September 26



Events

Up to 1900 
 1087  William II of England is crowned king in Westminster Abbey.
 1345  Friso-Hollandic Wars: Frisians defeat Holland in the Battle of Warns.
 1371  Battle of Maritsa in the Serbian-Turkish War.
 1580  Francis Drake completes his circumnavigation (voyage around the world).
 1687  The Parthenon in Athens is partially destroyed by an explosion caused by the bombing from Venetian forces led by Francesco Morosini who are besieging the Ottoman Turks stationed in Athens.
 1687  The city council of Amsterdam votes to support William of Orange's invasion of England, later known as the Glorious Revolution.
 1777  British forces occupy Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the American Revolutionary War.
 1786  Protestors shut down the court in Springfield, Massachusetts in a military stand-off that begins the Shays' Rebellion.
 1789  Thomas Jefferson is appointed the first United States Secretary of State.
 1792  Marc-David Lasource accuses Maximilien Robespierre of wanting a dictatorship in France.
 1810  The Riksdag (Swedish parliament) passes the Act of Succession, allowing Jean Baptiste Bernadotte to become heir to the throne of Sweden.
 1832  The Göta Canal in central Sweden opens.
 1860  The current Flag of Ecuador is introduced.
 1872  The first Shriners Temple (called Mecca) is established in New York City.

1901  2000 
 1907  New Zealand and Newfoundland are given Dominion status.
 1908  The Norwegian football club SK Brann is founded.
 1914  The US Federal Trade Commission is established.
 1917  World War I: The Battle of Polygon Wood begins.
 1918  World War I: The Meuse-Argonne Offensive begins.
 1923  Gustav Stresemann resumes (restarts) the Weimar Republic's payment of reparation money.
 1933  A hurricane in Tampico, Mexico kills 1,000 people.
 1934  The steamship RMS Queen Mary is launched.
 1941  Off the Azores, British passenger steamer Avoceta is torpedoed by a German U-boat. It sinks within two minutes, killing 123 people.
 1944  World War II: The Allies abandon Operation Market Garden.
 1950  Indonesia is admitted to the UN.
 1950  Korean War: UN forces re-capture Seoul from North Korean forces.
 1954  Japanese railway ferry Toya Maru sinks during a typhoon, killing 1,172 people.
 1955  The Flag and Coat of Arms of East Germany are introduced.
 1959  Typhoon Vera hits Japan, killing 4,580 people.
 1960  The first televised United States Presidential debate takes place, between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon.
 1960  Fidel Castro announces Cuba's support for the Soviet Union.
 1962  The Yemen Arab Republic is proclaimed.
 1969  Abbey Road, the last recorded album by The Beatles, is released.
 1970  The Laguna Fire starts in San Diego County, California, burning 175,425 acres (709.92 square kilometers) of land.
 1973  Concorde makes its first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in record-breaking time.
 1980  The Oktoberfest terror attack in Munich kills 13 people and injures 211.
 1981  The first flight of a Boeing 767 takes place.
 1983  Sailing: The Yacht Australia II wins the America's Cup, ending a 132-year US winning streak.
 1984  The United Kingdom agrees to the 1997 handover of Hong Kong.
 1992  A Nigerian troop transporter plane crashes shortly after take-off in Lagos, killing all 163 soldiers on board.
 1997  A plane crash in Medan, Sumatra, Indonesia, kills 234 people.
 1997  A major earthquake strikes central Italy.
 2000  The ship MS Samina sinks off Paros in the Aegean Sea, killing 80 people.

From 2001 
 2001  The Polish Wikipedia is launched.
 2002  A Senegalese ferry capsizes near the Gambia, killing more than 1,000 people.
 2006  Shinzo Abe becomes Prime Minister of Japan for the first time.
 2007  Yasuo Fukuda becomes Prime Minister of Japan.
 2008  Swiss pilot and inventor Yves Rossy becomes the first person to fly a jet engine-powered wing across the English Channel.
 2009  Typhoon Ketsana strikes the Philippines, and several neighboring countries, killing over 700 people.
 2014  Several students are kidnapped from Iguala, Mexico.
 2016  The first 2016 US presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump takes place.
 2017  It is announced that the Republic of Ireland is to hold a referendum on the issue of abortion in 2018.
 2017  An end to the ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia is announced.
 2019  New South Wales becomes the last Australian state to allow abortion.

