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.
- 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 Britain.
- 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.
- 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.
- 1992 - Xocali slaughter. More than 600 people of the town of Xocali, Azerbaijan, are killed by Armenian forces during war in Karabakh.
- 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 gambling on the Singapore Monetary Exchange Simex with derivatives.
21th century
- 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.
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)
- 1715 - Claude Adrien Helvétius, French philosopher (d. 1771)
- 1786 - François Arago, French mathematician
- 1802 - Victor Hugo, French writer (d. 1885)
- 1808 - Honoré Daumier, French painter, illustrator, and sculptor (d. 1879)
- 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)
- 1879 - Frank Bridge, English composer (d. 1941)
- 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)
- 1902 - Albert Anastasia, Italian-born gangster (d. 1957)
- 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
- 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
- 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)
- 1954 - Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister of Turkey
- 1954 - Michael Bolton, American singer
- 1956 - Keisuke Kuwata, Japanese singer
- 1956 - Michel Houellebecq, French novelist
- 1959 - Rolando Blackman, Panamanian basketball player
- 1962 - Greg Germann, American actor
- 1971 - Erykah Badu, American singer
- 1973 - Marshall Faulk, American football star
- 1973 - Jenny Thompson, American swimmer
- 1974 - Sébastien Loeb, French race car driver
- 1984 - Natalia Lafourcade, Mexican singer
Deaths
- 1266 - King Manfred of Sicily
- 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)
- 1813 - Robert Livingston, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1746)
- 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)
- 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 (b. 1910
- 1993 - Constance Ford, American actress (b. 1923)
- 1994 - Bill Hicks, American comedian (b. 1961)
- 1997 - David Doyle, American actor (b. 1929)
- 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 - Day 1 of Ayyám-i-Há (Intercalary Days) - days in the Bahá'í calendar devoted to service and gift giving.
- Nation of Islam - Saviour'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)
External links
February 25 - February 27 - January 26 - March 26 -- listing of all days