On This Day in History - Feb. 26

• 0747 - BC - Epoch (origin) of Ptolemy's Nabonassar Era.
• 0277 - Mani dies (b. 216). Persian-born prophet, founder of the Manichaean religion.
• 0364 - Valentinian I is proclaimed Roman Emperor.
• 1154 - King Roger II of Sicily dies (b. 1093).
• 1200 - Symeon dies. Former Serbian ruler and saint.
  
• 1266 - Battle of Benevento: French forces, under Charles of Anjou, overcome a combined German-Sicilian force.
• 1266 - King Manfred of Sicily dies.
• 1360 - Roger de Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March dies (b. 1328). English military leader.
• 1361 - Wenceslaus, Holy Roman Emperor was born (d. 1419). King of Bohemia.
• 1525 - Cuauhtémoc dies. Aztec ruler.
• 1531 - Aproximadamente 30 mil pessoas morrem em consequência de um terramoto em Lisboa / Earthquake in Lisbon, Portugal, kills around 30,000).
• 1549 - Antonio de Valdivieso, bispo nicaraguense, es asesinado por los hijos de Rodrigo de Contreras.
• 1552 - Heinrich Faber dies. German composer.
• 1561 - Jorge de Montemayor was born. Spanish writer.
• 1564 - Christopher Marlowe was born (d. 1593). English dramatist.
• 1577 - King Eric XIV of Sweden dies (b. 1533).
• 1587 - Stefano Landi was born (d. 1639). Italian composer.
• 1608 - John Still dies. English bishop.
• 1616 - La Inquisición ordena la captura de Galileo.
• 1630 - William Brade dies (d. 1560). English composer.
• 1638 - Claude Gaspard Bachet de Méziriac dies (b. 1681). French mathematician.
• 1658 - Treaty of Roskilde: After a devastating defeat in the Northern Wars (1655-1661), the King of Denmark-Norway was forced to give up nearly half his territory to Sweden to save the rest.
• 1671 - Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury was born (d. 1713). English politician and philosopher.
• 1672 - Antoine Augustine Calmet was born (d. 1757). French theologian.
• 1714 - James Hervey was born (d. 1758). English clergyman and writer.
• 1715 - Claude Adrien Helvétius was born (d. 1771). French philosopher.
• 1720 - Gian Francesco Albani was born (d. 1803). Italian Catholic cardinal.
• 1723 - Thomas d'Urfey dies (b. 1653). English writer.
• 1726 - Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria dies (b. 1662).
• 1746 - Archduchess Marie Amalie of Austria was born (d. 1806). Duchess of Piacenza.
• 1749 - Jeremy Bentham was born (d. 1832). English jurist.
• 1770 - Giuseppe Tartini dies (b. 1692). Italian composer.
• 1786 - François Arago was born. French mathematician.
• 1794 - Christiansborg Castle, Copenhagen burns down.
• 1797 - The Bank of England issues the first one pound note.
• 1799 - Émile Clapeyron was born (d. 1864). French engineer and physicist.
• 1802 - Victor Hugo was born in Besançon (d. 1885). French writer (Hunchback of Notre Dame, Les Miserables).
• 1802 - Esek Hopkins dies (b. 1718). American Revolutionary War admiral.
• 1808 - Honoré Daumier was born (d. 1879). French painter, illustrator, lithograph and sculptor.
• 1808 - Nathan Kelley was born (d. 1871). American architect, active mainly in Ohio.
• 1813 - Robert Livingston dies (b. 1746). American signer of the Declaration of Independence.
• 1814 - Charles Joseph Sainte-Claire Deville was born (d. 1876). French geologist.
• 1815 - Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from Elba to start, with 1200 of his men, the 100-day re-conquest of France.
• 1815 - Prince Josias of Coburg dies (b. 1737). Austrian general.
• 1817 - Aparece "La Gaceta del Supremo Gobierno de Chile", primera publicación chilena después de la reconquista española.
• 1821 - Las tropas portuguesas de Río de Janeiro exigen que se jure en Brasil la Constitución proclamada el año anterior en Portugal.
• 1821 - Joseph de Maistre dies (b. 1753). Savoyard diplomat and writer.
• 1824 - Carlos Calvo was born. Argentinian diplomat, people rights scholar (Calvo Clause).
• 1829 - Levi Strauss was born (d. 1902). Clothing designer, creator of blue jeans.
• 1832 - Polish constitution abolished/replaced by Czar Nicholas I.
• 1844 - Independencia de la República Dominicana de Haití.
• 1845 - Alexander III was born in St Petersburg, Russian tsar (1881-94).
• 1846 - Buffalo Bill (William Frederick Cody) was born (d. 1917). American pioneer, officer, and hunter.
• 1848 - German philosopher Karl Marx, aged 29, and his partner Frederick Engels. published The Communist Manifesto.
• 1848 - The second French Republic is proclaimed.
• 1852 - John Harvey Kellogg was born (d. 1943). American surgeon, advocate of dietary reform.
• 1857 - Émile Coué was born (d. 1926). French psychologist.
• 1858 - Vladimir Serbsky was born (d. 1917). Russian psychiatrist.
• 1861 - King Ferdinand of Bulgaria was born (d. 1948).
• 1861 - Nadezhda Konstantinovna Krupskaya was born (d. 1939). Russian revolutioner, Lenin's wife.
• 1863 - U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the National Currency Act into law.
• 1864 - Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine dies (b. 1807). Canadian politician.
• 1866 - Herbert Henry Dow was born (d. 1930). American chemical industrialist.
• 1869 - In Portuguese colonies the slavery is abolished.
• 1870 - In New York City, the first pneumatic-subway opens.
• 1875 - Hans Böckler was born (d. 1951). Unionist and politician.
• 1876 - Agustin P. Justo y Rolon was born. President of Argentina (1931-38).
• 1878 - María Gutiérrez dies. Argentine writer and politician.
• 1879 - Frank Bridge was born (d. 1941). English composer.
• 1882 - Husband E. Kimmel was born (d. 1968). American admiral.
• 1883 - Miguel Ângelo Lupi dies in Lisbon (b. 8 May 1826). Portuguese painter.
• 1883 - Alexandros Koumoundouros dies (b. 1817). Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece.
• 1885 - The Berlin Act, which resulted from the Berlin Conference regulating European colonization and trade in Africa, was signed.
• 1885 - José de la Riva Aguero y Osuna was born. Peruvian writer and politician. President of Peru (1923-1927).
• 1885 - Aleksandras Stulginskis was born (d. 1969). President of Lithuania.
• 1887 - At the SCG, George Lohmann becomes the first bowler to take eight wickets in a Test innings.
• 1887 - Benegal Narsing Rau was born in India. President of UN Security Council (1950).
• 1887 - Grover Cleveland Alexander was born (d. 1950). American baseball player.
  
