August 26

## Events 
### Up to 1900 
* 55 BC &ndash; Julius Caesar attempts to conquer Britannia.
* 1071 &ndash; Battle of Manzikert: Seljuk Turks defeat the Byzantine Army at Manzikert.
* 1278 &ndash; 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 &ndash; Cannons are used for the first time in a European battle, the Battle of Crecy.
* 1444 &ndash; 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 &ndash; Michelangelo is commissioned to carve the Pieta.
* 1542 &ndash; Spanish Conquistador Francisco de Orellana and his expedition reach the Amazon Delta.
* 1768 &ndash; James Cook sets sail from England on the HMS Endeavour.
* 1789 &ndash; The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen is approved by the National Assembly at the Palace of Versailles.
* 1791 &ndash; John Fitch is granted a US patent for the steam boat.
* 1810 &ndash; Former viceroy Santiago de Liniers of the Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata is executed after the defeat of his counter–revolution.
* 1813 &ndash; 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 &ndash; Chilean War of Independence: Infighting between rebel forces of José Miguel Carrera and Bernardo O'Higgins erupts in the Battle of Las Tres Acequias.
* 1821 &ndash; The University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, is founded.
* 1865 &ndash; A monument to Albert, Prince Consort is unveiled in Coburg, Germany.
* 1878 &ndash; 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 &ndash; Krakatoa's 1883 eruption reaches its final stage, ending in a major explosion and tsunamis the following day.
* 1883 &ndash; The Ashes, a cricket prize, is given to English captain, Ivo Bligh.

### 1901 &ndash; 2000 
* 1914 &ndash; 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 &ndash; An amendment to the United States Constitution allows women in the United States the right to vote.
* 1922 &ndash; The Japanese cruiser *Niitaka* sinks in a storm off the west coast of Kamchatka, eastern Russia, killing all 400 people on board.
* 1940 &ndash; World War II: Under Governor Felix Eboue, Chad becomes the first French colony to join the Allies.
* 1942 &ndash; 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 &ndash; World War II: Bulgaria declares that it is neutral.
* 1944 &ndash; World War II: Charles de Gaulle enters Paris.
* 1961 &ndash; Changing its Constitution, Burma adopts Buddhism as its official state religion.
* 1966 &ndash; The Namibian War of Independence begins.
* 1970 &ndash; The then–New Feminist Movement, led by Betty Friedan, leads a women's national strike, for equality.
* 1972 &ndash; The 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich begin, officially opened by German President Gustav Heinemann.
* 1977 &ndash; Benin gets a Marxist–Leninist Constitution.
* 1977 &ndash; The Charter of the French language is adopted by the National Assembly of Quebec. 
* 1978 &ndash; East German cosmonaut Sigmund Jaehn becomes the first German in space.
* 1978 &ndash; Albino Luciani (Pope John Paul I) is elected Pope. He dies just 33 days later, on September 28.
* 1980 &ndash; John Birges plants a bomb at Harvey's Resort Hotel in Stateline, Nevada.
* 1988 &ndash; Aung San Suu Kyi holds a pro–democracy speech at the Shwedagon Pagoda in Burma as part of the 8888 Revolution.
* 1997 &ndash; Beni–Ali massacre in Algeria: Between 60 and 100 people are killed.
* 1999 &ndash; Russia begins the Second Chechen War in response to the invasion of Dagestan, by the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade.

