From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
February 26 is the 57th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 308 days remaining until the end of the year (309 in leap years).
Events
- 747 BCE – Epoch (origin) of Ptolemy's Nabonassar Era.
- 364 – Valentinian I is proclaimed Roman Emperor.
- 1266 – Battle of Benevento: An army led by Charles, Count of Anjou, defeats a combined German and Sicilian force led by King Manfred of Sicily. Manfred is killed in the battle and Pope Clement IV invests Charles as king of Sicily and Naples.
- 1658 – Treaty of Roskilde: After a devastating defeat in the Northern Wars (1655–1661), the King of Denmark-Norway is forced to give up nearly half his territory to Sweden to save the rest.
- 1794 – The first Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen burns down.
- 1815 – Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from Elba.
- 1876 – Japan and Korea sign a treaty granting Japanese citizens extraterritoriality rights, opening three ports to Japanese trade, and ending Korea's status as a tributary state of Qing Dynasty China.
- 1909 – Kinemacolor, the first successful color motion picture process, is first shown to the general public at the Palace Theatre in London.
- 1914 – HMHS Britannic, sister to the RMS Titanic, is launched at Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast.
- 1917 – The Original Dixieland Jass Band records the first jazz record, for the Victor Talking Machine Company in New York.
- 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).
- 1920 – The first German Expressionist film and early horror movie, Robert Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, premièred in Berlin.
- 1935 – Adolf Hitler orders the Luftwaffe to be re-formed, violating the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles.
- 1935 – Robert Watson-Watt carries out a demonstration near Daventry which leads directly to the development of RADAR in the United Kingdom.
- 1936 – In the February 26 Incident, young Japanese military officers attempt to stage a coup against the government.
- 1946 – Finnish observers report the first of many thousands of sightings of ghost rockets.
- 1952 – Vincent Massey is sworn in as the first Canadian-born Governor-General of Canada.
- 1960 – A New York bound Alitalia airliner crashed into a cemetery at Shannon, Ireland, shortly after takeoff, killing 34 of the 52 persons on board.
- 1961 – Hassan II becomes King of Morocco.
- 1966 – Apollo Program: Launch of AS-201, the first flight of the Saturn IB rocket
- 1966 – Vietnam War: The ROK Capital Division of the South Korean Army massacres 380 unarmed civilians in South Vietnam.
- 1971 – U.N. Secretary General U Thant signs United Nations proclamation of the vernal equinox as Earth Day.
- 1972 – The Buffalo Creek Flood caused by a burst dam kills 125 in West Virginia.
- 1980 – Egypt and Israel establish full diplomatic relations.
- 1987 – Iran-Contra affair: The Tower Commission rebukes President Ronald Reagan for not controlling his national security staff.
- 1991 – Gulf War: United States Army forces capture the town of Al Busayyah.
- 1992 – Nagorno-Karabakh War: Khojaly Massacre: Armenian armed forces open fire on Azeri civilians at a military post outside the town of Khojaly leaving hundreds dead.
- 1993 – World Trade Center bombing: In New York City, a truck bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center explodes, killing 6 and injuring over a thousand.
- 1995 – The United Kingdom's oldest investment banking institute, Barings Bank, collapses after a securities broker, Nick Leeson, loses $1.4 billion by speculating on the Singapore International Monetary Exchange using futures contracts.
