April 26
is the 116th day of the year in the
Gregorian Calendar (117th in
leap years). There are 249 days remaining in the year. It is the first day following the
Spring equinox which cannot be
Easter Sunday in Western Christianity.
*
1478 - The
Pazzi attack
Lorenzo de' Medici and kill his brother
Giuliano during
High Mass in the
Florence Cathedral.
*
1607 -
English colonists of the
Jamestown settlement make landfall at
Cape Henry,
Virginia.
*
1802 - A general amnesty signed by
Napoleon Bonaparte allowed all but about one thousand of the most notorious
émigrés of the
French Revolution to return to
France, as part of a reconciliary gesture to make peace with the various factions of the
Ancien Regime that would ultimately consolidate his own rule.
*
1805 -
United States Marines captured
Derne, Tripoli under the command of
First Lieutenant Presley N. O'Bannon.
*
1865 -
American Civil War:
Confederate General Joseph Johnston surrenders his army to
General William Tecumseh Sherman at the
Bennett Place near
Durham, North Carolina.
* 1865 -
Union cavalry troopers corner
John Wilkes Booth,
President Lincoln's assassin, in a
barn in
Virginia. Booth is shot dead by
cavalryman Boston Corbett.
*
1925 -
Paul von Hindenburg defeats
Wilhelm Marx in the second round of the
German presidential election to become the first directly elected
Reichspräsident, the
head of state of the
Weimar Republic.
*
1933 - The
Gestapo, the official
secret police force of
Nazi Germany, is established.
*
1937 -
Spanish Civil War:
Guernica,
Spain is bombed by
German Luftwaffe.
*
1942 - The worst-ever mining accident in history kills 1,549
miners in an
explosion at the
Honkeiko Colliery,
Manchuria.
*
1945 -
Battle of Bautzen (World War II) - last successful German tank-offensive
*
1946 -
Father Divine, a controversial religious leader who claims to be
God, marries the much-younger
Edna Rose Ritchings, a celebrated anniversary in the
International Peace Mission movement.
*
1954 - The
Geneva Conference, an effort to restore peace in
Indochina and
Korea, begins.
*
1956 - First
container ship left
Port Newark,
New Jersey for
Houston,
Texas *
1962 -
NASA's
Ranger 4 spacecraft crashes into the
Moon.
*
1964 -
Tanganyika and
Zanzibar merge to form
Tanzania.
*
1986 - In
Ukraine, a nuclear reactor at the
Chernobyl nuclear plant explodes, creating the world's worst
nuclear disaster.
*
1991 - Seventy tornadoes break out in the central
United States. Before its end,
Andover, Kansas, would record the year's only
F5 tornado (see
Andover, Kansas Tornado Outbreak).
*
1994 - A
China Airlines Airbus A-300-600R crashes at
Nagoya Airport,
Japan killing 264.
*
2002 - 19-year-old
Robert Steinhäuser shoots and kills 17 people at his school in
Erfurt,
Germany.
*
2005 - Under international pressure,
Syria withdraws the last of its 14,000 troop military garrison in
Lebanon, ending its 29-year military domination of that country.
*
121 -
Marcus Aurelius,
Roman Emperor (d.
180)
*
570 -
Muhammed, founder of Islam, according to the
Shi'a sect. Other sources suggest
April 20.
*
1538 -
Gian Paolo Lomazzo, Italian painter (d.
1600)
*
1573 -
Marie de' Medici, wife of
Henry IV of France (d.
1642)
*
1564 (baptized) -
William Shakespeare, English writer (d.
1616)
*
1648 - King
Peter II of Portugal (d.
1706)
*
1710 -
Thomas Reid, Scottish philosopher (d.
1796)
*
1711 -
David Hume, Scottish philosopher and historian (d.
1776)
*
1718 -
Esek Hopkins, American Revolutionary War admiral (d.
1802)
*
1765 -
Emma, Lady Hamilton, English mistress of
Horatio Nelson (d.
1815)
*
1774 -
Christian Leopold von Buch, German geologist (d.
1853)
*
1785 -
John James Audubon, French-American naturalist and illustrator (d.
1851)
*
1787 -
Ludwig Uhland, German poet (d.
1862)
*
1798 -
James Beckwourth, American explorer (d.
1867)
* 1798 -
Eugène Delacroix, French painter (d.
1863)
*
1812 -
Alfred Krupp, German industrialist (d.
