August 26

August 26 is the 238th day of the year (239th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 127 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 55BC – Roman forces under Julius Caesar invade Great Britain.
• 1071 – Battle of Manzikert: The Seljuk Turks defeat the Byzantine Army at Manzikert.
• 1278 – Ladislaus IV of Hungary and Rudolph I of Germany defeat Premysl Ottokar II of Bohemia in the Battle of Marchfield near Dürnkrut in (then) Moravia.
• 1303 – Ala ud din Khilji captures Chittorgarh.
• 1346 – Hundred Years' War: the military supremacy of the English longbow over the French combination of crossbow and armoured knights is established at the Battle of Crécy.
• 1429 – Joan of Arc makes a triumphant entry into Paris.
• 1444 – Battle of St. Jakob an der Birs: A vastly outnumbered force of Swiss Confederates is defeated by the Dauphin Louis (future Louis XI of France) and his army of 'Armagnacs' near Basel.
• 1466 – A conspiracy against Piero di Cosimo de' Medici in Florence, led by Luca Pitti, is discovered.
• 1498 – Michelangelo is commissioned to carve the Pietà.
• 1748 – The first Lutheran denomination in North America, the Pennsylvania Ministerium, is founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
• 1768 – Captain James Cook sets sail from England on board HMS Endeavour.
• 1778 – The first recorded ascent of Triglav, the highest mountain in Slovenia.
• 1789 – The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen is approved by the National Constituent Assembly of France.
• 1791 – John Fitch is granted a United States patent for the steamboat.
• 1810 – The former viceroy Santiago de Liniers is executed after the defeat of his counter-revolution.
• 1813 – War of the Sixth Coalition: An impromptu battle takes place when French and Prussian-Russian forces accidentally run into each other near Liegnitz, Prussia (now Legnica, Poland).
• 1814 – Chilean War of Independence: Infighting between the rebel forces of José Miguel Carrera and Bernardo O'Higgins erupts in the Battle of Las Tres Acequias.
• 1818 – Illinois becomes the 21st state in the union of the United States.
• 1821 – The University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, is officially opened.
• 1883 – The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa begins its final, paroxysmal, stage.
• 1914 – World War I: the British Expeditionary Force fights a rear-guard action at the Battle of Le Cateau that briefly checks the German advance.
• 1914 – World War I: the German colony of Togoland is invaded by French and British forces, who take it after 5 days.
• 1920 – The 19th amendment to United States Constitution takes effect, giving women the right to vote.
• 1940 – Chad becomes the first French colony to join the Allies under the administration of Félix Éboué, France's first black colonial governor.
• 1942 – Holocaust in Chortkiav, western Ukraine: At 2.30 am the German Schutzpolizei starts driving Jews out of their houses, divides them into groups of 120, packs them in freight cars and deports 2000 to Belzec death camp. 500 of the sick and children are murdered on the spot.
• 1944 – World War II: Charles de Gaulle enters Paris.
• 1957 – The USSR announces the successful test of an ICBM – a "super long distance intercontinental multistage ballistic rocket . . . a few days ago," according to the Soviet news agency, ITAR-TASS.
• 1966 – The Namibian War of Independence starts with the battle at Omugulugwombashe.
• 1970 – The then new feminist movement, led by Betty Friedan, leads a nation-wide Women's Strike for Equality.
• 1977 – The Charter of the French Language is adopted by the National Assembly of Quebec
• 1978 – Papal conclave, 1978 (August): Pope John Paul I is elected to the Papacy.
• 1978 – Sigmund Jähn becomes first German cosmonaut, on board Soyuz 31.
• 1980 – John Birges plants a bomb at Harvey's Resort Hotel in Stateline, Nevada, US.
• 1997 – Beni-Ali massacre in Algeria; 60-100 people killed.
• 1999 – Russia begins the Second Chechen War in response to the Invasion of Dagestan by the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade.