Births

Up to 1900 
 1329  Anna of Bavaria, Queen of the Romans (d. 1353)
 1406  Thomas de Ros, 9th Baron de Ros, English soldier and politician (d. 1430)
 1698  William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire (d. 1755)
 1711  Richard Grenville-Temple, 2nd Earl of Temple, English politician (d. 1779)
 1774  Johnny Appleseed, American folk hero (d. 1847)
 1791  Théodore Géricault, French painter and lithographer (d. 1824)
 1793  William Hobson, 1st Governor of New Zealand (d. 1842)
 1820  Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Bengali scholar (d. 1891)
 1840  Louis-Olivier Taillon, French-Canadian politician (d. 1923)
 1843  Joseph Furphy, Australian writer (d. 1912)
 1849  Ivan Pavlov, Russian scientist (d. 1936)
 1856  Leo Graetz, German physicist (d. 1941)
 1865  Mary Russell, Duchess of Bedford, English pilot and ornithologist (d. 1937)
 1867  Winsor McCay, American animator (d. 1934)
 1869  Komitas Vardapet, Armenian composer (d. 1935)
 1870  King Christian X of Denmark (d. 1947)
 1872  Max Ehrmann, American poet (d. 1945)
 1873  Alexey Shchusev, Russian architect (d. 1949)
 1874  Lewis Hine, American photographer and scientist (d. 1940)
 1876  Ghulam Bhik Nairang, Indian poet and Muslim nationalist (d. 1952)
 1877  Alfred Cortot, French pianist (d. 1962)
 1877  Ugo Cerletti, Italian neurologist (d. 1963)
 1881  Hiram Wesley Evans, American Ku Klux Klan leader (d. 1966)
 1886  Archibald Hill, English mathematician, won the 1922 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1977)
 1887  Antonio Moreno, Spanish actor (d. 1967)
 1887  Barnes Wallis, English scientist and inventor (d. 1979)
 1888  T. S. Eliot, American poet (d. 1965)
 1889  Martin Heidegger, German philosopher (d. 1976)
 1891  Hans Reichenbach, German philosopher (d. 1953)
 1893  Gladys Brockwell, American actress (d. 1929)
 1895  Jürgen Stroop, German SS officer (d. 1952)
 1897  Pope Paul VI (d. 1978)
 1898  George Gershwin, American composer (d. 1937)

1901  1925 
 1901  George Raft, American actor (d. 1980)
 1905  Millito Navarro, Puerto Rican baseball player (d. 2011)
 1907  Anthony Blunt, British double-agent (d. 1983)
 1909  Bill France, Sr., American racing driver (d. 1992)
 1910  Delfin Benitez Caceres, Paraguayan footballer (d. 2004)
 1913  Berthold Beitz, German businessman (d. 2013)
 1914  Achille Compagnoni, Italian mountaineer (d. 2009)
 1914  Jack LaLanne, American fitness expert (d. 2011)
 1917  Tran Duc Thao, Vietnamese philosopher (d. 1993)
 1918  Olafur Johann Stefansson, Icelandic writer (d. 1988)
 1918  John Zacherle, American television host, voice actor and singer
 1919  Matilde Camus, Spanish poet (d. 2012)
 1919  Ezio Loik, Italian footballer (d. 1949)
 1921  Cyprian Ekwensi, Nigerian writer (d. 2007)
 1922  Nicholas Romanov, Prince of Russia, claimant to Russian throne (d. 2014)
 1923  Dev Anand, Indian actor and movie producer (d. 2011)
 1923  James Hennessy, British diplomat and public servant
 1925  Marty Robbins, American singer (d. 1982)

1926  1950 
 1926  Julie London, American singer and actress (d. 2000)
 1927  Patrick O'Neal, American actor
 1927  Robert Cade, American physician (d. 2007)
 1927  Romano Mussolini, Italian jazz musician (d. 2006)
 1927  Enzo Bearzot, Italian footballer (d. 2010)
 1930  Fritz Wunderlich, German tenor (d. 1966)
 1932  Donna Douglas, American actress (d. 2015)
 1932  Manmohan Singh, former Prime Minister of India
 1932  Vladimir Voinovich, Russian writer and dissident (d. 2018)
 1932  Richard Herd, American actor
 1934  Dick Heckstall-Smith, English musician (d. 2004)
 1935  Lou Myers, American actor (d. 2013)
 1936  Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, South African activist (d. 2018)
 1937  Valentin Pavlov, Russian politician (d. 2003)
 1937  Jerry Weintraub, American movie producer (d. 2015)
 1938  Raoul Cauvin, Belgian comic writer
 1939  Ricky Tomlinson, English actor
 1939  George McWhirter, Northern Irish-Canadian writer
 1941  Salvatore Accardo, Italian violinist and composer
 1941  Martine Beswick, English model and actress
 1941  Vadim Glowna, German actor (d. 2012)
 1942  Kent McCord, American actor
 1942  Ingrid Becker, German athlete
 1943  Ian Chappell, Australian cricketer
 1944  Jan Brewer, American politician, 22nd Governor of Arizona
 1944  Anne Robinson, English television presenter
 1944  Jean-Pierre Ricard, French cardinal, Archbishop of Bordeaux
 1945  Bobby Clark, Scottish footballer
 1945  Gal Costa, Brazilian singer
 1945  Bryan Ferry, English singer
 1946  Radhna Krishna Mainali, Nepalese politician
 1946  Andrea Dworkin, American activist and writer (d. 2005)
 1946  Christine Todd Whitman, 50th Governor of New Jersey
 1946  Homa Rousta, Iranian actress (d. 2015)
 1947  Lynn Anderson, American singer (d. 2015)
 1948  Olivia Newton-John, Australian-British singer and actress (d. 2022)
 1948  Stuart Tosh, Scottish singer-songwriter and producer
 1949  Clodoaldo, Brazilian footballer
 1949  Minette Walters, English novelist

1951  1975 
 1952  George Wood, Scottish footballer
 1954  Alice, Italian singer-songwriter
 1954  Kevin Kennedy, American baseball player and manager
 1956  Linda Hamilton, American actress
 1957  Roger MacBride Allen, American science fiction writer
 1957  Luigi De Canio, Italian footballer
 1957  Klaus Augenthaler, German footballer
 1958  Rudi Cerne, German ice skater and TV presenter
 1958  Robert Kagan, American historian and writer
 1959  Andrew Bolt, Australian journalist and political commentator
 1960  Uwe Bein, German footballer
 1960  Jouke de Vries, Frisian politician and professor
 1961  Will Self, British writer
 1962  Mark Haddon, British writer
 1962  Melissa Sue Anderson, American actress
 1962  Al Pitrelli, American guitarist (Megadeth)
 1962  Jacky Wu, Taiwanese singer, actor and television host
 1963  Lysette Anthony, English actress and model
 1964  Nicki French, English singer and actress
 1965  Petro Poroshenko, Ukrainian businessman and politician, former President of Ukraine
 1968  James Caviezel, American actor
 1969  Holger Stanislawski, German football manager
 1969  Anthony Cavanagh, French-Canadian comedian, actor and singer
 1969  David Slade, English director
 1972  Beto O'Rourke, American politician
 1973  Chris Small, Scottish snooker player
 1973  Julienne Davis, American actress, producer and screenwriter
 1975  Jake Paltrow, American director

From 1976 
 1976  Michael Ballack, German footballer
 1976  Dean Butterworth, English-American drummer (Good Charlotte)
 1976  Tyler Denk, American model
 1978  Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot, Kenyan runner
 1979  Naomichi Marufuji, Japanese professional wrestler
 1979  Jaycie Phelps, American gymnast
 1979  Taavi Roivas, former Prime Minister of Estonia
 1980  Daniel Sedin, Swedish ice hockey player
 1980  Henrik Sedin, Swedish ice hockey player
 1980  Kazuki Ganaha, Japanese footballer
 1981  Christina Milian, American singer
 1981  Serena Williams, American tennis player
 1981  Yao Beina, Chinese singer (d. 2015)
 1983  Ricardo Quaresma, Portuguese footballer
 1985  Lenna Kuurmaa, Estonian singer
 1985  M. Pokora, French singer and songwriter
 1986  Ashley Leggat, Canadian actress, singer and dancer
 1987  Rosanna Munter, Swedish singer
 1988  James Blake, English singer-songwriter
 1988  Marina Kuroki, Japanese actress and singer
 1988  Kiira Korpi, Finnish figure skater
 1989  Ciaran Clark, Irish footballer
 1989  Emma Rigby, English actress
 1990  Pavel Avdeyev, Russian footballer
 1991  Alma Jodorowsky, French actress, fashion model and singer
 1993  Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, American basketball player
 2000  Princess Salma bint Al Abdullah II of Jordan

