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(Redirected from 26 February)

Contents

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

Liturgical feasts

External links

Events

★ 747 BC - Epoch (origin) of Ptolemy's Nabonassar Era.

★ 364 - Valentinian I is proclaimed Roman Emperor.

★ 1200 - Death of Orthodox Monk Symeon, former Serbian ruler and saint

★ 1266 - Battle of Benevento: An army led by Charles, Count of Anjou, defeats a combined German and Sicilian force led by King Manfred of Sicily. Manfred is killed in the battle and Pope Clement IV invests Charles as king of Sicily and Naples.

★ 1794 - Christiansborg Castle, Copenhagen burns down.

★ 1797 - The Bank of England issues the first one-pound and two-pound notes.

★ 1815 - Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from Elba.

★ 1848 - The second French Republic is proclaimed.

★ 1863 - U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the National Banking Act into law.

★ 1870 - In New York City, the first pneumatic-subway opens.

★ 1885 - The Berlin Act, which resulted from the Berlin Conference regulating European colonization and trade in Africa, was signed

★ 1887 - At the SCG, George Lohmann becomes the first bowler to take eight wickets in a Test innings.

★ 1897 - Sigma Pi Fraternity, International was founded at Vincennes University.

★ 1917 - The Original Dixieland Jass Band records the first ever Jazzrecord for the Victor Talking Machine Company in New York.

★ 1919 - An act of the U.S. Congress establishes most of the Grand Canyon as a United States National Park (see Grand Canyon National Park).

★ 1929 - The Grand Teton National Park is created.

★ 1935 - The Luftwaffe is reformed.

★ 1935 - The Daventry Experiment, Robert Watson-Watt carried out a demonstration near Daventry which led directly to the development of RADAR in the United Kingdom.

★ 1936 - In the February 26 Incident, young Japanese military officers attempt to stage a coup against the government.

★ 1952 - United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston Churchill announces that his nation has an atomic bomb.

★ 1966 - Apollo Program: Launch of AS-201, the first flight of the Saturn IB rocket

★ 1970 - National Public Radio incorporates as a non-profit corporation.

★ 1971 - Secretary-General U Thant signs United Nations proclamation of the vernal equinox as Earth Day.

★ 1972 - Buffalo Creek Flood caused by a burst dam kills 125 in West Virginia.

★ 1984 - US troops withdraw from Beirut. President Ronald Reagan had sent the troops as a peacekeeping force in August 1982.

★ 1986 - People Power Revolution in the Philippines.

★ 1987 - Iran-Contra affair: The Tower Commission rebukes American President Ronald Reagan for not controlling his national security staff.

★ 1990 - The Sandinistas are defeated in Nicaraguan elections.

★ 1991 - Tim Berners-Lee introduces WorldWideWeb, the first web browser.

★ 1991 - Gulf War: On Baghdad Radio Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein announces the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait.


★ 1993 - World Trade Center bombing: In New York City, a truck bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center goes off, killing 6 and injuring over a thousand.

★ 1995 - The United Kingdom's oldest investment banking firm, Barings Bank collapses after a securities broker, Nick Leeson, loses $1.4 billion by speculating on the Singapore International Monetary Exchange using futures contracts.

★ 2001 - The Taliban destroy two giant Buddha statues in Bamyan, Afghanistan.

★ 2004 - The United States lifts a ban on travel to Libya, ending travel restrictions to the nation that had lasted for 23 years.

★ 2004 - Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski is killed in a plane crash near Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

★ 2005 - Hosni Mubarak the president of Egypt orders the constitution changed to allow multi-candidate presidential elections before September 2005 by asking Egyptian parliament to amend Article 76 of the constitution.

Births

★ 1361 - Wenceslaus, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia (d. 1419)

★ 1564 - Christopher Marlowe, English dramatist (d. 1593)

★ 1587 - Stefano Landi, Italian composer (d. 1639)

★ 1671 - Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, English politician and philosopher (d. 1713)

★ 1672 - Antoine Augustine Calmet, French theologian (d. 1757)

★ 1714 - James Hervey, English clergyman and writer (d. 1758)

★ 1715 - Claude Adrien Helvétius, French philosopher (d. 1771)

★ 1720 - Gian Francesco Albani, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1803)

★ 1786 - François Arago, French mathematician (d. 1853)

★ 1799 - Émile Clapeyron, French engineer and physicist (d. 1864)

★ 1802 - Victor Hugo, French writer (d. 1885)

★ 1808 - Honoré Daumier, French painter, illustrator, and sculptor (d. 1879)

★ 1814 - Charles Joseph Sainte-Claire Deville, French geologist (d. 1876)

★ 1829 - Levi Strauss, German-born clothing designer (d. 1902)

★ 1846 - William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody, American pioneer, officer, and hunter (d. 1917)

★ 1852 - John Harvey Kellogg, American surgeon, advocate of dietary reform (d. 1943 )

★ 1857 - Émile Coué, French psychologist (d. 1926)

★ 1858 - Vladimir Serbsky, Russian psychiatrist (d. 1917)

★ 1861 - King Ferdinand of Bulgaria (d. 1948)