• 1887 - William Frawley was born (d. 1966). American actor.
  
• 1887 - Stefan Grabinski was born (d. 1936). Polish writer.
  
• 1889 - Karl Davydov dies (b. 1838). Russian cellist.
• 1892 - Os deputados às Cortes Gerais portuguesas, passaram e exercer a sua actividade sem remuneração.
• 1893 - I. A. Richards was born (d. 1979). English literary critic and rhetorician.
• 1896 - Andrei Alexandrovich Zhdanov was born (d. 1948). Soviet politician and art ideologist.
  
• 1897 - Sigma Pi Fraternity, International was founded at Vincennes University.
• 1899 - Max Petitpierre was born (d. 1994). Member of the Swiss Federal Council.
• 1902 - Jean Bruller, alias Vercors, was born (d. 1991). French writer and illustrator.
• 1902 - Albert Anastasia was born (d. 1957). Italian-born gangster.
• 1903 - Agustín de Foxá was born (d. 30 Jun 1959). Spanish writer, journalist and diplomat.
• 1903 - Giulio Natta was born (d. 1979). Italian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1903 - Richard Jordan Gatling dies (d. 1818). American inventor.
• 1906 - Madeleine Carroll was born (d. 1987). English actress.
• 1907 - Dub Taylor was born (d. 1994). American actor.
• 1908 - King Leopold II is paid £5 million in exchange for the Congo Free State, now renamed the Belgian Congo.
• 1908 - Jean-Pierre Wimille was born (d. 1949). French race car driver.
• 1908 - Leela Majumdar was born (d. 2007). Bengali writer.
• 1908 - Tex Avery was born (d. 1980). American cartoonist.
  
