Title: August 26 Content: == Events == === Up to 1900 === * 55 BC Julius Caesar attempts to conquer Britannia. * 1071 Battle of Manzikert: Seljuk Turks defeat the Byzantine Army at Manzikert. * 1278 Ladislaus IV of Hungary and Rudolph I of Germany defeat Premysl Ottokar I of Bohemia in the Battle of Marchfield near Durnkrut in then-Moravia. * 1346 Cannons are used for the first time in a European battle, the Battle of Crecy. * 1444 Battle of St. Jakob an der Birs: A vastly outnumbered forces of Swiss Confederates is defeated by Dauphin Louis (future King Louis IX of France) and his army near Basel. * 1498 Michelangelo is commissioned to carve the Pieta. * 1542 Spanish Conquistador Francisco de Orellana and his expedition reach the Amazon Delta. * 1768 James Cook sets sail from England on the HMS Endeavour. * 1789 The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen is approved by the National Assembly at the Palace of Versailles. * 1791 John Fitch is granted a US patent for the steam boat. * 1810 Former viceroy Santiago de Liniers of the Viceroyalty of Rio 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 Russian- Prussian forces accidentally run into each other near what is now Legnica, Poland. * 1814 Chilean War of Independence: Infighting between rebel forces of José Miguel Carrera and Bernardo O'Higgins erupts in the Battle of Las Tres Acequias. * 1821 The University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, is founded. * 1865 A monument to Albert, Prince Consort is unveiled in Coburg, Germany. * 1878 Uyedineniya Island (also known as Lonely Island), one of Russia's remotest islands, located in the Arctic Ocean, is discovered by Norwegian seafarer Edvard Holm Johannesen. * 1883 Krakatoa's 1883 eruption reaches its final stage, ending in a major explosion and tsunamis the following day. * 1883 The Ashes, a cricket prize, is given to English captain, Ivo Bligh. === 1901 2000 === * 1914 World War I: French and British forces invade the then-German colony of Togoland, (covering present-day Togo and western Ghana) in West Africa, taking it after five days. * 1920 An amendment to the United States Constitution allows women in the United States the right to vote. * 1922 The Japanese cruiser Niitaka sinks in a storm off the west coast of Kamchatka, eastern Russia, killing all 400 people on board. * 1940 World War II: Under Governor Felix Eboue, Chad becomes the first French colony to join the Allies. * 1942 Holocaust: In Chortkiav, Eastern Ukraine, German Schutzpolizei starts driving Jews out of their houses, divides them into groups of 120 people and deports them to Belzec Death Camp. * 1944 World War II: Bulgaria declares that it is neutral. * 1944 World War II: Charles de Gaulle enters Paris. * 1961 Changing its Constitution, Burma adopts Buddhism as its official state religion. * 1966 The Namibian War of Independence begins. * 1970 The then-New Feminist Movement, led by Betty Friedan, leads a women's national strike, for equality. * 1972 The 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich begin, officially opened by German President Gustav Heinemann. * 1977 Benin gets a Marxist-Leninist Constitution. * 1977 The Charter of the French language is adopted by the National Assembly of Quebec. * 1978 East German cosmonaut Sigmund Jaehn becomes the first German in space. * 1978 Albino Luciani (Pope John Paul I) is elected Pope. He dies just 33 days later, on September 28. * 1980 John Birges plants a bomb at Harvey's Resort Hotel in Stateline, Nevada. * 1988 Aung San Suu Kyi holds a pro-democracy speech at the Shwedagon Pagoda in Burma as part of the 8888 Revolution. * 1997 Beni-Ali massacre in Algeria: Between 60 and 100 people are killed. * 1999 Russia begins the Second Chechen War in response to the invasion of Dagestan, by the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade. === From 2001 === * 2002 The 2002 Earth Summit meeting in Johannesburg begins. * 2005 The highest court in Fiji declares the ban on Homosexuality unconstitutional. * 2008 Russia unilaterally recognises the Republic of Georgia's break-away territories Abkhazia and South Ossetia. * 2011 Naoto Kan announces his resignation as Prime Minister of Japan. * 2014 A ceasefire enters into