February 26

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). This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Tuesday, Friday or Sunday (58 in 400 years each) than on Wednesday or Thursday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Monday or Saturday (56).

Events

• 747 BC – Epoch (origin) of Ptolemy's Nabonassar Era.
• 364 – Valentinian I is proclaimed Roman emperor.
• 1233 – Mongol–Jin War: The Mongols capture Kaifeng, the capital of the Jin dynasty, after besieging it for months.
• 1266 – Battle of Benevento: An army led by Charles, Count of Anjou, defeats a combined German and Sicilian force led by Manfred, King of Sicily. Manfred is killed in the battle and Pope Clement IV invests Charles as king of Sicily and Naples.
• 1616 – Galileo Galilei is formally banned by the Roman Catholic Church from teaching or defending the view that the earth orbits the sun.
• 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 and Wolff shipyard in Belfast.
• 1919 – President Woodrow Wilson signs an act of Congress establishing the Grand Canyon National Park.
• 1929 – President Calvin Coolidge signs an executive order establishing the 96,000 acre Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
• 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.
• 1952 – Vincent Massey is sworn in as the first Canadian-born Governor General of Canada.
• 1960 – A New York-bound Alitalia airliner crashes into a cemetery in Shannon, Ireland, shortly after takeoff, killing 34 of the 52 persons on board.
• 1966 – Apollo program: Launch of AS-201, the first flight of the Saturn IB rocket
• 1971 – U.N. Secretary-General U Thant signs United Nations proclamation of the vernal equinox as Earth Day.
• 1979 – The Superliner railcar enters revenue service with Amtrak.
• 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.
• 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 six and injuring over a thousand.
• 1995 – The UK's oldest investment banking institute, Barings Bank, collapses after a rogue securities broker Nick Leeson loses $1.4 billion by speculating on the Singapore International Monetary Exchange using futures contracts.
• 2008 – The New York Philharmonic performs in Pyongyang, North Korea; this is the first event of its kind to take place in North Korea.
• 2012 – A train derails in Burlington, Ontario, Canada killing at least three people and injuring 45.
• 2013 – A hot air balloon crashes near Luxor, Egypt, killing 19 people.