Deaths

Up to 1960 
 1290  Margaret, Maid of Norway, Queen of Scotland (b. 1283)
 1417  Francesco Zabarella, Italian jurist (b. 1360)
 1425  Sophia of Bavaria, Queen of Bohemia (b. 1376)
 1468  Juan de Torquemada, Spanish cardinal (b. 1388)
 1620  Taicheng, Chinese Emperor (b. 1582)
 1626  Wakisaka Yasuharu, Japanese daimyo (b. 1554)
 1716  Antoine Parent, French mathematician (b. 1666)
 1763  John Byron, English poet (b. 1692)
 1802  Jurij Vega, Slovenian mathematician and military officer (b. 1754)
 1820  Daniel Boone, American frontiersman (b. 1734)
 1867  James Ferguson, Scottish-American astronomer (b. 1797)
 1877  Hermann Grossmann, German polymath (b. 1809)
 1902  Levi Strauss, German-born clothing manufacturer (b. 1829)
 1904  Lafcadio Hearn, Irish-Greek writer (b. 1850)
 1904  John F. Stairs, Canadian businessman and statesman (b. 1848)
 1937  Bessie Smith, American blues singer (b. 1894)
 1945  Béla Bartók, Hungarian composer (b. 1881)
 1945  Kiyoshi Miki, Japanese philosopher (b. 1897)
 1947  Hugh Lofting, English writer (b. 1886)
 1952  George Santayana, Spanish philosopher (b. 1863)
 1953  Xu Beihong, Chinese painter (b. 1895)
 1954  Ellen Roosevelt, American tennis player (b. 1868)
 1959  Solomon Bandaranaike, Prime Minister of present-day Sri Lanka (b. 1899)

1961  2015 
 1968  Daniel Johnson, Sr., 20th Premier of Quebec (b. 1915)
 1973  Anna Magnani, Italian actress (b. 1908)
 1976  Lavoslav Ruzicka, Croatian chemist (b. 1887)
 1978  Manne Siegbahn, Swedish physicist (b. 1886)
 1983  Tino Rossi, French singer and actor (b. 1907)
 1984  Paquirri, Spanish bullfighter (b. 1948)
 1987  Ramang, Indonesian footballer and manager (b. 1928)
 1987  Herbert Tichy, Austrian mountaineer (b. 1912)
 1990  Alberto Moravia, Italian writer (b. 1907)
 1996  Geoffrey Wilkinson, British chemist (b. 1921)
 1998  Betty Carter, American singer (b. 1929)
 2000  Baden Powell de Aquino, Brazilian guitarist (b. 1937)
 2000  Richard Mulligan, American actor (b. 1932)
 2003  Shawn Lane, American guitarist (b. 1963)
 2003  Robert Palmer, British singer (b. 1949)
 2006  Iva Toguri D'Aquino, alleged Tokyo Rose (b. 1916)
 2006  Byron Nelson, American golfer (b. 1912)
 2008  Paul Newman, American actor and director (b. 1925)
 2010  Gloria Stuart, American actress (b. 1910)
 2012  Johnny Lewis, American actor (b. 1983)
 2013  Sos Sargsyan, Armenian actor (b. 1929)
 2014  Michael McCarty, American stage actor (b. 1946)
 2014  Sam Hall, American television writer (b. 1921)
 2015  Homa Rousta, Iranian actress (b. 1946)

From 2016 
 2016  Herschell Gordon Lewis, American movie director (b. 1929)
 2016  Ioan Gyuri Pascu, Romanian singer, actor and comedian (b. 1961)
 2017  Robert Delpire, French photographer and filmmaker (b. 1926)
 2017  Barry Dennen, American actor (b. 1938)
 2017  Günter Halm, German World War II lieutenant (b. 1922)
 2017  Rinse Zijlstra, Dutch politician (b. 1927)
 2018  Joe Carolan, Irish footballer (b. 1937)
 2018  Ignaz Kirchner, Austrian actor (b. 1946)
 2019  Giovanni Bramucci, Italian cyclist (b. 1946)
 2019  Jacques Chirac, President of France (b. 1932)
 2019  William Levada, American cardinal (b. 1936)
 2019  Gennadi Manakov, Russian cosmonaut (b. 1950)
 2019  Ronald L. Schlicher, American politician (b. 1956)

Observances 
 European Day of Languages (Council of Europe and EU)
 Day of the National Flag (Ecuador)
 Dominion Day (New Zealand)
 Republic Day (Yemen)

Days of the year