Title: May 26 Content: == Events == === Up to 1900 === * 17 – Germanicus returns to Rome as a conquering hero following several battle victories over Germanic tribes. * 946 – King Edmund I of England is murderered by a thief he personally attacks during mass. * 1135 - Alfonso VII of Spain is crowned. * 1293 - An earthquake in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan, kills 30,000 people. * 1538 – Geneva expels John Calvin and his followers from the city. * 1573 - The Battle of Haarlemmermeer takes place, as a naval battle in the Dutch War of Independence. * 1644 – Portuguese Restoration War: Battle of Montijo - Portuguese and Spanish forces both claim victory. * 1647 – Alse Young is hanged in Hartford, Connecticut. This is the first "witchcraft" execution in the British American colonies. * 1659 – The "Great Fire" destroys more than half of the city of Stade. * 1770 - The Orlov Revolt, an attempt to revolt against the Ottoman Empire, ends in disaster for the Greeks. * 1805 – Napoleon Bonaparte assumes the title of King of Italy. * 1822 – The Grue Church fire in Norway kills 116 people. * 1828 – Feral child Kaspar Hauser is discovered walking around Nuremberg. To this day, his early days remain a mystery. * 1830 – The Indian Removal Act is passed by the United States Congress, and is signed by President Andrew Jackson two days later. * 1864 – Montana is organised as a US territory. * 1865 – American Civil War: Edmund Kirby Smith becomes the last Confederate general to surrender. * 1868 – End of the impeachment trial of US President Andrew Johnson. * 1869 – Boston University is chartered by Massachusetts. * 1879 – Russia and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Gandamak, establishing an Afghan state. * 1896 - Nicholas II of Russia becomes Tsar. * 1896 – Charles Dow publishes the first edition of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. * 1897 – The novel Dracula by Bram Stoker is published. === 1901 2000 === * 1906 – The Vauxhall Bridge in London is opened. * 1908 - The first commercial oil strike in the Middle East is made at Masjed Soleyman in what is then known as Persia. * 1917 - Several tornadoes occur in Illinois, including the city of Mattoon, killing 101. * 1918 – Georgia (country) declares independence. * 1923 - The first 24-hour motor car race at Le Mans, France, takes place. * 1938 - In the United States, the House of Un-American Activities Committee begins its first session. * 1940 – World War II: Battle of Dunkirk - Allied forces begin a massive evacuation from Dunkirk, France. * 1942 - World War II: The Battle of Gazala takes place. * 1966 – Guyana gains independence (separates) from the United Kingdom. * 1969 – Apollo 10 returns to Earth. * 1971 – The Pakistan Army massacres over 70 Hindus in Sylhet, present-day Bangladesh. * 1972 – Willandra National Park in Australia is created. * 1972 - The United States and Soviet Union sign the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. * 1977 – George Willig climbs the South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. * 1981 – Prime Minister of Italy Arnaldo Forlani and his cabinet resign. * 1981 - An EA-6B Prowler crashes on the flight carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68), killing 14 crewmen and injuring 45. * 1983 – A magnitude 7.7 earthquake strikes Japan. * 1986 – The European Community adopts the European flag. * 1991 – Zviad Gamsakhurdia becomes President of Georgia. * 1991 – Lauda Air Flight 004, a Boeing 767 plane, crashes in Bangkok, killing 223 people. * 1992 – The blockade of Dubrovnik is broken. * 1998 – The United States Supreme Court rules that Ellis Island is mainly in New Jersey, not New York. === From 2001 === * 2002 - The tugboat Robert Y. Love collides with the support pier of Interstate 