May 26

## Events 
### Up to 1900 
* 17 &ndash; Germanicus returns to Rome as a conquering hero following several battle victories over Germanic tribes.
* 946 &ndash; King Edmund I of England is murderered by a thief he personally attacks during mass.
* 1135 &ndash; Alfonso VII of Spain is crowned.
* 1293 &ndash; An earthquake in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan, kills 30,000 people.
* 1538 &ndash; Geneva expels John Calvin and his followers from the city.
* 1573 &ndash; The Battle of Haarlemmermeer takes place, as a naval battle in the Dutch War of Independence.
* 1644 &ndash; Portuguese Restoration War: Battle of Montijo – Portuguese and Spanish forces both claim victory.
* 1647 &ndash; Alse Young is hanged in Hartford, Connecticut. This is the first "witchcraft" execution in the British American colonies.
* 1659 &ndash; The "Great Fire" destroys more than half of the city of Stade.
* 1770 &ndash; The Orlov Revolt, an attempt to revolt against the Ottoman Empire, ends in disaster for the Greeks.
* 1805 &ndash; Napoleon Bonaparte assumes the title of King of Italy.
* 1822 &ndash; The Grue Church fire in Norway kills 116 people.
* 1828 &ndash; Feral child Kaspar Hauser is discovered walking around Nuremberg. To this day, his early days remain a mystery.
* 1830 &ndash; The Indian Removal Act is passed by the United States Congress, and is signed by President Andrew Jackson two days later.
* 1864 &ndash; Montana is organised as a US territory.
* 1865 &ndash; American Civil War: Edmund Kirby Smith becomes the last Confederate general to surrender.
* 1868 &ndash; End of the impeachment trial of US President Andrew Johnson.
* 1869 &ndash; Boston University is chartered by Massachusetts.
* 1879 &ndash; Russia and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Gandamak, establishing an Afghan state.
* 1896 &ndash; Nicholas II of Russia becomes Tsar.
* 1896 &ndash; Charles Dow publishes the first  edition of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
* 1897 &ndash; The novel *Dracula* by Bram Stoker is published.

### 1901 &ndash; 2000 
* 1906 &ndash; The Vauxhall Bridge in London is opened.
* 1908 &ndash; The first commercial oil strike in the Middle East is made at Masjed Soleyman in what is then known as Persia.
* 1917 &ndash; Several tornadoes occur in Illinois, including the city of Mattoon, killing 101.
* 1918 &ndash; Georgia (country) declares independence.
* 1923 &ndash; The first 24-hour motor car race at Le Mans, France, takes place.
* 1938 &ndash; In the United States, the House of Un-American Activities Committee begins its first session.
* 1940 &ndash; World War II: Battle of Dunkirk – Allied forces begin a massive evacuation from Dunkirk, France.
* 1942 &ndash; World War II: The Battle of Gazala takes place.
* 1966 &ndash; Guyana gains independence (separates) from the United Kingdom.
* 1969 &ndash; Apollo 10 returns to Earth.
* 1971 &ndash; The Pakistan Army massacres over 70 Hindus in Sylhet, present-day Bangladesh.
* 1972 &ndash; Willandra National Park in Australia is created.
* 1972 &ndash; The United States and Soviet Union sign the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
* 1977 &ndash; George Willig climbs the South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City.
* 1981 &ndash; Prime Minister of Italy Arnaldo Forlani and his cabinet resign.
* 1981 &ndash; An EA-6B Prowler crashes on the flight carrier USS *Nimitz* (CVN-68), killing 14 crewmen and injuring 45.
* 1983 &ndash; A magnitude 7.7 earthquake strikes Japan.
* 1986 &ndash; The European Community adopts the European flag.
* 1991 &ndash; Zviad Gamsakhurdia becomes President of Georgia.
* 1991 &ndash; Lauda Air Flight 004, a Boeing 767 plane, crashes in Bangkok, killing 223 people.
* 1992 &ndash; The blockade of Dubrovnik is broken.
* 1998 &ndash; The United States Supreme Court rules that Ellis Island is mainly in New Jersey, not New York.