• 1909 - Fanny Cradock was born (d. 1994). English food writer and broadcaster.
  
• 1909 - King Talal was born (d. 1972). King of Jordan.
• 1911 - Tarō Okamoto was born (d. 1996). Japanese avant-garde artist.
• 1912 - Dane Clark was born (d. 1998). American actor.
• 1913 - George Barker was born (d. 1991). English poet.
• 1913 - Felix Draeseke dies (b. 1835). German composer.
• 1914 - HMHS Britannic, sister to the Titanic, is launched at Harland & Wolff, Belfast.
• 1914 - Robert Alda was born (d. 1986). American actor.
• 1916 - Jackie Gleason was born (d. 1987). American actor, writer, composer, comedian.
• 1917 - The Original Dixieland Jass Band records the first ever jazz record for the Victor Talking Machine Company in New York.
• 1918 - Otis Ray Bowen was born. American politician and physician.
• 1918 - Theodore Sturgeon was born (d. 1985). American writer.
• 1919 - An act of the U.S. Congress establishes most of the Grand Canyon as a United States National Park (see Grand Canyon National Park).
• 1919 - Mason Adams was born. American actor.
• 1919 - Rie Mastenbroek was born (d. 2003). Dutch swimmer.
• 1920 - Danny Gardella was born (d. 2005). Baseball player.
• 1920 - Lucjan Wolanowski was born (d. 2006). Polish journalist, writer and traveller.
• 1920 - Tony Randall was born (d. 2004). American actor.
  
• 1921 - Betty Hutton was born. American actress.
• 1921 - Carl Menger dies (b. 1840). Austrian economist.
• 1922 - Margaret Leighton was born (d. 1976). British actress.
• 1926 - H.M., Henry Gustav Molaison, was born (d. 2008). The amnesiac patient.
• 1926 - Miroslava Stern was born (d. 1955). Mexican actress.
• 1927 - Tom Kennedy was born. American game show host.
• 1928 - Anatoli Filipchenko was born. Soviet cosmonaut.
• 1928 - Ariel Sharon was born. Prime Minister of Israel.
• 1928 - Fats Domino was born. American musician.
• 1928 - Monique Leyrac was born. French Canadian singer and actress.
• 1929 - The Grand Teton National Park is created.
• 1929 - Augusto Gil dies in Guarda (b. 31 Jul 1873). Portuguese poet.
• 1930 - Lazar Berman was born (d. 2005). Russian pianist.
• 1930 - Yara Lins was born (d. 2004). Brazilian actress.
• 1930 - 1st red & green traffic lights installed (Manhattan NYC).
• 1931 - Ally McLeod was born (d. 2004). Scottish footballer and manager.
• 1931 - Otto Wallach dies (b. 1847). German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate in 1910.
• 1932 - Johnny Cash was born (d. 2003). American country music singer(I Walk The Line, Folsom Prison Blues, Boy Named Sue).
• 1933 - Godfrey Cambridge was born (d. 1976). African-American actor and comedian.
• 1933 - Sir James Goldsmith was born in Paris (d. 18 Jul 1997). British financir, billionaire businessman and founder of the Euro-sceptic Referendum Party.
• 1933 - Princess Thyra dies (b. 1853). Daughter of Christian IX of Denmark.
• 1934 - Robert Novak was born. American political columnist.
• 1935 - The Luftwaffe is reformed.
• 1935 - The Daventry Experiment, Robert Watson-Watt carried out a demonstration near Daventry which led directly to the development of RADAR in the United Kingdom.
• 1935 - António da Cunha Teles was born. Portuguese film director.
• 1936 - In the February 26 Incident, young Japanese military officers attempt to stage a coup against the government.
• 1936 - Jaime de Magalhães Lima dies (b. 1859). Portuguese writer and philosopher.
• 1936 - José Policarpo da Cruz was born. Portuguese, ordained a Catholic priest on 15 Aug 1961, appointed auxiliary of Lisbon on 26 May 1978 and consecrated bishop on 29 June 1978; appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Lisbon on 05 March 1997; succeeded Cardinal António Ribeiro as Patriarch of Lisbon on 24 March 1998; made a cardinal on 21 February 2001.
• 1937 - Hagood Hardy was born (d. 1997). Canadian musician and composer.
• 1938 - Evagoras Pallikarides was born (d. 1957). Cypriot freedom fighter.
• 1939 - Portugal: Manifestação dos Sindicatos Nacionais, Casas do Povo e Casas dos Pescadores de apoio à política corporativista do governo de Salazar.
• 1939 - Josephine Tewson was born. English actress.
• 1940 - Segunda Guerra Mundial: el destructor británico "Cossak" aborda al buque alemán "Altmark" y libera a los 300 prisioneros ingleses que transportaba .
• 1941 - Tony Ray-Jones was born (d. 1972). British photographer.
• 1943 - Bill Duke was born. American actor and director.
• 1943 - Dante Ferretti was born. Italian art director and costume designer.
• 1943 - Theodor Eicke dies (b. 1892). Nazi official.
• 1944 - Shooting begins of the Nazi propaganda film, "The Fuhrer Gives a Village to the Jews" in Theresienstadt.
• 1945 - Bob Hite was born (d. 1981). American singer and harmonicist (Canned Heat).
  
