On this day in History - Oct. 26

0740 - An earthquake strikes Constantinople, causing much damage and death.
0899 - Alfred the Great dies. Writer and king of Wessex (0871-0899).
1427 - Archduke Sigismund of Austria was born (d. 1496)
1440 - Gilles de Rais dies (b. 1404). French serial killer
1473 - Friedrich of Saxony was born (d. 1510)
1491 - Zhengde was born (d. 1521). Emperor of China.
1633 - Horio Tadaharu dies (b. 1596). Japanese warlord.
1640 - The Treaty of Ripon is signed, restoring peace between Scotland and Charles I of England
1671 - John Gell dies (b. 1593). English politician.
1673 - Dimitrie Cantemir was born (d. 1723). Moldavian linguist and scholar.
1679 - Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery dies (b. 1621). British soldier, statesman, and dramatist
1684 - Kurt Christoph Graf von Schwerin was born (d. 1757). Prussian field marshal.
1685 - Domenico Scarlatti was born in Naples (d. 1757). Italian composer and harpsichordist
1686 - John Egerton, 2nd Earl of Bridgewater dies (b. 1623). English politician.
1694 - Johan Helmich Roman was born (d. 1758). Swedish composer.
1717 - Catherine Sedley dies. English mistress of James II of England
1751 - Philip Doddridge dies (b. 1702). English religious leader
1757 - Karl Leonhard Reinhold was born (d. 1823). Austrian philosopher.
1759 - Georges Jacques Danton was born (d. 1794). French Revolutionary leader.
1764 - William Hogarth dies (b. 1697). British painter.
1794 - Konstantin Thon was born (d. 1881). Russian architect
1795 - The French Directory, a five-man revolutionary government, is created.
1800 - Helmuth von Moltke the Elder was born (d. 1891). Prussian field marshal.

1802 - D. Miguel was born, son of John VI and Carlota Joaquina. King of Portugal (1828 - 1834).
1806 - John Graves Simcoe dies (b. 1752). first lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada.

1818 - Tomás José da Anunciação was born. Portuguese painter.
1854 - C. W. Post was born (d. 1914), Anerican entrepreneur.
1863 - The Football Association is formed

1863 - Francisco Dueñas Díaz assume (pela 4º vez) a presidência de El Salvador
1865 - Benjamin Guggenheim was born (d. 1912). American businessman.

1869 - Washington Luís (Washington Luís Pereira de Souza) was born in Macaé - Rio de Janeiro. 15th President of Brazil (15 Nov 1926 - 24 Oct 1930).

1873 - Thorvald Stauning was born (d. 1942). Prime Minister of Denmark
1874 - Martin Lowry was born (d. 1936). British chemist.

1874 - Peter Cornelius dies at 49. German composer.

1879 - Leon Trotsky was born (d. 1940). Leader of the Bolshevik Revolution
1880 - Andrei Bely was born (d. 1934). Russian writer.

1881 - The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral takes place at Tombstone, Arizona.
1883 - Paul Pilgrim was born (d. 1958). American athlete.
1890 - Carlo Collodi dies (b. 1826). Italian writer.
1902 - Elizabeth Cady Stanton dies (b. 1815). American feminist and suffragette
1902 - Jack Sharkey was born (d. 1994). American boxer.
1905 - Norway becomes independent from Sweden
1906 - Primo Carnera was born (d. 1967). Italian boxer.

1909 - Affonso Eduardo Reidy dies in Paris. Brazilian architect.
1909 - Prince Hirobumi Ito dies assassinated (b. 1841). Japanese governor of Korea
1911 - Sid Gilman was born (d. 2003). American football player, coach, and manager.
1911 - Mahalia Jackson was born (d. 1972). American singer.
1911 - Sorley MacLean was born (d. 1996). Scottish poet.
1912 - Don Siegel was born (d. 1991). American director
1914 - Jackie Coogan was born (d. 1984). American actor.
1916 - François Mitterrand was born (d. 1996). President of France (1981-1995)

1917- Battle of Caporetto: Italy suffers a catastrophic defeat at the hands of Germany and Austria during the First World War

1917 - Virgílio Teixeira was born. Portuguese actor.
Erich von Ludendorff, quartermaster-general of the Imperial German Army, is dismissed by Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany for refusing to cooperate in peace negotiations.
1919 - Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran was born (d. 1980). Shah of Iran
1925 - Jan Wolkers was born. Dutch author.
1931 - Charles Comiskey dies (b. 1859). Baseball team owner.

1933 - José Malhoa dies (b. 28 Apr 1854). Portuguese painter.
1936 - The first electric generator at Hoover Dam went into full operation.
1937 - Józef Dowbór-Muśnicki dies (b. 1867). Polish general, commander of the Greater Poland Uprising
1941 - Arkady Gaidar dies (killed in combat) (b. 1904). Russian children's writer
1942 - Bob Hoskins was born. British actor.

1942 - Milton Nascimento was born in Rio de Janeiro. Brazilian singer and composer

1943 - Marc Aurel Stein dies (b. 1862). Hungarian born British archaeologist
1944 - The Battle of Leyte Gulf ends.
1944 - Vice president Harry Truman publicly denies ever having been a member of the Ku Klux Klan.
1945 - Pat Conroy was born. American writer.
1945 - Paul Pelliot dies (b. 1878). French explorer.
1946 - Pat Sajak was born. American game show host
1947 - Hillary Rodham Clinton was born. First Lady of the United States and Senator from New York
1947 - Jaclyn Smith was born. American actress
1947 - Holly Woodlawn was born. Puerto Rican actress
1947 - The Maharaja of Kashmir agrees to allow his kingdom to join India
1947 - Canon Edwin Sidney Savage dies (b. 1862). English rector.
1948 - Killer smog settles into Donora, Pennsylvania.
1951 - Bootsy Collins was born. American musician (P Funk).

