On this day in History - Mar. 26

• 0922 - Al-Hallaj dies (b. ca. 0858). Persian Sufi teacher and writer.
• 1026 - Pope John XIX crowns Conrad II as Holy Roman Emperor.
• 1130 - King Sigurd I of Norway dies (b. ca. 1090)
• 1212 - King Sancho I of Portugal dies (b. 1154)
• 1350 - Alfonso XI dies. King of Castile and Leon.
• 1516 - Conrad Gessner was born (d. 1565). Swiss naturalist.
• 1517 - Heinrich Isaac dies (b. c. 1450). Flemish composer.
• 1546 - Thomas Elyot dies. English diplomat
• 1552 - Guru Amar Das becomes the Third Sikh Guru.
• 1554 - Charles of Lorraine, Duke of Mayenne was born (d. 1611). French military leader.
• 1566 - Antonio de Cabezón dies (b. 1510). Spanish composer.
• 1636 - Utrecht University is founded in The Netherlands.
• 1649 – John Winthrop dies. Second governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
• 1679 - Johannes Schefferus dies (b. 1621). Alsatian-born humanist.
• 1697 - Godfrey McCulloch dies executed (b. 1640). Scottish politican and murderer.
• 1698 - Vaclav Prokop Divis was born (d. 1765). Czech theologian and natural scientist
• 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 (b. 1664). English dramatist and architect.
• 1753 - Benjamin Thompson was born (d. 1814). American physicist and inventor.
• 1772 - Charles Pinot Duclos dies (b. 1704). French writer.
• 1776 - Samuel Ward dies (b. 1725). American politician.
• 1780 - Charles I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg dies (b. 1713).
• 1793 - John Mudge dies (b. 1721). English physician and inventor.
• 1797 - James Hutton dies (b. 1726). Scottish geologist.
• 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 (b. 1738). French inventor of the guillotine.
• 1827 - Ludwig van Beethoven dies in Vienna (b. 1770) . German composer .
• 1839 - The first Henley Royal Regatta is held.
• 1855 - The first clash of the Riel Rebellion in Canada took place in Duck Lake, Saskatchewan.
• 1858 - John Addison Thomas dies (b. 1811). American soldier.
• 1859 - Alfred Edward Housman was born (d. 1936). English poet (A Shropshire Lad)
• 1859 - Adolf Hurwitz was born (d. 1919). German mathematician.
• 1868 - King Fuad I of Egypt was born (d. 1936)
• 1871 - The Paris Commune is formally established in Paris.
• 1874 - Robert Frost was born (d. 1963). American poet.
• 1875 - Max Abraham was born (d. 1922). German physicist.
• 1875 - Syngman Rhee was born (d. 1965). President of South Korea.
• 1879 - Othmar Ammann was born (d. 1965). Swiss-born bridge engineer, Verrazano Narrows Bridge
• 1881 - Domnitor Carol I of the Principality of Romania is proclaimed the first King of Romania.
• 1881 - Roman Sanguszko dies (b. 1800). Polish aristocrat.
• 1882 - Hermann Obrecht was born (d. 1940). Member of the Swiss Federal Council.
• 1884 - Wilhelm Backhaus was born (d. 1969). German pianist.
• 1888 - Elsa Brändström was born (d. 1948). Swedish nurse, "The Angel of Siberia"
• 1892 - Walt Whitman dies (b. 1819). American poet.
• 1893 - Palmiro Togliatti was born (d. 1964). Italian communist leader.
• 1893 - James Bryan Conant was born (d. 1978). Chemist and politician.
• 1896 - Rudolf Dassler was born (d. 1974). Founder of PUMA AG.
• 1902 - Cecil Rhodes dies in Cape Town (b. 1853). English explorer and entrepreneur. Rhodes who controlled 90% of the world's diamond production, was influential in establishing the British crown in South Africa and Rhodesia.
• 1904 - Emilio Fernández was born (d. 1986). Mexican actor, screenwriter and film director.
• 1904 - Joseph Campbell was born (d. 1987). American author, mythologist.
• 1904 - Xenophon Zolotas was born (d. 2004). Prime Minister of Greece
• 1905 - Viktor Frankl was born (d. 1997). Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist.
