100 m and 200 m Olympic sprints in history to place second.