### From 2001 
* 2002 &ndash; The tugboat *Robert Y. Love* collides with the support pier of Interstate 40 on the Arkansas River near Webbers Falls, Oklahoma, killing 14 people and injuring 11.
* 2004 &ndash; US Army veteran Terry Nichols is found guilty of helping carry out the Oklahoma City bombing.
* 2008 &ndash; Severe flooding begins in Eastern and Southern China. The floods go on to kill 148 people and lead to the evacuation of 1.3 million.
* 2011 &ndash; Wanted on war crimes charges, Ratko Mladic is captured in Serbia.
* 2012 &ndash; Loreen wins the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 for Sweden in Baku, Azerbaijan.
* 2014 &ndash; Narendra Modi becomes Prime Minister of India.
* 2017 &ndash; Militants carry out a shooting at a bus carrying Coptic Christians in central Egypt, killing 28 people.
* 2018 &ndash; Real Madrid C.F. defeat Liverpool F.C. 3–1 in the UEFA Champions League final, winning the competition for the third time in-a-row, and meaning that Madrid–based teams have won both major European club trophies in the season.
* 2019 &ndash; The 2019 elections to the European Parliament are completed; Far-right and Green political parties increase their number of seats.

## Births 
### Up to 1900 
* 1264 &ndash; Prince Koreyasu, Japanese shogun (d. 1326)
* 1478 &ndash; Pope Clement VII (d. 1554)
* 1566 &ndash; Mehmed III, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1603)
* 1602 &ndash; Philippe de Champaigne, French painter (d. 1674)
* 1623 &ndash; William Petty, English economist and philosopher (d. 1687)
* 1650 &ndash; John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, British general (d. 1722)
* 1667 &ndash; Abraham de Moivre, French mathematician (d. 1754)
* 1689 &ndash; Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, English writer (d. 1762)
* 1700 &ndash; Nicolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf, German religious and social reformer (d. 1760)
* 1764 &ndash; Edward Livingston, United States Secretary of State (d. 1836)
* 1810 &ndash; Christen Kobke, Danish painter (d. 1848)
* 1822 &ndash; Edmond de Goncourt, French author and critic (d. 1896)
* 1826 &ndash; Richard Christopher Carrington, English astronomer (d. 1875)
* 1863 &ndash; Bob Fitzsimmons, English-New Zealand boxer (d. 1917)
* 1867 &ndash; Mary of Teck, Queen Consort to King George V of the United Kingdom (d. 1953)
* 1873 &ndash; Olaf Gulbransson, Norwegian artist (d. 1958)
* 1873 &ndash; Hans Ludendorff, German astronomer and astrophysicist (d. 1941)
* 1878 &ndash; Thomas H. Moodie, Governor of North Dakota (d. 1948)
* 1880 &ndash; W. Otto Miessner, American composer and educator (d. 1967)
* 1881 &ndash; Adolfo de la Huerta, President of Mexico (d. 1955)
* 1882 &ndash; Frank C. Emerson, Governor of Wyoming (d. 1931)
* 1883 &ndash; Mamie Smith, American singer (d. 1946)
* 1883 &ndash; Peter Kürten, German serial killer (d. 1931)
* 1886 &ndash; Al Jolson, American singer (d. 1950)
* 1887 &ndash; Ba U, 2nd President of Burma (d. 1963)
* 1893 &ndash; Eugene Aynsley Goossens, English conductor and composer (d. 1962)
* 1895 &ndash; Dorothea Lange, American photographer (d. 1965)
* 1895 &ndash; Paul Lukas, Hungarian actor (d. 1971)
* 1898 &ndash; Christfried Burmeister, Estonian speed skater (d. 1965)
* 1899 &ndash; Antoine Barrette, 18th Premier of Quebec (d. 1968)