1951 - Rocky Marciano defeated Joe Louis at Madison Square Garden.
1952 - Andrew Motion was born. English poet.
1952 - Hattie McDaniel dies (b. 1895). American singer
1955 - Following the provisions of the Austrian Independence Treaty, the last Allied troops leave the country. Austria declares its permanent neutrality.
1955 - Ngo Dinh Diem declares himself Premier of South Vietnam
1956 - Walter Gieseking dies (b. 1895). French conductor
1957 - Nikos Kazantzakis dies (b. 1883). Greek writer (The Last Temptation of Christ).
1957 - Bob Golic was born. American football player
1958 - Rita Wilson was born. American actress
1958 - First commercial flight of the Boeing 707 from New York to Paris
1961 - Dylan McDermott was born. American actor
1962 - Cary Elwes was born. British actor
1963 - Natalie Merchant was born. American singer
1965 - The Beatles are appointed Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBEs)
1965 - Aaron Kwok Fu-Shing was born. Hong Kong singer and actor
1967 - Keith Urban was born. New Zealand singer .

1969 - Portugal: Realizam-se as primeiras eleições após a substituição de Salazar por Marcelo Caetano, no cargo de Presidente do Conselho. São eleitos deputados Pinto Leite, Sá Carneiro, Pinto Balsemão, Magalhães Mota e Miller Guerra que formarão a chamada «Ala Liberal» da Assembleia Nacional. A oposição contesta em bloco os resultados eleitorais.
1971 - Anthony Rapp was born. American singer and actor
1972 - Igor Sikorsky dies (b. 1889). Ukrainian-born inventor.
1973 - Seth MacFarlane was born. American animator, creator of Family Guy and American Dad!
1976 - Transkei declares its "independence" from South Africa

1976 - Damião Peres dies (b. 8 Jul 1889). Portuguese teacher, historian and writer.

1976 - Emiliano Di Cavalcanti dies. Brazilian painter.

1977 - Jon Heder was born. American actor
1978 - Independent Counsel Act signed into law
1979 - Park Chung-hee, President of South Korea is assassinated by KCIA head Kim Jae-kyu. Choi Kyu-ha becomes the acting President; Kim is executed the following May.
1979 - Park Chung-hee dies (b. 1917). President of South Korea
1980 - Prajeesh P R was born. Indian software engineer

1980 - Morreu Marcelo Caetano (n. 1906), último Presidente do Conselho do regime ditatorial, instaurado com a Constituição de 1933. Professor de direito e historiador, tinha sido escolhido, em 1968, para substituir Salazar na chefia do governo, sendo deposto pelo movimento militar de 25 de Abril de 1974.
1982 - Christopher Neil Hamman was born. American Icon
1983 - Baby Fae receives a heart transplant from a baboon
1984 - John D. McCollum shoots and kills himself after spending a day listening to Ozzy Osbourne records; a lawsuit is later filed by his parents over the song "Suicide Solution", but the case eventually gets thrown out.
1984 - The Terminator is released in theaters nationwide.
1986 - Jackson Scholz dies (b. 1897). American runner.
1989 - Charles J. Pedersen dies (b. 1904). American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate.
1991 - Bill Graham dies (b. 1931). German-born music promoter.
1991 - Lori Keevil-Matthews is killed after a 485-pound umbrella slams her against a boulder in a Christo art installation.
1992 - The command and control system of the London Ambulance Service fails catastrophically.
1994 - Jordan and Israel sign a peace treaty
1994 - Announcement of Andrew Wiles correct proof of Fermat's last theorem.
1995 - Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Mossad agents assassinate Islamic Jihad leader Fathi Shikaki in his hotel in Malta.
1995 - Gorni Kramer dies (b. 1913). Italian bandleader and songwriter.
1997 - The left arms of Chen Ming-Kuo and Yang Chung-ming are amputated by the rope in a 1,500-person tug-of-war contest in Taipei; both arms are successfully reattached later on.
1997 - Basketball player Charles Barkley is charged with aggravated battery and resisting arrest after throwing Jorge Lugo through a plate glass window in a dance club in Orlando, Florida.

1998 - Morre o escritor português José Cardoso Pires, autor de O Delfim, obra que serviu de base ao filme do mesmo nome de Fernando Lopes.
1999 - Britain's House of Lords votes to end the right of hereditary peers to vote in Britain's upper chamber of Parliament.
1999 - Hoyt Axton dies (b. 1938). American musician.
2000 - Laurent Gbagbo takes over as president of Côte d'Ivoire following a popular uprising against President Robert Guéï
2000 - The PlayStation 2 was released in the United States of America
2001 - The United States passes the controversial USA Patriot Act into law.
2002 - Moscow Theater Siege ends: Approximately 50 Chechen rebels and 150 hostages die when Russian commandos storm the House of Culture theater in Moscow, which had been occupied by the rebels three days before.
2002 - Jacques Massu dies (b. 1908). French general.
National Holiday: Anniversary of the Austrian Declaration of Neutrality
Intersex Awareness Day
Angam Day in Nauru