On December 26

Israel recognises Somaliland as an independent state, becoming the first country to do so.

A violent tornado moved through several suburbs of Dallas, United States, killing ten and injuring almost 500 others.

A violent tornado moves through several suburbs of Dallas, Texas, killing ten and injuring almost 500 others. It was the deadliest tornado to ever hit Texas during the month of December.

Two earthquakes off the southwest coast of Taiwan damaged submarine communications cables, disrupting Internet services in Asia and affecting financial transactions.

A major earthquake and tsunami devastated communities around the Indian Ocean, killing an estimated 227,898 people in 14 countries.

The Federation of Korean Trade Unions called on its 1.2 million members to refuse to work, beginning the largest organized strike in South Korean history.

Six-year-old American beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey was found beaten and strangled in the basement of her family's home in Boulder, Colorado.

American gangster Bugsy Siegel opened The Flamingo Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, the oldest casino still in operation on the Las Vegas Strip.

Second World War: The German battleship Scharnhorst was sunk at the Battle of the North Cape during an attempt to attack Arctic convoys.

World War II: In the Battle of Cape Gloucester, American and Australian forces bombarded Japanese positions on New Britain in the Territory of New Guinea while U.S. Marines invaded from two sides of the island.

American baseball player Babe Ruth (pictured) was sold by the Boston Red Sox to their rivals, the New York Yankees, beginning the 84-year-long "Curse of the Bambino".

At the French Academy of Sciences, physicists Pierre and Marie Curie announced the discovery of a new element, naming it radium.

Thespis, the first comic opera by Gilbert and Sullivan, premiered at the Gaiety Theatre in London.

American Civil War: The Battle of Chickasaw Bayou began with Confederate defenders engaging Union forces who were attempting to capture the city of Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Imperial Russian Army officers led about 3,000 soldiers in protest against Nicholas I's assumption of the throne after his elder brother Konstantin removed himself from the line of succession.

Seventy-two people died when a theater in Richmond, Virginia, was destroyed by fire, becoming the worst urban disaster in American history at the time.

Philip Gidley King, Governor of New South Wales, ordered the formation of the Governor's Body Guard of Light Horse, described as the first full-time military unit raised in Australia.

American Revolutionary War: George Washington led a Continental Army column across the Delaware River to launch a surprise attack against Hessian forces at the Battle of Trenton (painting shown).

Johann Sebastian Bach (pictured) directed the premiere of Darzu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes, his first Christmas cantata composed in Leipzig.

The opera Agrippina, described as George Frideric Handel's first masterpiece, premiered in Venice.