• 1905 - Maurice Barrymore dies (b. 1849). Actor; patriarch of the Barrymore family.
• 1906 - Rafael Mendez was born (d. 1981). Mexican trumpetist.
• 1910 - An Jung-geun dies executed (b. 1879). Japanese assassin of Ito Hirobumi.
• 1910 - Auguste Charlois dies (b. 1864). French astronomer.
• 1911 - Bernard Katz was born (d. 2003). German-born biophysicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
• 1911 - Tennessee Williams was born (d. 1983). American dramatist.
• 1911 - T. Hee was born (d. 1988). American animator.
• 1913 - Paul Erdös was born (d. 1996). Mathematician.
• 1913 - Balkan War: Bulgarian forces take Adrianople.
• 1914 - Toru Kumon was born (d. 1995). Japanese educator.
• 1914 - General William Westmoreland was born. United States commander during the Vietnam War
• 1916 - Christian B. Anfinsen was born (d. 1995). American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1916 - Sterling Hayden was born (d. 1986). American actor.
• 1916 - Bill Edrich was born (d. 1986). English cricketer.
• 1917 - Rufus Thomas was born (d. 2001). American musician.
• 1917 - World War I: First Battle of Gaza - British troops are halted after 17,000 Turks block their advance.
• 1919 - Strother Martin was born (d. 1980). American actor.
• 1920 - William Chester Minor dies (b. 1834). American surgeon and one of the Oxford English Dictionary's most famous contributors.
• 1922 - Oscar Sala was born. Italian-born physicist.
• 1923 - Sarah Bernhardt dies (b. 1844). French actress.
• 1923 - Bob Elliott was born. American comedian.
• 1925 - James Moody was born. American jazz musician, composer, and actor
• 1925 - Pierre Boulez was born. French composer and conductor.
• 1926 - Konstantin Fehrenbach dies (b. 1852). Chancellor of Germany.
• 1927 - The Mille Miglia, the famed automobile race across Italy, was inaugurated.
• 1929 - Katharine Lee Bates dies (b. 1859). American poet.
• 1930 - Sandra Day O'Connor was born in El paso, Texas. She was the first woman to become a U.S. Supreme Court justice.
• 1930 - Gregory Corso was born (d. 2001). American poet.
• 1931 - Leonard Nimoy was born. American actor, director.
• 1933 - Eddie Lang dies (b. 1902). American jazz musician.
• 1934 - Driving test introduced in the United Kingdom.
• 1934 - Alan Arkin was born. American 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.
• 1937 - Wayne Embry was born. Former basketball player in the National Basketball Association
• 1938 - Anthony James Leggett was born. American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1939 - James Caan was born. Actor.
• 1940 - Spiridon Louis dies (b. 1873). Greek marathon runner.
• 1940 - James Caan was born. American actor.
• 1940 - Nancy Pelosi was born. American politician.
• 1941 - Cláudio Marzo was born. Brazilian actor.
• 1941 - Richard Dawkins was born. British evolutionary biologist
• 1941 - Yvon Marcoux was born. Quebec politician
• 1942 - Erica Jong was born. American author.
• 1942 - World War II: In Poland, Auschwitz receives its first female prisoners.
• 1942 - Jimmy Burke dies (b. 1874). Baseball player.
• 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. American journalist.
• 1944 - Diana Ross was born in Detroit, Michigan. American singer, lead singer of the Supremes.
• 1945 - The battle of Iwo Jima ended.
• 1945 - Mikhail Voronin was born (d. 2004). Soviet gymnast.
• 1945 - David Lloyd George dies (b. 1863). Prime Mimister of the United Kingdom.
• 1946 - Johnny Crawford was born. American actor.
• 1946 - Alain Madelin was born. French politician
• 1947 - Dar Robinson was born (d. 1986). American stunt man.
• 1948 - Steven Tyler was born. American musician ("Aerosmith")
• 1948 - Kyung-Wha Chung was born. Korean violinist.
• 1948 - Richard Tandy was born. British keyboardist (Electric Light Orchestra)
• 1949 - Patrick Süskind was born. Writer (The Perfume)
• 1949 - Vicki Lawrence was born. American actress and singer
• 1950 - Teddy Pendergrass was born. American singer.