### From 2001 
* 2002 &ndash; The 2002 Earth Summit meeting in Johannesburg begins.
* 2005 &ndash; The highest court in Fiji declares the ban on Homosexuality unconstitutional.
* 2008 &ndash; Russia unilaterally recognises the Republic of Georgia's break–away territories Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
* 2011 &ndash; Naoto Kan announces his resignation as Prime Minister of Japan.
* 2014 &ndash; A ceasefire enters into force between Israel and the Gaza Strip.
* 2018 &ndash; 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 &ndash; Ferdinand II of Naples (d. 1496).
* 1540 &ndash; King Magnus of Livonia (d. 1583).
* 1596 &ndash; Frederick V, Elector of the Palatinate, German aristocrat (d. 1632).
* 1676 &ndash; Robert Walpole, Prime Minister of Great Britain (d. 1745).
* 1694 &ndash; Elisha Williams, American rector of Yale college (d. 1755).
* 1695 &ndash; Marie-Anne-Catherine Quinault, French singer and composer (d. 1791).
* 1728 &ndash; Johann Heinrich Lambert, Swiss scientist (d. 1777).
* 1740 &ndash; Joseph Montgolfier, French inventor (d. 1810).
* 1743 &ndash; Antoine Lavoisier, French chemist (d. 1794).
* 1787 &ndash; Alexander Sergeyevich Menshikov, Russian general, admiral and statesman (d. 1869).
* 1789 &ndash; Abbas Mirza, Prince of Persia (d. 1833).
* 1792 &ndash; Manuel Oribe, Uruguayan political figure (d. 1857).
* 1797 &ndash; Innocent of Alaska, Russian Orthodox missionary priest (d. 1879).
* 1802 &ndash; Ludwig Michael Schwanthaler, German sculptor (d. 1848).
* 1819 &ndash; Albert, Prince Consort (d. 1861).
* 1826 &ndash; Princess Alexandra of Bavaria (d. 1875).
* 1828 &ndash; Prince Adalbert of Bavaria (d. 1875).
* 1845 &ndash; Mary Ann Nichols, victim of Jack the Ripper (d. 1888).
* 1850 &ndash; Charles Robert Richet, French physiologist, won the 1913 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1935).
* 1854 &ndash; Arnold Fothergill, English cricketer (d. 1932).
* 1864 &ndash; Anna Ulyanova, older sister of Vladimir Lenin (d. 1935).
* 1873 &ndash; Lee De Forest, American inventor (d. 1961).
* 1874 &ndash; Zona Gale, American novelist (d. 1938).
* 1875 &ndash; John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir, Scottish novelist and Governor–General of Canada (d. 1940).
* 1880 &ndash; Guillaume Apollinaire, French poet and art critic (d. 1918).
* 1882 &ndash; James Franck, German–born physicist (d. 1964).
* 1885 &ndash; Jules Romains, French novelist, dramatist and poet (d. 1972).
* 1886 &ndash; Jerome Hunsaker, American aeronautical engineer (d. 1984).
* 1892 &ndash; Ruth Roland, American actress and movie producer (d. 1937).
* 1895 &ndash; Earl Long, Governor of Louisiana (d. 1960).
* 1896 &ndash; Ivan Mihailov, Bulgarian revolutionary (d. 1990).
* 1896 &ndash; Besse Cooper, American supercentenarian (d. 2012).
* 1897 &ndash; Yun Poson, President of South Korea (d. 1990).
* 1898 &ndash; Peggy Guggenheim, American art collector (d. 1979).
* 1900 &ndash; Hellmuth Walter, German engineer and inventor (d. 1980).
* 1900 &ndash; Mark Sandrich, American movie director (d. 1945).

