On this day in History - Oct. 26

• 0306 – Martyrdom of Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki.
  
• 0740 - An earthquake strikes Constantinople, causing much damage and death.
• 0899 - Alfred the Great dies (b. 0849). Writer and king of Wessex (0871-0899).
• 1235 - King Andrew II of Hungary dies (b. 1175).
• 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.
• 1609 – William Sprague was born (d. 1675). English co-founder of Charlestown, Massachusetts.
  
• 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 prince, linguist and scholar.
• 1675 – William Sprague dies (b. 1609). English co-founder of Charlestown, Massachusetts.
  
• 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.
• 1689 – General Piccolomini of Austria burned down Skopje to prevent the spread of cholera. He died of cholera himself soon after.
• 1694 - Johan Helmich Roman was born (d. 1758). Swedish composer.
• 1717 - Catherine Sedley dies (b. 1657). 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.
• 1768 - Eustachy Erazm Sanguszko was born (d. 1844). Polish general and politician.
• 1773 - Amédée-François Frézier dies (b. 1682). French military engineer and explorer.
• 1774 - The first Continental Congress adjourns in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
• 1775 – King George III goes before Parliament to declare the American colonies in rebellion, and authorized a military response to quell the American Revolution.
• 1776 - Benjamin Franklin departed America for France on a mission to seek French support for the American Revolution.
• 1787 - António Lobo de Carvalho dies (b. c. 1730). Portuguese satiric poet.
• 1794 - Konstantin Thon was born (d. 1881). Russian architect.
• 1795 - The French Directory, a five-man revolutionary government, is created.
• 1795 - Nikolaos Mantzaros was born (d. 1872). Greek composer.
• 1797 - Giuditta Pasta was born (d. 1865). Italian soprano.
• 1800 - Helmuth von Moltke the Elder was born (d. 1891). Prussian field marshal.
• 1802 - King Miguel of Portugal was born (d. 1866). King of Portugal (1828-1834), son of John VI and Carlota Joaquina.
• 1803 – Joseph Hansom was born (d. 1882). English architect and inventor.
  
• 1803 - Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford dies (b. 1721). English politician.
• 1806 - John Graves Simcoe dies (b. 1752). First lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada.
• 1817 - Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin dies (b. 1727). Austrian scientist.
• 1818 - Tomás José da Anunciação was born. Portuguese painter.
• 1825 - The Erie Canal opens - passage from Albany, New York to Lake Erie.
• 1842 - Vasili Vasilyevich Vereshchagin was born (d. 1904). Russian painter.
• 1849 - Ferdinand Georg Frobenius was born (d. 1917). German mathematician.
• 1854 - C. W. Post was born (d. 1914). American entrepreneur.
• 1859 - The Royal Charter is wrecked on the coast of Anglesey, north Wales with 459 dead
• 1860 - Meeting of Teano. Giuseppe Garibaldi, conqueror of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, gives it to King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy.
• 1861 - The Pony Express officially ceased operations.
• 1863 - The Football Association is formed.
• 1863 - Francisco Dueñas Díaz assume (pela 4º vez) a presidência de El Salvador.
• 1864 – "Bloody Bill" Anderson dies (b. 1839). American Civil War rebel guerrilla leader.
  
• 1865 - Benjamin Guggenheim was born (d. 1912). American businessman.
• 1866 - John Kinder Labatt dies (b. 1803). Irish-Canadian brewer (Labatt Brewing Company).
• 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).
• 1871 - Guillermo Kahlo was born (d. 1941). Father of Frida Kahlo.
• 1873 – A. K. Fazlul Huq was born (d. 1962). Sher-E-Bangla (Tiger Of Bengal).
  
• 1873 - Thorvald Stauning was born (d. 1942). Prime Minister of Denmark.
• 1874 - Abby Aldrich Rockefeller was born (d. 1948). Socialite and philanthropist.
• 1874 - Martin Lowry was born (d. 1936). British chemist.
• 1874 - Peter Cornelius dies at 49. German composer.
• 1879 - (Julian Calendar) 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 – Napoleon Hill was born (d. 1970)., American Writer and Philosopher (Think and Grow Rich).
  
• 1883 - Paul Pilgrim was born (d. 1958). American athlete.
• 1888 - Nestor Ivanovich Makhno was born (d. 1934). Ukrainian anarchist Insurrectionary leader.
• 1890 - Carlo Collodi dies (b. 1826). Italian writer.
• 1894 - Murillo Araujo dies (b. 1980). Brazilian poet.
• 1896 - Paul-Armand Challemel-Lacour dies (b. 1827). French statesman.
• 1899 - Judy Johnson was born (d. 1989). Hall of Fame baseball player in the Negro Leagues.
  