• 2002 – Earth Summit 2002 begins in Johannesburg, South Africa
• 2011 – The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Boeing's all-new composite airliner, receives certification from the EASA and the FAA

Births

• 1469 – Ferdinand II of Naples (d. 1496)
• 1540 – King Magnus of Livonia (d. 1583)
• 1676 – Sir Robert Walpole, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (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)
• 1736 – Jean-Baptiste L. Romé de l'Isle, French chemist (d. 1790)
• 1740 – Joseph-Michel Montgolfier, French inventor (d. 1810)
• 1743 – Antoine Lavoisier, French chemist (d. 1794)
• 1775 – William Joseph Behr, German writer (d. 1851)
• 1789 – Abbas Mirza, Prince of Persia (d. 1833)
• 1792 – Manuel Oribe, Uruguayan political figure (d. 1857)
• 1819 – Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Consort of the United Kingdom (d. 1861)
• 1826 – Princess Alexandra of Bavaria (d. 1875)
• 1845 – Mary Ann "Polly" Nichols, English victim of Jack the Ripper (d. 1888)
• 1850 – Charles Richet, French physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1935)
• 1854 – Arnold Fothergill, England cricketer (d. 1932)
• 1862 – Herbert Booth, American son of William and Catherine Booth (d. 1926)
• 1864 – Anna Ulyanova, older sister of Vladimir Lenin (d. 1935)
• 1865 – Arthur James Arnot, Scottish inventor (d. 1946)
• 1873 – Lee DeForest, American inventor (d. 1961)
• 1874 – Zona Gale, American novelist (d. 1938)
• 1875 – John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir, Scottish novelist, Governor General of Canada (d. 1940)
• 1880 – Guillaume Apollinaire, French poet and art critic (d. 1918)
• 1882 – James Franck, German-born physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1964)
• 1885 – Jules Romains, French author (d. 1972)
• 1890 – Tommy Andrews, Australian cricketer (d. 1970)
• 1894 – Sparky Adams, Baseball player (d. 1989)
• 1896 – Ivan Mihailov, Bulgarian revolutionary (d. 1990)
• 1896 – Besse Cooper, American supercentenarian
• 1897 – Yoon Boseon, President of South Korea (d. 1990)
• 1898 – Peggy Guggenheim, American art collector (d. 1979)
• 1899 – Rufino Tamayo, Mexican painter (d. 1991)
• 1900 – Hellmuth Walter, German engineer and inventor (d. 1980)
• 1901 – Eleanor Dark, Australian novelist (d. 1985)
• 1901 – Hans Kammler, German engineer and SS officer (disappeared in 1945)
• 1901 – Maxwell Taylor, American general (d. 1987)
• 1901 – Chen Yi, Chinese communist military commander and politician (d. 1972)
• 1904 – Christopher Isherwood, English-born writer (d. 1986)
• 1906 – Albert Sabin, American polio researcher (d. 1993)
• 1907 – Lester Lanin, American bandleader (d. 2004)
• 1908 – W. B. Henning, Prussian-born Iranist (d. 1967)
• 1908 – Aubrey Schenck, British film producer (d. 1999)
• 1908 – Bill Hunt, Australian cricketer (d. 1983)
• 1909 – Jim Davis, American actor (d. 1981)
• 1909 – Gene Moore, American baseball player (d. 1978)
• 1909 – Eric Davies, South African cricketer (d. 1976)
• 1910 – Mother Teresa, Macedonian-born Indian missionary; Nobel Peace Prize recipient (d. 1997)
• 1914 – Julio Cortázar, Argentine writer (d. 1984)
• 1920 – Brant Parker, American cartoonist (d. 2007)
• 1920 – Prem Tinsulanonda, Thai soldier and politician
• 1921 – Shimshon Amitsur, Israeli mathematician and Israel Prize recipient (d. 1994)
• 1921 – Benjamin Bradlee, American journalist
• 1922 – Irving R. Levine, American journalist (d. 2009)
• 1923 – Wolfgang Sawallisch, German conductor and pianist
• 1924 – Alex Kellner, American baseball player (d. 1996)
• 1925 – Jack Hirshleifer, American economist (d. 2005)
• 1925 – Alain Peyrefitte, French politician and writer (d. 1999)
• 1925 – Sangharakshita, Indian religious figure
• 1926 – Anahit Tsitsikian, Armenian Violinist
• 1927 – B. V. Doshi, Indian architect
• 1928 – Peter Appleyard, Canadian jazz vibraphonist
• 1928 – Naïm Kattan, Canadian novelist and essayist
• 1928 – Yvette Vickers, American actress (d. 2010)
• 1930 – Joe Solomon, West Indian cricketer
• 1931 – Kálmán Markovits, Hungarian water polo player (d. 2009)
• 1932 – Luis Salvadores, Chilean basketball player
• 1933 – Oscar Marzaroli, Scots-Italian photographer (d. 1988)
• 1934 – Tom Heinsohn, American basketball player and commentator