- 2004 – Republic of Macedonia President Boris Trajkovski is killed in a plane crash near Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Births
- 1361 – Wenceslaus, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia (d. 1419)
- 1564 – Christopher Marlowe, English dramatist (d. 1593)
- 1587 – Stefano Landi, Italian composer (d. 1639)
- 1671 – Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, English politician and philosopher (d. 1713)
- 1672 – Antoine Augustine Calmet, French theologian (d. 1757)
- 1714 – James Hervey, English clergyman and writer (d. 1758)
- 1715 – Claude Adrien Helvétius, French philosopher (d. 1771)
- 1720 – Gian Francesco Albani, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1803)
- 1732 – Francis Marion, American Revolutionary War officer (d. 1795)
- 1740 – Giambattista Bodoni, Italian publisher and engraver (d. 1813)
- 1746 – Archduchess Marie Amalie of Austria, duchess of Piacenza (d. 1806)
- 1786 – François Arago, French mathematician (d. 1853)
- 1799 – Émile Clapeyron, French engineer and physicist (d. 1864)
- 1802 – Victor Hugo, French writer (d. 1885)
- 1808 – Honoré Daumier, French painter, illustrator, and sculptor (d. 1879)
- 1808 – Nathan Kelley,American architect, active mainly in Ohio, (d. 1871)
- 1814 – Charles Joseph Sainte-Claire Deville, French geologist (d. 1876)
- 1829 – Levi Strauss, German-born clothing designer (d. 1902)
- 1846 – William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody, American frontiersman (d. 1917)
- 1852 – John Harvey Kellogg, American surgeon, advocate of dietary reform (d. 1943)
- 1857 – Émile Coué, French psychologist (d. 1926)
- 1858 – Vladimir Serbsky, Russian psychiatrist (d. 1917)
- 1861 – King Ferdinand of Bulgaria (d. 1948)
- 1861 – Nadezhda Konstantinovna Krupskaya, Russian revolutionary, widow of Vladimir Lenin (d. 1939)
- 1866 – Herbert Henry Dow, American chemical industrialist (d. 1930)
- 1879 – Frank Bridge, English composer (d. 1941)
- 1882 – Husband E. Kimmel, American admiral (d. 1968)
- 1885 – Aleksandras Stulginskis, President of Lithuania (d. 1969)
- 1887 – Grover Cleveland Alexander, American baseball player (d. 1950)
- 1887 – William Frawley, American actor (d. 1966)
- 1887 – Stefan Grabinski, Polish writer (d. 1936)
- 1893 – I. A. Richards, English literary critic (d. 1979)
- 1896 – Andrei Alexandrovich Zhdanov, Soviet politician and art ideologist (d. 1948)
- 1899 – Max Petitpierre, member of the Swiss Federal Council (d. 1994)
- 1900 – Fritz Wiessner, American mountaineer of German descent (d. 1988)
- 1901 – Dwight Wilson, Canadian Soldier (d. 2007)
- 1902 – Jean Bruller, alias Vercors, French writer and illustrator (d. 1991)
- 1903 – Giulio Natta, Italian chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1979)
- 1903 – Orde Charles Wingate, British Major-General, prominent Zionist, eccentric (d. 1944)
- 1906 – Madeleine Carroll, English actress (d. 1987)
- 1907 – Dub Taylor, American actor (d. 1994)
- 1908 – Tex Avery, American cartoonist (d. 1980)
- 1908 – Leela Majumdar, Bengali writer (d. 2007)
- 1908 – Jean-Pierre Wimille, French race car driver (d. 1949)
- 1909 – King Talal of Jordan (d. 1972)
- 1909 – Fanny Cradock, English food writer and broadcaster (d. 1994)
- 1911 – Tarō Okamoto, Japanese avant-garde artist (d. 1996)
- 1912 – Dane Clark, American actor (d. 1998)
- 1913 – George Barker, English poet (d. 1991)
- 1914 – Robert Alda, American actor (d. 1986)
- 1916 – Jackie Gleason, American actor, writer, composer, and comedian (d. 1987)
