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1867. Birth of Ignacy Moscicki († 2 Oct. 1946), chemist, politician, and President of Poland from 1926 to 1939. He patented a method for the inexpensive industrial production of nitric acid.
1925. Signing of the Locarno Treaties, in which the First World War Western European Allied powers and the new states of Central and Eastern Europe sought to secure the post-war territorial settlement, and return normalizing relations with defeated Germany.
1939. Reichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler orders the deportation of Polish Jews.
1944. Tehran Conference. Poland is handed over to the Soviet sphere of influence.
1896. Death of explorer Stefan Rogodzinski, famous for exploits in Africa.
1873. Founding of the Polish Roman Catholic Union.
1945. Premier of Stanislaw Moniuszko opera “Verbum Nobile,” in Warsaw.
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1948. Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals named MVP; led the NL in batting average (.365), runs (135), RBI (131), hits (230), doubles (46), triples (18), and slugging (.702), with 39 HRs.
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1857. Birth of Joseph Conrad († 1924), novelist, in Berdychiv, Poland, as Teodor Józef Konrad Korzeniowski. He is best known for “Heart of Darkness.”
1983. Death of Hall of Fame golfer Al Watrous.
1899. Founding of the Polish Beneficial Association, Philadelphia.
1854. About 800 Polish settlers arrive in Galveston, Texas after a nine-week voyage. The walk over 200 miles from the port to Panna Maria, where they hold Christmas Eve Mass outdoors.
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ST. BARBARA
St. Barbara is the patron saint of miners, sappers, engineers, artillerymen, and other people who work with explosive substances. She is believed to protect people from sudden and violent death. It is also known as Barbórka. Polish miners parade the streets in full uniform and carry the flags of mines or church parishes.
Niechaj każdy pamięta, jaka Barbara, takie święta.
Let everyone remember: as (the weather on) St. Barbara’s Day, so the holidays.
1881. Felician Sisters first came to Buffalo to teach at St. Stanislaus.
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1916. Birth in Warsaw of Dr. Hilary Koprowski, who in 1950 administered the first ever oral Polio vaccine, a key component in the successful defeat of the Polio disease.
1925. Death of Nobel laureate Władysław S. Reymont.
1867. Birth of Josef Pilsudski, Polish military leader, victor at the Battle of the Vistula, and post-World War I leader of a free Poland.
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ST. NICHOLAS
Święty Mikołaj is a revered figure in Polish tradition, celebrated today, Mikołajki. He is a bishop who brings gifts, rather than just the modern Santa Claus. He visits children to reward good behavior, often leaving small gifts, sweets, or birch branches under pillows or in cleaned shoes.
1914. German troops overrun Łódź.
1970. German-Polish pact acknowledges Oder-Niese Polish border. It renounces use of force to settle disputes, recognizing the Oder-Neisse River as Poland’s western frontier, and acknowledges transfer to Poland of 40,000 square miles of former German territory.
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1970. Poland and West Germany sign Oder-Niese Polish border pact.
1279. Death of Bolesław V the Chaste
1923.
Birth of Polish American TV star Ted Knight (Konopka), best remembered for his roles in “Cady Shack,” and as Ted Baxter on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” († 26 Aug. 1986)
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1984. Death of Walter Joseph Ciszek, S.J., (born Nov. 4, 1904), Polish-American Jesuit priest who conducted clandestine missionary work in the Soviet Union between 1939 and 1963.
1941. Chelmno extermination camp opened in Nazi-occupied Poland.
2000. Death of Fr. Walter E. Pelczynski, MIC, founding director of the Marian Helpers.
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1990. Shipyard electrician and Solidarity Trade Union leader Lech Walesa elected president of Poland.
1922. Gabriel Narutowicz was elected the first president of the Second Polish Republic. He served as president of Poland for a mere five days, after which he was assassinated by oppositionist Eligiusz Niewiadomski at the Zachęta Art Gallery in Warsaw. His story was made into a famous movie in Poland entitled Smierc Prezydenta (Death of a President).
2022
Kto rano wstaje, temu Pan Bóg daje.
Whoever gets up in the morning, God gives to him.
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1850. Józef Bem dies in Aleppo. He was a Polish engineer and general, an Ottoman pasha, and a national hero of Poland and Hungary, and a figure intertwined with other European patriotic movements of the first half of 19th century.
1944. Death of John Dende, publisher of Republik-Gornik, the forerunner to the Polish American Journal.
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National Independence Day
Today commemorates the day in 1918 when Poland regained its independence after being partitioned by Russia, Prussia, and Austria for 123 years.
1949. Johnny Lujack of the Chicago Bears passed for 468 yards and six touchdowns in a 52-21 rout of the Chicago Cardinals.
1779. Birth of Alexander Zakrzewski (†1863), Polish-American lithographer who drew one of the first plans of San Francisco.
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1860. Birth Jan Kasprowicz, poet, playwright, critic and translator. Of a humble background, Kasprowicz received a doctorate from Lwow University and eventually became the head of the Department of Comparative Literature. He taught himself several languages including Latin, Greek, French and English.