• 1935 – Geraldine Ferraro, American politician (d. 2011)
• 1938 – Jet Black, British musician (The Stranglers)
• 1939 – Pinchas Goldstein, Israeli politician (d. 2007)
• 1940 – Don LaFontaine, American voice actor (d. 2008)
• 1941 – Barbet Schroeder, Swiss film director
• 1941 – Chris Curtis, English singer and drummer (d. 2005)
• 1941 – Jane Merrow, British actress
• 1941 – Akiko Wakabayashi, Japanese actress
• 1942 – Vic Dana, American singer
• 1942 – Dennis Turner, British politician
• 1944 – Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, British prince
• 1944 – Stephen Greif, English actor
• 1944 – Maureen Tucker, American musician
• 1945 – Jo Freeman, American feminist scholar
• 1945 – Tom Ridge, first United States Secretary of Homeland Security
• 1946 – Valerie Simpson, American singer
• 1946 – Mark Snow, American composer
• 1946 – Zhou Ji, Chinese Communist Party official
• 1946 – Chantal Renaud, Quebec singer and actress
• 1947 – Emiliano Díez, Cuban actor
• 1947 – Nicolae Dobrin, Romanian footballer (d. 2007)
• 1950 – Benjamin Hendrickson, American actor (d. 2006)
• 1951 – Edward Witten, American physicist
• 1952 – Bryon Baltimore, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1952 – Michael Jeter, American actor (d. 2003)
• 1952 – Will Shortz, American crossword editor
• 1953 – Pat Sharkey, Irish footballer
• 1954 – Efren Reyes, Filipino pool player
• 1954 – Steve Wright, British DJ
• 1956 – Mark Mangino, American football coach
• 1956 – Brett Cullen, American actor
• 1957 – Dr. Alban, Nigerian-born Swedish singer
• 1957 – Rick Hansen, Canadian paraplegic athlete
• 1958 – Jan Nevens, Belgian cyclist
• 1959 – Stan Van Gundy, American basketball coach
• 1960 – Branford Marsalis, American saxophonist and bandleader
• 1960 – Nancy Martinez, Canadian-born singer
• 1960 – Wanda De Jesus, American actress
• 1961 – Daniel Lévi, French singer-songwriter, composer and pianist
• 1961 – Jeff Parrett, American baseball player
• 1962 – Bob Mionske, American cyclist and attorney
• 1963 – David Byas, English cricketer
• 1963 – Stephen Dubner, American journalist, author
• 1965 – Carolina Arregui, Chilean actress
• 1965 – Chris Burke, American actor
• 1965 – Bobby Duncum, Jr., American wrestler (d. 2000)
• 1965 – Jon Hensley, American actor
• 1965 – Marcus du Sautoy, English Mathematics Professor
• 1966 – Jacques Brinkman, Dutch field hockey player
• 1966 – Shirley Manson, Scottish singer
• 1966 – Avner Ben-Gal, Israeli artist and painter
• 1967 – Michael Gove, British politician
• 1968 – Chris Boardman, British cyclist
• 1968 – Byron Lawson, Canadian actor
• 1969 – Elaine Irwin Mellencamp, American model
• 1970 – Olimpiada Ivanova, Russian athlete
• 1970 – Brett Schultz, South African cricketer
• 1971 – Thalía, Mexican singer
• 1974 – Kelvin Cato, American basketball player
• 1974 – Meredith Eaton, American actor
• 1975 – Tyler Connolly, Canadian singer
• 1975 – Morgan Ensberg, American baseball player
• 1975 – Momar Njie, Gambian footballer
• 1976 – Amaia Montero, Spanish singer
• 1976 – Zemfira, Russian singer
• 1977 – Liam Botham, British cricketer and rugby player
• 1977 – Saeko Chiba, Japanese seiyū
• 1977 – Morris Peterson, American basketball player
• 1977 – Simone Motta, Italian footballer
• 1977 – Ha Tran, Vietnamese pop singer
• 1978 – Raja Kashif, Pakistani singer
• 1979 – Jamal Lewis, American football player
• 1979 – Cristian Mora, Ecuadorian footballer
• 1979 – Rubén Pazos, Spanish footballer
• 1979 – Allison Robertson, American musician
• 1979 – Yağmur Sarıgül, Turkish Musician (maNga)
• 1980 – Macaulay Culkin, American actor
• 1980 – Brendan Harris, American baseball player
• 1980 – Manolis Papamakarios, Greek basketball player
• 1980 – Chris Pine, American actor
• 1981 – Tino Best, Barbadian West Indies cricketer
• 1981 – Sebastian Bönig, German footballer
• 1981 – Andreas Glyniadakis, Greek basketball player
• 1981 – Vangelis Moras, Greek footballer
• 1981 – Jesse Martin, Australian yachtsman
• 1981 – Petey Williams, Canadian professional wrestler
• 1982 – Angelo Iorio, Italian footballer
• 1982 – David Long, New Zealand musician
• 1982 – Jayson Nix, American baseball player
• 1982 – Noah Welch, American ice hockey player
• 1983 – Toshiaki Imae, Japanese baseball player
