On This Day, Dec. 26: Earthquake devastates Iran, kills tens of thousands

Dec. 26 (UPI) -- On this date in history:

In 1776, American forces under Gen. George Washington, having crossed the Delaware River on Christmas night, defeated Hessian mercenary troops fighting for the British at the Battle of Trenton, N.J.

In 1908, Jack Johnson, with a 14th-round KO of Tommy Burns in Australia, became the first African-American to win the world heavyweight boxing title.

In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson signed an order giving the federal government control over operation of U.S. railroads for the duration of World War I.

In 1935, Shenandoah National Park was established in northern Virginia.

In 1966, the first Kwanzaa, created by Maulana Karenga, was observed. The seven-day holiday celebrates African and African-American history and culture.

In 1972, Harry S. Truman, 33rd president of the United States, died at age 88.

In 1990, Nancy Cruzan, the focus of a right-to-die case that went to the U.S. Supreme Court, died in a Missouri hospital.

In 1996, child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey, 6, was found slain in a basement room of her family's Boulder, Colo., home.

In 2003, more than 34,000 people were killed and thousands injured when an earthquake struck the ancient city of Bam in southeastern Iran.

In 2003, the death toll was reported at 135 after a Boeing 727 crash in the West African country of Benin.

In 2004, an earthquake-triggered tsunami raced across the Indian Ocean with 40-foot-high waves slamming into India, Thailand, Indonesia and several other countries, killing at least 225,000 people and leaving thousands injured. It was one of the world's worst natural disasters.

In 2006, Gerald R. Ford, 38th president of the United States, died at his home in Rancho Mirage, Calif., at the age of 93.

In 2012, China opened the world's longest high-speed railway connecting Beijing to the southern city of Guangzhou.

In 2019, the sun and moon gave Earth its final solar eclipse of the decade, viewable across parts of Indonesia, southern India, Oman and Saudi Arabia.

In 2021, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the theologian and human rights activist who helped end apartheid in South Africa, died in Cape Town. He was 90.