On this day in History - Mar 26

0922 - Al-Hallaj, dies Sufi teacher and writer (b. ca. 858)
1026 - Pope John XIX crowns Conrad II as Holy Roman Emperor.
1212- King Sancho I of Portugal dies (b. 1154)
1350 - Alfonso XI, King of Castile and Leon, dies
1517 - Heinrich Isaac, dies composer (b. c. 1450)
1552 - Guru Amar Das becomes the Third Sikh Guru
1636 - Utrecht University is founded in The Netherlands
1707 - The Act of Union becomes law, making England and Scotland one country.
1714 - Portugal e França reataram as relações diplomáticas.
1723 - Se ejecuta por vez primera la Pasión según San Juan de Johann Sebastian Bach.
1726 - Sir John Vanbrugh,dies. Dramatist and architect (b. 1664).
1799 - Napolean captures Jaffa Palestine
1808 - Charles IV of Spain abdicates in favor of his son, Ferdinand VII.
1812- An earthquake destroys Caracas, Venezuela.About 20.000 die.
1814 - Joseph-Ignace Guillotin,dies. Inventor of the guillotine (b. 1738)
1827 - Ludwig van Beethoven, dies . Composer (b. 1770)
1839 - The first Henley Royal Regatta is held.
1859 - Alfred Edward Housman,was born. Poet (d. 1936)
1871- The Paris Commune is formally established in Paris.
1874 - Robert Frost, was born. Poet (d. 1963)
1874 - Nasceu o poeta americano Robert Frost
1875 - Syngman Rhee,was born. President of South Korea (d. 1965)
1879 - Othmar Ammann,was born. Engineer, Verrazano Narrows Bridge (d. 1965).
1881 - Domnitor Carol I of the Principality of Romania is proclaimed the first King of Romania.
1884 - Wilhelm Backhaus,was born. Pianist (d. 1969)
1888 - Elsa Brändström, "The Angel of Siberia" was born (d. 1948).
1892 - Walt Whitman,dies poet (b. 1819)
1893 - James Bryan Conant was born. Chemist and politician (d. 1978).
1902 - Cecil Rhodes,dies. Explorer and entrepreneur (b. 1853)
1904 - Joseph Campbell,was born. Author, mythologist (d. 1987)
1911- Tennessee Williams, was born, dramatist (d. 1983)
1913 - Paul Erdös, was born. mathematician (d. 1996)
1913 - Balkan War: Bulgarian forces take Adrianople.
1914 - General William Westmoreland, was born. United States commander during the Vietnam War
1917 - Rufus Thomas, was born. musician (d. 2001)
1917 - World War I: First Battle of Gaza - British troops are halted after 17,000 Turks block their advance.
1920 - William Chester Minor, one of the Oxford English Dictionary's most famous contributors, dies (b. 1834)
1923 - Sarah Bernhardt,dies. French actress (b. 1844)
1923 - Bob Elliott, was born. comedian
1925 - Pierre Boulez,was born. French composer and conductor
1925 - Nasceu o compositor francês Pierre Boulez
1929 - Katharine Lee Bates, dies. Poet.
1930 - Sandra Day O'Connor, was bornUnited States Supreme Court Justice
1931- Leonard Nimoy, was born. Actor, director.
1933 - Eddie Lang,dies jazz musician (b. 1902)
1934 - Alan Arkin, was born. Actor
1935 - Mahmoud Abbas,was born President of Palestine National Authority
1937 - In Crystal City, Texas, spinach growers erect a statue of the cartoon character Popeye.
1939 - James Caan, was born. Actor
1940 - Spiridon Louis,dies. Greek marathon runner.
1942 - Erica Jong, was born author
1942 - World War II: In Poland, Auschwitz receives its first female prisoners.
1943 - World War II: Battle of Komandorski Islands - In the Aleutian Islands the battle begins when United States Navy forces intercept Japanese attempting to reinforce a garrison at Kiska.
1943 - Bob Woodward, was born journalist
1944 - Diana Ross, was born in Detroit, Michigan, USA. Singer, lead singer of the Supremes
1945 - The battle of Iwo Jima ended.
1945 - David Lloyd George,dies. ex-Prime Min
ister of the United Kingdom (b. 1863).