Births

• 1361 – Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia (d. 1419)
• 1564 – Christopher Marlowe, English playwright, poet and translator (d. 1593)
• 1584 – Albert VI, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1666)
• 1587 – Stefano Landi, Italian composer and educator (d. 1639)
• 1671 – Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, English philosopher and politician (d. 1713)
• 1672 – Antoine Augustin Calmet, French monk and theologian (d. 1757)
• 1677 – Nicola Fago, Italian composer and teacher (d. 1745)
• 1718 – Johan Ernst Gunnerus, Norwegian bishop, botanist and zoologist (d. 1773)
• 1720 – Gian Francesco Albani, Italian cardinal (d. 1803)
• 1746 – Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria (d. 1806)
• 1770 – Anton Reicha, Bohemian composer and flautist (d. 1836)
• 1777 – Matija Nenadović, Serbian priest, historian, and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Serbia (d. 1854)
• 1786 – François Arago, French mathematician and politician, 25th Prime Minister of France (d. 1853)
• 1799 – Benoît Paul Émile Clapeyron, French physicist and engineer (d. 1864)
• 1802 – Victor Hugo, French author, poet, and playwright (d. 1885)
• 1808 – Honoré Daumier, French painter, illustrator, and sculptor (d. 1879)
• 1808 – Nathan Kelley, American architect, designed the Ohio Statehouse (d. 1871)
• 1829 – Levi Strauss, German-American fashion designer, founded Levi Strauss & Co. (d. 1902)
• 1842 – Camille Flammarion, French astronomer and author (d. 1925)
• 1846 – Buffalo Bill, American soldier and hunter (d. 1917)
• 1852 – John Harvey Kellogg, American surgeon, co-created Corn flakes (d. 1943)
• 1857 – Émile Coué, French psychologist and pharmacist (d. 1926)
• 1861 – Ferdinand I of Bulgaria (d. 1948)
• 1861 – Nadezhda Krupskaya, Russian soldier and politician (d. 1939)
• 1866 – Herbert Henry Dow, Canadian-American businessman, founded the Dow Chemical Company (d. 1930)
• 1877 – Rudolph Dirks, German-American illustrator (d. 1968)
• 1879 – Frank Bridge, English viola player and composer (d. 1941)
• 1880 – Kenneth Edgeworth, Irish astronomer (d. 1972)
• 1881 – Janus Djurhuus, Faroese poet (d. 1948)
• 1882 – Husband E. Kimmel, American admiral (d. 1968)
• 1885 – Aleksandras Stulginskis, Lithuanian farmer and politician, 2nd President of Lithuania (d. 1969)
• 1887 – Grover Cleveland Alexander, American baseball player and coach (d. 1950)
• 1887 – William Frawley, American actor and vaudevillian (d. 1966)
• 1887 – Stefan Grabiński, Polish author and educator (d. 1936)
• 1893 – Wallace Fard Muhammad, American religious leader, founded the Nation of Islam (disappeared 1934)
• 1893 – Dorothy Whipple, English novelist (d. 1966)
• 1896 – Andrei Zhdanov, Ukrainian-Russian civil servant and politician (d. 1948)
• 1899 – Max Petitpierre, Swiss jurist and politician, 54th President of the Swiss Confederation (d. 1994)
• 1900 – Halina Konopacka, Polish discus thrower and poet (d. 1989)
• 1900 – Fritz Wiessner, German-American mountaineer (d. 1988)
• 1902 – Jean Bruller, French author and illustrator, co-founded Les Éditions de Minuit (d. 1991)
• 1903 – Giulio Natta, Italian chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)
• 1903 – Orde Wingate, English general (d. 1944)
• 1906 – Madeleine Carroll, English actress (d. 1987)
• 1908 – Tex Avery, American animator, producer, and voice actor (d. 1980)
• 1908 – Leela Majumdar, Indian author and academic (d. 2007)
• 1908 – Jean-Pierre Wimille, French race car driver (d. 1949)
• 1909 – Fanny Cradock, English chef, author, and critic (d. 1994)
• 1909 – Talal of Jordan (d. 1972)
• 1911 – Tarō Okamoto, Japanese painter and sculptor (d. 1996)
• 1912 – Dane Clark, American actor and director (d. 1998)
• 1913 – George Barker, English author and poet (d. 1991)
• 1914 – Robert Alda, American actor, singer, and director (d. 1986)
• 1916 – Jackie Gleason, American actor and singer (d. 1987)
• 1918 – Otis R. Bowen, American physician and politician, 44th Governor of Indiana (d. 2013)
• 1918 – Theodore Sturgeon, American author and critic (d. 1985)
• 1919 – Mason Adams, American actor (d. 2005)
• 1920 – Danny Gardella, American baseball player and trainer (d. 2005)
• 1920 – Tony Randall, American actor, director, and producer (d. 2004)
• 1920 – Lucjan Wolanowski, Polish journalist and author (d. 2006)
• 1921 – Betty Hutton, American actress and singer (d. 2007)
• 1922 – Bill Johnston, Australian cricketer and businessman (d. 2007)
• 1922 – Margaret Leighton, English actress (d. 1976)
• 1924 – Noboru Takeshita, Japanese soldier and politician, 74th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 2000)
• 1924 – Marc Bucci, American composer, lyricist, and dramatist (d. 2002)
• 1925 – Everton Weekes, Barbadian cricketer and referee
• 1926 – Doris Belack, American actress (d. 2011)
• 1926 – Verne Gagne, American football player, wrestler, and trainer (d. 2015)