• 1945 - Giannis Ioannidis was born. Greek basketball coach and politician.
• 1945 - Marta Kristen was born. Norwegian actress.
• 1945 - Mitch Ryder was born. American musician (The Detroit Wheels)
• 1945 - Marta Kristen was born. Norwegian actress.
• 1945 - Peter Brock was born (d. 2006). Australian motorsports champion.
• 1946 - Ahmed H. Zewail was born. Egyptian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1947 - Sandy Shaw [Sandra Goodrich] was born in Dagenham Essex. English singer, Eurovision Song Contest winner.
• 1947 - Henrich Häberlin dies (b. 1868). Swiss politician, member of the Federal Council.
• 1949 - Un movimiento cívico-militar derroca al presidente de Paraguay, general Raimundo Rolón.
• 1949 - Elizabeth George was born. American novelist.
• 1949 - Emma Kirkby was born. British early music singer.
• 1950 - Oscar Osorio wins Presidential elections in San Salvador.
• 1950 - Helen Clark was born. Prime Minister of New Zealand.
• 1950 - Jonathan Cain was born. American musician (Journey, Bad English, The Babys).
• 1950 - Sir Harry Lauder dies (b. 1870). Scottish Music Hall Entertainer, Knighted for WWI War Work.
• 1951 - Lee Atwater was born (d. 1991). American political operative.
• 1952 - United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston Churchill announces that his nation has an atomic bomb.
• 1953 - Michael Bolton was born. American singer.
• 1954 - Ernst August, Prince of Hanover was born. Heir to the deposed Kingdom of Hanover and a husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco.
• 1954 - Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was born. Prime Minister of Turkey.
• 1955 - Andreas Maislinger was born. Founder of Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service.
  