• 1950 - Martin Short was born. Canadian comedian.
• 1950 - Ernest Thomas was born. American actor.
• 1951 - Carl Wieman was born. American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1952 - Didier Pironi was born (d. 1987). French Formula One driver.
• 1953 - Jonas Salk announces his polio vaccine.
• 1953 - Elaine Chao was born. U.S. Secretary of Labor
• 1953 - Lincoln Chafee was born. American Senator from Rhode Island
• 1953 - Youssouf Togoïmi was born (d. 2002). Chadian rebel.
• 1954 - Curtis Sliwa was born. American founder of the Guardian Angels
• 1954 - Kazuhiko Inoue was born. Japanese seiyu (voice actor)
• 1956 - Tatyana Kochergina born in USSR. Team handball, Olympics gold 1976, 1980
• 1956 - Charly McClain was born. American singer.
• 1957 - Leeza Gibbons was born. American television host.
• 1957 - Édouard Herriot dies (b. 1872). French politician.
• 1957 - Max Ophüls dies (b. 6 May 1902). German film director.
• 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 - Chris Codiroli was born. American baseballer
• 1958 - Elio de Angelis was born (d. 1986). Italian racing driver.
• 1958 - Phil Mead dies (b. 1887). English cricketeer, left-handed batsman.
• 1959 - Raymond Chandler dies (b. 1888). American-born novelist.
• 1960 - Jennifer Grey was born. American actress.
• 1960 - Marcus Allen was born. American football player.
• 1960 - Catherine Keener was born. American actress
• 1961 - William Hague was born. British politician
• 1962 - John Stockton was born. American basketball star, NBA career leader in assists and steals.
• 1962 - Paul de Leeuw was born. Dutch television host
• 1962 - American poet Robert Frost publishes his first new collection of poems in 15 years, In the Clearing
• 1963 - Natsuhiko Kyogoku was born. Japanese writer
• 1963 - Roch Voisine was born. Canadian singer and songwriter
• 1964 - Martin Donnelly was born. Northern Irish racecar driver.
• 1964 - Ulf Samuelsson was born. Swedish hockey player.
• 1965 - Valéria Monteiro was born. Brazilian journalist.
• 1968 - Kenny Chesney was born. American singer.
• 1968 - James Iha was born. American musician (Smashing Pumpkins, A Perfect Circle)
• 1968 - Laurent Brochard was born. French cyclist
• 1969 - John Kennedy Toole dies (b. 1937). American author.
• 1971 - East Pakistan declares its independence from Pakistan to form People's Republic of Bangladesh and Bangladesh Liberation War begins.
• 1971 - Behzad Ghorbani was born. Iranian zoologist and sociobiologist.
• 1973 - Lawrence E. Page was born. American Internet search engine pioneer
• 1973 - The soap opera The Young and the Restless debuts on CBS television.
• 1973 - T.R. Knight was born. American actor
• 1973 - Noel Coward dies (b. 1899). English composer and playwright.
• 1973 - Johnny Drake dies (b. 1916). American football player.
• 1973 - Don Messer dies (b. 1909). Canadian fiddler.
• 1973 - George Sisler dies (b. 1893). American Baseball player.
• 1974 - George Foreman TKOs Ken Norton in 2 for heavyweight boxing title
• 1974 - Romanian Communist Party names party leader Ceausescu president
• 1974 - Mike Peca was born. Canadian hockey player
• 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 - A Dictatorship of Terror begins in Argentina. As a result of the persecution and the genocide, thirty thousand people are murdered. Even today, their final whereabouts remain unknown.
• 1976 - Amy Smart was born. American actress.
• 1976 - Nurgül Yeşilçay was born. Turkish actress.
• 1976 - Ufuk Talay was born. Turkish-Australian footballer.
• 1976 - Josef Albers dies (b. 1888). German artist.
• 1976 - Lin Yutang dies (b. 1895). Chinese writer.
• 1976 - Amy Smart was born. American actress.
• 1977 - Kevin Davies was born. English footballer.
• 1977 - Sylvain Grenier was born. Canadian professional wrestler.
