August 26

Events

Pre-1600

* 683 – Yazid I's army kills 11,000 people of Medina including notable Sahabas in Battle of al-Harrah.
*1071 – The Seljuq Turks defeat the Byzantine army at the Battle of Manzikert, and soon gain control of most of Anatolia.
*1278 – Ladislaus IV of Hungary and Rudolf I of Germany defeat Ottokar II of Bohemia in the Battle on the Marchfeld near Dürnkrut in (then) Moravia.
*1303 – Chittorgarh falls to the Delhi Sultanate.
* 1346 – At the Battle of Crécy, an English army easily defeats a French one twice its size.
*1444 – Battle of St. Jakob an der Birs: A vastly outnumbered force of Swiss Confederates is defeated by the Dauphin Louis (future Louis XI of France) and his army of 'Armagnacs' near Basel.
* 1542 – Francisco de Orellana crosses South America from Guayaquil on the Pacific coast to the mouth of the Amazon River on the Atlantic coast.

1601–1900

*1642 – Dutch–Portuguese War: Second Battle of San Salvador: The Dutch force the Spanish garrison at San Salvador (modern day Keelung, Taiwan) to surrender, ending the short-lived Spanish colony on Formosa and replacing it with a new Dutch administration.
*1648 – The Fronde: First Fronde: In the wake of the successful Battle of Lens, Cardinal Mazarin, Chief Minister of France, suddenly orders the arrest of the leaders of the Parlement of Paris, provoking the rest of Paris to break into insurrection and barricade the streets the next day.
* 1748 – The first Lutheran denomination in North America, the Pennsylvania Ministerium, is founded in Philadelphia.
*1767 – Jesuits all over Chile are arrested as the Spanish Empire suppresses the Society of Jesus.
*1768 – Captain James Cook sets sail from England on board .
* 1778 – The first recorded ascent of Triglav, the highest mountain in Slovenia.
*1789 – The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen is approved by the National Constituent Assembly of France.
*1791 – John Fitch is granted a United States patent for the steamboat.
*1810 – The former viceroy Santiago de Liniers of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata is executed after the defeat of his counter-revolution.
*1813 – War of the Sixth Coalition: An impromptu battle takes place when French and Prussian-Russian forces accidentally run into each other near Liegnitz, Prussia (now Legnica, Poland).
*1814 – Chilean War of Independence: Infighting between the rebel forces of José Miguel Carrera and Bernardo O'Higgins erupts in the Battle of Las Tres Acequias.
*1833 – The great 1833 Kathmandu–Bihar earthquake causes major damage in Nepal, northern India and Tibet, a total of 500 people perish.
* 1849 – President Faustin Soulouque of the First Republic of Haiti has the Senate and Chamber of Deputies proclaim him the Emperor of Haiti, abolishing the Republic and inaugurating the Second Empire of Haiti.
*1863 – The Swedish-language liberal newspaper ''Helsingfors Dagblad'' proposed the current blue-and-white cross flag as the flag of Finland.
*1883 – The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa begins its final, paroxysmal, stage.

1901–present

*1914 – World War I: The German colony of Togoland surrenders to French and British forces after a 20-day campaign.
* 1914 – World War I: During the retreat from Mons, the British II Corps commanded by General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien fights a vigorous and successful defensive action at Le Cateau.
*1920 – The 19th amendment to United States Constitution takes effect, giving women the right to vote.
*1922 – Greco-Turkish War (1919–22): Turkish army launched what has come to be known to the Turks as the Great Offensive (Büyük Taarruz). The major Greek defense positions were overrun.
*1936 – Spanish Civil War: Santander falls to the nationalists and the republican interprovincial council is dissolved.
*1940 – World War II: Chad becomes the first French colony to join the Allies under the administration of Félix Éboué, France's first black colonial governor.
*1942 – The Holocaust in Ukraine: At Chortkiv, the Ukrainian police and German Schutzpolizei deport two thousand Jews to Bełżec extermination camp. Five hundred of the sick and children are murdered on the spot. This continued until the next day.
*1944 – World War II: Charles de Gaulle enters Paris.
*1966 – The South African Border War starts with the battle at Omugulugwombashe.
*1970 – The fiftieth anniversary of American women being able to vote is marked by a nationwide Women's Strike for Equality.
*1972 – The Games of the XX Olympiad open in Munich, West Germany.
*1977 – The Charter of the French Language is adopted by the National Assembly of Quebec.
*1978 – Papal conclave: Albino Luciani is elected as Pope John Paul I.
*1980 – After John Birges plants a bomb at Harvey's Resort Hotel in Stateline, Nevada, in the United States, the FBI inadvertently detonates the bomb during its disarming.
*1997 – Beni Ali massacre occurs in Algeria, leaving 60 to 100 people dead.
*1998 – The first flight of the Boeing Delta III ends in disaster 75 seconds after liftoff resulting in the loss of the Galaxy X communications satellite.
*1999 – Russia begins the Second Chechen War in response to the Invasion of Dagestan by the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade.
*2003 – A Beechcraft 1900 operating as Colgan Air Flight 9446 crashes after taking off from Barnstable Municipal Airport in Yarmouth, Massachusetts, killing both pilots on board.
*2009 – Kidnapping victim Jaycee Dugard is discovered alive in California after being missing for over 18 years. Her captors, Phillip and Nancy Garrido are apprehended.
*2011 – The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Boeing's all-new composite airliner, receives certification from the EASA and the FAA.
*2014 – The Jay Report into the Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal is published.
*2015 – Two U.S. journalists are shot and killed by a disgruntled former coworker while conducting a live report in Moneta, Virginia.
*2018 – Three people are killed and eleven wounded during a mass shooting at a Madden NFL '19 video game tournament in Jacksonville, Florida.
*2021 – During the 2021 Kabul airlift, a suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport kills 13 US military personnel and at least 169 Afghan civilians.

