Today in History 12/26/16

Today in History
(1908) Jack Johnson is first black heavyweight boxing champion
(GERMANY OUT) Australia: Open air Heavyweight World Championship fight between the reigning world champion Tommy Burns (Canada, left) and challenger Jack Johnson (*31.03.1878-10.06.1946+, USA, right) in front of 20.000 spectators at Rushcutters Bay near Sydney - 1908 - Photographer: Philipp Kester - Vintage property of ullstein bild (Photo by Philipp Kester/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
American fighter Jack Johnson, the son of two former slaves, defeats Canadian Tommy Burns in Sydney, Australia. The fight lasts 14 rounds until police stop it and the title is awarded to Johnson on a referee’s decision. Johnson will hold the title until 1915 when he’ll lose a grueling fight with a working cowboy.

Tommy Burns, born Noah Brusso, is the only Canadian-born World Heavyweight Boxing Champion. The first to travel the globe in defending his title, Tommy made 11 title defences despite often being the underdog due to his size. Burns famously challenged all comers as Heavyweight Champion, leading to a celebrated bout with the American Jack Johnson. According to his biographer, Burns insisted, “I will defend my title against all comers, none barred. By this I mean white, black, Mexican, Indian, or any other nationality. I propose to be the champion of the world, not the white, or the Canadian, or the American. If I am not the best man in the heavyweight division, I don’t want the title.”

Born: Jun 17, 1881 · Chesley, Canada
Died: May 10, 1955 · Vancouver, Canada
Height: 5′ 7″ (1.70 m)
Martial art: Boxing
Boxer weight division: Heavyweight

Highlights

  • 1903: In June 1903, he was discovered playing lacrosse under an assumed name for a Detroit team that was playing in Chatham, Ontario.

  • 1904: After starting his boxing career under his real name, in 1904 Brusso took the Scottish-sounding name of Tommy Burns.

  • 1906: When Burns met Marvin Hart for the heavyweight championship of the world on February 23, 1906, Burns was a 2-1 underdog and the betting was 10-7 that he would not last ten rounds.

  • 1908: In December 1908, Burns agreed to a bout with Jack Johnson, becoming the first fighter to agree to a heavyweight championship bout with an African American.

  • 1909: In 1909 in Vancouver, B.C., Johnson told a crowd of people that Burns deserved credit as the only white heavyweight who ever gave a black man a chance to win the title.

  • 1920: A month before his 39th birthday in 1920, Burns challenged British champion Joe Beckett.

  • 1954: He died while visiting a church friend in Vancouver, British Columbia, suffering a heart attack at age 73.

— Source: wiki/Tommy_Burns_(boxer)
(1966) The first Kwanzaa holiday is celebrated
Portrait of African American author, activist, and professor Maulana Karenga with his wife Tiamoya celebrating Kwanzaa, ca.2000. Karenga created the Kwanzaa holiday in 1966; he and his wife are standing behind a table laid out for the holiday, including kinara candles. (Photo by Robert Abbott Sengstacke/Getty Images)
Professor Maulana Karenga develops Kwanzaa in the wake of the deadly Watts riots to help build community among black people. The seven-day nonreligious holiday, inspired by African harvest festivals, focuses on seven principles, such as unity and purpose, to celebrate black culture.

Kwanzaa is a week-long celebration held in the United States and in other nations of the Western African diaspora in the Americas. The celebration honors African heritage in African-American culture, and is observed from December 26 to January 1, culminating in a feast and gift-giving. Kwanzaa has seven core principles. It was created by Maulana Karenga and was first celebrated in 1966–67.

— Source: wiki/Kwanzaa
(1972) Former US President Harry Truman dies at age 88
(GERMANY OUT) Truman, Harry S. *08.05.1884-26.12.1972+Staatspraesident (1945-1953), USA- Portrait- 1972 (Photo by ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
The 33rd president of the US dies of multiple-organ failure after several weeks in the hospital. His wife, Bess, will opt for a small private burial in their hometown of Independence, Missouri, instead of a state funeral in DC, thinking it a more fitting goodbye for the down-to-earth Truman.

Harry S. Truman was an American politician who served as the 33rd President of the United States, coming to office on the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt in the last months of World War II. He is known for launching the Marshall Plan to rebuild the economy of Western Europe, for leading the Cold War against Soviet communism through the Truman doctrine and NATO, and for engaging in a stalemate in the Korean War. In domestic affairs, he was a moderate Democrat whose liberal proposals were a continuation of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, but the Conservative-dominated Congress blocked most of them. He used presidential authority to mandate equal treatment for blacks in the military and put civil rights on the national political agenda.

Lived: May 08, 1884 – Dec 26, 1972 (age 88)
Height: 5′ 8″ (1.73 m)
Party: Democratic Party
Successor: Dwight D. Eisenhower
Vice President: Alben Barkley
Education: University of Missouri-Kansas City · University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law · William Chrisman High School

Highlights

  • 1919: After his wartime service, Truman returned to Independence, where he married Bess Wallace on June 28, 1919.

  • 1934: Truman then thought that he might serve out his career in some well-paying county sinecure, but circumstances changed when Pendergast reluctantly backed him in the 1934 Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate after four other potential candidates turned him down.

  • 1945: Truman was sworn in as vice president on January 20, 1945.

  • 1945: Truman had been vice president for 82 days when President Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945.

  • 1948: Truman maintained that civil rights were a moral priority, and in 1948 submitted the first comprehensive civil rights legislation and issued Executive Orders to start racial integration in the military and federal agencies.

  • 1950: On November 1, 1950, Puerto Rican nationalists Griselio Torresola and Oscar Collazo attempted to assassinate Truman at Blair House.

— Source: wiki/Harry_S._Truman
(2004) Indian Ocean earthquake triggers tsunamis, killing over 230,000
FILE - In this Dec. 26, 2004 file photo, tidal waves wash through houses at Maddampegama, about 60 kilometers (38 miles) south of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Friday marks the 10th anniversary of one of the deadliest natural disasters in world history: a tsunami, triggered by a massive earthquake off the Indonesian coast, leaving more than 230,000 people dead in 14 countries and causing about $10 billion in damage. Countries from Indonesia to India to Africa's east coast were hit, leaving shocking scenes of death and destruction. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe, File)
A 9.3 magnitude underwater earthquake off the coast of Sumatra creates huge tsunamis that devastate Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, and other areas in the Indian Ocean. Many of the countries hit lack tsunami warning systems, so people have little time to escape the deadly walls of water.

The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on 26 December with the epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The shock had a moment magnitude of 9.1–9.3 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX. The undersea megathrust earthquake was caused when the Indian Plate was subducted by the Burma Plate and triggered a series of devastating tsunamis along the coasts of most landmasses bordering the Indian Ocean, killing 230,000–280,000 people in 14 countries, and inundating coastal communities with waves up to 30 metres high. It was one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history. Indonesia was the hardest-hit country, followed by Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand.

Fatalities: 280,000
Date: Dec 26, 2004

— Source: wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake_and_tsunami
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