### 1901 &ndash; 1950 
* 1904 &ndash; George Formby, British musician (d. 1961)
* 1904 &ndash; Vlado Perlemuter, Lithuanian-born French pianist and teacher (d. 2002)
* 1906 &ndash; Márcio Melo, Brazilian military officer and politician (d. 1991)
* 1907 &ndash; John Wayne, American actor (d. 1979)
* 1908 &ndash; Robert Morley, English actor (d. 1992)
* 1908 &ndash; Nguyen Ngoc Tho, Vietnamese politician (d. 1976)
* 1909 &ndash; Matt Busby, Scottish football player and manager (d. 1994)
* 1909 &ndash; Adolfo Lopez Mateos, Mexican politician (d. 1992)
* 1910 &ndash; Imi Lichtenfeld, Hungarian-Israeli martial artist (d. 1998)
* 1910 &ndash; Laurance Rockefeller, American billionaire (d. 2004)
* 1911 &ndash; Henry Ephron, American playwright, screenwriter and producer (d. 1992)
* 1912 &ndash; János Kádár, Hungarian politician (d. 1989)
* 1912 &ndash; Jay Silverheels, Canadian-American actor (d. 1980)
* 1913 &ndash; Peter Cushing, English actor (d. 1994)
* 1916 &ndash; Moondog, American musician, composer and poet (d. 1999)
* 1917 &ndash; Eva Szorenyi, Hungarian actress and activist (d. 2009)
* 1919 &ndash; Ruben Gonzalez, Cuban musician (d. 2003)
* 1920 &ndash; Peggy Lee, American singer and actress (d. 2002)
* 1921 &ndash; Inge Borkh, German soprano (d. 2018)
* 1921 &ndash; Walter Laqueur, German-American historian and publicist (d. 2018)
* 1923 &ndash; James Arness, American actor (d. 2011)
* 1923 &ndash; Roy Dotrice, British actor (d. 2017)
* 1923 &ndash; Horst Tappert, German actor (d. 2008)
* 1925 &ndash; Alec McCowen, English actor (d. 2017)
* 1926 &ndash; Miles Davis, American trumpeter, composer and bandleader (d. 1991)
* 1928 &ndash; Jack Kevorkian, American assisted suicide advocate (d. 2011)
* 1929 &ndash; Catherine Sauvage, French singer and actress (d. 1998)
* 1933 &ndash; Edward Whittemore, American author (d. 1995)
* 1936 &ndash; Beth Whittall, Canadian swimmer (d. 2015)
* 1936 &ndash; David Stevens, Baron Stevens of Ludgate, English politician
* 1937 &ndash; Paul Patton, former Governor of the U.S. state of Kentucky
* 1938 &ndash; Lyudmila Petrushevskaya, Russian writer, writer and playwright
* 1939 &ndash; Merab Kostava, Georgian activist (d. 1989)
* 1939 &ndash; Herb Trimpe, American comic book artist and writer (d. 2015)
* 1940 &ndash; Levon Helm, American musician and actor (d. 2012)
* 1941 &ndash; Aldrich Ames, CIA counter-intelligence officer
* 1941 &ndash; Jim Dobbin, Scottish politician (d. 2014)
* 1944 &ndash; Sam Posey, American racing driver, TV commentator and writer
* 1945 &ndash; René Féret, French actor, screenwriter, director and producer (d. 2015)
* 1945 &ndash; Garry Peterson, Canadian drummer
* 1945 &ndash; Vilasrao Deshmukh, Indian politician, 17th Chief Minister of Maharashtra (d. 2012)
* 1946 &ndash; Mick Ronson, English guitarist (d. 1993)
* 1946 &ndash; Simon Hoggart, English journalist (d. 2014)
* 1948 &ndash; Stevie Nicks, American songwriter
* 1949 &ndash; Jeremy Corbyn, British politician, leader of the Labour Party
* 1949 &ndash; Ward Cunningham, American computer programmer
* 1949 &ndash; Pam Grier, American actress
* 1949 &ndash; Anne McGuire, Scottish politician
* 1949 &ndash; Hank Williams, Jr., American singer-songwriter and guitarist