force between Israel and the Gaza Strip. * 2018 Jacksonville Landing shooting: A participant at a gaming competition in Jacksonville, Florida shoots two people dead before turning the gun on himself. == Births == === Up to 1900 === * 1469 Ferdinand II of Naples (d. 1496). * 1540 King Magnus of Livonia (d. 1583). * 1596 Frederick V, Elector of the Palatinate, German aristocrat (d. 1632). * 1676 Robert Walpole, Prime Minister of Great Britain (d. 1745). * 1694 Elisha Williams, American rector of Yale college (d. 1755). * 1695 Marie-Anne-Catherine Quinault, French singer and composer (d. 1791). * 1728 Johann Heinrich Lambert, Swiss scientist (d. 1777). * 1740 Joseph Montgolfier, French inventor (d. 1810). * 1743 Antoine Lavoisier, French chemist (d. 1794). * 1787 Alexander Sergeyevich Menshikov, Russian general, admiral and statesman (d. 1869). * 1789 Abbas Mirza, Prince of Persia (d. 1833). * 1792 Manuel Oribe, Uruguayan political figure (d. 1857). * 1797 Innocent of Alaska, Russian Orthodox missionary priest (d. 1879). * 1802 Ludwig Michael Schwanthaler, German sculptor (d. 1848). * 1819 Albert, Prince Consort (d. 1861). * 1826 Princess Alexandra of Bavaria (d. 1875). * 1828 Prince Adalbert of Bavaria (d. 1875). * 1845 Mary Ann Nichols, victim of Jack the Ripper (d. 1888). * 1850 Charles Robert Richet, French physiologist, won the 1913 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1935). * 1854 Arnold Fothergill, English cricketer (d. 1932). * 1864 Anna Ulyanova, older sister of Vladimir Lenin (d. 1935). * 1873 Lee De Forest, American inventor (d. 1961). * 1874 Zona Gale, American novelist (d. 1938). * 1875 John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir, Scottish novelist and Governor-General of Canada (d. 1940). * 1880 Guillaume Apollinaire, French poet and art critic (d. 1918). * 1882 James Franck, German-born physicist (d. 1964). * 1885 Jules Romains, French novelist, dramatist and poet (d. 1972). * 1886 Jerome Hunsaker, American aeronautical engineer (d. 1984). * 1892 Ruth Roland, American actress and movie producer (d. 1937). * 1895 Earl Long, Governor of Louisiana (d. 1960). * 1896 Ivan Mihailov, Bulgarian revolutionary (d. 1990). * 1896 Besse Cooper, American supercentenarian (d. 2012). * 1897 Yun Poson, President of South Korea (d. 1990). * 1898 Peggy Guggenheim, American art collector (d. 1979). * 1900 Hellmuth Walter, German engineer and inventor (d. 1980). * 1900 Mark Sandrich, American movie director (d. 1945). === 1901 1950 === * 1901 Chen Yi, Chinese Communist military commander and politician (d. 1972). * 1901 Maxwell D. Taylor, American army officer (d. 1987). * 1901 Eleanor Dark, Australian writer (d. 1985). * 1903 Jimmy Rushing, American singer and pianist (d. 1972). * 1904 Christopher Isherwood, English writer (d. 1986). * 1906 Albert Sabin, Polish-American polio researcher (d. 1993). * 1906 Bunny Austin, British tennis player (d. 2000). * 1908 Jacques-Paul Martin, French cardinal (d. 1992). * 1909 Jim Davis, American actor (d. 1981). * 1910 Mother Theresa, Catholic nun and missionary, Nobel Prize winner (d. 1997). * 1913 Boris Pahor, Slovenian writer. * 1914 Julio Cortazar, Argentine author (d. 1984). * 1918 Katherine Johnson, American physicist, mathematician and space scientist * 1920 Prem Tinsulanonda, 16th Prime Minister of Thailand. * 1921 Benjamin C. Bradlee, American journalist (d. 2014). * 1923 Wolfgang Sawallisch, German conductor and pianist (d. 2013). * 1924 Jacques Villiers, French aerospace engineer (d. 2012). * 1925 Alain Peyrefitte, French politician (d. 1999). * 1925 Pyotr Todorovsky, Ukrainian-Russian director and screenwriter (d. 2013). * 1926 Anahit Tsitsikian, Armenian violinist (d. 2007). * 1928 Santiago Vernazza, Argentine footballer (d. 2017). * 1929 Reuben Kamanga, 1st Vice president of Zambia (d. 1996). * 1929 Yoga Bhajan, Indian yoga teacher (d. 2004). * 1932 Lygia Bojunga Nunes, Brazilian writer. * 1933 Robert Chartoff, American movie producer (d. 2015). * 1935 Karen Sparck Jones, British computer scientist (d. 2007). * 1935 Geraldine Ferraro, American lawyer and politician (d. 2011). * 1936 Benedict Anderson, American political scientist (d. 2015). * 1936 Francine York, American actress (d. 2017). * 1937 Nina Companeez, French