February 26

is the 57th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 308 days remaining, 309 in leap years.

Events

747 BC - Epoch (origin) of Ptolemy's Nabonassar Era.
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 invests Charles as king of Sicily and Naples.
1794 - Christiansborg Castle, Copenhagen burns down.
1797 - The Bank of England issues the first one-pound note.
1815 - Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from Elba.
1848 - The second French Republic is proclaimed.
1857 - The Bengal Native Infantry refused to use new cartridges
1863 - U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the National Currency Act into law.
1870 - In New York City, the first pneumatic-subway opens.
1887 - At the SCG, George Lohmann becomes the first bowler to take eight wickets in a Test innings.
1919 - An act of the U.S. Congress establishes most of the Grand Canyon as a United States National Park (see Grand Canyon National Park).
1929 - The Grand Teton National Park is created.
1935 - The Luftwaffe is reformed.
1935 - Robert Watson-Watt carried out a demonstration which led directly to the development of RADAR in the United Kingdom.
1936 - In the February 26 Incident, young Japanese military officers attempt to stage a coup against the government.
1944 - Shooting begins of the Nazi propaganda film, "The Fuhrer Gives a Village to the Jews" in Theresienstadt.
1952 - United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston Churchill announces that his nation has an atomic bomb.
1957 - Final radio broadcast of Dragnet.
1966 - Apollo Program: Launch of AS-201, the first flight of the Saturn IB rocket
1970 - National Public Radio incorporates as a non-profit corporation.
1971 - Secretary-General U Thant signs United Nations proclamation of the vernal equinox as Earth Day.
1972 - Buffalo Creek Flood caused by a burst dam kills 125 in West Virginia.
1986 - Robert Penn Warren is named poet laureate of the United States.
1987 - Iran-Contra affair: The Tower Commission rebukes American President Ronald Reagan for not controlling his national security staff.
1990 - The Sandinistas are defeated in Nicaraguan elections.
1991 - Tim Berners-Lee introduces WorldWideWeb, the first web browser.
1991 - Gulf War: On Baghdad Radio Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein announces the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait.
1993 - World Trade Center bombing: In New York City, a truck bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center goes off, killing 6 and injuring over a thousand. The buildings would be destroyed in a subsequent attack on September 11, 2001.
1995 - The United Kingdom's oldest investment banking firm, Barings Bank collapses after a securities broker, Nick Leeson, loses $1.4 billion by speculating on the Singapore International Monetary Exchange using futures contracts.
1995 - at The Houston Astrodome Selena Quintanilla-Perez performed in her last concert before she was killed. More then 64,000 fans were in attendance making it the astrodome's largest crowd at the time.
2001 - The Taliban destroy two giant Buddha statues in Bamiyan, Afghanistan.
2004 - The United States lifts a ban on travel to Libya, ending travel restrictions to the nation that had lasted for 23 years.
2004 - Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski is killed in a plane crash near Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
2005 - Hosni Mubarak the president of Egypt orders the constitution changed to allow multi-candidate presidential elections before September 2005 by asking Egyptian parliament to amend Article 76 of the constitution.
2006 - Sweden beats Finland in the hockey final of the Turin Olympic games.

Births

1361 - Wenceslaus, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia (d. 1419)
1564 - Christopher Marlowe, English dramatist (d. 1593)
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)
1714 - James Hervey, English clergyman and writer (d. 1758)
1715 - Claude Adrien Helvétius, French philosopher (d. 1771)
1720 - Gian Francesco Albani, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1803)
1786 - François Arago, French mathematician (d. 1853)
1799 - Émile Clapeyron, French engineer and physicist (d. 1864)
1802 - Victor Hugo, French writer (d. 1885)
1808 - Honoré 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)
1846 - Buffalo Bill, American pioneer, officer, and hunter (d. 1917)
1857 - Émile Coué, French psychologist (d. 1926)
1861 - King Ferdinand of Bulgaria (d. 1948)
1861 - Nadezhda Konstantinovna Krupskaya, Russian revolutioner, Lenin's wife (d. 1939)
1879 - Frank Bridge, English composer (d. 1941)
1882 - Husband E. Kimmel, American admiral (d. 1968)
1885 - Aleksandras Stulginskis, President of Lithuania (d. 1969)
1887 - Grover Cleveland Alexander, baseball player (d. 1950)
1887 - William Frawley, American actor (d. 1966)
1893 - I. A. Richards, English literary critic (d. 1979)
1899 - Max Petitpierre, member of the Swiss Federal Council (d. 1994)
1902 - Albert Anastasia, Italian-born gangster (d. 1957)
1903 - Giulio Natta, Italian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)
1907 - Dub Taylor, American actor (d. 1994)
1908 - Tex Avery, American cartoonist (d. 1980)
1908 - Jean-Pierre Wimille, French race car driver (d. 1949)
1909 - King Talal of Jordan (d. 1972)
1914 - Robert Alda, American actor (d. 1986)
1916 - Jackie Gleason, American actor, writer, composer, and comedian (d. 1987)
1918 - Theodore Sturgeon, American writer (d. 1985)
1919 - Mason Adams, American actor (d. 2005)
1919 - Rie Mastenbroek, Dutch swimmer (d. 2003)
1920 - Tony Randall, American actor (d. 2004)
1921 - Betty Hutton, American actress
1927 - Tom Kennedy, American game show host
1928 - Fats Domino, American musician
1928 - Anatoli Filipchenko, cosmonaut
1928 - Ariel Sharon, Prime Minister of Israel
1930 - Lazar Berman, Russian pianist (d. 2005)
1931 - Ally McLeod, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 2004)
1932 - Johnny Cash, American singer (d. 2003)
1934 - Robert Novak, American political columnist
1941 - Tony Ray-Jones, British photographer (d. 1972)
1943 - Bill Duke, American actor and director
1945 - Marta Kristen, Norwegian actress
1946 - Ahmed H. Zewail, Egyptian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
1947 - Sandie Shaw, British singer
1950 - Helen Clark, Prime Minister of New Zealand
1951 - Lee Atwater, American political operative (d. 1991)
1953 - Michael Bolton, American singer
1954 - Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Prime Minister of Turkey
1956 - Keisuke Kuwata, Japanese singer
1957 - Joe Mullen, American ice hockey player
1958 - Michel Houellebecq, French novelist
1959 - Rolando Blackman, Panamanian basketball player
1962 - Greg Germann, American actor
1968 - J.T. Snow, American baseball player, 1st baseman
1968 - His Royal Highness Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, Heir of the Royal Danish Crown
1971 - Erykah Badu, American singer
1971 - Max Martin, Swedish composer and producer
1973 - Marshall Faulk, American football star
1973 - Jenny Thompson, American swimmer
1973 - Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Norwegian footballer
1974 - Sébastien Loeb, French race car driver
1979 - Corinne Bailey Rae, British singer
1980 - Alex Fong, Hong Kong singer
1980 - Gary Majewski, Baseball player
1982 - Jay Mullen, British actor
1984 - Natalia Lafourcade, Mexican singer
1984 - Emmanuel Adebayor, Togon footballer
1993 - Taylor Dooley, American actress

Deaths

1154 - King Roger II of Sicily (b. 1093)
1266 - King Manfred of Sicily
1360 - Roger de Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March, English military leader (b. 1328)
1525 - Cuauhtémoc, Aztec ruler
1552 - Heinrich Faber, German composer
1561 - Jorge de Montemayor, Spanish writer
1577 - King Eric XIV of Sweden (b. 1533)
1608 - John Still, English bishop
1630 - William Brade, English composer (b. 1560)
1638 - Claude Gaspard Bachet de Méziriac, French mathematician (b. 1681)
1723 - Thomas d'Urfey, English writer (b. 1653)
1726 - Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria (b. 1662)
1770 - Giuseppe Tartini, Italian composer (b. 1692)
1802 - Esek Hopkins, American Revolutionary War admiral (b. 1718)
1813 - Robert Livingston, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1746)
1815 - Prince Josias of Coburg, Austrian general (b. 1737)
1903 - Richard Jordan Gatling, American inventor (b. 1818)
1913 - Felix Draeseke, German composer (b. 1835)
1921 - Carl Menger, Austrian economist (b. 1840)
1931 - Otto Wallach, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1847)
1947 - Heinrich Häberlin, Swiss politician, member of the Federal Council (b. 1868)
1961 - King Mohammed V of Morocco (b. 1909)
1966 - Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Indian freedom fighter and writer (b. 1883)
1969 - Levi Eshkol, Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1895)
1969 - Karl Jaspers, German psychiatrist (b. 1883)
1971 - Fernandel, French actor (b. 1903)
1981 - Howard Hanson, American composer (b. 1896)
1985 - Tjalling Koopmans, Dutch economist, Bank of Sweden Prize winner (b. 1910)
1989 - Roy Eldridge, American musician (b. 1911)
1993 - Constance Ford, American actress (b. 1923)
1994 - Bill Hicks, American comedian (b. 1961)
1995 - Jack Clayton, British film director (b.1921)
1997 - David Doyle, American actor (b. 1929)
1998 - Theodore Schultz, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
2002 - Lawrence Tierney, American actor (b. 1919)
2004 - Shankarrao Chavan, Indian politician (b. 1920)
2004 - Adolf Ehrnrooth, Finnish general (b. 1905)
2004 - Boris Trajkovski, President of the Republic of Macedonia (b. 1956)
2005 - Jef Raskin, American computer scientist (b. 1943)

Holidays and observances

Bahá'í Faith - February 26, Day 1 of Ayyám-i-Há (Intercalary Days) - days in the Bahá'í calendar devoted to service and gift giving.
Nation of Islam - Savior's Day - commemoration of the birthdate of Wallace Fard Muhammad, believed to be Allah in human form, the saviour of the black race.
Liberation Day in Kuwait (1991).

Liturgical feasts

External links

January 26 - February 25 - February 27 - March 26 -- listing of all days

Gourt Home::Gourt :: February 26

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

Liturgical feasts

External links