February 26

Events
Up to 1900
364 - Valentinian I is proclaimed Roman Emperor.
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 makes Charles the King of Sicily and Naples.
1548 - Admiral Piri Reis conquers Portuguese-occupied Aden in Yemen for the Ottoman Empire.
1658 - Treaty of Roskilde: After defeat in the Northern Wars, King Frederick III of Denmark-Norway is forced to give up nearly a third of territory to Sweden.
1794 - Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen burns down.
1815 - Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from exile on the island of Elba.
1848 - The Second French Republic is proclaimed.
1852 - The troop transporter Birkenhead of the Royal Navy sinks off South Africa, killing 450 of the 643 people on board. The call Women and children first is believed to have been used for the first time.
1876 - Japan and Korea sign a treaty granting Japanese citizens extraterritoriality rights, opening three ports to Japanese trade, and ending Korea's status as a tributary state to Qing Dynasty China.
1885 - The Berlin Africa Conference takes place, deciding the colonial boundaries in Africa, between different European colonial powers.
1901 2000
1909 - Kinemacolor, the first successful color movie process, is first shown to the general public at the Palace Theatre in London.
1914 - The ship HMHS Britannic is launched at Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast.
1917 - Denali National Park is founded in Alaska, originally named Mt. McKinley National Park. The mountain's English-language name comes from US President William McKinley.
1918 - A German U-boat sinks the British hospital ship HMHS Glenart Castle, killing 153 people.
1919 - The Grand Canyon becomes part of the Grand Canyon National Park.
1929 - The Grand Teton National Park is founded in Wyoming.
1935 - Robert Watson-Watt demonstrates the radar near Daventry.
1935 - Adolf Hitler orders the re-formation of the Luftwaffe.
1936 - February 26 Incident: Japanese military officers stage a military coup against the government.
1952 - Vincent Massey becomes the first Canadian-born Governor-General of Canada.
1960 - A New York-bound Alitalia airliner crashes into a cemetery in Shannon, Ireland, shortly after take-off, killing 34 of the 52 people on board.
1961 - Hassan II becomes King of Morocco.
1966 - Apollo program: Launch of AS-201, the first flight of a Saturn IB rocket.
1966 - Vietnam War; The ROK Capital Division of the South Korean Army massacres 380 unarmed civilians.
1971 - U Thant signs the United Nations proclamation of the Spring Equinox (March 20/21) as Earth Day. it is later celebrated on April 22.
1972 - The Buffalo Creek Flood is caused when a dam bursts, in West Virginia, killing 125 people.
1974 - Norway announces the discovery of the Statfjord oil field in the North Sea.
1980 - Egypt and Israel create full diplomatic relations.
1984 - US troops withdraw from Lebanon.
1990 - The Sandinistas are defeated in Nicaraguan elections, also meaning that Violeta Chamorro becomes Nicaragua's first female President.
1991 - The Gulf War ends when Saddam Hussein announces the withdrawal of all Iraqi troops in Kuwait.
1991 - Tim Berners-Lee introduces WorldWideWeb. As it is confused with the World Wide Web, it is later renamed Nexus.
1992 - Khojaly Massacre: Armenian forces kill 613 Azerbaijani civilians in Nagorno Karabakh.
1993 - World Trade Center bombing: A bomb explodes in a car park under the North Tower of New York City's World Trade Center, killing 6 people, and injuring over 1,000.
1995 - Barings Bank, the United Kingdom's oldest investment banking institute, collapses.
1997 - The funeral of Deng Xiaoping is broadcast across the People's Republic of China.
2000 - The Hekla volcano in Iceland erupts.
From 2001
2004 - Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski dies in a plane crash near Mostar, in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
2006 - End of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.
2012 - Shooting of Trayvon Martin: African American teenager Trayvon Martin is shot dead by neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman in Florida. The exact circumstances of his death become subject of debate and controversy.
2012 - Silent movie The Artist wins the most awards in the Academy Awards ceremony.
2013 - A hot-air balloon crashes near Luxor, Egypt, killing 19 people.
2016 - Gianni Infantino is elected President of FIFA, the governing body of world football.
Births
Up to 1800
1361 - Wenceslaus, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia (d. 1419)
1416 - Christopher of Bavaria, King of Denmark (d. 1448)
1564 - Christopher Marlowe, English dramatist (d. 1593)
1584 - Albert VI of Bavaria (d. 1666)
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)
1677 - Nicolas Fago, Italian composer and teacher (d. 1745)
1718 - Johan Ernst Gunnerus, Norwegian bishop, botanist and zoologist (d. 1773)
1720 - Gian Francesco Albani, Italian cardinal (d. 1803)
1724 - Gottfried Heinrich Bach, son of Johann Sebastian Bach (d. 1763)
1732 - Francis Marion, American Revolutionary officer (d. 1795)
1746 - Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria (d. 1806)
1770 - Anton Reicha, Bohemian composer and flautist (d. 1836)
1777 - Matija Nenadovic, Serbian uprising leader (d. 1854)
1786 - Francois Arago, Catalan-French physicist and politician (d. 1853)
1801 1900
1802 - Victor Hugo, French writer (d. 1885)
1808 - Honore 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)
1838 - Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, Romanian writer and philologist (d. 1907)
1842 - Camille Flammarion, French astronomer and writer (d. 1952)
1846 - Buffalo Bill, American bison hunter and showman (d. 1917)
1852 - John Harvey Kellogg, American physician (d. 1943)
1861 - King Ferdinand of Bulgaria (d. 1939)
1866 - Herbert Henry Dow, American chemical industrialist (d. 1930)
1869 - Nadezhda Krupskaya, Russian revolutionary, wife of Vladimir Lenin (d. 1939)
1875 - Richard Wetz, German composer and conductor (d. 1935)
1877 - Henry Barwell, Australian politician, 28th Premier of South Australia (d. 1959)
1877 - Rudolph Dirks, German-American illustrator (d. 1968)
1879 - Frank Bridge, English composer (d. 1941)
1880 - Kenneth Edgeworth, Irish astronomer (d. 1972)
1881 - Janus Djurhuus, Faroese poet (d. 1948)
1882 - Husband E. Kimmel, American admiral (d. 1968)
1884 - Francesco Borgongini Duca, Italian cardinal (d. 1954)
1885 - Aleksandras Stulginskis, President of Lithuania (d. 1969)
1887 - Stefan Grabinski, Polish writer (d. 1936)
1887 - Grover Cleveland Alexander, American baseball player (d. 1950)
1891 - Carlo Carcano, Italian footballer and coach (d. 1965)
1893 - Wallace Fard Muhammad, American religious leader (d. 1934)
1896 - Andrei Alexandrovich Zhdanov, Soviet politician and ideologist (d. 1948)
1899 - Max Petitpierre, Swiss politician (d. 1994)
1900 - Halina Konopacka, Polish athlete (d. 1989)
1901 1925
1902 - Jean Bruller, French writer, caricaturist and resistance activist (d. 1991)
1903 - Giulio Natta, Italian chemist (d. 1979)
1906 - Madeleine Carroll, English actress (d. 1987)
1906 - Egidio Vagnozzi, Italian cardinal (d. 1980)
1908 - Tex Avery, American cartoonist (d. 1980)
1909 - Gunnar Andersen, Norwegian ski jumper (d. 1988)
1909 - King Talal of Jordan (d. 1972)
1909 - Fanny Cradock, British cookery writer and television presenter (d. 1994)
1911 - Taro Okamoto, Japanese avant-garde artist (d. 1996)
1912 - Dane Clark, American actor and director (d. 1998)
1914 - Robert Alda, American actor (d. 1986)
1916 - Jackie Gleason, American actor and producer (d. 1987)
1917 - Robert Taft, Jr., American politician (d. 1993)
1918 - Pyotr Masherov, Soviet-Belarussian politician (d. 1980)
1918 - Otis R. Bowen, 44th Governor of Indiana and United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (d. 2013)
1918 - Theodore Sturgeon, American writer (d. 1985)
1920 - Lucjan Woldanowski, Polish journalist, writer and traveler (d. 2006)
1920 - Tony Randall, American actor (d. 2004)
1921 - Betty Hutton, American actress (d. 2007)
1922 - Karl Aage Praest, Danish footballer (d. 2011)
1922 - William Baumol, American economist (d. 2017)
1924 - Noboru Takeshita, Japanese politician (d. 2000)
1924 - Marc Bucci, American composer, lyricist and dramatist (d. 2002)
1925 - Everton Weekes, Barbadian cricketer
1926 1950
1926 - Verne Gagne, American wrestler and football player (d. 2015)
1926 - Henry Molaison, American memory disorder patient (d. 2008)
1928 - Anatoly Filipchenko, Soviet cosmonaut
1928 - Fats Domino, American musician (d. 2017)
1928 - Odo Marquard, German philosopher (d. 2015)
1928 - Ariel Sharon, Prime Minister of Israel (d. 2014)
1930 - Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina, Algerian movie director and screenwriter
1931 - Ally MacLeod, Scottish footballer (d. 2004)
1931 - Robert Novak, American journalist and author (d. 2009)
1932 - Johnny Cash, American singer (d. 2003)
1934 - Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina, Algerian director, producer and screenwriter
1936 - Jose Policarpo, Roman Catholic Patriarch of Lisbon (d. 2014)
1937 - Cliff Osmond, American actor (d. 2012)
1939 - Josephine Tewson, English actress
1940 - Whitney Smith, American vexillologist (someone who studies flags) (d. 2016)
1942 - Jozef Adamec, Slovakian footballer
1943 - Bill Duke, American actor and director
1943 - Darcus Howe, Trinidad-born British broadcaster, writer and activist (d. 2017)
1943 - Charles P. Thacker, American computer designer (d. 2017)
1944 - Ronald Lauder, President of the World Jewish Congress
1945 - Tony deBrum, Marshallese politician (d. 2017)
1945 - Mitch Ryder, American rock musician
1946 - Ahmed Zewail, Egyptian chemist (d. 2016)
1946 - Bobby "Bingo" Smith, American basketball player
1947 - Sandie Shaw, British singer
1948 - David Edgar, British playwright
1949 - Elizabeth George, American writer
1949 - Emma Kirkby, British singer
1949 - Lynda Clark, Baroness Clark of Calton, British politician
1950 - Helen Clark, 37th Prime Minister of New Zealand
1950 - Jonathan Cain, American musician
1950 - Don Shanks, American actor and stuntman
1951 1975
1951 - Steve Bell, English cartoonist
1951 - Wayne Goss, Australian politician, 34th Premier of Queensland (d. 2014)
1952 - Jaan Arder, Estonian singer (d. 2014)
1953 - Michael Bolton, American singer
1954 - Leon de Winter, Dutch writer
1954 - Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkey
1954 - Ernst August, Prince of Hanover, German aristocrat, married into the Monegasque royal family
1955 - Andreas Maislinger, Austrian historian
1956 - Kevin Dunn, American actor
1956 - Michel Houellebecq, French writer
1957 - Joe Mullen, American ice hockey player
1957 - David Muldrow, American politician, 113th Governor of South Carolina
1958 - Tim Kaine, American politician, former Governor of Virginia
1958 - Susan Helms, American astronaut
1958 - Greg Germann, American actor
1959 - Rolando Blackman, Panamanian basketball player
1959 - Ahmet Davutoglu, former Prime Minister of Turkey
1962 - Ahn Cheol-soo, South Korean politician, businessman and software entrepreneur
1963 - Chase Masterson, American actress and singer
1964 - Mark Dacascos, American actor and martial artist
1966 - Marc Fortier, Canadian ice hockey player
1966 - Garry Conille, 14th Prime Minister of Haiti
1966 - Najwa Karam, Lebanese singer-songwriter and producer
1967 - Kazuyoshi Miura, Japanese footballer
1968 - Robin Ammerlaan, Dutch wheelchair tennis player
1969 - Hitoshi Sakimoto, Japanese composer
1969 - Steve Agee, American actor and comedian
1970 - Mark Harper, English politician
1971 - Erykah Badu, American singer
1972 - Jonny Quinn, Northern Irish musician (Snow Patrol)
1973 - Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Norwegian footballer and coach
1973 - Marshall Faulk, American football player
1973 - Jenny Thompson, American swimmer
1974 - Sebastien Loeb, French World-Champion rally driver
From 1976
1977 - Shane Williams, Welsh rugby player
1977 - Tim Thomas, American basketball player
1978 - Abdoulaye Diagne-Faye, Senegalese footballer
1979 - Corinne Bailey Rae, British singer
1979 - Pedro Mendes, Portuguese footballer
1980 - Steve Blake, American basketball player
1981 - Chris Thile, American musician
1982 - Li Na, Chinese tennis player
1982 - Matt Prior, English cricketer
1983 - Pepe, Brazilian-Portuguese footballer
1984 - Emmanuel Adebayor, Togolese footballer
1984 - Alex de Angelis, Sammarinese motorcycle racer
1984 - Natalia Lafourcade, Mexican singer-songwriter
1985 - Gee Atherton, English mountain biker
1985 - Miki Fujimoto, Japanese singer (Morning Musume)
1985 - Fernando Llorente, Spanish footballer
1986 - Hannah Kearney, American skier
1986 - Leila Lopes, Angolan model
1986 - Teresa Palmer, Australian model and actress
1989 - Gabriel Obertan, French footballer
1991 - CL, South Korean singer-songwriter and dancer
1991 - Kevin Plawecki, American baseball player
1992 - Mikael Granlund, Finnish ice hockey player
1993 - Taylor Dooley, American actress
Deaths
Up to 1900
420 - Porphyry of Gaza, Greek bishop and saint (b. 347)
1154 - King Roger II of Sicily (b. 1093)
1266 - King Manfred of Sicily (b. 1232)
1360 - Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March, English military leader (b. 1328)
1577 - King Eric XIV of Sweden (b. 1533)
1611 - Antonio Possevino, Italian Jesuit humanist, diplomat and bibliographer
1726 - Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria (b. 1662)
1770 - Giuseppe Tartini, Italian composer (b. 1692)
1813 - Robert Livingston, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1746)
1815 - Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg Saalfeld (b. 1737)
1864 - Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, Canadian politician (b. 1807)
1883 - Alexandros Koumoundouros, Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1817)
1889 - Karl Davydov, Russian cellist and composer (b. 1838)
1901 2000
1903 - Richard Jordan Gatling, American inventor (b. 1818)
1909 - Hermann Ebbinghaus, German philosopher (b. 1850)
1931 - Otto Wallach, German chemist (b. 1847)
1933 - Princess Thyra of Denmark (b. 1853)
1936 - Saito Makoto, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1858)
1936 - Takahashi Korekiyo, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1854)
1942 - Tommaso Pio Boggiani, Italian cardinal (b. 1863)
1950 - Harry Lauder, Scottish entertainer (b. 1870)
1952 - Theodoros Pangalos, Greek interim leader (b. 1878)
1961 - King Mohammed V of Morocco (b. 1909)
1964 - Homer Martin Atkins, American politician, 32nd Governor of Arkansas (b. 1890)
1966 - Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Indian freedom fighter and writer (b. 1883)
1969 - Karl Jaspers, German psychiatrist (b. 1883)
1969 - Levi Eshkol, Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1895)
1971 - Fernandel, French actor (b. 1903)
1981 - Howard Hanson, American composer (b. 1896)
1985 - Tjalling Koopmans, Dutch economist (b. 1910)
1989 - Roy Eldridge, American musician (b. 1911)
1994 - Bill Hicks, American comedian (b. 1961)
1995 - Jack Clayton, British movie director (b. 1921)
1998 - Theodore Schultz, American economist (b. 1902)
1998 - James Algar, American director, screenwriter and producer (b. 1912)
From 2001
2001 - Arturo Uslar Pietri, Venezuelan writer (b. 1906)
2002 - Lawrence Tierney, American actor (b. 1919)
2004 - Boris Trajkovski, President of Macedonia (b. 1956)
2004 - Shankarrao Chavan, Indian politician (b. 1929)
2009 - Ruth Drexel, German actress (b. 1930)
2009 - Wendy Richard, British actress (b. 1943)
2009 - Norm Van Lier, American basketball player (b. 1947)
2011 - Arnost Lustig, Czech writer (b. 1926)
2012 - Trayvon Martin, American teenager (shot) (b. 1995)
2013 - Marie-Claire Alain, French organist and teacher (b. 1926)
2013 - Stephane Hessel, German-born French writer, diplomat and Resistance activist (b. 1917)
2014 - Sorel Etrog, Romanian-Canadian sculptor, painter and illustrator (b. 1935)
2014 - Gordon Nutt, English footballer (b. 1932)
2014 - Tim Wilson, American comedian and country music singer (b. 1961)
2015 - Theodore Hesburgh, American professor and Roman Catholic priest (b. 1917)
2015 - Martha Cohen, Canadian philanthropist (b. 1920)
2015 - Fritz J. Raddatz, German writer (b. 1931)
2015 - Avijit Roy, Bangladeshi/American blogger
2015 - Tom Schweich, American politician (b. 1961)
2015 - Earl Lloyd, American basketball player (b. 1925)
2016 - Andy Bathgate, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1932)
2016 - Don Getty, Canadian politician, Premier of Alberta (b. 1933)
2016 - Eri Klas, Estonian conductor (b. 1939)
2016 - Karl Dedecius, Polish-German translator (b. 1921)
2017 - Ludvig Faddeev, Russian physicist and mathematician (b. 1934)
2017 - Gerald Kaufman, English politician (b. 1930)
2017 - Joseph Wapner, American judge and television personality (b. 1913)
2017 - Eugene Garfield, American linguist (b. 1925)
2017 - Ned Garver, American baseball player (b. 1925)
2017 - Preben Hertoft, Danish sexologist (b. 1928)
2018 - Mies Bouwman, Dutch television presenter (b. 1929)
2018 - Giorgi Maisashvili, Georgian economist and politician (b. 1962)
Observances
Liberation Day in Kuwait
Savior's Day (Nation of Islam)
Days of the year