• 1956 - Keisuke Kuwata was born. Japanese singer.
• 1956 - Michel Houellebecq was born. French novelist.
• 1957 - Final radio broadcast of Dragnet.
• 1957 - Joe Mullen was born. American ice hockey player.
• 1957 - David Muldrow Beasley was born. American politician.
• 1957 - Besim Hasani was born. President of Kosova Olimpic Committee.
• 1958 - Greg Germann was born. American actor.
• 1958 - Karen Berger was born. American comic book editor.
• 1958 - Michel Houellebecq was born. French novelist.
• 1958 - Susan J. Helms was born. NASA astronaut.
• 1958 - Michel Houellebecq was born. French novelist.
• 1958 - Tim Kaine was born. American politician, governor of Virginia.
• 1959 - Rolando Blackman was born. Panamanian basketball star.
• 1959 - Lou Costello dies at 52. Actor (Abbott & Costello).
• 1960 - Jaz Coleman was born. British musician.
• 1961 - King Mohammed V of Morocco dies (b. 1909).
• 1961 - O príncipe Hassan ascende ao trono do Marrocos como rei Hassan II, após a morte repentina de seu pai Mohammed V.
• 1961 -The Italian held capital of Somaliland, Mogadishu, is captured by British forces.
• 1961 - King Mohammed V of Morocco dies (b. 1909).
• 1962 - Greg Germann was born. American actor.
• 1962 - Kelly Gruber was born. Former Major League Baseball player.
• 1964 - Mark Dacascos was born. American actor and martial artist.
• 1966 - Apollo Program: Launch of AS-201, the first flight of the Saturn IB rocket.
• 1966 - Najwa Karam was born. Lebanese singer.
• 1966 - Vinayak Damodar Savarkar dies (b. 1883). Indian freedom fighter and writer.
• 1967 - Paulo Pires was born. Portuguese actor.
• 1967 - Currie Graham was born. Canadian actor.
• 1968 - Thirty-two African nations agreed to boycott the Olympics because of the presence of South Africa.
• 1968 - Ed Quinn was born. American actor.
• 1968 - J.T. Snow was born. American baseball player.
• 1968 - Tim Commerford was born. American bass player (Rage Against the Machine).
• 1969 - Hitoshi Sakimoto was born. Japanese composer.
• 1969 - Levi Eshkol dies (b. 1895). Prime Minister of Israel.
• 1969 - Karl Jaspers dies (b. 1883). German psychiatrist.
• 1970 - National Public Radio incorporates as a non-profit corporation.
• 1971 - Secretary-General U Thant signs United Nations proclamation of the vernal equinox as Earth Day.
• 1971 - Erykah Badu was born. American singer.
• 1971 - Hélène Ségara was born. French singer.
• 1971 - Max Martin was born. Swedish composer and producer.
• 1971 - Fernandel dies (b. 1903). French actor (Death of Champion).
• 1972 - The Buffalo Creek Flood caused by a burst dam kills 125 in West Virginia.
• 1973 - Jenny Thompson was born. American swimmer
• 1973 - Marshall Faulk was born. American football star.
• 1973 - Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was born. Norwegian footballer.
• 1974 - Sébastien Loeb was born. French WRC driver.
• 1975 - The Press Law is aproved in Portugal / Em Portugal, foi promulgada a Lei da Imprensa.
• 1976 - Spain departs from Spanish Sahara Spain completes its withdrawal from Spanish Sahara, a former colonial territory in northeastern Africa.
• 1976 - Chad Urmston was born. American musician.
• 1976 - Nikolaos Siranidis was born. Greek diver.
• 1977 - Greg Rikaart was born. American actor.
• 1977 - Josh Towers was born. Major League Baseball player.
• 1977 - Marty Reasoner was born. American ice hockey player.
• 1977 - Shane Williams was born. Welsh international rugby player.
• 1978 - Abdoulaye Diagne-Faye was born. Senegalese footballer.
• 1978 - John Tartaglia was born. Broadway performer and "Muppeteer".
• 1978 - Marc Hynes was born. British racing driver.
• 1979 - Corinne Bailey Rae was born. English singer.
• 1979 - Mariano Bainotti was born. Argentine racing driver.
• 1979 - Pedro Mendes was born in Guimarães. Portuguese footballer.
• 1979 - Shalim Ortiz was born. Puerto Rican singer/actor.
• 1980 - A República Árabe do Egito e o estado de Israel estabeleceram relações diplomáticas, pondo fim a trinta anos de guerra entre as duas nações.
• 1980 - Alex Fong was born. Hong Kong singer.