screenwriter and movie director (d. 2015). * 1937 Gennady Yanayev, Soviet politician (d. 2010). * 1938 Jet Black, English musician (The Stranglers). * 1939 Todor Kolev, Bulgarian actor and singer (d. 2013). * 1940 Don LaFontaine, American voice actor (d. 2008). * 1941 Akiko Wakabayashi, Japanese actress. * 1941 Barbet Schroeder, French director, actor and producer. * 1941 Chris Curtis, British musician. * 1942 Vic Dana, American singer and dancer. * 1944 Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, member of the extended British royal family. * 1944 Maurice Tucker, American singer-songwriter and drummer. * 1945 Tom Ridge, American politician. * 1946 Alison Steadman, English actress. * 1946 Valerie Simpson, American singer. * 1946 Zhou Ji, Chinese politician. * 1946 Chantal Renaud, Canadian actress, singer and scriptwriter. * 1947 Nicolae Dobrin, Romanian footballer (d. 2007). * 1949 Leon Redbone, Canadian singer and guitarist. === 1951 1975 === * 1951 Edward Witten, American physicist. * 1952 Michael Jeter, American actor (d. 2003). * 1954 Steve Wright, British DJ. * 1956 Brett Cullen, American actor. * 1957 Rick Hansen, Canadian athlete. * 1957 Dr. Alban, Nigerian-born Swedish singer and musician. * 1958 Nichi Vendola, Italian politician. * 1959 Oliver Colvile, English politician. * 1960 Branford Marsalis, American musician. * 1962 Roger Kingdom, American athlete. * 1962 Tariq Ramadan, Swiss academic, philosopher and writer. * 1963 Ludger Beerbaum, German equestrian showjumper. * 1963 Stephen J. Dubner, American journalist. * 1964 Daphne Caruana Galizia, Maltese blogger and journalist (d. 2017). * 1964 Allegra Huston, English-American writer and editor. * 1965 Chris Burke, American actor. * 1965 Marcus du Sautoy, British mathematics professor. * 1966 Shirley Manson, British singer. * 1966 Jacques Brinkman, Dutch field hockey player. * 1967 Michael Gove, British politician. * 1968 Chris Boardman, British racing cyclist. * 1969 Adrian Young, American rock musician. * 1970 Melissa McCarthy, American actress. * 1970 Brett Schultz, South African cricketer. * 1971 Thalia, Mexican singer. * 1974 Kelvin Cato, American basketball player. === From 1976 === * 1976 Amaia Montero, Spanish singer- songwriter. * 1977 Morris Peterson, American basketball player. * 1979 Cristian Mora, Ecuadorean footballer. * 1980 Macaulay Culkin, American actor. * 1980 Chris Pine, American actor. * 1981 Vangelis Moras, Greek footballer. * 1982 Noah Welch, American ice hockey player. * 1983 Mattia Cassani, Italian footballer. * 1983 Nicol David, Malaysian squash player. * 1985 Brandon McDonald, American football player. * 1986 Cassie, American singer. * 1986 Colin Kazim-Richards, Turkish footballer. * 1987 Greg Halman, Dutch baseball player (d. 2011). * 1987 Riley Steele, American pornographic actress. * 1988 Princess Maria Laura of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este. * 1988 Lars Stindl, German footballer. * 1988 Wayne Simmonds, Canadian ice hockey player. * 1989 James Harden, American basketball player. * 1989 Héloïse Guérin, French model. * 1990 Lil' Chris, English singer (d. 2015). * 1991 Tommy Bastow, English actor and singer. * 1991 Jessica Diggins, American cross-country skier. * 1992 Yang Yilin, Chinese gymnast. * 1992 Hayley Hasselhoff, American actress. * 1993 Keke Palmer, American actress. * 1994 Taylor Bright, American singer and actress. == Deaths == === Up to 1900 === *303 Alexander of Bergamo, Italian Catholic saint. *526 Theodoric the Great, Ostrogoth King. *887 Emperor Koko of Japan (b. 830). *1214 Patriarch Michael IV of Constantinople *1278 King Ottokar II of Bohemia *1346 Killed in the Battle of Crécy: **Charles II of Alençon (b. 1297) **Louis I of Flanders (b. 1304) **John I, Count of Luxemburg (b. 1296) **Rudolph, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1320) *1349 Thomas Bradwardine, Archbishop of Canterbury *1551 Margareta Leijonhufvud, queen of Gustav I of Sweden (b. 1516) *1572 Petrus Ramus, French philosopher (b. 1515) *1595 Antonio, Prior of Crato, claimant to the throne of Portugal (b. 1531) *1607 Giorgio Basta, Habsburg general (b. 1550). *1666 Frans Hals, Dutch painter *1714 Edward Fowler, English Bishop of Gloucester (b. 1632) *1723 