### 1901 &ndash; 1950 
* 1901 &ndash; Chen Yi, Chinese Communist military commander and politician (d. 1972).
* 1901 &ndash; Maxwell D. Taylor, American army officer (d. 1987).
* 1901 &ndash; Eleanor Dark, Australian writer (d. 1985).
* 1903 &ndash; Jimmy Rushing, American singer and pianist (d. 1972).
* 1904 &ndash; Christopher Isherwood, English writer (d. 1986).
* 1906 &ndash; Albert Sabin, Polish–American polio researcher (d. 1993).
* 1906 &ndash; Bunny Austin, British tennis player (d. 2000).
* 1908 &ndash; Jacques-Paul Martin, French cardinal (d. 1992).
* 1909 &ndash; Jim Davis, American actor (d. 1981).
* 1910 &ndash; Mother Theresa, Catholic nun and missionary, Nobel Prize winner (d. 1997).
* 1913 &ndash; Boris Pahor, Slovenian writer.
* 1914 &ndash; Julio Cortazar, Argentine author (d. 1984).
* 1918 &ndash; Katherine Johnson, American physicist, mathematician and space scientist
* 1920 &ndash; Prem Tinsulanonda, 16th Prime Minister of Thailand.
* 1921 &ndash; Benjamin C. Bradlee, American journalist (d. 2014).
* 1923 &ndash; Wolfgang Sawallisch, German conductor and pianist (d. 2013).
* 1924 &ndash; Jacques Villiers, French aerospace engineer (d. 2012).
* 1925 &ndash; Alain Peyrefitte, French politician (d. 1999).
* 1925 &ndash; Pyotr Todorovsky, Ukrainian–Russian director and screenwriter (d. 2013).
* 1926 &ndash; Anahit Tsitsikian, Armenian violinist (d. 2007).
* 1928 &ndash; Santiago Vernazza, Argentine footballer (d. 2017).
* 1929 &ndash; Reuben Kamanga, 1st Vice president of Zambia (d. 1996).
* 1929 &ndash; Yoga Bhajan, Indian yoga teacher (d. 2004).
* 1932 &ndash; Lygia Bojunga Nunes, Brazilian writer.
* 1933 &ndash; Robert Chartoff, American movie producer (d. 2015).
* 1935 &ndash; Karen Sparck Jones, British computer scientist (d. 2007).
* 1935 &ndash; Geraldine Ferraro, American lawyer and politician (d. 2011).
* 1936 &ndash; Benedict Anderson, American political scientist (d. 2015).
* 1936 &ndash; Francine York, American actress (d. 2017).
* 1937 &ndash; Nina Companeez, French screenwriter and movie director (d. 2015).
* 1937 &ndash; Gennady Yanayev, Soviet politician (d. 2010).
* 1938 &ndash; Jet Black, English musician (The Stranglers).
* 1939 &ndash; Todor Kolev, Bulgarian actor and singer (d. 2013).
* 1940 &ndash; Don LaFontaine, American voice actor (d. 2008).
* 1941 &ndash; Akiko Wakabayashi, Japanese actress.
* 1941 &ndash; Barbet Schroeder, French director, actor and producer.
* 1941 &ndash; Chris Curtis, British musician.
* 1942 &ndash; Vic Dana, American singer and dancer.
* 1944 &ndash; Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, member of the extended British royal family.
* 1944 &ndash; Maurice Tucker, American singer-songwriter and drummer.
* 1945 &ndash; Tom Ridge, American politician.
* 1946 &ndash; Alison Steadman, English actress.
* 1946 &ndash; Valerie Simpson, American singer.
* 1946 &ndash; Zhou Ji, Chinese politician.
* 1946 &ndash; Chantal Renaud, Canadian actress, singer and scriptwriter.
* 1947 &ndash; Nicolae Dobrin, Romanian footballer (d. 2007).
* 1949 &ndash; Leon Redbone, Canadian singer and guitarist.

### 1951 &ndash; 1975 
* 1951 &ndash; Edward Witten, American physicist.
* 1952 &ndash; Michael Jeter, American actor (d. 2003).
* 1954 &ndash; Steve Wright, British DJ.
* 1956 &ndash; Brett Cullen, American actor.
* 1957 &ndash; Rick Hansen, Canadian athlete.
* 1957 &ndash; Dr. Alban, Nigerian–born Swedish singer and musician.
* 1958 &ndash; Nichi Vendola, Italian politician.
* 1959 &ndash; Oliver Colvile, English politician.
* 1960 &ndash; Branford Marsalis, American musician.
* 1962 &ndash; Roger Kingdom, American athlete.
* 1962 &ndash; Tariq Ramadan, Swiss academic, philosopher and writer.
* 1963 &ndash; Ludger Beerbaum, German equestrian showjumper.
* 1963 &ndash; Stephen J. Dubner, American journalist.
* 1964 &ndash; Daphne Caruana Galizia, Maltese blogger and journalist (d. 2017).
* 1964 &ndash; Allegra Huston, English–American writer and editor.
* 1965 &ndash; Chris Burke, American actor.
* 1965 &ndash; Marcus du Sautoy, British mathematics professor.
* 1966 &ndash; Shirley Manson, British singer.
* 1966 &ndash; Jacques Brinkman, Dutch field hockey player.
* 1967 &ndash; Michael Gove, British politician.
* 1968 &ndash; Chris Boardman, British racing cyclist.
* 1969 &ndash; Adrian Young, American rock musician.
* 1970 &ndash; Melissa McCarthy, American actress.
* 1970 &ndash; Brett Schultz, South African cricketer.
* 1971 &ndash; Thalia, Mexican singer.
* 1974 &ndash; Kelvin Cato, American basketball player.

### From 1976 
* 1976 &ndash; Amaia Montero, Spanish singer-songwriter.
* 1977 &ndash; Morris Peterson, American basketball player.
* 1979 &ndash; Cristian Mora, Ecuadorean footballer.
* 1980 &ndash; Macaulay Culkin, American actor.
* 1980 &ndash; Chris Pine, American actor.
* 1981 &ndash; Vangelis Moras, Greek footballer.
* 1982 &ndash; Noah Welch, American ice hockey player.
* 1983 &ndash; Mattia Cassani, Italian footballer.
* 1983 &ndash; Nicol David, Malaysian squash player.
* 1985 &ndash; Brandon McDonald, American football player.
* 1986 &ndash; Cassie, American singer.
* 1986 &ndash; Colin Kazim-Richards, Turkish footballer.
* 1987 &ndash; Greg Halman, Dutch baseball player (d. 2011).
* 1987 &ndash; Riley Steele, American pornographic actress.
* 1988 &ndash; Princess Maria Laura of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este.
* 1988 &ndash; Lars Stindl, German footballer.
* 1988 &ndash; Wayne Simmonds, Canadian ice hockey player.
* 1989 &ndash; James Harden, American basketball player.
* 1989 &ndash; Héloïse Guérin, French model.
* 1990 &ndash; Lil' Chris, English singer (d. 2015).
* 1991 &ndash; Tommy Bastow, English actor and singer.
* 1991 &ndash; Jessica Diggins, American cross–country skier.
* 1992 &ndash; Yang Yilin, Chinese gymnast.
* 1992 &ndash; Hayley Hasselhoff, American actress.
* 1993 &ndash; Keke Palmer, American actress.
* 1994 &ndash; Taylor Bright, American singer and actress.

## Deaths 
### Up to 1900 
*303 &ndash; Alexander of Bergamo, Italian Catholic saint.
*526 &ndash; Theodoric the Great, Ostrogoth King.
*887 &ndash; Emperor Koko of Japan (b. 830).
*1214 &ndash; Patriarch Michael IV of Constantinople
*1278 &ndash; King Ottokar II of Bohemia
*1346 &ndash; Killed in the Battle of Crécy:
**Charles II of Alençon (b. 1297)
**Louis I of Flanders (b. 1304)
**John I, Count of Luxemburg (b. 1296)
**Rudolph, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1320)
*1349 &ndash; Thomas Bradwardine, Archbishop of Canterbury
*1551 &ndash; Margareta Leijonhufvud, queen of Gustav I of Sweden (b. 1516)
*1572 &ndash; Petrus Ramus, French philosopher (b. 1515)
*1595 &ndash; Antonio, Prior of Crato, claimant to the throne of Portugal (b. 1531)
*1607 &ndash; Giorgio Basta, Habsburg general (b. 1550).
*1666 &ndash; Frans Hals, Dutch painter
*1714 &ndash; Edward Fowler, English Bishop of Gloucester (b. 1632)
*1723 &ndash; Anton van Leeuwenhoek, Dutch scientist (b. 1632)
*1785 &ndash; George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville, British soldier and politician (b. 1716)
*1795 &ndash; Alessandro Cagliostro, Italian alchemist and adventurer (b. 1743)
*1810 &ndash; Santiago Liniers, Viceroy of Rio de la Plata (b. 1753)
*1850 &ndash; Louis-Philippe I of France (b. 1773)
*1865 &ndash; Johann Franz Encke, German astronomer (b. 1791)