- 1918 – Otis Ray Bowen, American physician & politician, 44th Governor of Indiana, and 16th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services
- 1918 – Theodore Sturgeon, American writer (d. 1985)
- 1919 – Mason Adams, American actor (d. 2005)
- 1919 – Rie Mastenbroek, Dutch swimmer (d. 2003)
- 1920 – Danny Gardella, American baseball player (d. 2005)
- 1920 – Tony Randall, American actor (d. 2004)
- 1920 – Lucjan Wolanowski, Polish journalist, writer and traveller (d. 2006)
- 1921 – Betty Hutton, American actress and singer (d. 2007)
- 1922 – Margaret Leighton, British actress (d. 1976)
- 1922 – Karl Aage Præst, Danish football player
- 1924 – Noboru Takeshita, Japanese politician (d. 2000)
- 1926 – Verne Gagne, American wrestler
- 1926 – Miroslava Stern, Mexican actress (d. 1955)
- 1926 – H.M., Henry Gustav Molaison, the amnesiac patient (d. 2008)
- 1927 – Tom Kennedy, American game show host
- 1928 – Fats Domino, American musician
- 1928 – Anatoly Filipchenko, Soviet cosmonaut
- 1928 – Monique Leyrac, Canadian singer and actress
- 1928 – Ariel Sharon, 11th Prime Minister of Israel (2001 - 2006)
- 1930 – Lazar Berman, Russian pianist (d. 2005)
- 1931 – Ally MacLeod, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 2004)
- 1931 – Robert Novak, American political columnist (d. 2009)
- 1932 – Johnny Cash, American singer (d. 2003)
- 1933 – James Goldsmith, Anglo-French businessman (d. 1997)
- 1937 – Hagood Hardy, Canadian musician and composer (d. 1997)
- 1937 – Paul Dickson, American football player and coach (d. 2011)
- 1938 – Evagoras Pallikarides, Cypriot guerilla (d. 1957)
- 1939 – Josephine Tewson, English actress
- 1941 – Tony Ray-Jones, British photographer (d. 1972)
- 1943 – Bill Duke, American actor and director
- 1943 – Dante Ferretti, Italian art director and costume designer
- 1944 – Ronald Lauder, American philanthropist and president of the World Jewish Congress
- 1945 – Peter Brock, Australian motorsports champion (d. 2006)
- 1945 – Bob Hite, American singer and harmonicist (Canned Heat) (d. 1981)
- 1945 – Giannis Ioannidis, Greek basketball coach and politician
- 1945 – Marta Kristen, Norwegian actress
- 1945 – Mitch Ryder, American musician (The Detroit Wheels)
- 1946 – Ahmed H. Zewail, Egyptian chemist, Nobel laureate
- 1947 – Sandie Shaw, English singer
- 1948 – Sharyn McCrumb, American writer
- 1949 – Elizabeth George, American novelist
- 1949 – Emma Kirkby, British singer
- 1950 – Helen Clark, New Zealand politician, Prime Minister (1999-2008)
- 1950 – Jonathan Cain, American musician (Journey, Bad English, The Babys)
- 1953 – Michael Bolton, American singer
- 1954 – Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkish politician, Prime Minister (2003-present)
- 1954 – Ernst August, Prince of Hanover, heir to the deposed Kingdom of Hanover and husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco
- 1955 – Andreas Maislinger, founder of Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service
- 1956 – Keisuke Kuwata, Japanese singer
- 1957 – David Muldrow Beasley, American politician and 113th Governor of South Carolina
- 1957 – Joe Mullen, American ice hockey player
- 1958 – Karen Berger, American comic book editor
- 1958 – Greg Germann, American actor
- 1958 – Susan J. Helms, astronaut
- 1958 – Michel Houellebecq, French novelist
- 1958 – Tim Kaine, American politician, 70th Governor of Virginia
- 1959 – Rolando Blackman, American basketball player
- 1960 – Jaz Coleman, British musician
- 1960 – Robert Jaspert, German football manager
- 1962 – Kelly Gruber, American baseball player