1948 - Steven Tyler, was born, musician ("Aerosmith")
1948 - Nasceu a violinista coreana Kyung-Wha Chung
1949 - Patrick Süskind, was born, writer (The Perfume)
1950 - Teddy Pendergrass,was born singer; Martin Short,was born, commedian
1953 - Jonas Salk announces his polio vaccine.
1953 - Elaine Chao, was born, U.S. Secretary of Labor.
1953 - Dr. Jonas Salk announced a new vaccine that would prevent poliomyelitis.
1956 - Tatyana Kochergina, born in USSR, team handball, Olympics gold 1976, 1980
1958 - The United States Army launches Explorer III.
1958 - Cerimony of 30th Annual Academy Awards at The RKO Pantages Theater in Los Angeles. The show was hosted by Rosalind Russell, James Stewart, David Niven, Jack Lemmon, Bob Hope and Donald Duck (on film). There were several memorable films produced in 1957, but two blockbusters shot it out this night, "The Bridge on the River Kwai" and "Sayonara". "The Bridge on the River Kwai" (Sam Spiegel, producer) took Oscars for Best Picture; Best Actor (Alec Guinness); Cinematography (Jack Hildyard); Director (David Lean); Film Editing (Peter Taylor); Scoring (Malcolm Arnold); and writing (Pierre Boulle, Carl Foreman, Michael Wilson). Meanwhile, "Sayonara" (William Goetz, producer) won for Best Supporting Actor (Red Buttons); Supporting Actress (Miyoshi Umeki); Art Direction (Ted Haworth); Set Decoration (Robert Priestley); and Sound Recording (George Groves). Joanne Woodward won the Best Actress Oscar for "The Three Faces of Eve". The prize for Best Music/Song went to James Van Heusen (music), Sammy Cahn (lyrics) for "All the Way" (the classic Sinatra song) from "The Joker Is Wild".
1958 - Phil Mead,dies. English cricketeer, left-handed batsman (b. 1887)
1959 - Raymond Chandler, dies. Novelist (b. 1888).
1960 - Jennifer Grey,was born actress
1960 - Marcus Allen, was born American football was born star
1961- William Hague,was born. British Politician
1962 - John Stockton, was born basketball star, NBA career leader in assists and steals.
1968 - James Iha, was born musician ("Smashing Pumpkins")
1969 - John Kennedy Toole,dies. author (b. 1937)
1971- East Pakistan declares its independence from Pakistan to form People's Republic of Bangladesh and Bangladesh Liberation War begins.
1973 - The soap opera The Young and the Restless debuts on CBS television.
1973 - Noel Coward, dies. Composer, playwright (b. 1899)
1974 - George Foreman TKOs Ken Norton in 2 for heavyweight boxing title
1974 - Romanian Communist Party names party leader Ceausescu president
1975 - The Biological Weapons Convention enters into force.
1975 - "Tommy", the film based on the rock opera by the group, The Who, premiered in London.
1976 - Josef Albers,dies. Artist (b. 1888).
1979 - Anwar al-Sadat, Menachem Begin and Jimmy Carter sign the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty in Washington, DC
1979 - Juliana Paes was born in Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. Actress and model.
1982 - A groundbreaking ceremony for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is held in Washington, DC.
1985 - Keira Knightley, was born in Teddington, Middlesex, England, UK. Actress.
1987 - Eugen Jochum,dies. German conductor (b. 1902).
1989 - URSS: Boris Yeltsin vence en las primeras elecciones democráticas.
1990 - Halston, dies. fashion designer (b. 1932).
1990 - Billy Crystal was the host in the 62nd Annual Academy Awards cerimony,at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles. "Driving Miss Daisy" was voted as the Best Picture of 1989 (Richard D. Zanuck, Lili Fini Zanuck, producers). The Best Director Oscar was won by Oliver Stone for "Born on the Fourth of July". Best Actor was Daniel Day-Lewis for "My Left Foot" and Best Actress was Jessica Tandy in "Driving Miss Daisy" (the 80-year-old actress was a favorite to win). Oscars for Actor and Actress in a Supporting Role went to Denzel Washington ("Glory") and Brenda Fricker ("My Left Foot"), respectively. Best Music/Song winners were Alan Menken (music), Howard Ashman (lyrics) for "Under the Sea" from "The Little Mermaid". Other popular 1989 films that were honored as nominees or winners include: "Field of Dreams"; "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade"; "Back to the Future Part II"; "Lethal Weapon II"; "Batman"; "Dead Poets Society"; "When Harry Met Sally"; and "Sex, Lies, and Videotape".