• 1980 - Gary Majewski was born. American baseball player.
• 1980 - Steve Blake was born. American basketball player.
• 1981 - Kertus Davis was born. NASCAR driver.
• 1981 - Johnathan Wendel was born. American professional video gamer.
• 1981 - Robert Aickman dies (b. 1914). English writer and conservationist.
• 1981 - Howard Hanson dies (b. 1896). American composer.
• 1982 - Jay Mullen was born. British actor.
• 1982 - Song Hye Kyo was born. South Korean model and actress.
• 1982 - Paco Martínez Soria dies (b. 1902). Spanish actor.
• 1983 - Kara Monaco was born. American playmate.
• 1983 - Képler Laveran Lima Ferreira (Pepe) was born in Maceió. Brazilian football player.
• 1983 - Varick Pyr was born. Hip-Hop artist.
• 1984 - US troops withdraw from Beirut. President Ronald Reagan had sent the troops as a peacekeeping force in August 1982.
• 1984 - Emmanuel Adebayor was born. Togolese footballer.
• 1984 - Natalia Lafourcade was born. Mexican pop singer.
• 1985 - 27th Grammy Awards What's Love Got to Do With It, Cyndi Lauper wins.
• 1985 - Alexandria Hilfiger was born. American actress, daughter of Tommy Hilfiger.
• 1985 - Miki Fujimoto was born. Japanese singer.
• 1985 - Tjalling Koopmans dies (b. 1910). Dutch economist, Nobel laureate.
• 1986 - People Power Revolution in the Philippines.
• 1986 - Robert Penn Warren is named poet laureate of the United States.
• 1986 - Crystal Kay was born. Japanese singer.
• 1986 - Juliet Simms was born. American guitarist and vocals for the band Automatic Loveletter.
• 1986 - Makelele was born. Brazilian footballer.
• 1986 - Teresa Palmer was born. Australian model and actress.
• 1987 - Iran-Contra affair: The Tower Commission rebukes American President Ronald Reagan for not controlling his national security staff.
• 1987 - Julia Bond was born. American actress.
• 1988 - La Asamblea Legislativa de Panamá sustituye al presidente Eric Arturo Delvalle por Manuel Solis de Palma.
• 1988 - The Soviet Union's hockey team clinched the gold medal at the Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada.
• 1988 - Hugo Ribeiro dies. Portuguese mathematician.
• 1989 - Roy Eldridge dies (b. 1911). American musician.
• 1990 - Sinnead O'Connor was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with Nothing Compares 2 U.
• 1990 - The Sandinistas are defeated in Nicaraguan elections.
• 1990 - Cornell Gunter dies (b. 1938). American singer (The Coasters).
• 1991 - During the Gulf War, Kuwait City is liberated and Iraq begins its withdrawl.
• 1991 - El Partido Nacionalista de Bangladesh gana las primeras elecciones libres en este país tras catorce años de Gobierno militar.
• 1991 - Tim Berners-Lee introduces WorldWideWeb, the first web browser.
• 1991 - Gulf War: On Baghdad Radio Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein announces the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait.
• 1991 - É instalado o STJ – Superior Tribunal de Justiça, que havia sido criado pela Constituição de 1988 do Brasil.
• 1992 - Xocali slaughter. More than 600 people of the town of Xocali, Azerbaijan, are killed by Armenian forces during war in Karabakh.
• 1993 - World Trade Center bombing: In New York City, a van bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center goes off, killing 6 and injuring over a thousand. 4 Islamic extremists were convicted and each sentenced to 240 years in prison.
• 1993 - In Egypt a bomb in a coffee shop killed 3 people and injured 18 In Cairo.
• 1993 - Taylor Dooley was born. American actress.
• 1993 - Constance Ford dies (b. 1923). American actress.
• 1994 - Portugal : Oficial opening of Lisbon European Capital of Culture. /Abertura oficial de Lisboa 94 — Capital Europeia de Cultura.
• 1994 - Bill Hicks dies (b. 1961). American comedian.
• 1995 - The United Kingdom's oldest investment banking firm, Barings Bank collapses after a securities broker, Nick Leeson, loses $1.4 billion by gambling on the Singapore Monetary Exchange Simex with derivative securities.
• 1995 - At The Houston Astrodome Selena Quintanilla-Perez performed in her last concert before she was killed.
• 1995 - Jack Clayton dies (b. 1921). British film director.