★ 1861 - Nadezhda Konstantinovna Krupskaya, Russian revolutionary, Lenin's wife (d. 1939)

★ 1879 - Frank Bridge, English composer (d. 1941)

★ 1882 - Husband E. Kimmel, American admiral (d. 1968)

★ 1885 - Aleksandras Stulginskis, President of Lithuania (d. 1969)

★ 1887 - Grover Cleveland Alexander, American baseball player (d. 1950)

★ 1887 - William Frawley, American actor (d. 1966)

★ 1893 - I. A. Richards, English literary critic (d. 1979)

★ 1899 - Max Petitpierre, member of the Swiss Federal Council (d. 1994)

★ 1902 - Jean Bruller, alias Vercors, French writer and illustrator (d. 1991)

★ 1903 - Giulio Natta, Italian chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1979)

★ 1906 - Madeleine Carroll, English actress (d. 1987)

★ 1907 - Dub Taylor, American actor (d. 1994)

★ 1908 - Tex Avery, American cartoonist (d. 1980)

★ 1908 - Jean-Pierre Wimille, French race car driver (d. 1949)

★ 1909 - King Talal of Jordan (d. 1972)

★ 1911 - Tarō Okamoto, Japanese avant-garde artist (d. 1996)

★ 1912 - Dane Clark, American actor (d. 1998)

★ 1914 - Robert Alda, American actor (d. 1986)

★ 1916 - Jackie Gleason, American actor, writer, composer, and comedian (d. 1987)

★ 1918 - Otis Ray Bowen, American politician and physician

★ 1918 - Theodore Sturgeon, American writer (d. 1985)

★ 1919 - Mason Adams, American actor (d. 2005)

★ 1919 - Rie Mastenbroek, Dutch swimmer (d. 2003)

★ 1920 - Danny Gardella, American baseball player (d. 2005)

★ 1920 - Tony Randall, American actor (d. 2004)

★ 1920 - Lucjan Wolanowski, Polish journalist, writer and traveller (d. 2006)

★ 1921 - Betty Hutton, American actress and singer (d. 2007)

★ 1922 - Margaret Leighton, British actress (d. 1976)

★ 1926 - Miroslava Stern, Mexican actress (d. 1955)

★ 1927 - Tom Kennedy, American game show host

★ 1928 - Fats Domino, American musician

★ 1928 - Anatoli Filipchenko, Soviet cosmonaut

★ 1928 - Monique Leyrac, French Canadian singer and actress

★ 1930 - Lazar Berman, Russian pianist (d. 2005)

★ 1931 - Ally McLeod, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 2004)

★ 1932 - Johnny Cash, American singer (d. 2003)

★ 1934 - Robert Novak, American political columnist

★ 1937 - Hagood Hardy, Canadian musician and composer (d. 1997)

★ 1941 - Tony Ray-Jones, British photographer (d. 1972)

★ 1943 - Bill Duke, American actor and director

★ 1945 - Peter Brock, Australian motorsports champion (d. 2006)

★ 1945 - Bob Hite, American singer and harmonicist (Canned Heat) (d. 1981)

★ 1945 - Marta Kristen, Norwegian actress

★ 1945 - Mitch Ryder, American musician (The Detroit Wheels)

★ 1946 - Ahmed H. Zewail, Egyptian chemist, Nobel laureate

★ 1947 - Sandie Shaw, English singer

★ 1949 - Emma Kirkby, British early music singer

★ 1950 - Helen Clark, Prime Minister of New Zealand

★ 1951 - Lee Atwater, American political operative (d. 1991)

★ 1953 - Michael Bolton, American singer

★ 1954 - Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Prime Minister of Turkey

★ 1956 - Keisuke Kuwata, Japanese singer

★ 1957 - David Muldrow Beasley, American politician

★ 1957 - Joe Mullen, American ice hockey player

★ 1958 - Michel Houellebecq, French novelist

★ 1959 - Rolando Blackman, American basketball player

★ 1960 - Jaz Coleman, British musician

★ 1962 - Greg Germann, American actor

★ 1966 - Najwa Karam, Lebanese singer

★ 1968 - J.T. Snow, American baseball player

★ 1969 - Hitoshi Sakimoto, Japanese composer

★ 1971 - Erykah Badu, American singer

★ 1971 - Max Martin, Swedish composer and producer

★ 1971 - Hélène Ségara, French singer

★ 1973 - Marshall Faulk, American football player

★ 1973 - Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Norwegian footballer

★ 1973 - Jenny Thompson, American swimmer

★ 1974 - Sébastien Loeb, French rally driver

★ 1976 - Nikolaos Siranidis, Greek diver

★ 1977 - Marty Reasoner, American ice hockey player

★ 1977 - Shane Williams, Welsh International Rugby Player

★ 1977 - Josh Towers, American baseball player

★ 1978 - Abdoulaye Diagne-Faye, Senegalese footballer

★ 1978 - Marc Hynes, British racing driver

★ 1978 - John Tartaglia, Broadway performer and "Muppeteer"