### 1951 &ndash; 1975 
* 1951 &ndash; Sally Ride, American astronaut and physicist (d. 2012)
* 1951 &ndash; Ramón Calderón, Spanish lawyer and President of Real Madrid
* 1953 &ndash; Michael Portillo, British politician
* 1954 &ndash; Alan Hollinghurst, British writer
* 1955 &ndash; Masaharu Morimoto, Japanese chef
* 1956 &ndash; Lisa Niemi, American actress
* 1956 &ndash; Ricky Sbragia, Scottish footballer and manager
* 1957 &ndash; Diomedes Díaz, Colombian singer and composer (d. 2013)
* 1958 &ndash; Howard Goodall, English composer
* 1959 &ndash; Ole Bornedal, Norwegian actor, director and producer
* 1961 &ndash; Tarsem Singh, Indian-American director
* 1962 &ndash; Bobcat Goldthwait, American actor and comedian
* 1962 &ndash; Black, English singer-songwriter (d. 2016)
* 1963 &ndash; Simon Armitage, English author, poet and playwright
* 1963 &ndash; Mary Nightingale, English news presenter
* 1964 &ndash; Valery Salov, Russian chess player
* 1964 &ndash; Lenny Kravitz, American singer
* 1964 &ndash; Paul Okalik, Canadian politician, 1st Premier of Nunavut
* 1964 &ndash; Caitlin R. Kiernan, Irish-American paleontologist and author
* 1965 &ndash; Hazel Irvine, Scottish television presenter
* 1966 &ndash; Helena Bonham Carter, English actress
* 1966 &ndash; Zola Budd, South African athlete
* 1966 &ndash; Shona Robison, Scottish politician
* 1968 &ndash; Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark
* 1968 &ndash; Pat Kenney, American baseball player, wrestler and agent
* 1969 &ndash; John Baird, Canadian politician
* 1970 &ndash; Nobuhiro Watsuki, Japanese mangaka
* 1971 &ndash; Matt Stone, American animator and movie maker
* 1971 &ndash; Ivan O. Godfroid, writer
* 1972 &ndash; Patsy Palmer, English actress
* 1972 &ndash; Alan White, English drummer
* 1975 &ndash; Travis Lee, American baseball player
* 1975 &ndash; Nicki Lynn Aycox, American actress
* 1975 &ndash; Kwasi Kwarteng, British politician

### From 1976 
* 1977 &ndash; Luca Toni, Italian footballer
* 1977 &ndash; Nikos Hatzivrettas, Greek basketball player
* 1977 &ndash; Mark Hunter, American musician
* 1978 &ndash; Dan Parks, Australian-Scottish rugby player
* 1978 &ndash; Jaheim, American singer
* 1979 &ndash; Amanda Bauer, American astronomer
* 1979 &ndash; Elisabeth Harnois, American actress 
* 1979 &ndash; Ashley Massaro, American professional wrestler, television host and model (d. 2019)
* 1979 &ndash; Mehmet Okur, Turkish basketball player
* 1981 &ndash; Eda-Ines Etti, Estonian singer
* 1981 &ndash; Jason Manford, English comedian
* 1981 &ndash; Irini Merkouri, Greek singer
* 1981 &ndash; Razvan Rat, Romanian footballer
* 1981 &ndash; Ben Zobrist, American baseball player
* 1983 &ndash; Demy de Zeeuw, Dutch footballer
* 1986 &ndash; Astrid Berges-Frisbey, Spanish-French actress
* 1986 &ndash; Matt Oivanen, Finnish volleyball player
* 1987 &ndash; Josh Thomas, Australian comedian, actor and writer
* 1988 &ndash; Juan Guillermo Cuadrado, Colombian footballer
* 1989 &ndash; Tomas Pekhart, Czech footballer
* 1989 &ndash; Amit Farkash, Canadian-Israeli actress
* 1991 &ndash; Amber Bondin, Maltese singer
* 1991 &ndash; Julianna Rose Mauriello, American actress and dancer
* 1999 &ndash; Kerry Ingram, English actress
* 2001 &ndash; Megan Charpentier, Canadian actress