- 1964 – Mark Dacascos, American actor and martial artist
- 1966 – Najwa Karam, Lebanese singer
- 1967 – James Allodi, Canadian actor, writer and director
- 1967 – Currie Graham, Canadian actor
- 1968 – Tim Commerford, American bass player (Rage Against the Machine)
- 1968 – Ed Quinn, American actor
- 1968 – J. T. Snow, American baseball player
- 1969 – Hitoshi Sakimoto, Japanese composer
- 1971 – Erykah Badu, American singer
- 1971 – Max Martin, Swedish composer and producer
- 1971 – Hélène Ségara, French singer
- 1972 – Jonny Quinn Northern Irish drummer (Snow Patrol)
- 1973 – Marshall Faulk, American football player
- 1973 – Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Norwegian footballer
- 1973 – Jenny Thompson, American swimmer
- 1973 – Erinn Bartlett, American actress
- 1974 – Sébastien Loeb, French rally driver
- 1976 – Nikolaos Siranidis, Greek diver
- 1976 – Chad Urmston, American musician
- 1977 – Marty Reasoner, American ice hockey player
- 1977 – Greg Rikaart, American actor
- 1977 – Tim Thomas, American basketball player
- 1977 – Josh Towers, American baseball player
- 1977 – Shane Williams, Welsh rugby player
- 1978 – Abdoulaye Diagne-Faye, Senegalese footballer
- 1978 – Marc Hynes, British racing driver
- 1979 – Corinne Bailey Rae, English singer
- 1979 – Mariano Bainotti, Argentine racing driver
- 1979 – Pedro Mendes, Portuguese footballer
- 1979 – Shalim Ortiz, Puerto Rican singer and actor
- 1980 – Alex Fong, Hong Kong singer
- 1980 – Gary Majewski, baseball pitcher
- 1980 – Steve Blake, American basketball player
- 1981 – Kertus Davis, American racing driver
- 1981 – Johnathan Wendel, American video gamer
- 1982 – Li Na (tennis), Chinese tennis player
- 1982 – Song Hye Kyo, South Korean model and actress
- 1983 – Jerome Harrison, American football player
- 1983 – Kara Monaco, American glamor model
- 1983 – Pepe, Brazilian born Portuguese football player
- 1984 – Alex de Angelis, San Marino motorcycle racer
- 1984 – Beren Saat, Turkish actress
- 1984 – Emmanuel Adebayor, Togolese footballer
- 1984 – Natalia Lafourcade, Mexican singer
- 1985 – Miki Fujimoto, Japanese singer
- 1985 – Gee Atherton, British cyclist
- 1985 – Alexandria Hilfiger, American actress
- 1985 – Carolin Nytra, German athlete
- 1985 – Fernando Llorente, Spanish footballer
- 1986 – Leandro dos Santos de Jesus, Brazilian footballer
- 1986 – Crystal Kay, Japanese singer
- 1986 – Hannah Kearney, American freestyle skier
- 1986 – Teresa Palmer, Australian model and actress
- 1986 – Juliet Simms, guitarist and singer (Automatic Loveletter)
- 1988 – Matteo Ciofani, Italian footballer
- 1991 – CL (singer), South Korean singer/rapper (2NE1)
- 1992 – Mikael Granlund, Finnish ice hockey player
- 1993 – Taylor Dooley, American actress
Deaths
- 1154 – King Roger II of Sicily (b. 1093)
- 1200 – Symeon, former Serbian ruler and saint (b. 1109)
- 1266 – King Manfred of Sicily (b. 1232)
- 1360 – Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March, English military leader (b. 1328)
- 1552 – Heinrich Faber, German composer
- 1561 – Jorge de Montemayor, Spanish writer
- 1577 – King Eric XIV of Sweden (b. 1533)
- 1608 – John Still, English bishop
- 1611 – Antonio Possevino (b. 1533) Jesuit humanist, diplomat, bibliographer
- 1630 – William Brade, English composer (b. 1560)
- 1638 – Claude Gaspard Bachet de Méziriac, French mathematician (b. 1681)
- 1723 – Thomas d'Urfey, English writer (b. 1653)
- 1726 – Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria (b. 1662)
- 1770 – Giuseppe Tartini, Italian composer (b. 1692)
- 1790 – Sir Joshua Rowley, 1st Baronet, Royal Navy admiral (b. 1730)
- 1802 – Esek Hopkins, American Revolutionary War admiral (b. 1718)
- 1813 – Robert Livingston, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1746)
- 1815 – Prince Josias of Coburg, Austrian general (b. 1737)
- 1821 – Joseph de Maistre, Savoyard diplomat and writer (b. 1753)
- 1864 – Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, Canadian politician (b. 1807)
- 1883 – Alexandros Koumoundouros, Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1817)
- 1889 – Karl Davydov, Russian cellist (b. 1838)
- 1903 – Richard Jordan Gatling, American inventor (b. 1818)
- 1913 – Felix Draeseke, German composer (b. 1835)
- 1921 – Carl Menger, Austrian economist (b. 1840)
- 1930 – Mary Calkins, American philosopher and psychologist (b. 1863)
- 1931 – Otto Wallach, German chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1847)
- 1933 – Princess Thyra, daughter of Christian IX of Denmark (b. 1853)
- 1943 – Theodor Eicke, Nazi official (b. 1892)
- 1947 – Heinrich Häberlin, Swiss politician, member of the Federal Council (b. 1868)
- 1950 – Sir Harry Lauder, Scottish Music Hall Entertainer, Knighted for WWI War Work (b. 1870)
- 1952 – Theodoros Pangalos, Greek general who briefly ruled the country (b. 1878)
- 1959 – Selig Suskin, Russian-born Israeli agronomist and early Zionist (b. 1873)
- 1961 – King Mohammed V of Morocco (b. 1909)
- 1966 – Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Indian freedom fighter and writer (b. 1883)
- 1969 – Levi Eshkol, Israeli politician, Prime Minister (1963-death) (b. 1895)
- 1969 – Karl Jaspers, German psychiatrist (b. 1883)
- 1971 – Fernandel, French actor (b. 1903)
- 1981 – Howard Hanson, American composer (b. 1896)
- 1981 – Robert Aickman, English writer and conservationist (b. 1914)
- 1985 – Tjalling Koopmans, Dutch economist, Nobel laureate (b. 1910)
- 1989 – Roy Eldridge, American musician (b. 1911)
- 1990 – Cornell Gunter, American singer (The Coasters) (b. 1938)
- 1993 – Constance Ford, American actress (b. 1923)
- 1994 – Bill Hicks, American comedian (b. 1961)
- 1995 – Jack Clayton, British film director (b. 1921)
- 1997 – David Doyle, American actor (b. 1929)
- 1998 – James Algar, American film director, screenwriter and producer (b. 1912)
- 1998 – Theodore Schultz, American economist, Nobel laureate (b. 1902)
- 1998 – Shirley Ardell Mason, American psychiatric patient (AKA Sybil Isabell Dorsett in Sybil (book) (b. 1923)
- 2000 – George L. Street III American Navy submariner and Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1913)
- 2001 – Arturo Uslar Pietri, Venezuelan writer (b. 1906)
- 2002 – Lawrence Tierney, American actor (b. 1919)
- 2003 – Christian Goethals, Belgian racing driver (b. 1928)
- 2004 – Shankarrao Chavan, Indian politician (b. 1920)
- 2004 – Adolf Ehrnrooth, Finnish general (b. 1905)
- 2004 – Boris Trajkovski, Macedonian politician, President (1999-death) (b. 1956)
- 2005 – Jef Raskin, American computer scientist (b. 1943)
- 2008 – Buddy Miles, American drummer (Band of Gypsies) (b. 1947)
- 2008 – Dick Fletcher, American meteorologist (b. 1942)
- 2008 – Glory Mukwati, Zimbabwean politician
- 2009 – Wendy Richard, English actress (b. 1943)
- 2009 – Norm Van Lier, American basketball player and broadcaster (b. 1947)
- 2009 – Johnny Kerr, American basketball player and Chicago Bulls broadcaster (b. 1932)
- 2010 – Nujabes, Japanese hip hop producer (b. 1974)
- 2011 – Arnošt Lustig, Czech writer (b. 1926)
- 2011 – James A. McClure, American politician (b. 1924)
Holidays and observances
External links