★ 1979 - Corinne Bailey Rae, English singer

★ 1979 - Mariano Bainotti, Argentine racing driver

★ 1979 - Pedro Mendes, Portuguese footballer

★ 1980 - Alex Fong, Hong Kong singer

★ 1980 - Gary Majewski, American baseball player

★ 1980 - Leela Majumdar, Bengali writer

★ 1981 - Kertus Davis, American NASCAR driver

★ 1981 - Johnathan Wendel, American professional video gamer

★ 1982 - Song Hye Kyo, South Korean model and actress

★ 1983 - Kara Monaco, American model

★ 1983 - Pepe, Brazilian footballer

★ 1984 - Emmanuel Adebayor, Togolese footballer

★ 1984 - Natalia Lafourcade, Mexican singer

★ 1985 - Alexandria Hilfiger, American actress, daughter of Tommy Hilfiger

★ 1986 - Crystal Kay, Japanese singer

★ 1987 - Julia Bond, American adult actress

★ 1993 - Taylor Dooley, American actress

Deaths

★ 1154 - King Roger II of Sicily (b. 1093)

★ 1266 - King Manfred of Sicily

★ 1360 - Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March, English military leader (b. 1328)

★ 1525 - Cuauhtémoc, Aztec ruler

★ 1552 - Heinrich Faber, German composer

★ 1561 - Jorge de Montemayor, Spanish writer

★ 1577 - King Eric XIV of Sweden (b. 1533)

★ 1608 - John Still, English bishop

★ 1630 - William Brade, English composer (b. 1560)

★ 1638 - Claude Gaspard Bachet de Méziriac, French mathematician (b. 1681)

★ 1723 - Thomas d'Urfey, English writer (b. 1653)

★ 1726 - Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria (b. 1662)

★ 1770 - Giuseppe Tartini, Italian composer (b. 1692)

★ 1802 - Esek Hopkins, American Revolutionary War admiral (b. 1718)

★ 1813 - Robert Livingston, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1746)

★ 1815 - Prince Josias of Coburg, Austrian general (b. 1737)

★ 1821 - Joseph de Maistre, Savoyard diplomat and writer (b. 1753)

★ 1864 - Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, French Canadian politician (b. 1807)

★ 1889 - Karl Davydov, Russian cellist (b. 1838)

★ 1903 - Richard Jordan Gatling, American inventor (b. 1818)

★ 1913 - Felix Draeseke, German composer (b. 1835)

★ 1921 - Carl Menger, Austrian economist (b. 1840)

★ 1931 - Otto Wallach, German chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1847)

★ 1933 - Princess Thyra, daughter of Christian IX of Denmark (b. 1853)

★ 1947 - Heinrich Häberlin, Swiss politician, member of the Federal Council (b. 1868)

★ 1950 - Sir Harry Lauder, Scottish Music Hall Entertainer, Knighted for WWI War Work (b. 1870)

★ 1961 - King Mohammed V of Morocco (b. 1909)

★ 1966 - Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Indian freedom fighter and writer (b. 1883)

★ 1969 - Levi Eshkol, Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1895)

★ 1969 - Karl Jaspers, German psychiatrist (b. 1883)

★ 1971 - Fernandel, French actor (b. 1903)

★ 1981 - Howard Hanson, American composer (b. 1896)

★ 1981 - Robert Aickman, English writer and conservationist (b. 1914)

★ 1985 - Tjalling Koopmans, Dutch economist, Nobel laureate (b. 1910)

★ 1989 - Roy Eldridge, American musician (b. 1911)

★ 1990 - Cornell Gunter, American singer (The Coasters) (b. 1938)

★ 1993 - Constance Ford, American actress (b. 1923)

★ 1994 - Bill Hicks, American comedian (b. 1961)

★ 1995 - Jack Clayton, British film director (b. 1921)

★ 1997 - David Doyle, American actor (b. 1929)

★ 1998 - Theodore Schultz, American economist, Nobel laureate (b. 1902)

★ 2000 - George L. Street III American Navy Submariner (b. 1913)

★ 2001 - Arturo Uslar Pietri, Venezuelan writer (b. 1906)

★ 2002 - Lawrence Tierney, American actor (b. 1919)

★ 2003 - Christian Goethals, Belgian racing driver (b. 1928)

★ 2004 - Shankarrao Chavan, Indian politician (b. 1920)

★ 2004 - Adolf Ehrnrooth, Finnish general (b. 1905)

★ 2004 - Boris Trajkovski, President of the Republic of Macedonia (b. 1956)

★ 2005 - Jef Raskin, American computer scientist (b. 1943)

Holidays and observances

★ Bahá'í Faith - February 26, Day 1 of Ayyám-i-Há (Intercalary Days) - days in the Bahá'í calendar devoted to service and gift giving.

★ Nation of Islam - Savior's Day - commemoration of the birthdate of Wallace Fard Muhammad, believed to be Allah in human form, the saviour of the black race.

★ Liberation Day in Kuwait (1991).

Liturgical feasts

★ Saint Nestor (died 251)

★ Saint Alexander of Alexandria

★ Saint Victor

★ February 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

External links

★ BBC: On This Day

★

★ On This Day in Canada
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