• 1927 – Tom Kennedy, American game show host and actor
• 1928 – Fats Domino, American singer-songwriter and pianist
• 1928 – Ariel Sharon, Israeli general and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Israel (d. 2014)
• 1931 – Ally MacLeod, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 2004)
• 1931 – Robert Novak, American journalist and author (d. 2009)
• 1932 – Johnny Cash, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 2003)
• 1933 – James Goldsmith, French-British businessman and politician (d. 1997)
• 1934 – Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina, Algerian director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1936 – José Policarpo, Portuguese cardinal (d. 2014)
• 1937 – Paul Dickson, American football player and coach (d. 2011)
• 1939 – Josephine Tewson, English actress
• 1940 – Oldřich Kulhánek, Czech painter, illustrator, and stage designer (d. 2013)
• 1942 – Jozef Adamec, Slovak footballer and manager
• 1943 – Dante Ferretti, Italian art director and costume designer
• 1944 – Christopher Hope, South African author and poet
• 1944 – Ronald Lauder, American businessman and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Austria
• 1945 – Peter Brock, Australian race car driver (d. 2006)
• 1945 – Marta Kristen, Norwegian-American actress
• 1946 – Ahmed Zewail, Egyptian-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2016)
• 1947 – Sandie Shaw, English singer and psychotherapist
• 1948 – Sharyn McCrumb, American author
• 1949 – Simon Crean, Australian trade union leader and politician, 14th Australian Minister for the Arts
• 1949 – Elizabeth George, American author and educator
• 1949 – Emma Kirkby, English soprano
• 1950 – Jonathan Cain, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
• 1950 – Helen Clark, New Zealand academic and politician, 37th Prime Minister of New Zealand
• 1951 – Steve Bell, English cartoonist
• 1951 – Wayne Goss, Australian lawyer and politician, 34th Premier of Queensland (d. 2014)
• 1953 – Michael Bolton, American singer-songwriter and actor
• 1954 – Prince Ernst August of Hanover
• 1954 – Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkish politician, 12th President of Turkey
• 1955 – Andreas Maislinger, Austrian historian and academic, founded the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service
• 1956 – Michel Houellebecq, French author, poet, screenwriter, and director
• 1957 – David Beasley, American lawyer and politician, 113th Governor of South Carolina
• 1957 – Joe Mullen, American ice hockey player and coach
• 1958 – Greg Germann, American actor and director
• 1958 – Susan Helms, American general, engineer, and astronaut
• 1958 – Tim Kaine, American lawyer and politician, 70th Governor of Virginia
• 1959 – Rolando Blackman, American basketball player and coach
• 1959 – Ahmet Davutoğlu, Turkish political scientist, academic, and politician, 37th Prime Minister of Turkey
• 1960 – Jaz Coleman, English singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
• 1962 – Ahn Cheol-soo, South Korean physician, academic, and politician
• 1965 – James Mitchell, American wrestler and manager
• 1966 – Garry Conille, Haitian physician and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Haiti
• 1966 – Marc Fortier, French-Canadian ice hockey player
• 1967 – Mark Carroll, Australian rugby player
• 1968 – Tim Commerford, American bass player
• 1969 – Hitoshi Sakimoto, Japanese composer and producer
• 1970 – Mark Harper, English accountant and politician, Minister of State for Immigration
• 1971 – Erykah Badu, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
• 1973 – Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Norwegian footballer and manager
• 1974 – Sébastien Loeb, French race car driver
• 1976 – Chad Urmston, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1977 – Marty Reasoner, American ice hockey player and coach
• 1977 – Shane Williams, Welsh rugby union player
• 1977 – Tim Thomas, American basketball player
• 1978 – Abdoulaye Faye, Senegalese footballer
• 1979 – Corinne Bailey Rae, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1979 – Steve Evans, Welsh footballer
• 1979 – Pedro Mendes, Portuguese footballer
• 1980 – Steve Blake, American basketball player
• 1981 – Kertus Davis, American race car driver
• 1982 – Li Na, Chinese tennis player
• 1982 – Matt Prior, South African-English cricketer
• 1982 – Nate Ruess, American singer-songwriter
• 1983 – Pepe, Brazilian-Portuguese footballer
• 1983 – Jerome Harrison, American football player
• 1984 – Natalia Lafourcade, Mexican singer-songwriter
• 1984 – Beren Saat, Turkish actress
• 1985 – Fernando Llorente, Spanish footballer
• 1985 – Diego Ribas da Cunha, Brazilian footballer
• 1986 – Hannah Kearney, American skier
• 1986 – Teresa Palmer, Australian actress
• 1988 – Deniz Yılmaz, Turkish footballer
• 1989 – Gabriel Obertan, French footballer
• 1990 – Kateřina Cachová, Czech heptathlete