1586. Death of King Stefan Batory in Grodno. From 1576 he was Queen Anna Jagiellon’s husband and iure uxoris King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. Although he reigned only a decade, he is one of the most successful kings in Polish history.
1501. Coronation of Alexander Jagiellon
1970. “December ‘70” Polish demonstrations against food price hikes.
1924. Birth of Ed Koch, former New York mayor of Jewish-Polish ancestry.
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1981. In Poland Gen. Jaruzelski imposes martial law, effective at midnight, restricting civil rights and suspending operation of the independent trade union Solidarity. Thousands of activists, intellectuals, and cultural figures were arrested, including labor leader Lech Walesa. Martial law formally ended in 1983.
1570. Signing of the Treaty of Stettin concludes the Northern Seven Years’ War, fought between the Kingdom of Sweden and a coalition of Denmark–Norway, Lübeck, and Poland–Lithuania between 1563 and 1570.
1945. Władysław Gomulka named secretary general of the Communist Party in Poland.
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1902. Birth of Billy Burke, prominent and professional golfer in the 1930s. Born in Connecticut William John Borkowski, he won the U.S. Open in 1931 and participated on the Ryder Cup team.
1970. Government price hikes in Poland spark bloody labor protests on the Coast, Gdańsk, Gdynia and Szczecin. To this day no one is certain how many people were killed. Władysław Gomulka is deposed as party leader and replaced with the first secretary of Katowice [Silesia] communist party, Edward Gierek.
1980. After four days of meetings, members of NATO warned the Soviets to stay out of the internal affairs of Poland, saying that intervention would effectively destroy the detente between East and West.
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1824. Birth of Juliusz Kossak († 3 Feb. 1899), first of three generations of prominent internationally respected painters and artists; father of Wojciech Kossak and grandfather of Jerzy Kossak.
1575. Election of Stefan Bátory (1533–1586). Batory was Voivode of Transylvania (1571–76), Prince of Transylvania (1576–86), from 1576 Queen Anna Jagiellon’s husband and jure uxoris King of Poland. Many historians consider him to be one of the greatest of the elected Kings of Poland.
1859. Birth of Lazarus Ludovic Zamenhof, developer of Esperanto, the International Language, in Bialystok, near Lithuanian, Poland and Byelorussia borders.
1930. Birth of New York Yankee great Bill “Moose” Skowron.
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1938. Birth of Zbigniew Religa, prominent Polish cardiologist and politician. He was a pioneer in human heart transplants in Poland and also served in the Senate of Poland.
1922. Stanisław Wojciechowski becomes president of Poland upon assassination of Gabriel Narutowicz.
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1897. Birth of Wladyslaw Broniewski, poet and soldier. He made his literary debut in 1925 with the poem Bagnat na Bron (Bayonets Ready). This work has become a classic of patriotic war poetry.
1970. Riot police, under orders from defense minister Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski, opened fire on workers protesting food price increases and 44 people were killed in Gdańsk, Gdynia, Szczecin, and Elblag. A case against Jaruzelski was opened in 1996 and in 1999 a court ruled that medical reasons would not exempt him from trial. The Jaruzelski trial began in 2001.
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1970. In Poland, rioting continues. Troops and tanks patrolled Polish streets. 20 people were killed in the riots as they protested increased. food prices.
1929. Birth of Cardinal Józef Glemp (†23 Jan. 2013) Archbishop of Warsaw (1981-2006), elevated to the cardinalate in 1983. He assumed the title of Primate of Poland following Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński’s death in 1981.
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1866. Birth of Edmund Biernacki, physician famous for the Biernacki Reaction, a discovery in bloodwork that the rate at which red corpuscles separate could help identify a patient’s disease.
1852. Birth of Polish Jewish scientist A.A. Michelson, 1907 Nobel Prize winner in Physics.
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1981. Pope John Paul II gives homily asking for solidarity with the Polish people and for prayers for those who were killed, wounded, or arrested following the declaration of martial law. He also entrusted Poland to the protection of the Mother of God.
1982. Death of Chopin advocate and pianist Arthur Rubinstein.
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ST. THOMAS
Winszujemy Święty Tomy, żeby nie był żaden ślepy ani chromy.
Wishing you, on St. Thomas Day, that no one be blind or ill.
1955. Birth of in Milwaukee of actress Jane Frances Kaczmarek, whorose to fame for her role as Lois on the Fox sitcom Malcolm in the Middle, earning her seven Primetime Emmy and three Golden Globe nominations. Her career began in the 1980s with roles in films and television series like St. Elsewhere, Hill Street Blues, and The Paper Chase. She also appeared in the film Falling in Love with Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep. She is the daughter of Evelyn (née Gregorska), a teacher, and Edward Kaczmarek, a U.S. Department of Defense worker.