• 1983 – Félix Porteiro, Spanish racing driver
• 1985 – Brandon McDonald, American football player
• 1986 – Cassie, American singer
• 1986 – Colin Kazim-Richards, Turkish footballer
• 1987 – Riley Steele, Pornographic actress
• 1988 – Elvis Andrus, Venezuelan baseball player
• 1988 – Princess Maria Laura of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este
• 1988 – Tori Black, American pornographic actress
• 1988 – Evan Ross, American actor
• 1988 – Danielle Savre, American actress
• 1989 – Heloise Guerin, French model
• 1989 – James Harden, American basketball player
• 1990 – Lil' Chris, English singer-songwriter and TV personality
• 1991 – Dylan O'Brien, American actor
• 1992 – Yang Yilin, Chinese gymnast
• 1993 – Keke Palmer, American actress

Deaths

• 1214 – Michael IV, Patriarch of Constantinople
• 1278 – King Otakar II of Bohemia
• 1346 – Killed in the Battle of Crécy:
  • Charles II of Alençon (b. 1297)
  • Louis I of Flanders (b. 1304)
  • John of Bohemia (b. 1296)
  • Rudolph, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1320)
• 1349 – Thomas Bradwardine, Archbishop of Canterbury
• 1551 – Margaret 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)
• 1666 – Frans Hals, Dutch painter (b. c. 1580)
• 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)
• 1810 – Santiago de Liniers, viceroy of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata (b. 1753)
• 1850 – Louis-Philippe of France (b. 1773)
• 1865 – Johann Franz Encke, German astronomer (b. 1791)
• 1908 – Tony Pastor, American vaudeville performer (b. 1837)
• 1910 – William James, American psychologist and philosopher (b. 1842)
• 1921 – Sándor Wekerle, Hungarian politician (b. 1848)
• 1930 – Lon Chaney, Sr., American actor (b. 1883)
• 1944 – Adam von Trott zu Solz, German diplomat (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)
• 1968 – Kay Francis, American actress (b. 1899)
• 1974 – Charles Lindbergh, American aviator (b. 1902)
• 1976 – Lotte Lehmann, German soprano (b. 1888)
• 1978 – Charles Boyer, French actor (b. 1899)
• 1978 – José Manuel Moreno, Argentine footballer (b. 1916)
• 1979 – Mika Waltari, Finnish author (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)
• 1981 – Lee Elhardt Hays, American folksinger (b. 1914)
• 1986 – Ted Knight, American actor (b. 1923)
• 1987 – Georg Wittig, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)
• 1987 – John Goddard, West Indian cricketer (b. 1919)
• 1988 – Carlos Paião, Portuguese singer (b. 1957)
• 1989 – Irving Stone, American author (b. 1903)
• 1990 – Minoru Honda, Japanese astronomer (b. 1913)
• 1992 – Arthur Leigh Allen, American suspected murderer (b. 1933)
• 1992 – Bob de Moor, Belgian comics artist (b. 1925)
• 1993 – Reima Pietilä, Finnish architect (b. 1923)
• 1998 – Frederick Reines, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
• 2000 – Akbar Adibi, Iranian scientist (b. 1939)
• 2001 – Louis Muhlstock, Canadian painter (b. 1904)
• 2003 – Jim Wacker, American football coach (b. 1937)
• 2004 – Laura Branigan, American singer (b. 1957)
• 2005 – Denis D'Amour, Canadian guitarist (Voivod) (b. 1960)
• 2005 – Robert Denning, American interior designer (b. 1927)
• 2005 – Ed White, Canadian professional wrestler (b. 1949)
• 2006 – Rainer Barzel, German politician (b. 1924)
• 2006 – Clyde Walcott, Barbadian West Indies cricketer (b. 1926)
• 2007 – Gaston Thorn, Luxembourger politician (b. 1928)
• 2007 – Ramon Zamora, Filipino martial arts actor (b. 1935)
• 2009 – Dominick Dunne, American writer, Vanity Fair correspondent (b. 1925)
• 2010 – Raimon Panikkar, Catalan philosopher (b. 1918)
• 2011 – George Band, British mountaineer (b. 1929)
• 2011 – John McAleese, British SAS Trooper, Team leader during 1980 Iranian Embassy Siege (b. 1949)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Adrian and Natalia of Nicomedia (Greek Church)
  • Alexander of Bergamo (Roman Catholic Church)
  • David Lewis
  • Jeanne-Elisabeth Bichier de Ages
  • Simplicius, Constantius and Victorinus
  • Zephyrinus
  • August 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Heroes' Day (Namibia)
• Repentance Day (Papua New Guinea)
• Women's Equality Day (United States)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: August 26

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada