History of the Week: Christmas, Trenton, Cicero, Emancipation Procl., Secession, Patton, Tolkien, Mao, Kipling, Revere, & More

Happy tenth day of Christmas! Below are just a few of the important events that occurred in history over these past two weeks.

Dec. 20

1860 – Following the election of Republican Abraham Lincoln to the US presidency, despite Democrat shenanigans such as not having Lincoln on the ballot in some states (sound familiar to today?), the slave state of South Carolina secedes from the Union. This began a movement of seceding states that formed the Confederacy, for the express purpose of preserving and furthering the institution of slavery. Lincoln had not yet taken office, and he intended to pursue a gradual process of eliminating slavery. Here, in their own words, are the South Carolinians’ reasons for seceding:

“[A]n increasing hostility on the part of the non-slaveholding States to the institution of slavery, …all the States north of that line have united in the election of a man to the high office of President of the United States, whose opinions and purposes are hostile to slavery.”

It is vital to note that South Carolina openly avowed it was seceding specifically to safeguard slavery, which helps explain the appalling war crimes of the Confederates later in the war.

December 21

69 – Vespasian is confirmed as emperor by the Roman Senate.

1864 – Confederate Savannah surrenders to Union Gen. Sherman during the Civil War, marking the end of Sherman’s famous March to the Sea campaign. 

1945 – Gen. George Patton dies in a hospital after a suspicious vehicle accident in Germany.  There is evidence, including testimony from a man who claimed to have been involved in the plot, that Patton was assassinated by American high command (possibly by poison while he was in the hospital).  According to the Museum of the American G.I., Patton “is recognized as the greatest battlefield commander and well-known American general from the modern war era.”

Dec. 22

December 22

1783 – Gen. George Washington appears before the Continental Congress to resignhis position as commander-in-chief voluntarily. He could have been king or a military dictator, but he chose instead to give up power and return to private life. Washington’s speech was emotional, and there was reportedly much weeping. Everyone there knew that the American Revolution would have been a lost cause without Washington. Washington’s surrender of power has always been admired as a rare occurrence in history among successful leaders and a testament to Washington’s own integrity and republicanism.

1808 – Ludwig von Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 premiers.

Dec. 23

1948 – “Hideki Tojo, former Japanese premier …is executed along with six other top Japanese leaders for their war crimes.”

December 24

1745 – U.S. Founder Benjamin Rush is born.

1818 – Franz Gruber’s “Silent Night” is sung for the first time.
Dec. 25

1 AD – Traditional date of Jesus’s birth.

496 – King Clovis I of the Franks is baptized, marking the start of Catholic monarchy in France

1776 – Gen. George Washington, with the help of the Massachusetts Marbleheaders, achieves the remarkable feat of getting his ill-equipped army across the ice-filled Delaware River and launching a successful attack on the (British-hired) Hessians at Trenton.

Dec. 26

1893 – Worst mass murderer Mao Zedong is born.

Dec. 27

1571 – Hugely impactful German astronomer Johannes Kepler is born.

1822 – French scientist Louis Pasteur is born

Dec. 29

1170 – Four knights murder Archbishop St. Thomas a Becket as the culmination of Becket’s feud with the king over his attempt to meddle in church affairs.

1916 – Grigori Rasputin, the “Mad Monk,” is killed in Russia.

Dec. 30

1865 – Rudyard Kipling is born.

1922 – Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) is established

Dec. 31

406 – The barbarian Germanic tribes cross the Rhine to invade Roman territory.

Jan. 1

1735 – Silversmith and Patriot Paul Revere is born. 

1752 – Betsy Ross is born

1801 – The Act of Union makes Ireland officially part of Great Britain

1863 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln issues the immortal Emancipation Proclamation freeing all slaves in Confederate states.

Jan. 2

1492 – Boabdil, Muslim emir of Granada, surrenders to Catholic Spanish monarchs Isabel and Ferdinand, end of Reconquista.

January 3

106 BC – Roman statesman and thinker Marcus Tullius Cicero is born. Cicero is considered ancient Rome’s greatest orator, and he was also a brilliant philosopher. Cicero’s defense of the constitutional Roman Republic inspired the Founders.

1777 – Gen. Washington and his troops rout the British at the Battle of Princeton.

1892 – JRR Tolkien born.

Read more events on Substack!