• 1902 - Jack Sharkey was born (d. 1994). American boxer.
• 1902 - Elizabeth Cady Stanton dies (b. 1815). American feminist and suffragette.
• 1905 - Norway becomes independent from Sweden.
• 1905 – George Flahiff was born (d. 1989). Canadian Cardinal.
  
• 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 - Mahalia Jackson was born (d. 1972). American gospel singer.
• 1911 - Sid Gilman was born (d. 2003). American football player, coach, and manager.
• 1911 - Sorley MacLean was born (d. 1996). Scottish poet.
• 1912 - First Balkan War: The city of Thessaloniki is unified with Greece on the feast day of its patron Saint Demetrius. On the same day the Serbian troops captured Skopje.
• 1912 - Don Siegel was born (d. 1991). American director.
• 1913 - Charlie Barnet was born (d. 1991). American jazz saxophonist and bandleader.
• 1914 - Jackie Coogan was born (d. 1984). American actor.
• 1915 - Joe Fry was born (d. 1950). British racing driver.
• 1916 – Boyd Wagner was born (d. 1942). First USAAF fighter ace of WWII.
  
• 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 – World War I: Brazil declared in state of war with Central Powers.
• 1917 - Virgílio Teixeira was born. Portuguese actor.
• 1917 - Julian date of the October Revolution (November 7 in Gregorian calendar).
• 1918 - 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 – Edward Brooke was born. American politician.
• 1919 - Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran was born (d. 1980). Shah of Iran.
  
• 1921 - George Forrest was born (d. 1968). Northern Irish Member of the Parliament.
• 1922 - Darcy Ribeiro was born (d. 1997). Brazilian anthropologist, politician and writer.
• 1925 - Jan Wolkers was born. Dutch author.
• 1928 – Francisco Solano López was born. Argentine comics artists.
• 1929 - Neal Matthews, Jr. was born (d. 2000). American singer (The Jordanaires).
• 1930 - Harry Payne Whitney dies (b. 1872). American businessman.
• 1931 - Charles Comiskey dies (b. 1859). Baseball team owner.
• 1933 – Takis Kanellopoulos was born (d. 1990). Greek film director and screenwriter.
  
• 1933 - José Malhoa dies (b. 28 Apr 1854). Portuguese painter.
• 1934 - Hans-Joachim Rödelius was born. German composer and musician (Cluster, Harmonia).
• 1936 - The first electric generator at Hoover Dam went into full operation.
• 1936 – Shelley Morrison was born. American actress.
• 1937 - Józef Dowbór-Muśnicki dies (b. 1867). Polish general, commander of the Greater Poland Uprising.
• 1940 - The P-51 Mustang makes its maiden flight.
• 1941 – Charlie Landsborough was born. Singer/Songwriter.
• 1941 - Arkady Gaidar dies killed in combat (b. 1904). Russian children's writer.
• 1942 - World War II: In the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands during the Guadalcanal Campaign, one U.S. aircraft carrier Hornet, is sunk and another Enterprise, is heavily damaged.
• 1942 - Bob Hoskins was born. British actor.
• 1942 - Milton Nascimento was born in Rio de Janeiro. Brazilian singer and composer.
• 1943 – World War II: First flight of the Dornier Do 335 "Pfeil".
• 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.
• 1944 - Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom dies (b. 1857). Daughter of Queen Victoria
• 1944 - William Temple dies (b. 1881). Archbishop of Canterbury.
• 1945 - Demetris Th. Gotsis was born. Greek poet and author.
• 1945 - Jaclyn Smith was born. American actress.
• 1945 - Pat Conroy was born. American writer.
• 1945 - Alexei Krylov dies (b. 1863). Russian engineer and mathematician.
• 1945 - Paul Pelliot dies (b. 1878). French explorer.
• 1946 - Holly Woodlawn was born. Puerto Rican actress.
• 1946 - Pat Sajak was born. American game show host.
• 1947 - The Maharaja of Kashmir agrees to allow his kingdom to join India.
• 1947 - The British Military Occupation ends in Iraq.
• 1947 - Hillary Rodham Clinton was born. First Lady of the United States and United States Senator.
  