Births

Pre-1600

* 1469 – Ferdinand II of Naples (d. 1496)
*1548 – Bernardino Poccetti, Italian painter (d. 1612)
* 1582 – Humilis of Bisignano, Italian Franciscan friar and saint (d. 1637)
*1596 – Frederick V, Elector Palatine, Bohemian king (d. 1632)

1601–1900

*1676 – Robert Walpole, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1745)
*1694 – Elisha Williams, English colonial minister, academic, and politician (d. 1755)
* 1695 – Marie-Anne-Catherine Quinault, French singer-songwriter (d. 1791)
* 1728 – Johann Heinrich Lambert, Swiss mathematician, physicist, and astronomer (d. 1777)
* 1736 – Jean-Baptiste L. Romé de l'Isle, French mineralogist and geologist (d. 1790)
* 1740 – Joseph-Michel Montgolfier, French inventor, invented the hot air balloon (d. 1810)
* 1743 – Antoine Lavoisier, French chemist and biologist (d. 1794)
*1751 – Manuel Abad y Queipo, Spanish-born Mexican bishop (d. 1825)
*1775 – William Joseph Behr, German publicist and academic (d. 1851)
* 1783 – Federigo Zuccari, astronomer, director of the Astronomical Observatory of Naples (d. 1817)
*1792 – Manuel Oribe, Uruguayan soldier and politician, 4th President of Uruguay (d. 1857)
*1797 – Saint Innocent of Alaska, Russian Orthodox missionary priest, then the first Orthodox bishop and archbishop in the Americas, and finally the Metropolitan of Moscow and all Russia (d. 1879)
*1819 – Albert, Prince Consort of the United Kingdom (d. 1861)
*1824 – Martha Darley Mutrie, British painter (d. 1885)
*1854 – Arnold Fothergill, English cricketer (d. 1932)
*1856 – Clara Schønfeld, Danish actress (d. 1939)
*1862 – Herbert Booth, Canadian songwriter and bandleader (d. 1926)
*1865 – Arthur James Arnot, Scottish-Australian engineer, designed the Spencer Street Power Station (d. 1946)
* 1873 – Lee de Forest, American engineer and academic, invented the Audion tube (d. 1961)
*1874 – Zona Gale, American novelist, short story writer, and playwright (d. 1938)
*1875 – John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir, Scottish-Canadian historian and politician, 15th Governor General of Canada (d. 1940)
*1880 – Guillaume Apollinaire, Italian-French author, poet, playwright, and critic (d. 1918)
*1882 – James Franck, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1964)
* 1882 – Sam Hardy, English footballer (d. 1966)
*1885 – Jules Romains, French author and poet (d. 1972)
* 1888 – Gustavo R. Vincenti, Maltese architect and developer (d. 1974)
*1891 – Acharya Chatursen Shastri, Indian author and playwright (d. 1960)
*1894 – Sparky Adams, American baseball player and farmer (d. 1989)
*1896 – Ivan Mihailov, Bulgarian soldier and politician (d. 1990)
*1897 – Yun Posun, South Korean activist and politician, 2nd President of South Korea (d. 1990)
*1898 – Peggy Guggenheim, American-Italian art collector and philanthropist (d. 1979)
*1900 – Margaret Utinsky, American nurse, recipient of the Medal of Freedom (d. 1970)
* 1900 – Hellmuth Walter, German-American engineer and businessman (d. 1980)