• 1997 - 39th Grammy Awards "Change the World" Babyface won four awards, including record of the year; Celine Dion's "Falling Into You" won album of the year and best pop album.
• 1997 - O governo suíço dá sua aprovação final para a constituição de um fundo para sobreviventes do Holocausto. Esse dinheiro pertencia aos judeus que viviam na Europa durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial. Após ser roubado por nazistas, o dinheiro foi depositado em bancos suíços.
• 1997 - David Doyle dies (b. 1929). American actor.
• 1998 - Theodore Schultz dies (b. 1902). American economist, Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1998 - Eclipse total de sol (se percibe especialmente en la costa venezolana del Océano Pacífico.
• 1999 - In Iran elections were planned for cities, towns and village councils. These were the first elections since the 1979 revolution.
• 2000 - Heavy rains continued to ravage South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. 33 people were reported dead in the northern province of South Africa and 29 dead in Zimbabwe.
• 2000 - George L. Street III dies (b. 1913). American Navy Submariner.
• 2001 - Iconoclastic Taliban destroys archeological treasures. The Taliban destroy two giant Buddha statues in Bamiyan, Afghanistan.
• 2001 - Winners at the Brit Awards included Coldplay, Best British group, Robbie Williams, Best British Male artist and Best single for Rock DJ, Sonique, Best British Female artist, Best Dance act, Fat Boy Slim and U2 won Outstanding contribution.
• 2001 - The Treaty of Nice which updates previous treaties of the European Community, is signed by its 15 states: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands; Denmark, Ireland, the UK; Greece; Spain, Portugal; Austria, Finland, and Sweden.It would be ratified by the parliaments of all except Ireland, whose constitution requires a referendum. Ireland would hold its referendum on 07 June 2001, 34% of eligible voters would participate, of which 54% reject the treaty. Ireland would repeat the referendum on 19 October 2002 and this time the Nice Treaty would be approved by 65% of the voters.
• 2001 - Arturo Uslar Pietri dies (b. 1906). Venezuelan writer.
• 2002 - Lawrence Tierney dies (b. 1919). American actor.
• 2003 - Generally said to be the starting date of the War in Darfur.
• 2003 - Gerhard Czerwensky dies (b. 1921). Economist.
• 2003 - Christian Goethals dies (b. 1928). Belgian racing driver.
• 2004 - The United States lifts a ban on travel to Libya, ending travel restrictions to the nation that had lasted for 23 years.
• 2004 - Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski is killed in a plane crash near Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
• 2004 - Shankarrao Chavan dies (b. 1920). Indian politician, Chief Minister of Maharashtra
• 2004 - Adolf Ehrnrooth dies (b. 1905). Finnish general, war veteran .
• 2004 - Boris Trajkovski dies when an aging Beechcraft Super King Air 200 twin-engine turboprop airplane crashes at 08:01 (07:01 UT), in rain, heavy cloud cover and thick fog, near village Bitonja, Bosnia (b. 1956). President of the Republic of Macedonia.
• 2004 - Silas Warner dies. Computer game programmer .
• 2005 - Hosni Mubarak the president of Egypt orders the constitution changed to allow multi-candidate presidential elections before September 2005 by asking Egyptian parliament to amend Article 76 of the constitution.
• 2005 - Jef Raskin dies (b. 1943). American computer scientist.
• 2006 - The world's estimated population reaches 6.5 billion.
• 2008 - Buddy Miles dies (b. 1947). American drummer (Band of Gypsies).
• 2008 - Dick Fletcher dies (b. 1942). American meteorologist.
  
• 2008 - Glory Mukwati dies. Zimbabwean politician.
• Bahá'í Faith - February 26, Day 1 of Ayyám-i-Há (Intercalary Days) - days in the Bahá'í calendar devoted to service and gift giving.
• Nation of Islam - Savior's Day - commemoration of the birthdate of Wallace Fard Muhammad, believed to be Allah in human form, the saviour of the black race.
  
• Liberation Day in Kuwait (1991).