Deaths

• 420 – Porphyry of Gaza, Greek bishop and saint (b. 347)
• 1154 – Roger II of Sicily (b. 1093)
• 1266 – Manfred, King of Sicily (b. 1232)
• 1360 – Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March, English commander (b. 1328)
• 1462 – John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford, English politician (b. 1408)
• 1577 – Eric XIV of Sweden (b. 1533)
• 1608 – John Still, English bishop (b. 1543)
• 1611 – Antonio Possevino, Italian priest and diplomat (b. 1533)
• 1630 – William Brade, English violinist and composer (b. 1560)
• 1638 – Claude Gaspard Bachet de Méziriac, French mathematician and linguist (b. 1581)
• 1723 – Thomas d'Urfey, English poet and playwright (b. 1653)
• 1726 – Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria (b. 1662)
• 1770 – Giuseppe Tartini, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1692)
• 1790 – Joshua Rowley, English admiral (b. 1730)
• 1802 – Esek Hopkins, American admiral (b. 1718)
• 1813 – Robert R. Livingston, American lawyer and politician, 1st United States Secretary of Foreign Affairs (b. 1746)
• 1815 – Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (b. 1737)
• 1821 – Joseph de Maistre, French lawyer and diplomat (b. 1753)
• 1864 – Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, Canadian jurist and politician, 3rd Premier of Canada East (b. 1807)
• 1883 – Alexandros Koumoundouros, Greek lawyer and politician, 56th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1817)
• 1887 – Anandi Gopal Joshi, Indian physician (b. 1865)
• 1889 – Karl Davydov, Russian cellist and composer (b. 1838)
• 1903 – Richard Jordan Gatling, American engineer, invented the Gatling gun (b. 1818)
• 1913 – Felix Draeseke, German composer and academic (b. 1835)
• 1921 – Carl Menger, Polish-Austrian economist and academic (b. 1840)
• 1930 – Mary Whiton Calkins, American philosopher and psychologist (b. 1863)
• 1931 – Otto Wallach, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1847)
• 1936 – February 26 Incident:
  • Takahashi Korekiyo, Japanese accountant and politician, 20th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1854)
  • Saitō Makoto, Japanese admiral and politician, 30th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1858)
  • Jōtarō Watanabe, Japanese general (b. 1874)
• 1943 – Theodor Eicke, German general (b. 1892)
• 1947 – Heinrich Häberlin, Swiss judge and politician, President of the Swiss National Council (b. 1868)
• 1950 – Harry Lauder, Scottish comedian and singer (b. 1870)
• 1952 – Theodoros Pangalos, Greek general and politician, President of Greece (b. 1878)
• 1961 – Karl Albiker, German sculptor, lithographer, and educator (b. 1878)
• 1961 – Mohammed V of Morocco (b. 1909)
• 1966 – Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Indian poet and politician (b. 1883)
• 1969 – Levi Eshkol, Israeli soldier and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1895)
• 1969 – Karl Jaspers, German-Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher (b. 1883)
• 1971 – Fernandel, French actor and singer (b. 1903)
• 1981 – Robert Aickman, English author and activist (b. 1914)
• 1981 – Howard Hanson, American composer, conductor, and educator (b. 1896)
• 1985 – Tjalling Koopmans, Dutch-American economist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1910)
• 1989 – Roy Eldridge, American trumpet player (b. 1911)
• 1993 – Constance Ford, American model and actress (b. 1923)
• 1995 – Jack Clayton, English director and producer (b. 1921)
• 1997 – David Doyle, American actor (b. 1929)
• 1998 – Theodore Schultz, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
• 2000 – George L. Street III, American captain, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1913)
• 2002 – Lawrence Tierney, American actor (b. 1919)
• 2004 – Shankarrao Chavan, Indian politician, Indian Minister of Finance (b. 1920)
• 2004 – Adolf Ehrnrooth, Finnish general (b. 1905)
• 2004 – Boris Trajkovski, Macedonian politician, 2nd President of the Republic of Macedonia (b. 1956)
• 2005 – Jef Raskin, American computer scientist, created Macintosh (b. 1943)
• 2009 – Johnny Kerr, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1932)
• 2009 – Wendy Richard, English actress (b. 1943)
• 2009 – Norm Van Lier, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1947)
• 2011 – Arnošt Lustig, Czech author, playwright, and screenwriter (b. 1926)
• 2012 – Richard Carpenter, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1929)
• 2013 – Marie-Claire Alain, French organist and educator (b. 1926)
• 2013 – Stéphane Hessel, German-French diplomat and author (b. 1917)
• 2013 – Simon Li, Hong Kong judge and politician (b. 1922)
• 2014 – Sorel Etrog, Romanian-Canadian sculptor, painter, and illustrator (b. 1933)
• 2014 – Phyllis Krasilovsky, American author and academic (b. 1927)
• 2015 – Sheppard Frere, English historian and archaeologist (b. 1916)
• 2015 – Theodore Hesburgh, American priest, theologian, educator, and academic (b. 1917)
• 2015 – Earl Lloyd, American basketball player and coach (b. 1928)
• 2015 – Tom Schweich, American lawyer and politician, 36th State Auditor of Missouri (b. 1960)
• 2016 – Andy Bathgate, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager (b. 1932)
• 2016 – Don Getty, Canadian football player and politician, 11th Premier of Alberta (b. 1933)
• 2016 – Ahmed Zewail, Egyptian-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1946)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Alexander of Alexandria
  • Emily Malbone Morgan (Episcopal Church (USA))
  • Isabelle of France
  • Li Tim-Oi (Anglican Church of Canada)
  • Porphyry of Gaza
  • February 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• The first day of Ayyám-i-Há (Bahá'í Faith) (Please note that this observance is only locked into this date the Gregorian calendar on this date if Bahá'í Naw-Rúz takes place on March 21, which it doesn't in all years)
• Day of Remembrance for Victims of Khojaly Massacre (Azerbaijan)
• Liberation Day (Kuwait)
• Saviour's Day (Nation of Islam)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada