What happened on 26 December?

9 events from the Ever-When timeline, ranked by how much they mattered.

1. 1991 Dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union formally ceases to exist, following the formation of the CIS and Gorbachev's resignation the previous day.
2. 1893 Born: Mao Zedong Founding leader of the People's Republic of China.
3. 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami Magnitude-9 quake off Sumatra triggers a tsunami that kills around 230,000.
4. 1825 Decembrist revolt Russian officers' failed uprising against Nicholas I.
5. 1791 Born: Charles Babbage English mathematician and inventor; designed the Difference and Analytical Engines, the mechanical forerunners of the computer.
6. 1950 Ridgway steadies the line Matthew Ridgway takes command of a beaten Eighth Army in mid-retreat — and within weeks restores its fighting spirit, halts the Chinese, and grinds them back to the 38th parallel b
7. 1647 Charles I's secret Engagement with the Scots A prisoner at Carisbrooke Castle, Charles I signs a secret treaty promising Presbyterianism in England for three years in exchange for a Scottish invasion on his behalf. When it co
8. 1957 Bergman's Wild Strawberries An ageing professor drives to Lund to receive an honorary degree and relives his life in dreams and memories — Bergman's most tender film, with silent-era director Victor Sjöström
9. 1662 Molière's The School for Wives A middle-aged man raises his ward in total ignorance to make her a faithful wife — and fails; Molière's first great success provokes a 'quarrel' of pamphlets and counter-plays.