August 26
is the 238th day of the year in the
Gregorian Calendar (239th in
leap years). There are 127 days remaining.
*
55 BC -
Julius Caesar invades
Britain*
1071 -
Battle of Manzikert: The
Seljuk Turks defeat the
Byzantine Empire 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
Moravia.
*
1303 -
Ala ud din Khilji won
Chittor*
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.
*
1498 -
Michelangelo commissioned to carve the
Pietà.
*
1778 - The first ascent of
Triglav, the highest mountain of
Slovenia.
*
1789 -
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen approved by
Constituent Assembly at
Palace of Versailles*
1839 - The ship
Amistad is captured off
Long Island.
*
1858 - First news dispatch by
telegraph.
*
1862 -
American Civil War: The
Second Battle of Bull Run begins.
*
1883 - Eruption of Mount
Krakatoa.
*
1914 -
World War I:
Germans defeat
Russians in
Battle of Tannenberg.
* 1914 - World War I: The
British Expeditionary Force briefly checks the German advance at
Le Cateau.
* 1914 - World War I: The German colony of
Togoland is invaded by French and British forces, who take it after 5 days.
*
1920 -
19th amendment to U.S. Constitution gives women the right to vote.
*
1939 - The first
Major League Baseball game is telecast, a double-header between the
Cincinnati Reds and the
Brooklyn Dodgers at
Ebbets Field, in
Brooklyn, New York.
*
1940 -
Chad is the first French colony to join the Allies under the administration of Félix Éboué, France's first black colonial governor.
*
1944 -
World War II:
Charles de Gaulle enters
Paris.
*
1957 - The
USSR announces the successful test of an
ICBM - a "super longdistance intercontinental multistage ballistic rocket ... a few days ago," according to Tass Soviet News Agency.
*
1968 -
Democratic National Convention opens in
Chicago, Illinois* 1968 -
The Beatles' "
Hey Jude" is released as a
single in the United States under the
Apple Records label.
*
1970 - The third annual
Isle of Wight rock festival, which would feature the last UK performance from
Jimi Hendrix, opens in
Great Britain.
*
1972 -
Games of the XX Olympiad open in
Munich,
Germany.
*
1976 -
Raymond Barre becomes Prime Minister of
France.
*
1978 -
Papal conclave, 1978 (August):
Pope John Paul I is elevated to the
Papacy.
* 1978 -
Sigmund Jähn becomes first
German cosmonaut on board of the
Soyuz 31 spacecraft.
*
1980 -
John Birges plants a bomb at
Harvey's Resort Hotel in
Stateline, Nevada.
*
1986 - Toxic gas kills 1700 in
Cameroon.
*
1987 -
President Ronald Wilson Reagan proclaims
September 11,
1987 as 9-1-1
Emergency Number Day.
*
1988 -
Merhan Karimi Nasseri arrives at
Charles de Gaulle International Airport.
*
1995 - The
International Rugby Board lifts all restrictions on payments relating to the game of
Rugby Union, thus bringing the game's amateur age to an end.
*
1997 -
Beni-Ali massacre in
Algeria; 60-100 people killed.
*
2002 -
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher
Éric Gagné converts his first of a record 84 consecutive successful save opportunities.
* 2002 -
Earth Summit 2002 begins in
Johannesburg, South Africa.
*
2003 -
Columbia Accident Investigation Board releases its final reports on
Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.
*
2005 -
Fiji's High Court rules that the island's
sodomy law is unconstitutional.
* 2005 -
Jean Michel Jarre's "
Space of Freedom" concert in
Gdańsk,
Poland*
1469 -
Ferdinand II of Naples (d.
1496)
*
1540 - King
Magnus of Livonia (d.
1583)
*
1676 -
Robert Walpole,
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d.
1745)
*
1694 -
Elisha Williams, American rector of Yale College (d.
1755)
*
1736 -
Jean-Baptiste L. Romé de l'Isle, French chemist (d.
1790)
*
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)
*
1850 -
Charles Robert Richet, French physiologist,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1935)
*
1862 -
Herbert Booth, the third son of
William and
Catherine Booth (d.
1926)
*
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 Prize laureate (d.
1964)
*
1894 -
Sparky Adams, Baseball player (d.
1989)
*
1896 -
Ivan Mihailov, Bulgarian revolutionary (d.
1990)
*
1897 -
Yoon Boseon,
President of South Korea (d.
1990)
*
1898 -
Peggy Guggenheim, American art collector (d.