Anton van Leeuwenhoek, Dutch scientist (b. 1632) *1785 George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville, British soldier and politician (b. 1716) *1795 Alessandro Cagliostro, Italian alchemist and adventurer (b. 1743) *1810 Santiago Liniers, Viceroy of Rio de la Plata (b. 1753) *1850 Louis-Philippe I of France (b. 1773) *1865 Johann Franz Encke, German astronomer (b. 1791) === 1901 2000 === *1902 George Hoadly, 36th Governor of Ohio (b. 1826). *1910 William James, American psychologist and philosopher (b. 1842). *1915 John Bunny American comedian (b. 1863) *1921 Matthias Erzberger, German politician (b. 1875). *1921 Ludwig Thoma, German writer (b. 1867). *1921 Sandor Wekerle, Prime Minister of Hungary (b. 1848). *1930 Lon Chaney, Sr., American actor (b. 1883) *1944 Adam von Trott zu Solz, German diplomat opposing the Nazi regime (executed) (b. 1909) *1945 Franz Werfel, Austrian writer (b. 1890) *1946 Jeanie MacPherson, American actress and screenwriter (b. 1887) *1956 Alfred Wagenknecht, German-born American activist (b. 1881). *1958 Ralph Vaughan Williams, English composer (b. 1872) *1962 Vilhjalmur Stefansson, Icelandic- Canadian explorer (b. 1879) *1968 Kay Francis, American actress (b. 1899) *1972 Francis Chichester, British sailor and adventurer (b. 1901). *1974 Charles Lindbergh, American aviator (b. 1902) *1976 Lotte Lehmann, German soprano (b. 1888) *1977 H. A. Rey, German-American author and illustrator (b. 1898). *1978 Charles Boyer, French actor (b. 1899) *1978 José Manuel Moreno, Argentine footballer (b. 1916) *1979 Mika Waltari, Finnish writer (b. 1908) *1980 Rosa Albach-Retty, German actress (b. 1874) *1980 Tex Avery, American cartoonist (b. 1908) *1981 Roger Nash Baldwin, founder of the American Civil Liberties Union (b. 1884) *1986 Ted Knight, American actor (b. 1923) *1987 Georg Wittig, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897) *1987 John Goddard, Barbadian-English cricketer (b. 1919) *1988 Carlos Paião, Portuguese singer (b. 1957) *1989 Irving Stone, American writer (b. 1903) *1990 Minoru Honda, Japanese astronomer (b. 1913) *1992 Bob de Moor, Belgian comic artist (b. 1925) *1998 Frederick Reines, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918) *2000 Bunny Austin, British tennis player (b. 1906). === From 2001 === *2001 Marita Petersen, 8th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (b. 1940). *2003 Jim Wacker, American football coach (b. 1937) *2004 Laura Branigan, American singer (b. 1952) *2005 Robert Denning, Interior designer (b. 1927) *2006 Rainer Barzel, German politician (b. 1924) *2007 Gaston Thorn, Luxembourg politician (b. 1928) *2010 Raimon Panikkar, Spanish theologian (b. 1918) *2010 William B. Lenoir, American astronaut (b. 1939) *2011 George Band, British mountaineer (b. 1929) *2011 Aloysius Ambrozic, Slovenian-born Canadian Roman Catholic Archbishop of Toronto (b. 1930) *2013 John J. Gilligan, 62nd Governor of Ohio (b. 1921) *2014 Christian Bourquin, French politician (b. 1954) *2014 Simon Featherstone, British diplomat (b. 1958) *2014 Peter Bacon Hales, American historian and photographer (b. 1950) *2014 Samuel Sadela, Nigerian pastor, claimant to world's oldest man title (b. either in or after 1900) *2014 Lars Mortimer, Swedish comic artist (b. 1946) *2015 Peter Kern, Austrian actor and filmmaker (b. 1949) *2015 Amelia Boynton Robinson, American civil rights activist (b. 1911) *2015 Alison Parker, American journalist (b. 1991) *2015 Adam Ward, American cameraman (b. 1988) *2015 Vester Flanagan, American gunman (b. 1973) *2017 Tobe Hooper, American film director and novelist (b. 1943) *2017 Grzegorz Miecugow, Polish television news presenter and columnist (b. 1955) *2017 Josef Musil, Czech volleyball player (b. 1932) *2017 Wilson das Neves, Brazilian percussionist and singer (b. 1936) *2017 Horacio White, Argentine swimmer (b. 1927) *2018 Rosa Bouglione, French circus performer (b. 1910) *2018 Kerry Hill, Australian architect (b. 1943) *2018 Tony Hiller, British songwriter (b. 1927) *2018 Neil Simon, American playwright (b. 1927) == Observances == * Saint Alexander of Bergamo, martyr * Heroes Day (Namibia) * Women's Equality Day (United States) * Repentance Day (Papua New Guinea) Category:Days of the year