### 1901 &ndash; 2000 
*1902 &ndash; George Hoadly, 36th Governor of Ohio (b. 1826).
*1910 &ndash; William James, American psychologist and philosopher (b. 1842).
*1915 &ndash; John Bunny American comedian (b. 1863)
*1921 &ndash; Matthias Erzberger, German politician (b. 1875).
*1921 &ndash; Ludwig Thoma, German writer (b. 1867).
*1921 &ndash; Sandor Wekerle, Prime Minister of Hungary (b. 1848).
*1930 &ndash; Lon Chaney, Sr., American actor (b. 1883)
*1944 &ndash; Adam von Trott zu Solz, German diplomat opposing the Nazi regime (executed) (b. 1909)
*1945 &ndash; Franz Werfel, Austrian writer (b. 1890)
*1946 &ndash; Jeanie MacPherson, American actress and screenwriter (b. 1887)
*1956 &ndash; Alfred Wagenknecht, German–born American activist (b. 1881).
*1958 &ndash; Ralph Vaughan Williams, English composer (b. 1872)
*1962 &ndash; Vilhjalmur Stefansson, Icelandic–Canadian explorer (b. 1879)
*1968 &ndash; Kay Francis, American actress (b. 1899)
*1972 &ndash; Francis Chichester, British sailor and adventurer (b. 1901).
*1974 &ndash; Charles Lindbergh, American aviator (b. 1902)
*1976 &ndash; Lotte Lehmann, German soprano (b. 1888)
*1977 &ndash; H. A. Rey, German–American author and illustrator (b. 1898).
*1978 &ndash; Charles Boyer, French actor (b. 1899)
*1978 &ndash; José Manuel Moreno, Argentine footballer (b. 1916)
*1979 &ndash; Mika Waltari, Finnish writer (b. 1908)
*1980 &ndash; Rosa Albach-Retty, German actress (b. 1874)
*1980 &ndash; Tex Avery, American cartoonist (b. 1908)
*1981 &ndash; Roger Nash Baldwin, founder of the American Civil Liberties Union (b. 1884)
*1986 &ndash; Ted Knight, American actor (b. 1923)
*1987 &ndash; Georg Wittig, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)
*1987 &ndash; John Goddard, Barbadian–English cricketer (b. 1919)
*1988 &ndash; Carlos Paião, Portuguese singer (b. 1957)
*1989 &ndash; Irving Stone, American writer (b. 1903)
*1990 &ndash; Minoru Honda, Japanese astronomer (b. 1913)
*1992 &ndash; Bob de Moor, Belgian comic artist (b. 1925)
*1998 &ndash; Frederick Reines, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
*2000 &ndash; Bunny Austin, British tennis player (b. 1906).

### From 2001 
*2001 &ndash; Marita Petersen, 8th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (b. 1940).
*2003 &ndash; Jim Wacker, American football coach (b. 1937)
*2004 &ndash; Laura Branigan, American singer (b. 1952)
*2005 &ndash; Robert Denning, Interior designer (b. 1927)
*2006 &ndash; Rainer Barzel, German politician (b. 1924)
*2007 &ndash; Gaston Thorn, Luxembourg politician (b. 1928)
*2010 &ndash; Raimon Panikkar, Spanish theologian (b. 1918)
*2010 &ndash; William B. Lenoir, American astronaut (b. 1939)
*2011 &ndash; George Band, British mountaineer (b. 1929)
*2011 &ndash; Aloysius Ambrozic, Slovenian–born Canadian Roman Catholic Archbishop of Toronto (b. 1930)
*2013 &ndash; John J. Gilligan, 62nd Governor of Ohio (b. 1921)
*2014 &ndash; Christian Bourquin, French politician (b. 1954)
*2014 &ndash; Simon Featherstone, British diplomat (b. 1958)
*2014 &ndash; Peter Bacon Hales, American historian and photographer (b. 1950)
*2014 &ndash; Samuel Sadela, Nigerian pastor, claimant to world's oldest man title (b. either in or after 1900)
*2014 &ndash; Lars Mortimer, Swedish comic artist (b. 1946)
*2015 &ndash; Peter Kern, Austrian actor and filmmaker (b. 1949)
*2015 &ndash; Amelia Boynton Robinson, American civil rights activist (b. 1911)
*2015 &ndash; Alison Parker, American journalist (b. 1991)
*2015 &ndash; Adam Ward, American cameraman (b. 1988)
*2015 &ndash; Vester Flanagan, American gunman (b. 1973)
*2017 &ndash; Tobe Hooper, American film director and novelist (b. 1943)
*2017 &ndash; Grzegorz Miecugow, Polish television news presenter and columnist (b. 1955)
*2017 &ndash; Josef Musil, Czech volleyball player (b. 1932)
*2017 &ndash; Wilson das Neves, Brazilian percussionist and singer (b. 1936)
*2017 &ndash; Horacio White, Argentine swimmer (b. 1927)
*2018 &ndash; Rosa Bouglione, French circus performer (b. 1910)
*2018 &ndash; Kerry Hill, Australian architect (b. 1943)
*2018 &ndash; Tony Hiller, British songwriter (b. 1927)
*2018 &ndash; 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)