August 26

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 Jose 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 Heloise Guerin, 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 Crecy:
Charles II of Alencon (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 Jose 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 Paiao, 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)
Days of the year