Clara Barton, American nurse and humanitarian, founder of the American Red Cross (died 1912)

Clarissa Harlowe Barton was an American nurse who founded the American Red Cross. She was a hospital nurse in the American Civil War, a teacher, and a patent clerk. Since nursing education was not then very formalized and she did not attend nursing school, she provided self-taught nursing care. Barton is noteworthy for doing humanitarian work and civil rights advocacy at a time before women had the right to vote. She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1973.

The American National Red Cross sometimes referred to as ANRC, is a nonprofit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. Clara Barton founded the organization in 1881 after initially learning of the Red Cross, founded 1863 in Geneva, Switzerland. It is the designated American affiliate of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

December 25 is the 359th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; six days remain until the end of the year.