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December 26

Published in On this Day listing

2004 An earthquake and tsunami with its epicentre off northern Sumatra, Indonesia, killed an estimated 227,898 in fourteen countries. It was one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history.
1591 Red Hugh O’Donnell and Henry and Art O’Neill escaped from Dublin Castle and were subsequently rescued in the Dublin mountains by Fiach MacHugh O’Byrne. Art O’Neill died of exposure but O’Donnell returned safely to Donegal.
1972 Harry S. Truman (88), 33rd US president (1945–53), whose motto was ‘The buck stops here’, died.

On this Day

1920 Recruitment began, mainly from among demobilised British Army officers, into a new force—the ‘Auxiliary Division’—to augment the RIC.
1939 Michael Longley, poet, notable for ‘Gorse Fires’ (1991), ‘The Weather in Japan’ (2000) and ‘The Stairwell’ (2014), born in Belfast of English parents.
2004 Bob Tisdall (96), Olympic gold medal-winner in the 400m hurdles (Los Angeles, 1932) in a world record time of 51.7 seconds—which was not recognised under the rules at the time because he had hit a hurdle—died.
1866 The SS Great Eastern completed the laying of a transatlantic telegraph cable between Valentia Island, Co. Kerry, and Heart’s Content, Newfoundland.