• 1947 - Ian Ashley was born. British racing driver.
• 1947 – Jaclyn Smith was born. American actress.
• 1947 – Trevor Joyce was born. Irish poet.
• 1947 – Ricardo Asch was born. Argentine physician and figure in University of California, Irvine fertility scandal.
• 1947 - Canon Edwin Sidney Savage dies (b. 1862). English rector.
• 1948 - Killer smog settles into Donora, Pennsylvania.
• 1948 - Toby Harrah was born. American Major League Baseball player.
• 1949 – Antonio Carpio was born. Filipino Supreme Court jurist.
• 1949 – Kevin Sullivan was born. American professional wrestler.
• 1949 - Steve Rogers was born. Major League Baseball pitcher.
• 1949 – Lionel Halsey dies (b. 1872). British Royal Navy officer and courtier.
• 1951 - Rocky Marciano defeated Joe Louis at Madison Square Garden.
• 1951 – Bootsy Collins was born. American musician (P Funk).
• 1951 – Julian Schnabel was born. American filmmaker.
• 1952 - Andrew Motion was born. English Poet Laureate.
• 1952 - Hattie McDaniel dies (b. 1895). American singer.
• 1953 – Keith Strickland was born. American musician (The B-52's).
• 1953 – Rosa Monckton was born. Notable charity fundraiser.
• 1954 - Trieste return to Italy.
• 1954 - Vassilis Hatzipanagis was born. Greek footballer.
• 1955 - After the last Allied troops have left the country and following the provisions of the Austrian Independence Treaty, Austria declares its permanent neutrality.
• 1955 - Ngo Dinh Diem declares himself Premier of South Vietnam.
  
• 1955 - Baltasar Garzón was born. Spanish judge.
• 1956 - Rita Wilson was born. American actress.
• 1956 - Stephen Gumley was born. Australian businessman.
• 1956 - Walter Gieseking dies (b. 1895). French conductor.
• 1957 - Gerty Cori dies (b. 1896). Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate.
• 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 - Pan American Airways makes the first commercial flight of the Boeing 707 from New York to Paris.
• 1959 – The world sees the far side of the Moon for the first time.
• 1959 - Brian Bovell was born. British actor.
• 1959 - Evo Morales was born. President of Bolivia.
• 1959 - François Chau was born. Cambodian actor.
• 1959 – Paul Farmer was born. American anthropologist.
• 1960 – June Brigman was born. American comic book artist.
• 1960 – Patrick Breen was born. American actor.
• 1961 - Dylan McDermott was born. American actor.
• 1961 – Gerald Malloy was born. American politician.
• 1962 - Cary Elwes was born. British actor.
• 1962 – Louise Beavers dies (b. 1902). American actress.
  
• 1963 - Natalie Merchant was born. American singer.
• 1963 - Ted Demme was born (d. 2002). American film and television director.
• 1964 - Eric Edgar Cooke hanged, last person in Western Australia to be executed.
• 1964 – Thomas Cavanagh was born. Canadian actor.
• 1965 - The body of Sylvia Likens is found in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
• 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.
• 1965 – Kelly Rowan was born. Canadian actress and producer.
• 1965 - Sylvia Likens dies (b. 1949). American torture victim.
• 1966 – Alma Cogan dies (b. 1932). English singer.
  
• 1966 - Jane Hajduk was born. American actress.
• 1966 - Jeanne Zelasko was born. American sportcaster.
• 1966 - Masaharu Iwata was born. Japanese composer.
• 1966 - Steve Valentine was born. British actor.
• 1966 - Alma Cogan dies (b. 1932). English singer.
• 1967 – Mohammad Reza Pahlavi crowns himself Emperor of Iran and then crowns his wife Farah Empress of Iran.
• 1967 - Keith Urban was born. New Zealand singer.
• 1968 – Lisa Ryder was born. American actress.
• 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.
• 1970 – Dian Bachar was born. American actor.
• 1970 - Raveena Tandon was born. Indian actress.
• 1971 - Anthony Rapp was born. American singer and actor.
• 1971 - Herbie Hide was born. British boxer.
• 1971 - Vincent Coleman dies (b. 1901). American actor.
• 1972 - Igor Sikorsky dies (b. 1889). Ukrainian-born inventor.
• 1973 – Austin Healey was born. English rugby player.
• 1973 - Seth MacFarlane was born. American animator, creator of Family Guy and American Dad!.
• 1973 – Taka Michinoku was born. Japanese professional wrestler.
• 1974 - LISA was born. Japanese musician.
• 1974 – Raveena Tandon was born. Indian actress.
• 1976 - Transkei declares its "independence" from South Africa.
• 1976 - Miikka Kiprusoff was born. Finnish hockey player.
• 1976 - Damião Peres dies (b. 8 Jul 1889). Portuguese professor, historian and writer.
• 1976 - Di Cavalcanti dies (b. 1897). Brazilian painter.
• 1977 - The last natural case of smallpox was discovered in Merca district, Somalia. The WHO and the CDC consider this date the anniversary of the eradication of smallpox, the most spectacular success of vaccination.
• 1977 – Bakar Ibor was born. Comorian footballer.
• 1977 - Jon Heder was born. American actor.
• 1978 - Independent Counsel Act signed into law.
• 1978 - CM Punk was born. American professional wrestler.
• 1978 – Eva Kaili was born. Greek TV presenter and politician.
• 1978 - Jimmy Aggrey was born. English footballer.
• 1978 - Mark Barry was born. English musician (BBMak).
• 1978 - Alexander Gerschenkron dies (b. 1904). Russian-born economic historian.
• 1979 - Movsar Barayev was born (d. 2002). Chechen militant.
• 1979 - Park Chung-hee (b. 1917), 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.
• 1980 - Cristian Chivu was born. Romanian footballer.
• 1980 - Prajeesh P R was born. Indian software engineer.
• 1980 - Marcelo Caetano dies (b. 1906). Portuguese Prime-Minister / 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.
• 1981 - Guy Sebastian was born. Australian singer.
• 1981 - Sam Brown was born. American comedian.
• 1982 - Christopher Neil Hamman was born. American Icon.
• 1982 - Adam Carroll was born. British racing driver.
• 1983 - Dmitri Sychev was born. Russian football player.
• 1983 - Francisco Liriano was born. Major League Baseball pitcher.
• 1983 – Luke Watson was born. South African rugby player.
• 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 - «Baby Fae» receives a heart transplant from a baboon.
• 1984 - The Terminator is released in theaters nationwide.
• 1984 – Adriano Correia Claro was born. Brazilian footballer.
• 1984 – Amanda Overmyer was born. American singer, American Idol (season 7).
  
