On Christmas night 1776 George Washington took about 2,400 men of the Continental Army across the ice-choked Delaware River at McConkey's Ferry in a storm, and marched on the Hessian garrison at Trenton, which he surprised the next morning. On Christmas Day 1941 the British colony of Hong Kong surrendered to Japan after eighteen days of fighting.1
Washington Crossing the Delaware 1776: the night and the painting
Night of 25 to 26 December 1776 · 249 years ago
On Christmas night George Washington took about 2,400 men and 18 guns across the ice-filled Delaware River at McConkey's Ferry in a storm, hours behind schedule, and marched on the Hessian garrison at Trenton. Emanuel Leutze's 1851 painting of the crossing hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Read the full story of Washington Crossing the Delaware 1776: the night and the painting ›Siege of Kolding, 1658: Czarniecki's Poles storm a Danish royal castle
25 December 1658 · 367 years ago
Polish troops under Stefan Czarniecki stormed Swedish-held Kolding, a former residence of Danish kings in Jutland, during the Dano-Swedish War. The small Swedish garrison beat back two assaults and refused to yield, but a third attack broke into the castle.
Read the full story of Siege of Kolding, 1658: Czarniecki's Poles storm a Danish royal castle ›