1991 - The presidents of Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil and Uruguay signed an agreement that established the Southern Cone Common Market, a free-trade zone, by January 1, 1995.
1995 - 15th Golden Raspberry Awards: Color of Night wins
1995 - The Schengen Treaty goes into effect.
1996 - The International Monetary Fund approves a $10.2 billion loan for Russia.
1996 - David Packard, dies, engineer, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard (b. 1912).
1996 - The 68th Annual Academy Awards took place at the Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. Actress/comedienne Whoopi Goldberg was the hostess with the mostest this night. The Best Picture was "Braveheart" (Mel Gibson, Alan Ladd Jr., Bruce Davey, producers). Mel Gibson also won the Oscar for Best Director ("Braveheart"). The flick won three additional Oscars; however, none were in the Acting categories. The Best Actor was Nicolas Cage for "Leaving Las Vegas". The Best Actress award went to Susan Sarandon for "Dead Man Walking". Best Supporting Actor was Kevin Spacey for "The Usual Suspects" and Best Supporting Actress was Mira Sorvino for "Mighty Aphrodite". "Pocahontas" won: Best Music/ Original Musical or Comedy Score to Alan Menken, Stephen Schwartz and Best Music/Song: Alan Menken (music), Stephen Schwartz (lyrics) for "Colors of the Wind" from the animated film.
1997 - Thirty-nine bodies found in the Heaven's Gate cult suicides.
1998 - Oued Bouaicha massacre in Algeria; 52 people killed with axes and knives, 32 of them babies under the age of 2.
1999 - The "Melissa worm" infects e-mail systems around the world.
1999 - Record compensation for miners
Ex-miners suffering from lung diseases win the biggest industrial injuries case in British legal history.
1999 - A jury in Michigan finds Dr. Jack Kevorkian guilty of second-degree murder for administering a lethal injection to a terminally ill man.
2000 - The Seattle Kingdome is imploded to make room for a new stadium.
2000 - Presidential elections are held in Russia, and Vladimir Putin is elected President.
2000 - Alex Comfort,dies author (b. 1920).
2000 -At the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles took place the 72nd Annual Academy Awards. Billy Crysal was in presentation. "American Beauty", was awarded for Best Picture (producers: Bruce Cohen and Dan Jinks). This picture, nominated in eight categories, received four more Oscars: Best Director (Sam Mendes), Best Actor (Kevin Spacey), Best Original Screen Play (Alan Ball), Best Cinematography (Conrad L. Hall). Although Hilary Swank received the award for Best Actress in "Boys Don’t Cry". Warren Beatty was presented with the Irving Thalberg Award for his career as a movie-maker. The beautiful, Angelina Jolie, received the Best Supporting Actress award for her role in "Girl, Interrupted". Michael Caine who won the award for Best Supporting Actor "The Cider House Rules", gave the most beautiful acceptance speech of the night. The film, a seven-time nominee, also won for Best Screenplay Adaptation (John Irving). "The Matrix" was also a big winner (Best Film Editing: Zach Staenberg, Best Sound: David E. Campbell, David Lee III, John T. Reitz, Gregg Rudloff; Best Sound Effects Editing: Dane A. Davis; Best Visual Effects: Steve Courtley, John Gaeta, Janek Sirrs, Jon Thum). The exquisite beauty of the costumes (Lindy Hemming) and makeup (Christine Blundell) in "Topsy-Turvy" earned the film two Oscars, while the statuette for Best Art Direction was presented to Rick Heinrichs and Peter Young for "Sleepy Hollow". And, as always, Phil Collins made beautiful music. His "You’ll Be in My Heart" ("Tarzan") captured the Oscar for Best Original Song.
2000 - Pope prays for Holocaust forgiveness. Pope John Paul II, visiting Jerusalem, has prayed for forgiveness for those involved in the Holocaust.
2003 - The Supreme Court of the United States hears oral arguments in Lawrence v. Texas.
2003 - Daniel Patrick Moynihan, dies, four-term United States Senator (b. 1927).
2004 - Jan Sterlingdies (b. 03 Apr 1921). American Actor.