1887)
*
1822 -
Frederick Law Olmsted, American landscape architect (d.
1903)
*
1826 -
George Hull Ward, American general (d.
1863)
* 1826 -
Ambrose R. Wright, American Civil War General (d.
1872*
1878 -
Bishop Rafael Guizar Valencia, Mexican Catholic bishop
*
1879 -
Owen Willans Richardson, British physicist,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1959)
*
1886 -
Ma Rainey, American singer (d.
1939)
*
1886 -
Ğabdulla Tuqay, Tatar poet (d.
1913)
*
1888 -
Anita Loos, American writer (d.
1981)
*
1889 -
Ludwig Wittgenstein, Austrian-born philosopher (d.
1951)
*
1893 -
Draza Mihajlovic, Serbian WW2 Hero and war criminal (d.
1946)
*
1894 -
Rudolf Hess, Nazi official (d.
1987)
*
1896 -
Ernst Udet, WWI pilot and film actor, Luftwaffe officer (d.
1941)
*
1897 -
Eddie Eagan, American sportsman (d.
1967)
* 1897 -
Douglas Sirk, German-born film director (d.
1987)
*
1898 -
Vicente Aleixandre, Spanish writer,
Nobel laureate (d.
1984)
* 1898 -
John Grierson, Scottish filmmaker (d.
1972)
*
1900 -
Charles Richter, American geophysicist (d.
1985)
*
1911 -
Marianne Hoppe, German actress (d.
2002)
*
1912 -
A. E. van Vogt, Canadian writer (d.
2000)
*
1914 -
Bernard Malamud, American author (d.
1986)
* 1914 -
James W. Rouse, American investor (d.
1996)
*
1916 -
Morris West, Australian writer (d.
1999)
*
1917 -
I.M. Pei, Chinese-born architect
* 1917 -
Sal Maglie, baseball player (d.
1992)
*
1918 -
Fanny Blankers-Koen, Dutch athlete (d.
2004)
* 1918 -
Stafford Repp American actor (d.
1974)
*
1925 -
Jørgen Ingmann, Danish musician
*
1926 -
Michael Mathias Prechtl, German illustrator (d.
2003)
*
1932 -
Michael Smith, English-born chemist,
Nobel laureate (d.
2000)
*
1933 -
Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, Puerto Rican activist (d.
2005)
* 1933 -
Carol Burnett, American comedian
* 1933 -
Arno Allan Penzias, German-born physicist,
Nobel laureate*
1938 -
Duane Eddy, American musician
*
1940 -
Giorgio Moroder, Italian composer
*
1942 -
Claudine Auger, French actress
* 1942 -
Michael Kergin, Canadian diplomat
* 1942 -
Bobby Rydell, American singer
*
1943 -
Gary Wright, American singer
* 1943 -
Peter Zumthor, Swiss architect
*
1944 -
Amien Rais, Indonesian politician
*
1949 -
Carlos Bianchi, Argetinian football player
* 1949 -
Jerry Blackwell, wrestler (d.
1995)
*
1956 -
Koo Stark, American actress
*
1958 -
Jeffrey Guterman, American mental health counselor
*
1960 -
Roger Taylor, English musician (
Duran Duran)
*
1961 -
Joan Chen, Chinese-born actress
* 1961 -
Chris Mars, American rock drummer (
The Replacements)
*
1962 -
Colin Anderson, English footballer
*
1963 -
Anthony Cumia, American radio personality
* 1963 -
Jet Li, Chinese martial artist
*
1965 -
Kevin James, American comedian
*
1967 -
Glen Jacobs, American professional wrestler
*
1970 -
Melania Trump, Slovenian model
* 1970 -
Tionne Watkins, American singer (
TLC)
*
1973 -
Chris Perry, English footballer
*
1975 -
Joey Jordison, American musician (
Slipknot)
*1975 -
Nerina Pallot, British singer
*
1976 -
Jose Pasillas, American musician (
Incubus)
*
1977 -
Tom Welling, American actor
*
1979 -
Janne Warman, Finnish musician (
Children of Bodom)
*
1980 -
Jordana Brewster, American actress
* 1980 -
Anna Mucha, Polish actress
* 1980 -
Channing Tatum, American actor
*
1981 -
Matthieu Delpierre, French footballer
*
1982 -
Joanne Gobure, Nauruan poet
*
1983 -
Jessica Lynch, American P.O.W.
*
1984 -
Mija Martina, Bosnian singer
*
1192 -
Emperor Go-Shirakawa of Japan (b.