## Deaths 
### Up to 1900 
* 451 &ndash; Saint Vartan Mamikonian, Armenian warrior
* 604 &ndash; Augustine of Canterbury, Archbishop of Canterbury
* 735 &ndash; Bede, English monk, historian and theologian (b. 672)
* 818 &ndash; Ali ar-Rida, Shia Imam (b. 766)
* 946 &ndash; King Edmund I of England (b. 921)
* 1055 &ndash; Margrave Adalbert of Austria
* 1421 &ndash; Mehmed I, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1389)
* 1512 &ndash; Bayezid II, Ottoman Sultan
* 1536 &ndash; Francesco Berni, Italian poet
* 1595 &ndash; Philip Neri, Italian churchman (b. 1515)
* 1647 &ndash; Alse Young, American woman executed for witchcraft (b. 1600)
* 1648 &ndash; Vincent Voiture, French poet (b. 1597)
* 1653 &ndash; Robert Filmer, English writer (b. 1588)
* 1679 &ndash; Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria (b. 1636)
* 1685 &ndash; Karl II, Elector Palatine (b. 1651)
* 1703 &ndash; Samuel Pepys, English civil servant and diarist (b. 1633)
* 1742 &ndash; Pylyp Orlyk, Ukrainian diplomat (b. 1672)
* 1762 &ndash; Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten, German philosopher (b. 1714)
* 1799 &ndash; James Burnett, Lord Monboddo, Scottish judge (b. 1714)
* 1824 &ndash; Capel Lofft, English writer (b. 1751)
* 1828 &ndash; John Oxley, British officer and explorer (b. 1785)
* 1831 &ndash; Ciro Menotti, Italian patriot (b. 1798)
* 1840 &ndash; Sidney Smith, British admiral (b. 1764)
* 1845 &ndash; Jónas Hallgrímsson, Icelandic poet (b. 1807)
* 1881 &ndash; Jakob Bernays, German philologist (b. 1824)
* 1883 &ndash; Edward Sabine, Irish astronomer (b. 1788)
* 1883 &ndash; Abd al-Qadir, Algerian political and military leader (b. 1808)
* 1888 &ndash; Ascanio Sobrero, Italian chemist (b. 1812)
* 1895 &ndash; Ahmet Cevdet Pasha, Ottoman statesman (b. 1822)

### 1901 &ndash; 2000 
* 1902 &ndash; Almon Strowger, American inventor (b. 1839)
* 1904 &ndash; Georges Gilles de la Tourette, French neurologist (b. 1857)
* 1907 &ndash; Ida Saxton McKinley, First Lady of the United States (b. 1847)
* 1908 &ndash; Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Punjabi founder of the Qadianism (b. 1839)
* 1914 &ndash; Jacob August Riis, Danish-American journalist, photographer and reformer (b. 1849)
* 1924 &ndash; Victor Herbert, Irish composer (b. 1859)
* 1926 &ndash; Simon Petlyura, Ukrainian independence fighter (b. 1879)
* 1933 &ndash; Horatio Bottomley, British financier and politician (b. 1860)
* 1933 &ndash; Jimmie Rodgers, American singer (b. 1897)
* 1939 &ndash; Charles Horace Mayo, American medical practitioner (Mayo Clinic) (b. 1865)
* 1943 &ndash; Edsel Ford, American automobile executive (b. 1893)
* 1943 &ndash; Alice Tegnér, Swedish composer, organist and educator (b. 1864)
* 1948 &ndash; Theodore Morell, Hitler's personal physician (b. 1886)
* 1951 &ndash; Lincoln Ellsworth, American scientist and polar explorer (b. 1880)
* 1954 &ndash; Lionel Conacher, Canadian athlete (b. 1900)
* 1955 &ndash; Alberto Ascari, Italian race car driver (b. 1918)
* 1968 &ndash; Little Willie John, American R&B singer (b. 1937)
* 1969 &ndash; Paul Hawkins, Australian racing driver (b. 1937)
* 1969 &ndash; Allan Haines Loughead, American aviation pioneer and engineer (b. 1889)
* 1974 &ndash; Silvio Moser, Swiss racing driver (b. 1941)
* 1976 &ndash; Martin Heidegger, German philosopher (b. 1889)
* 1979 &ndash; George Brent, British actor (b. 1899)
* 1989 &ndash; Don Revie, English footballer and manager (b. 1927)
* 1995 &ndash; Friz Freleng, American animator (b. 1905)
* 1999 &ndash; Paul Sacher, Swiss conductor (b. 1906)
* 1999 &ndash; Waldo Semon, American inventor (b. 1898)

### From 2001 
* 2001 &ndash; Vittorio Brambilla, Italian racing driver (b. 1937)
* 2001 &ndash; Roger Brocksom, English engineer and soldier (b. 1919)
* 2001 &ndash; Anne Haney, American actress (b. 1934)
* 2002 &ndash; Mamo Wolde, Ethiopian runner (b. 1932)
* 2003 &ndash; Kathleen Winsor, American writer (b. 1919)
* 2004 &ndash; Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh, Russian astronomer (b. 1931)
* 2004 &ndash; Dullah Omar, South African lawyer and politician (b. 1934)
* 2005 &ndash; Eddie Albert, American actor (b. 1906)
* 2005 &ndash; Chico Carrasquel, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player (b. 1928)
* 2005 &ndash; Krzysztof Nowak, Polish footballer (b. 1975)
* 2005 &ndash; Sangoulé Lamizana, President of Burkina Faso (b. 1916)
* 2006 &ndash; Édouard Michelin, CEO of Michelin (b. 1963)
* 2006 &ndash; C. H. Patterson, American psychologist (b. 1912)
* 2008 &ndash; Sydney Pollack, American actor (b. 1934)
* 2013 &ndash; Jack Vance, American mystery, fantasy and science fiction writer (b. 1916)
* 2014 &ndash; Manuel Uribe, Mexican computer repairman, was once the world's heaviest man (b. 1965)
* 2015 &ndash; Vicente Aranda, Spanish movie director (b. 1926)
* 2015 &ndash; Les Johnson, Australian politician (b. 1924)
* 2015 &ndash; Dayton Waller, American politician (b. 1925)
* 2015 &ndash; Rocky Frisco, American pianist (b. 1937)
* 2015 &ndash; Bob Hornery, Australian actor (b. 1931)
* 2015 &ndash; Robert Craft, American astronomer (b. 1927)
* 2016 &ndash; Kazimierz Barburski, Polish fencer (b. 1942)
* 2016 &ndash; Loris Francesco Capovilla, Italian cardinal (b. 1915)
* 2016 &ndash; Ted Dumitru, Romanian football manager (b. 1939)
* 2016 &ndash; Hedy Epstein, German-American Holocaust survivor and activist (b. 1924)
* 2016 &ndash; Angela Paton, American actress (b. 1930)
* 2016 &ndash; Arturo Pomar, Spanish chess player (b. 1931)
* 2016 &ndash; Bob Williams, American football player (b. 1930)
* 2017 &ndash; Toni Bertorelli, Italian actor (b. 1948)
* 2017 &ndash; Laura Biagiotti, Italian fashion designer (b. 1943)
* 2017 &ndash; Zbigniew Brzezinski, Polish-American political scientist and diplomat (b. 1928)
* 2017 &ndash; Jim Bunning, American baseball player and politician (b. 1931)
* 2018 &ndash; Alan Bean, American astronaut (b. 1932)
* 2018 &ndash; Pierre Bellemare, French television presenter, actor and radio personality (b. 1929)
* 2018 &ndash; Ted Dabney, American electrical engineer (b. 1937)
* 2018 &ndash; Roger Piantoni, French footballer (b. 1931)
* 2018 &ndash; Svetlin Rusev, Bulgarian artist (b. 1933)
* 2018 &ndash; Antonio Pujía, Italian-Argentine sculptor (b. 1929)
* 2019 &ndash; Abdel Latif El Zein, Lebanese politician (b. 1932)
* 2019 &ndash; Harry Hood, Scottish footballer (b. 1944)
* 2019 &ndash; Ibrahim Lame, Nigerian educator and politician (b. 1953)
* 2019 &ndash; Bart Starr, American football player and coach (b. 1934)
* 2019 &ndash; Stephen Thorne, British actor (b. 1935)
* 2019 &ndash; Prem Tinsulanonda, Prime minister and Regent of Thailand (b. 1920)
* 2019 &ndash; Vittorio Zucconi, Italian-American journalist and writer (b. 1944)

## Observances 
* Independence Day in Georgia and Guyana
* Crown Prince's Birthday (Denmark)
* Mother's Day (Poland)
* National Sorry Day (Australia)
* National Book Day (Uruguay)