• 1984 – Jefferson Farfán was born. Peruvian footballer.
• 1984 – Martin Burke was born. Irish actor and actress.
• 1984 - Sasha Cohen was born. American figure skater.
• 1984 - Gus Mancuso dies (b. 1905). American baseball player.
• 1985 – The Australian government returns ownership of Uluru to the local Pitjantjatjara Aborigines.
• 1985 - Andrea Bargnani was born. Italian basketball player.
• 1985 - Asin Thottumkal was born. Indian actress.
• 1985 - Monta Ellis was born. American basketball player.
• 1986 - Jackson Scholz dies (b. 1897). American runner.
• 1988 – Greg Zuerlein was born. American ice dancer.
• 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 London Ambulance Service is thrown into chaos after the implementation of a new CAD, or Computer Aided Despatch, system which failed.
• 1992 - The Charlottetown Accord fails to win majority support in a Canada wide referendum.
• 1993 – Oro dies (b. 1971). Mexican professional wrestler.
  
• 1994 - Jordan and Israel sign a peace treaty.
• 1994 - Announcement of Andrew Wiles correct proof of Fermat's last theorem.
• 1994 – The National Football League announced that the Carolina Panthers would become the league's the 29th franchise.
• 1994 - Wilbert Harrison dies (b. 1929). American singer.
• 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.
• 1995 – Wilhelm Freddie dies (b. 1909). Danish painter.
  
• 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.
• 1997 – Joe Cinque dies (b. 1978). Australian civil engineer murdered by Anu Singh.
  
• 1998 - José Cardoso Pires dies (b. 1925). Portuguese writer/ 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.
• 2002 - Movsar Barayev dies (b. 1979). Chechen militant.
• 2003 - The Cedar Fire, the second-largest fire in California history, kills 15 people, consumes 250,000 acres (1,000 km²), and destroys 2,200 homes around San Diego.
• 2004 - AT&T Wireless is officially acquired by Cingular Wireless.
• 2004 - Bobby Avila dies (b. 1924). Major League Baseball player.
• 2005 - The Chicago White Sox defeat the Houston Astros in the World Series to win their first championship since 1917.
  
• 2005 - George Swindin dies (b. 1914). English football player and manager.
  
• 2005 - Keith Parkinson dies (b. 1958). Fantasy artist.
• 2006 - Pontus Hultén dies (b. 1294). Swedish art collector and museum director.
• 2006 - Rogério Duprat dies (b. 1932). Brazilian composer.
• 2006 – Tillman Franks dies (b. 1920). American songwriter.
  
• 2007 - Apple's Mac OS X Leopard is released.
• 2007 - Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is released.
• 2007 - Dr. Arthur Kornberg dies (b. 1918). American Nobel Prize laureate in 1959 for the discovery of DNA polymerase.
• 2007 - Friedman Paul Erhardt (Chef Tell) dies (b. 1943). German-born American TV chef.
• 2007 - Khun Sa dies (b. 1934). Burmese warlord.
• 2007 - Nicolae Dobrin dies (b. 1947). Romanian footballer.
• 2008 – Delmar Watson dies (b. 1926). American child actor.
• 2008 – Tony Hillerman dies (b. 1925). American writer.
  
• National Holiday: Anniversary of the Austrian Declaration of Neutrality.
• R.C. Saints - October 26th is the feast day of the following Roman Catholic Saints: St. Albinus, St. Alfred the Great, St. Cedd, St. Cuthbert of Canterbury, St. Demetrius (aka St. Dimitrios) of Thessaloniki, St. Fulk, St. Quadragesimus.
• Intersex Awareness Day.
• Angam Day in Nauru.
• Nauru - Angam Day.