December 26
The first day of the first Kwanzaa is celebrated in Los Angeles under the direction of Maulana Karenga, the chair of Black Studies at California State University in Long Beach. The seven-day holiday, which has strong African roots, was designed by Dr. Karenga as a celebration of African American family, community, and culture. – 1966.
A powerful earthquake off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, on this day in 2004 sets off a tsunami that wreaks death and devastation across the Indian Ocean coastline. The quake was the second strongest recorded and the estimated 230,000 dead made this disaster one of the 10 worst of all time. – 2004.
December 27
U.S. president Franklin Roosevelt seizes the railroads to avert a nationwide strike. His decision to temporarily place the railroads under the supervision of the War Department prompts the five railroad brotherhoods to agree to his offer to arbitrate the wage dispute. – 1943.
In an attempt to stabilize the turbulent political situation in Afghanistan, the Soviet Union sends 75,000 troops to enforce the installation of Babrak Karmal as the new leader of the nation. The new government and the imposing Soviet presence, however, had little success in putting down anti-government rebels. Thus began nearly 10 years of an agonizing, destructive, and ultimately fruitless Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan. – 1979.
December 28
The world’s first commercial movie screening takes place at the Grand Cafe in Paris. The film was made by Louis and Auguste Lumiere, two French brothers who developed a camera-projector called the Cinematographe. The Lumiere brothers unveiled their invention to the public in March 1895 with a brief film showing workers leaving the Lumiere factory. The entrepreneurial siblings screened a series of short scenes from every-day French life and charged admission for the first time. – 1895.
An earthquake in Sicily kills more than 100,000 persons and destroys several towns. The 7.5-magnitude tremor off the coast of the large island was responsible for deaths on the Italian mainland. – 1908.
December 29
Six months after the Congress of the Republic of Texas accepts U.S. annexation of the territory, Texas is admitted into the United States as the 28th state. – 1845.
In the final chapter of America’s long Indian wars, the U.S. Cavalry kills 146 Sioux at Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota. – 1890.
After years of intensive lobbying by the labor movement, a comprehensive National safety law is enacted when president Richard Nixon signs the Occupational Safety & Health Act of 1970, to create the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA). – 1970.
More than 15,000 United Steel Workers members at 16 Goodyear Tire & Rubber plants end an 86-day strike and ratify a three-year contract. – 2006.
December 30
In post-revolutionary Russia, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) is established, which comprises a confederation of Russia, Belorussia, Ukraine, and the Transcaucasian Federation, divided in 1936 into the Georgian, Azerbaijan, and Armenian republics. Known as the Soviet Union, the new communist state was the successor to the Russian Empire and the first country in the world to be based on Marxist socialism. – 1922.
December 31
Nearly 60,000 unemployed workers rally at a Pittsburgh stadium. – 1931.
The United States, in accordance with the Torrijos-Carter Treaties, officially hands over control of the Panama Canal, to put the strategic waterway into Panamanian hands for the first time. Crowds of Panamanians celebrated the transfer of the 50-mile canal, which links the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. – 1999.
January 1
With the Great Depression in full force, the year 1932 opens with 14 million unemployed, National income is down by 50% and breadlines include former shopkeepers, businessmen, and middle-class housewives. Charity is overwhelmed: Only one-quarter of America’s unemployed are receiving any help at all. – 1932.
Workers begin to acquire credits toward Social Security pension benefits. Employers and employees became subject to a tax of one percent of wages on up to $3,000 a year. – 1937.
Facing a popular revolution spearheaded by Fidel Castro’s 26th of July Movement, Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista flees the island nation. Amid celebration and chaos in the Cuban capitol of Havana, the U.S. debated how best to deal with the radical Castro and the ominous rumblings of anti-Americanism in Cuba. – 1959.