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)

Category:Days of the year