December 26

December 26 is the 361st day of the year, and the American record for it runs from 1776 to 1943 — a span of 167 years. The entry that anchors it: American Revolutionary War, 1776.

The revolutionary generation left its own mark on the date. In 1776, 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)

The antebellum decades brought the date closer to the country’s central argument. In 1861, 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. A year later, in 1862, 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. The same year, Dakota War of 1862 — the largest mass-hanging in U.S. history takes place in Mankato, Minnesota, where 38 Native American prisoners are hanged.

The early twentieth century brought industry, air travel and war to the date. In 1919, American baseball player Babe Ruth was sold by the Boston Red Sox to their rivals, the New York Yankees, beginning the 84-year-long "Curse of the Bambino" Then, in 1941, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a bill establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day in the United States. The same year, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill addresses a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress. Two years on, in 1943, 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.

The date is also a birthday. Among the Americans born on December 26: E. D. E. N. Southworth (1819), American author and educator; Morgan Bulkeley (1837), American soldier and politician, 54th governor of Connecticut; George Dewey (1837), American admiral; William Stephens (1859), American lawyer and politician, 24th Governor of California; and Bazoline Estelle Usher (1885), African-American educator.

December 26 is also a date of endings. Among the Americans who died on it: Seth Warner (1784), American colonel; Mary Hartwell Catherwood (1902), American author and poet; Frederic Remington (1909), American painter and illustrator; and Melvil Dewey (1931), American librarian and educator, created the Dewey Decimal Classification.

The date carries formal observance as well — The first day of Kwanzaa, celebrated until January 1 (United States). What holds these 8 entries together is nothing more than the calendar, and nothing less. 167 years separate the earliest from the latest, and each was once simply the present day.