• 1978 - Anastasia Kostaki was born. Greek basketball player
• 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. Brazilian actress and model.
• 1979 - Hiromi Uehara was born. Japanese jazz pianist.
• 1980 - Sérgio Paulinho was born. Portuguese cyclist.
• 1981 - Matthieu Delpierre was born. French footballer.
• 1981 - Massimo Donati was born. Italian footballer.
• 1982 - Mikel Arteta was born. Spanish footballer.
• 1982 - A groundbreaking ceremony for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is held in Washington, DC.
• 1983 - Michael Brenley was born. Professional wrestler.
• 1983 - Anthony Blunt dies (b. 1907). British spy.
• 1984 - Gregory Strydom was born. Zimbabwean cricketer.
• 1984 - Stéphanie Lapointe was born. Quebec artist and singer. 2004 Star Académie winner
• 1984 - Sara Jean Underwood was born. American model
• 1984 - Ahmed Sékou Touré dies (b. 1922). President of Guinea.
• 1985 - Keira Knightley was born in Teddington, Middlesex. English actress.
• 1985 - Prosper Utseya was born. Zimbabwean cricket captain.
• 1987 - Yui was born. Japanese musician.
• 1987 - Eugen Jochum dies (b. 1902). German conductor.
• 1989 - URSS: Boris Yeltsin vence en las primeras elecciones democráticas.
• 1990 - Halston dies (b. 1932). American fashion designer.
• 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.
• 1991 - Brittney Wilson was born. Canadian actress
• 1992 - Heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson was sentenced to six years in prison following a rape conviction in Indianapolis, Indian.
• 1992 - Barbara Frum dies (b. 1937). Canadian journalist.
• 1995 - 15th Golden Raspberry Awards: Color of Night wins
• 1995 - The Schengen Treaty goes into effect.
• 1995 - Eazy-E dies (b. 1963). American rapper.
• 1996 - Edmund Muskie dies (b. 1914). American politician.
• 1996 - The International Monetary Fund approves a $10.2 billion loan for Russia.
• 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.
• 1996 - Edmund Muskie dies (b. 1914). American politician.
• 1996 - David Packard dies (b. 1912). American engineer and businessman, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard.
• 1997 - Thirty-nine bodies found in the Heaven's Gate cult suicides.
• 1997 - Marshall Applewhite dies (b. 1931). American cult leader.
• 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 (b. 1920). American author.
• 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) and Best Cinematography (Conrad L. Hall). 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 for 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.
• 2001 - The final edition of WCW Monday Nitro airs on TNT. Vince McMahon appeared on simulcast between WWE RAW and Nitro to give a speech about what he was going to do with WCW. This is the final show of WCW and the last night of wrestling on the Turner networks to this date.
• 2002 - Randy Castillo dies (b. 1950). Drummer for Ozzy Osbourne and Motley Crue
• 2003 - The Supreme Court of the United States hears oral arguments in Lawrence v. Texas.
• 2003 - Daniel Patrick Moynihan dies (b. 1927). Four-term United States Senator.
• 2004 - Jan Berry dies (b. 1941). American musician (Jan and Dean).
• 2004 - Jan Sterling dies (b. 03 Apr 1921). American Actor.
• 2005 - The revived series of British science fiction program Doctor Who begins broadcasting on British Television.
• 2005 - James Callaghan dies (b. 1912). Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
• 2005 - Paul Hester dies (b. 1959). Australian drummer (Split Enz and Crowded House).
• 2005 - Marius Russo dies (b. 1914). Baseball player.
• 2006 - In Scotland the prohibition of smoking in all public places came into force.
• 2006 - Anil Biswas dies (b. 1944). Indian politician.
• 2006 - Paul Dana dies (b. 1975). American race car driver.
• 2006 - Nikki Sudden dies (b. 1956). British singer/songwriter.
• Zoroastrianism - Prophet Zoroaster's Birthday.
• Brasil: Dia do Cacau/Dia do Chocolate
• Dia do Mercosul
• Dia Nacional do Livro Português
• Independence Day - Bangladesh
• Prince Kuhio Day in Hawaii Dia Nacional do Bangladesh