On the second day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
Two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree.

St Stephens Day
Feast day for the first Christian martyr.

Boxing Day
Traditionally Christmas gifts are given to servants and trades people.

Wren Day
A European folk event celebrating the hunt for the Winter wren.

1716
Poet Thomas Gray born in Cornhill, London, England.
Best known for his poem Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard.

1791
English mathematician and engineer Charles Babbage born in London, EngLand.
He is best known for developing the idea of the programmable computer.

1799
During his eulogy of the recently deceased George Washington, General Henry Lee tells a crowd of 4,000 that the first President was: "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen."

1891
American expatriate novelist Henry Miller (Tropic of Cancer) born in New York.

1893
Leader Communist China and occasional poet Mao tse Tung born in Shaoshan in the Hunan province of China.

1908
Boxer Jack Johnson becomes the first Black heavyweight boxing champ by beating Tommy Burns in 14 rounds.

1913
The last word from Ambrose Bierce comes out of Mexico, where he was traveling with Pancho Villa.
He is never heard from again.

1919
Babe Ruth of the Boston Red Sox is sold to the New York Yankees by owner Harry Frazee.
This is the start of the so-called Curse of the Bambino.

1921
Talk show host, musician Steve Allen born in New York.

1939
W.C. Handy records the classic “St. Louis Blues”.

1940
Rock music producer Phil Spector born in Bronx, New York.

1941
The fourth Thursday of November is established as Thanksgiving Day in the United States.

1956
Humorist and author David Sedaris born near Binghamton, New York.

1963
Capitol Records released the Beatles song “I Want to Hold Your Hand”

1967
The Beatles self directed film, Magical Mystery Tour premiers on BBC-TV.

1972
The Christmas bombing of North Vietnam continues when 120 American B-52 Stratofortress bombers attacked Hanoi.
This is the the largest single combat launch in Strategic Air Command history.

1982
Time's Man of the Year is the non-human personal computer.

1991
The Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union meets and formally dissolves the Soviet Union.

1996
Six-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey was found beaten and strangled in the basement of her family's home in Boulder, Colorado.

Today from Chamber's Book of Days