1898. In Paris, Marie, 31, and Pierre Curie, Polish and French chemists, discover radium.
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1990. Lech Wałęsa becomes Poland’s first non-Communist president since World War II. At the ceremony in Warsaw’s Royal Castle, Wałęsa received the symbols of the Polish Republic from Ryszard Kaczorowski, the last president of the government-in-exile.
1995. Aleksander Kwaśniewski became president, narrowly defeating Wałęsa. Kwaśniewski was previously a member of Poland’s communist party.
1982. Richard Trumka sworn in as president of United Mine Workers.
1959. Death of actress Gilda Grey (Maryanna Michalska), popular actress of the 1920s.
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ST. JOHN KANTY
Feastday of Jan z Kęt (June 3, 1390-Dec. 24, 1473), Polish Catholic priest, scholastic philosopher, physicist, and theologian.
2005. Lech Kaczyński becomes president of Poland.
1937. Birth of first Polish American astronaut, Karol Bobko (†2023). 1895. Death of Henry Kalusowski, Polish-born U.S. government official who translated the Russian documents dealing with the purchase of Alaska.
1981. In response to declaration of martial law in Poland, President Ronald Reagan declares economic sanctions.
1925. Founding of the Kościuszko Foundation in New York City.
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DZIEŃ WIGILIJNY
Jak będzie Wigilia, tak będzie caly rok.
As goes Wigilia, so goes the entire year.
1798. Birth of Adam Mickiewicz (“Pan Tadeusz”), considered Poland’s greatest poet.
1854. About 100 families from Upper Silesia arrive in Panna Maria, Texas to establish the first permanent Polish settlement in the United States. Fr. Leopold Moczygemba holds Midnight Mass under a large oak tree that still stands today.
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BOŻE NARODZENIA
According to Polish tradition, the 12 days of Christmas predict the weather for next 12 months.
1025. Coronation of Mieszko II Lambert
1076. Coronation of Bolesław II the Bold
1745. Prussia and Austria signed the Treaty of Dresden. This gave much of Silesia to the Prussians.
1895. Birth of Stefan Rowecki, Polish General, journalist and leader of Poland’s Home Army. He used the code name “Grot” for his activities in the A.K.
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ST. STEPHEN
Na Święty Szczepan, kaźdy sobie pan.
On St. Stephen’s Day, everyone is master.
Today is day of the Christmas season to visit with family and friends and the official day for koledy (caroling) to begin, lasting until February 2nd.
1655. Swedes withdraw from Poland.
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ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST
1587. Coronation of Sigismund III Waza
1918. Powstanie Wielkopolskie (Greater Poland Insurrection) begins.
1983. Pope John Paul II meets in prison with and forgives Ali Agca, who tried to assassinate him.
1955. Death of Polonian activist Dr. Francis E. Fronczak (b. Sept 20, 1874).
1587. Coronation of Zygmunt III, King of Poland.
1892. Death of Joseph Karge, Polish-American general in New Jersey’s Union cavalry during the Civil War. He later became a professor at Princeton.
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1939. Death of Polish historian of law, bibliographer, professor, and rector of the Jagiellonian University, Stanisław Estreicher (b. Nov. 26, 1869), in the Nazi German concentration camp Sachsenhausen. He was sentenced to death for refusing Nazi Germany’s request to form a puppet government in occupied Poland.
1899. Birth of Eugeniusz Bodo, (nee Bohdan Eugene Junod) film director, producer, singer, pianist and one of the most popular Polish actors and comedians of the interwar period. Arrested by the Soviet NKVD in the aftermath of the German and Soviet invasion of Poland, he was executed in a Soviet Gulag on Oct. 7, 1943.
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1989. Poland’s Sejm adopts an act amending the Constitution of the People’s Republic of Poland, under which the name of the country was changed from the People’s Republic of Poland to the Republic of Poland, and the crown of the white eagle was restored to the Coat of arms. It is considered to be a symbolical end of the communist regime in Poland.
1820. Birth of Tytus Chalubinski, physician who established the famous tuberculosis sanatoria in Zakopane, Poland. He was a professor and dean of the Medical Surgical Academy in Warsawgb.
1966. Celebration of the Polish Millennium of Christianity.
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1956. Birth of Jacek Wszola, Polish Olympic highjumper who won the Gold Medal in 1976 in Montreal and the Silver Medal in 1980 in Moscow. At one time, Wszola held the world record for the high jump at 2.32 meters.
1959. Birth of actress Tracey Ullman.
1977. President Jimmy Carter visits Poland.
1994. Consecration of Bishop John W. Yanta, D.D. (†2022), at Panna Maria. He is the first Polish American Texan given this honor.
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ST. SYLVESTER
In Poland, Sylwester is the common name for New Year’s Eve, celebrated in honor of Saint Sylvester I (Pope Sylvester), who passed away on that day in 335 AD. It is a major, festive occasion marked by parties, balls, fireworks, and public celebrations in city squares.
Niech już wystrzelą korki szampana,
A ty baw się świetnie do białego rana!
Let the champagne corks become airborne,
and you will play ‘til early morn!
1989. The People’s Republic of Poland officially becomes the Third Republic of Poland.