1979)
*
1900 -
Hellmuth Walter, German engineer and inventor (d.
1980)
*
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)
*
1909 -
Jim Davis, American actor (d.
1981)
* 1909 -
Gene Moore, baseball player (d.
1978)
*
1914 -
Julio Cortázar, Argentine writer (d.
1984)
*
1921 -
Benjamin Bradlee, American journalist
*
1922 -
Irving R. Levine, American journalist
*
1923 -
Wolfgang Sawallisch, German conductor and pianist
*
1924 -
Alex Kellner, baseball player (d.
1996)
*
1934 -
Tom Heinsohn, American basketball player and commentator
*
1935 -
Geraldine Ferraro, U.S. Vice Presidential candidate
*
1936 -
Yvette Vickers, American actress
*
1940 -
Don LaFontaine, American voice actor
*
1941 -
Barbet Schroeder, Swiss film director
* 1941 -
Akiko Wakabayashi, Japanese actress
*
1942 -
Vic Dana, American singer
* 1942 -
Dennis Turner, British politician
*
1944 -
Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester* 1944 -
Maureen Tucker, American musician (
The Velvet Underground)
*
1945 -
Tom Ridge, first
United States Secretary of Homeland Security*
1946 -
Valerie Simpson, American singer
* 1946 -
Mark Snow, American composer
* 1946 -
Zhou Ji, Education Minister of the People's Republic of China
*
1952 -
Michael Jeter, American actor (d.
2003)
* 1952 -
Will Shortz,
New York Times crossword editor
*
1953 -
Pat Sharkey, Irish footballer
*
1954 -
Efren Reyes, World Pool Player
*
1956 -
Brett Cullen, American actor
*
1957 -
Dr. Alban, Nigerian singer
*
1960 -
Branford Marsalis, American saxophonist and bandleader
*
1965 -
Chris Burke, American actor
* 1965 -
Jon Hensley, American actor
* 1965 -
Bobby Duncum, Jr., wrestler (d.
2000)
*
1966 -
Jacques Brinkman, Dutch field hockey player
* 1966 -
Shirley Manson, Scottish singer
*
1969 -
Melissa McCarthy, American actress
* 1969 -
Ricky Bottalico, Baseball player
*
1971 -
Thalía, Mexican singer and actress
*
1977 -
Saeko Chiba, Japanese seiyuu
*
1979 -
Jamal Lewis, American football player
*1979 -
Cristian Mora, Ecuadorian footballer
*
1980 -
Macaulay Culkin, American actor
* 1980 -
Brendan Harris, Baseball player
*
1982 -
Petey Williams, Canadian professional wrestler
*
1993 -
Keke Palmer, American actress
*
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 I, Count of Luxemburg (b.
1296)
**
Rudolph, Duke of Lorraine (b.
1320)
*
1349 -
Thomas Bradwardine,
Archbishop of Canterbury*
1551 -
Margareta Leijonhufvud, queen of
Gustav I of Sweden (b.
1516)
*
1595 -
Antonio, Prior of Crato, claimant to the throne of Portugal (b.
1531)
*
1666 -
Frans Hals, Dutch painter
*
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)
*
1850 -
Louis-Philippe of France (b.
1773)
*
1865 -
Johann Franz Encke, German astronomer (b.
1791)
*
1915 -
John Bunny American comedian (b.
1863)
*
1930 -
Lon Chaney, Sr., American actor (b.
1883)
*
1944 -
Adam von Trott zu Solz, German anti-Nazi diplomat (executed)
*
1945 -
Franz Werfel, Austrian writer (b.
1890)
*
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)
*
1986 -
Ted Knight, American actor (b.
1923)
*
1987 -
Georg Wittig, German chemist,
Nobel Prize laureate (b.
1897)
*
1988 -
Carlos Paião, Portuguese singer (b.
1957)
*
1989 -
Irving Stone, American author (b.
1903)
*
1990 -
Minoru Honda, Japanese astronomer (b.
1913)
*
1998 -
Frederick Reines, American physicist,
Nobel Prize laureate (b.
1918)
*
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)
*
RC saints -
St Zephyrinus,
Saint Ninian,
David Lewis (one of the
Forty Martyrs of England and Wales)
*
Namibia - Namibia Day or Heroes' Day
*
Zanzibar -
Sultan's Birthday*
BBC: On This DayAugust 25 -
August 27 -
July 26 -
September 26 --
listing of all days