1127)
*
1444 -
Robert Campin, Flemish painter (b.
1378)
*
1478 -
Giuliano di Piero de' Medici, ruler of Florence (assassinated) (b.
1453)
*
1489 -
Ashikaga Yoshihisa, Japanese shogun (b.
1465)
*
1716 -
John Somers, 1st Baron Somers, Lord Chancellor of England (b.
1651)
*
1784 -
Nano Nagle, Irish convent founder (b.
1718)
*
1789 - Count
Petr Ivanovich Panin, Russian soldier (b.
1721)
*
1865 -
John Wilkes Booth, American actor and assassin (shot) (b.
1838)
*
1881 -
Ludwig Freiherr von und zu der Tann-Rathsamhausen, German general (b.
1815)
*
1892 - Sir
Provo Wallis, British Admiral and naval hero (b.
1791)
*
1910 -
Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Norwegian author,
Nobel Prize laureate (b.
1832)
*
1920 -
Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician (b.
1887)
*
1932 -
Hart Crane, American poet (suicide) (b.
1899)
* 1932 -
William Lockwood, English cricketer (b.
1868)
*
1938 -
Edmund Husserl, Austrian philosopher (b.
1859)
*
1940 -
Carl Bosch, German chemist,
Nobel Prize laureate (b.g
1874)
*
1944 -
Violette Morris, French athlete (b. 1893)
*
1945 -
Pavlo Skoropadsky, Ukrainian politician and general (b.
1871)
*
1951 -
Arnold Sommerfeld, German physicist (b.
1868)
*
1956 -
Edward Arnold, American actor (b.
1890)
*
1957 -
Gichin Funakoshi, Father of Japanese Shotokan Karatedo (b.
1868)
*
1964 -
E. J. Pratt, Canadian poet born Newfoundland (b.
1882)
*
1969 -
Morihei Ueshiba, Japanese martial artist and founder of aikido (b.
1883)
*
1970 -
Gypsy Rose Lee, American actress (b.
1911)
*
1973 -
Irene Ryan, American actress (b.
1902)
*
1976 -
Sid James, British comedian (b.
1913)
*
1981 -
Jim Davis, American actor (b.
1909)
*
1984 -
Count Basie, American musician and composer (b.
1904)
*
1986 -
Broderick Crawford, American actor (stroke) (b.
1911)
* 1986 -
Dechko Uzunov, Bulgarian painter (b.
1899)
*
1987 -
John Ernest Silkin, British politician, (b.
1923)
*
1988 -
James McCracken, American tenor (b.
1926)
*
1989 -
Lucille Ball, American actress and comedian (b.
1911)
*
1991 -
Carmine Coppola, American composer and conductor (b.
1910)
* 1991 -
Emily McLaughlin, American actress (b.
1930)
*
1996 -
Stirling Silliphant, American writer and producer (b.
1918)
*
1999 -
Jill Dando, British television presenter (b.
1961)
*
2003 -
Rosemary Brown, Canadian politician (b.
1930)
* 2003 -
Max Nicholson, Irish environmentalist (b.
1904)
* 2003 -
Peter Stone, American writer (b.
1930)
*
2004 -
Hubert Selby Jr., American author (b.
1928)
*
2005 -
Mason Adams, American actor (b.
1919)
* 2005 -
Blade Icewood, American rapper (b.
1977)
* 2005 -
Maria Schell, Austrian-born actress (b.
1926)
*
Feast day of the following
saints in the
Roman Catholic Church:
**
Saint Alda (d.
1309)
**
Richarius or
Riquier (d.
643)
**
Paschasius (d.
865)
**
Saint Cletus (
Pope Anacletus) and
Marcellinus (
Popes and
martyrs)
**
Lucidius (
4th century)
**
Trudpert (
Irish monk martyred in
Germany in
607).
*
Feast day of the following
saint in the
Russian Orthodox Church:
**
Stephen of Perm - also
Old Permic Alphabet Day*
Tanzania -
Union Day.
*
Shi'a Islam -
Mawlid,
Muhammad's
birthday (
2005).
*
Florida and
Georgia, USA -
Confederate Memorial Day.
*
World Intellectual Property Day (since
2001).
*
BBC: On This DayThis date is referred to in the song "
2641998" (26/4/1998) by
Alec Empire.
April 25 -
April 27 -
March 26 -
May 26 –
listing of all days
