February 26

Events

• 747 BC - Epoch (origin) of Ptolemy's Nabonassar Era.
• 1266 - Battle of Benevento: French forces, under Charles of Anjou, overcome a combined German-Sicilian force.
• 1797 - The Bank of England issues the first one pound note.
• 1815 - Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from Elba.
• 1848 - The second French Republic is proclaimed.
• 1863 - U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the National Currency Act into law.
• 1870 - In New York City, the first pneumatic-subway opens.
• 1887 - At the SCG, George Lohmann becomes the first bowler to take eight wickets in a Test innings.
• 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).
• 1929 - The Grand Teton National Park is created.
• 1935 - The Luftwaffe is reformed.
• 1935 - Robert Watson-Watt gives the first public demonstration of RADAR.
• 1936 - In the February 26 Incident, young Japanese military officers attempt to stage a coup against the government.
• 1944 - Shooting begins of the Nazi propaganda film, "The Fuhrer Gives a Village to the Jews" in Theresienstadt.
• 1952 - United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston Churchill announces that his nation has an atomic bomb.
• 1966 - Apollo Program: Launch of AS-201, the first flight of the Saturn IB rocket
• 1970 - National Public Radio incorporates as a non-profit corporation.
• 1986 - Robert Penn Warren is named poet laureate of the United States.
• 1987 - Iran-Contra affair: The Tower Commission rebukes American President Ronald Reagan for not controlling his national security staff.
• 1990 - The Sandinistas are defeated in Nicaraguan elections.
• 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.
• 1992 - Xocali slaughter. More than 600 peaceful citizens of Xocali town of 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.
• 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.
• 2001 - The Taliban destroy two giant Buddha statues in Bamiyan, Afghanistan.
• 2004 - The United States lifts a ban on travel to Libya, ending travel restrictions to the nation that had lasted for 23 years.
• 2005 - Hosni Mubarak the president of Egypt ordered the constitution changed to allow multi-candidate presidential elections before September 2005 by asking Egyptian parliament to amend Article 76 of the constitution.
  

  Births

• 1361 - Wenceslaus, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia (d. 1419)
• 1802 - Victor Hugo, French poet (d. 1885)
• 1808 - Honoré Daumier, French painter, illustrator, lithograph and sculptor (d. 1879)
• 1829 - Levi Strauss, clothing designer (d. 1902)
• 1846 - Buffalo Bill, American pioneer and officer, hunter and carny (d. 1917)
• 1861 - King Ferdinand of Bulgaria (d. 1948)
• 1875 - Hans Böckler, unionist and politician (d. 1951)
• 1885 - Aleksandras Stulginskis, President of Lithuania (d. 1969)
• 1887 - Grover Cleveland Alexander, Baseball Hall of Famer (d. 1950)
• 1887 - William Frawley, American actor (d. 1966)
• 1893 - I. A. Richards, literary critic and rhetorician (d. 1979)
• 1902 - Albert Anastasia, Mafia boss (d. 1957)
• 1907 - Dub Taylor, American actor (d. 1994)
• 1908 - Tex Avery, cartoonist (d. 1980)
• 1908 - Jean-Pierre Wimille, race car driver (d. 1949)
• 1909 - King Talal, King of Jordan (d. 1972)
• 1914 - Robert Alda, American actor (d. 1986)
• 1916 - Jackie Gleason, actor, writer, composer, comedian (d. 1987)
• 1918 - Theodore Sturgeon, science fiction writer (d. 1985)
• 1919 - Mason Adams, American actor
• 1920 - Tony Randall, actor (The Odd Couple) (d. 2004)
• 1921 - Betty Hutton, American actress
• 1927 - Tom Kennedy, American game show host
• 1928 - Fats Domino, musician
• 1928 - Anatoli Filipchenko, cosmonaut
• 1932 - Johnny Cash, country music singer (d. 2003)
• 1933 - Godfrey Cambridge, actor (d. 1976)
• 1934 - Robert Novak, American political columnist
• 1941 - Tony Ray-Jones, British photographer (d. 1972)
• 1943 - Bill Duke, American actor, director
• 1945 - Marta Kristen, Norwegian actress
• 1947 - Sandie Shaw, British singer, Eurovision Song Contest winner
• 1950 - Helen Clark, Prime Minister of New Zealand
• 1951 - Lee Atwater, American political operative (d. 1991)
• 1954 - Michael Bolton, singer
• 1956 - Keisuke Kuwata, Japanese singer
• 1957 - Besim Hasani, President of Kosova Olimpic Committee
• 1958 - Michel Houellebecq, French novelist
• 1959 - Rolando Blackman, basketball star
• 1962 - Greg Germann, actor
• 1971 - Erykah Badu, singer
• 1973 - Marshall Faulk, American football star
• 1973 - Jenny Thompson, U.S. Olympic swimmer
• 1974 - Sébastien Loeb, French WRC driver
• 1984 - Natalia Lafourcade, Mexican pop singer
  

  Deaths

• 1266 - King Manfred of Sicily.
• 1903 - Richard Jordan Gatling, inventor (b. 1818)
• 1913 - Felix Draeseke, German composer (b. 1835)
• 1921 - Carl Menger, economist (b. 1840)
• 1961 - King Mohammed V of Morocco (b. 1909)
• 1969 - Levi Eshkol, Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1895)
• 1971 - Fernandel, actor (b. 1903)
• 1981 - Howard Hanson, composer (b. 1896)
• 1993 - Constance Ford, American actress
• 1994 - Bill Hicks, comedian (b. 1961)
• 1997 - David Doyle, American actor
• 2002 - Lawrence Tierney, actor
• 2003 - Gerhard Czerwensky, economist
• 2004 - Shankarrao Chavan, Chief Minister of Maharashtra
• 2004 - Adolf Ehrnrooth, general; Finnish war veteran
• 2004 - Boris Trajkovski, president of the Republic of Macedonia (b. 1956)
• 2005 - Jef Raskin, human-computer interface expert (b. 1943)
  

  Holidays and observances

• Bahá'í Faith - Day 1 of Ayyám-i-Há (Intercalary Days) - days in the Bahá'í calendar devoted to service and gift giving.
• Nation of Islam - Saviour'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)

  External links

• BBC: On This Day

February 25 - February 27 - January 26 - March 26 -- listing of all days