1901–present

*1901 – Eleanor Dark, Australian author and poet (d. 1985)
* 1901 – Hans Kammler, German SS officer and engineer (d. 1945)
* 1901 – Jimmy Rushing, American singer and bandleader (d. 1972)
* 1901 – Maxwell D. Taylor, American general and diplomat, United States Ambassador to South Vietnam (d. 1987)
* 1901 – Chen Yi, Chinese general and politician, 2nd Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China (d. 1972)
*1903 – Caroline Pafford Miller, American author (d. 1992)
*1904 – Christopher Isherwood, English-American author and academic (d. 1986)
* 1904 – Joe Hulme, English footballer and cricketer (d. 1991)
*1906 – Bunny Austin, English tennis player (d. 2000)
* 1906 – Albert Sabin, Polish-American physician and virologist, developed the polio vaccine (d. 1993)
*1908 – Walter Bruno Henning, Prussian-American linguist and scholar (d. 1967)
* 1908 – Aubrey Schenck, American screenwriter and producer (d. 1999)
*1909 – Eric Davies, South African cricketer and educator (d. 1976)
* 1909 – Jim Davis, American actor (d. 1981)
* 1909 – Gene Moore, American baseball player (d. 1978)
* 1910 – Mother Teresa, Albanian-Indian nun, missionary, Catholic saint, and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1997)
*1911 – Otto Binder, American author and screenwriter (d. 1974)
*1914 – Julio Cortázar, Belgian-Argentinian author and translator (d. 1984)
* 1914 – Fazıl Hüsnü Dağlarca, Turkish soldier and poet (d. 2008)
*1915 – Humphrey Searle, English composer and conductor (d. 1982)
*1918 – Katherine Johnson, American physicist and mathematician (d. 2020)
*1919 – Gerard Campbell, American priest and academic (d. 2012)
*1920 – Brant Parker, American illustrator (d. 2007)
* 1920 – Prem Tinsulanonda, Thai general and politician, 16th Prime Minister of Thailand (d. 2019)
*1921 – Shimshon Amitsur, Israeli mathematician and scholar (d. 1994)
* 1921 – Benjamin C. Bradlee, American journalist and author (d. 2014)
*1922 – Irving R. Levine, American journalist and author (d. 2009)
*1923 – Wolfgang Sawallisch, German pianist and conductor (d. 2013)
*1924 – Alex Kellner, American baseball player (d. 1996)
*1925 – Jack Hirshleifer, American economist and academic (d. 2005)
* 1925 – Alain Peyrefitte, French scholar and politician, Minister of Justice for France (d. 1999)
* 1925 – Pyotr Todorovsky, Ukrainian-Russian director, screenwriter, and cinematographer (d. 2013)
* 1925 – Etelka Keserű, Hungarian economist and politician (d. 2018)
* 1925 – Gustavo Becerra-Schmidt, Chilean composer (d. 2010)
*1926 – Anahit Tsitsikian, Armenian violinist and educator (d. 1999)
* 1926 – Robert Vickrey, American painter and author (d. 2011)
*1928 – Om Prakash Munjal, Indian businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Hero Cycles (d. 2015)
*1929 – Reuben Kamanga, Zambian soldier and politician, 1st Vice President of Zambia (d. 1996)
*1930 – Joe Solomon, Guyanese cricketer and coach
*1931 – Kálmán Markovits, Hungarian water polo player (d. 2009)
*1932 – Luis Salvadores Salvi, Chilean basketball player (d. 2014)
*1934 – Tom Heinsohn, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster (d. 2020)
* 1934 – Kevin Ryan, Australian rugby player, coach, lawyer and politician
*1935 – Geraldine Ferraro, American lawyer and politician (d. 2011)
* 1935 – Karen Spärck Jones, English computer scientist and academic (d. 2007)
*1936 – Benedict Anderson, American political scientist and academic (d. 2015)
*1937 – Don Bowman, American singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
*1938 – Jet Black, English drummer (d. 2022)
*1939 – Pinchas Goldstein, Israeli businessman and politician (d. 2007)
* 1939 – Jorge Paulo Lemann, Brazilian banker and financier
*1940 – Michael Cockerell, English journalist
* 1940 – Vic Dana, American dancer and singer
* 1940 – Don LaFontaine, American voice actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2008)
* 1940 – Nik Turner, English musician and songwriter
*1941 – Chris Curtis, English drummer and singer (d. 2005)
* 1941 – Jane Merrow, English actress, producer, and screenwriter
* 1941 – Barbet Schroeder, French-Swiss director and producer
*1942 – Dennis Turner, Baron Bilston, English lawyer and politician (d. 2014)
* 1942 – Chow Kwai Lam, Malaysian football coach and player (d. 2018)
*1943 – Dori Caymmi, Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist
*1944 – Alan Parker, English guitarist and songwriter
* 1944 – Judith Rees, English geographer and academic
* 1944 – Maureen Tucker, American singer-songwriter and drummer
*1945 – Tom Ridge, American sergeant and politician, 1st Secretary of Homeland Security
*1946 – Zhou Ji, Chinese engineer and politician, 14th Chinese Minister of Education
* 1946 – Valerie Simpson, American singer-songwriter
* 1946 – Alison Steadman, English actress
*1947 – Nicolae Dobrin, Romanian footballer and manager (d. 2007)
*1949 – Allahshukur Pashazadeh, Azerbaijani cleric
* 1949 – Leon Redbone, Canadian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2019)
*1951 – Gerd Bonk, German weightlifter (d. 2014)
* 1951 – Bill Whitaker, American journalist
* 1951 – Edward Witten, American physicist and academic
*1952 – Bryon Baltimore, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1952 – Michael Jeter, American actor (d. 2003)
* 1952 – Will Shortz, American journalist and puzzle creator
*1953 – David Hurley, Australian general and politician, 27th Governor General of Australia

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