40 on the Arkansas River near Webbers Falls, Oklahoma, killing 14 people and injuring 11. * 2004 – US Army veteran Terry Nichols is found guilty of helping carry out the Oklahoma City bombing. * 2008 - Severe flooding begins in Eastern and Southern China. The floods go on to kill 148 people and lead to the evacuation of 1.3 million. * 2011 – Wanted on war crimes charges, Ratko Mladic is captured in Serbia. * 2012 – Loreen wins the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 for Sweden in Baku, Azerbaijan. * 2014 - Narendra Modi becomes Prime Minister of India. * 2017 - Militants carry out a shooting at a bus carrying Coptic Christians in central Egypt, killing 28 people. * 2018 - Real Madrid C.F. defeat Liverpool F.C. 3-1 in the UEFA Champions League final, winning the competition for the third time in-a-row, and meaning that Madrid- based teams have won both major European club trophies in the season. * 2019 - The 2019 elections to the European Parliament are completed; Far-right and Green political parties increase their number of seats. == Births == === Up to 1900 === * 1264 – Prince Koreyasu, Japanese shogun (d. 1326) * 1478 – Pope Clement VII (d. 1554) * 1566 – Mehmed III, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1603) * 1602 – Philippe de Champaigne, French painter (d. 1674) * 1623 - William Petty, English economist and philosopher (d. 1687) * 1650 – John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, British general (d. 1722) * 1667 - Abraham de Moivre, French mathematician (d. 1754) * 1689 - Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, English writer (d. 1762) * 1700 – Nicolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf, German religious and social reformer (d. 1760) * 1764 - Edward Livingston, United States Secretary of State (d. 1836) * 1810 - Christen Kobke, Danish painter (d. 1848) * 1822 - Edmond de Goncourt, French author and critic (d. 1896) * 1826 - Richard Christopher Carrington, English astronomer (d. 1875) * 1863 - Bob Fitzsimmons, English-New Zealand boxer (d. 1917) * 1867 – Mary of Teck, Queen Consort to King George V of the United Kingdom (d. 1953) * 1873 – Olaf Gulbransson, Norwegian artist (d. 1958) * 1873 - Hans Ludendorff, German astronomer and astrophysicist (d. 1941) * 1878 – Thomas H. Moodie, Governor of North Dakota (d. 1948) * 1880 - W. Otto Miessner, American composer and educator (d. 1967) * 1881 - Adolfo de la Huerta, President of Mexico (d. 1955) * 1882 – Frank C. Emerson, Governor of Wyoming (d. 1931) * 1883 – Mamie Smith, American singer (d. 1946) * 1883 – Peter Kürten, German serial killer (d. 1931) * 1886 – Al Jolson, American singer (d. 1950) * 1887 - Ba U, 2nd President of Burma (d. 1963) * 1893 - Eugene Aynsley Goossens, English conductor and composer (d. 1962) * 1895 – Dorothea Lange, American photographer (d. 1965) * 1895 – Paul Lukas, Hungarian actor (d. 1971) * 1898 – Christfried Burmeister, Estonian speed skater (d. 1965) * 1899 - Antoine Barrette, 18th Premier of Quebec (d. 1968) === 1901 1950 === * 1904 – George Formby, British musician (d. 1961) * 1904 - Vlado Perlemuter, Lithuanian-born French pianist and teacher (d. 2002) * 1906 - Márcio Melo, Brazilian military officer and politician (d. 1991) * 1907 – John Wayne, American actor (d. 1979) * 1908 – Robert Morley, English actor (d. 1992) * 1908 - Nguyen Ngoc Tho, Vietnamese politician (d. 1976) * 1909 – Matt Busby, Scottish football player and manager (d. 1994) * 1909 – Adolfo Lopez Mateos, Mexican politician (d. 1992) * 1910 - Imi Lichtenfeld, Hungarian-Israeli martial artist (d. 1998) * 1910 - Laurance Rockefeller, American billionaire (d. 2004) * 1911 - Henry Ephron, American playwright, screenwriter and producer (d. 1992) * 1912 – János Kádár, Hungarian politician (d. 1989) * 1912 - Jay Silverheels, Canadian-American actor (d. 1980) * 1913 – Peter Cushing, English actor (d. 1994) * 1916 – Moondog, American musician, composer and poet (d. 1999) * 1917 – Eva Szorenyi, Hungarian actress and activist (d. 2009) * 1919 – Ruben Gonzalez, Cuban musician (d. 2003) * 1920 – Peggy Lee, American singer and actress (d. 2002) * 1921 - Inge Borkh, German soprano (d. 2018) * 1921 - Walter Laqueur, German-American historian and publicist (d. 2018) * 1923 – James Arness, American actor (d. 2011) * 1923 - Roy Dotrice, British actor (d. 2017) * 1923 – Horst Tappert, German actor (d. 2008) * 1925 - Alec McCowen, English actor (d. 2017) * 1926 - Miles Davis, American trumpeter, composer and bandleader (d. 1991) * 1928 – Jack Kevorkian, American assisted suicide advocate (d. 2011) * 1929 - Catherine Sauvage, French singer and actress (d. 1998) * 1933 - Edward Whittemore, American author (d. 1995) * 1936 - Beth Whittall, Canadian swimmer (d. 2015) * 1936 - David Stevens, Baron Stevens of Ludgate, English politician * 1937 – Paul Patton, former Governor of the U.S. state of Kentucky * 1938 – Lyudmila Petrushevskaya, Russian writer, writer and playwright * 1939 – Merab Kostava, Georgian activist (d. 1989) * 1939 - Herb Trimpe, American comic book artist and writer (d. 2015) * 1940 – Levon Helm, American musician and actor (d. 2012) * 1941 – Aldrich Ames, CIA counter-intelligence officer * 1941 - Jim Dobbin, Scottish politician (d. 2014) * 1944 – Sam Posey, American racing driver, TV commentator and writer * 1945 - René Féret, French actor, screenwriter, director and producer (d. 2015) * 1945 - Garry Peterson, Canadian drummer * 1945 - Vilasrao Deshmukh, Indian politician, 17th Chief Minister of Maharashtra (d. 2012) * 1946 – Mick Ronson, English guitarist (d. 1993) * 1946 - Simon Hoggart, English journalist (d. 2014) * 1948 – Stevie Nicks, American songwriter * 1949 - Jeremy Corbyn, British politician, leader of the Labour Party * 1949 – Ward Cunningham, American computer programmer * 1949 - Pam Grier, American actress * 1949 - Anne McGuire, Scottish politician * 1949 - Hank Williams, Jr., American singer-songwriter and guitarist === 1951 1975 === * 1951 – Sally Ride, American astronaut and physicist (d. 2012) * 1951 - Ramón Calderón, Spanish lawyer and President of Real Madrid * 1953 – Michael Portillo, British politician * 1954 - Alan Hollinghurst, British writer * 1955 - Masaharu Morimoto, Japanese chef * 1956 – Lisa Niemi, American actress * 1956 - Ricky Sbragia, Scottish footballer and manager * 1957 - Diomedes Díaz, Colombian singer and composer (d. 2013) * 1958 - Howard Goodall, English composer * 1959 - Ole Bornedal, Norwegian actor, director and producer * 1961 - Tarsem Singh, Indian-American director * 1962 – Bobcat Goldthwait, American actor and comedian * 1962 - Black, English singer- songwriter (d. 2016) * 1963 - Simon Armitage, English author, poet and playwright * 1963 - Mary Nightingale, English news presenter * 1964 - Valery Salov, Russian chess player * 1964 – Lenny Kravitz, American singer * 1964 - Paul Okalik, Canadian politician, 1st Premier of Nunavut * 1964 - Caitlin R. Kiernan, Irish-American paleontologist and author * 1965 - Hazel Irvine, Scottish television presenter * 1966 – Helena Bonham Carter, English actress * 1966 – Zola Budd, South African athlete * 1966 - Shona Robison, Scottish politician * 1968 – Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark * 1968 - Pat Kenney, American baseball player, wrestler and agent * 1969 - John Baird, Canadian politician * 1970 - Nobuhiro Watsuki, Japanese mangaka * 1971 – Matt Stone, American animator and movie maker * 1971 – Ivan O. Godfroid, writer * 1972 – Patsy Palmer, English actress * 1972 - Alan White, English drummer * 1975 – Travis Lee, American baseball player * 1975 - Nicki Lynn Aycox, American actress * 1975 - Kwasi Kwarteng, British politician === From 1976 === * 1977 – Luca Toni, Italian footballer * 1977 – Nikos Hatzivrettas, Greek basketball player * 1977 - Mark Hunter, American musician * 1978 - Dan Parks, Australian- Scottish rugby player * 1978 - Jaheim, American singer * 1979 - Amanda Bauer, American astronomer * 1979 - Elisabeth Harnois, American actress * 1979 - Ashley Massaro, American professional wrestler, television host and model (d. 2019) * 1979 – Mehmet Okur, Turkish basketball player * 1981 – Eda-Ines Etti, Estonian singer * 1981 – Jason Manford, English comedian * 1981 – Irini Merkouri, Greek singer * 1981 - Razvan Rat, Romanian footballer * 1981 - Ben Zobrist, American baseball player * 1983 - Demy de Zeeuw, Dutch footballer * 1986 - Astrid Berges-Frisbey, Spanish-French actress * 1986 - Matt Oivanen, Finnish volleyball player * 1987 - Josh Thomas, Australian comedian, actor and writer * 1988 - Juan Guillermo Cuadrado, Colombian footballer * 1989 - Tomas Pekhart, Czech footballer * 1989 - Amit Farkash, Canadian-Israeli actress * 1991 - Amber Bondin, Maltese singer * 1991 – Julianna Rose Mauriello, American actress and dancer * 1999 - Kerry Ingram, English actress * 2001 - Megan Charpentier, Canadian actress == Deaths == === Up to 1900 === * 451 – Saint Vartan Mamikonian, Armenian warrior * 604 – Augustine of Canterbury, Archbishop of Canterbury * 735 - Bede, English monk, historian and theologian (b. 672) * 818 – Ali ar-Rida, Shia Imam (b. 766) * 946 – King Edmund I of England (b. 921) * 1055 – Margrave Adalbert of Austria * 1421 – Mehmed I, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1389) * 1512 – Bayezid II, Ottoman Sultan * 1536 – Francesco Berni, Italian poet * 1595 – Philip Neri, Italian churchman (b. 1515) * 1647 - Alse Young, American woman executed for witchcraft (b. 1600) * 1648 – Vincent Voiture, French poet (b. 1597) * 1653 – Robert Filmer, English writer (b. 1588) * 1679 – Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria (b. 1636) * 1685 – Karl II, Elector Palatine (b. 1651) * 1703 – Samuel Pepys, English civil servant and diarist (b. 1633) * 1742 - Pylyp Orlyk, Ukrainian diplomat (b. 1672) * 1762 – Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten, German philosopher (b. 1714) * 1799 – James Burnett, Lord Monboddo, Scottish judge (b. 1714) * 1824 – Capel Lofft, English writer (b. 1751) * 1828 - John Oxley, British officer and explorer (b. 1785) * 1831 - Ciro Menotti, Italian patriot (b. 1798) * 1840 – Sidney Smith, British admiral (b. 1764) * 1845 - Jónas Hallgrímsson, Icelandic poet (b. 1807) * 1881 – Jakob Bernays, German philologist (b. 1824) * 1883 – Edward Sabine, Irish astronomer (b. 1788) * 1883 – Abd al-Qadir, Algerian political and military leader (b. 1808) * 1888 - Ascanio Sobrero, Italian chemist (b. 1812) * 1895 - Ahmet Cevdet Pasha, Ottoman statesman (b. 1822) === 1901 2000 === * 1902 – Almon Strowger, American inventor (b. 1839) * 1904 – Georges Gilles de la Tourette, French neurologist (b. 1857) * 1907 – Ida Saxton McKinley, First Lady of the United States (b. 1847) * 1908 – Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Punjabi founder of the Qadianism (b. 1839) * 1914 - Jacob August Riis, Danish-American journalist, photographer and reformer (b. 1849) * 1924 – Victor Herbert, Irish composer (b. 1859) * 1926 – Simon Petlyura, Ukrainian independence fighter (b. 1879) * 1933 – Horatio Bottomley, British financier and politician (b. 1860) * 1933 – Jimmie Rodgers, American singer (b. 1897) * 1939 – Charles Horace Mayo, American medical practitioner (Mayo Clinic) (b. 1865) * 1943 – Edsel Ford, American automobile executive (b. 1893) * 1943 - Alice Tegnér, Swedish composer, organist and educator (b. 1864) * 1948 – Theodore Morell, Hitler's personal physician (b. 1886) * 1951 – Lincoln Ellsworth, American scientist and polar explorer (b. 1880) * 1954 – Lionel Conacher, Canadian athlete (b. 1900) * 1955 – Alberto Ascari, Italian race car driver (b. 1918) * 1968 – Little Willie John, American R&B; singer (b. 1937) * 1969 – Paul Hawkins, Australian racing driver (b. 1937) * 1969 - Allan Haines Loughead, American aviation pioneer and engineer (b. 1889) * 1974 – Silvio Moser, Swiss racing driver (b. 1941) * 1976 – Martin Heidegger, German philosopher (b. 1889) * 1979 – George Brent, British actor (b. 1899) * 1989 - Don Revie, English footballer and manager (b. 1927) * 1995 – Friz Freleng, American animator (b. 1905) * 1999 – Paul Sacher, Swiss conductor (b. 1906) * 1999 – Waldo Semon, American inventor (b. 1898) === From 2001 === * 2001 – Vittorio Brambilla, Italian racing driver (b. 1937) * 2001 - Anne Haney, American actress (b. 1934) * 2002 – Mamo Wolde, Ethiopian runner (b. 1932) * 2003 – Kathleen Winsor, American writer (b. 1919) * 2004 – Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh, Russian astronomer (b. 1931) * 2004 – Dullah Omar, South African lawyer and politician (b. 1934) * 2005 – Eddie Albert, American actor (b. 1906) * 2005 – Chico Carrasquel, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player (b. 1928) * 2005 - Krzysztof Nowak, Polish footballer (b. 1975) * 2005 - Sangoulé Lamizana, President of Burkina Faso (b. 1916) * 2006 – Édouard Michelin, CEO of Michelin (b. 1963) * 2006 – C. H. Patterson, American psychologist (b. 1912) * 2008 – Sydney Pollack, American actor (b. 1934) * 2013 - Jack Vance, American mystery, fantasy and science fiction writer (b. 1916) * 2014 - Manuel Uribe, Mexican computer repairman, was once the world's heaviest man (b. 1965) * 2015 - Vicente Aranda, Spanish movie director (b. 1926) * 2015 - Les Johnson, Australian politician (b. 1924) * 2015 - Dayton Waller, American politician (b. 1925) * 2015 - Rocky Frisco, American pianist (b. 1937) * 2015 - Bob Hornery, Australian actor (b. 1931) * 2015 - Robert Craft, American astronomer (b. 1927) * 2016 - Kazimierz Barburski, Polish fencer (b. 1942) * 2016 - Loris Francesco Capovilla, Italian cardinal (b. 1915) * 2016 - Ted Dumitru, Romanian football manager (b. 1939) * 2016 - Hedy Epstein, German- American Holocaust survivor and activist (b. 1924) * 2016 - Angela Paton, American actress (b. 1930) * 2016 - Arturo Pomar, Spanish chess player (b. 1931) * 2016 - Bob Williams, American football player (b. 1930) * 2017 - Toni Bertorelli, Italian actor (b. 1948) * 2017 - Laura Biagiotti, Italian fashion designer (b. 1943) * 2017 - Zbigniew Brzezinski, Polish-American political scientist and diplomat (b. 1928) * 2017 - Jim Bunning, American baseball player and politician (b. 1931) * 2018 - Alan Bean, American astronaut (b. 1932) * 2018 - Pierre Bellemare, French television presenter, actor and radio personality (b. 1929) * 2018 - Ted Dabney, American electrical engineer (b. 1937) * 2018 - Roger Piantoni, French footballer (b. 1931) * 2018 - Svetlin Rusev, Bulgarian artist (b. 1933) * 2018 - Antonio Pujía, Italian-Argentine sculptor (b. 1929) * 2019 - Abdel Latif El Zein, Lebanese politician (b. 1932) * 2019 - Harry Hood, Scottish footballer (b. 1944) * 2019 - Ibrahim Lame, Nigerian educator and politician (b. 1953) * 2019 - Bart Starr, American football player and coach (b. 1934) * 2019 - Stephen Thorne, British actor (b. 1935) * 2019 - Prem Tinsulanonda, Prime minister and Regent of Thailand (b. 1920) * 2019 - Vittorio Zucconi, Italian-American journalist and writer (b. 1944) == Observances == * Independence Day in Georgia and Guyana * Crown Prince's Birthday (Denmark) * Mother's Day (Poland) * National Sorry Day (Australia) * National Book Day (Uruguay) Category:Days of the year