/year

August 26 in history

186 sourced entries recorded on August 26, from 683 CE to 2021 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 683Battle of al-Harra: The Umayyad Caliphate defeats the rebel defenders of Medina, at a lava field northeast of the city.source
  • 1071Battle of Manzikert: The Byzantine army (35,000 men) under Emperor Romanos IV meets the Seljuk Turk forces of Sultan Alp Arslan near the town of Manzikert. Although the armies are initially evenly matched, as the Byzantines advance, the Seljuk Turks withdraw before them, launching hit-and-run attacks on the Byzantine flanks. While attempting to withdraw, the Byzantine army falls apart, either through treachery or confusion; the battle ends in a decisive defeat for the Byzantine Empire. Romanos is captured (though released by Alp Arslan within a week) and much of the elite Varangian Guard is destroyed; this will prove catastrophic for the Byzantine Empire.source
  • 1191August 25–26 – Richard I leads a fast-moving advance-guard and establishes a strong position at the fortress near Merle before Saladin arrives. He then hurries back to support the rearguard, to regain contact with the Crusader forces. Richard reorganizes his marching column. The elite Templar and Hospitaller knights hold the van and rearguard, while Richard and a central mass of knights are screened on their landward left side by dense ranks of well-armoured infantry, whose panoply makes them almost immune to Muslim missile attacks.source
  • 1278Battle on the Marchfeld: German-Hungarian forces (some 9,000 men) led by Kings Rudolf I of Germany in alliance with Ladislaus IV of Hungary ("the Cuman"), defeat and kill Ottokar II, ruler of Bohemia. The battle ends the power struggle between Rudolf and Ottokar over the fate of Central Europe. Rudolf's House of Habsburg will continue to rule Austria and other captured territories until the end of World War I in 1918.source
  • 1303Siege of Chittorgarh: Delhi forces led by Sultan Alauddin Khalji capture the massive Chittor Fort in northern India, after an 8-month-long siege. Alauddin orders a general massacre of Chittor's population.source
  • 1307After the restructuring of his government, King Edward II summons his first Parliament, directing members to be elected and to assemble at Northampton on October 13.source
  • 1346Battle of Crécy: The English defeat the French, in the first European battle where gunpowder is used.source
  • 1380King Richard II of England summons the English Parliament five months after the dissolution of the previous meeting, and directs the members of the House of Commons and House of Lords to assemble on November 5 at Westminster.source
  • 1382After three days, Tokhtamysh promises the highest ranking official in Moscow, Prince Ostei, that if a peaceful surrender can be negotiated, the Tatars of the Golden Horde will spare the population. As Ostei opens the gate of the walled city and walks out with his team, Tokhtamysh kills the Russian group and his troops begin looting, raping and killing the Moscow residents.source
  • 1382The iconic painting the Black Madonna of Częstochowa is brought from Jerusalem, to the Jasna Góra Monastery in Poland on her the day celbrated as the feast day in her honor.source
  • 1431August 26 (September 2 N.S.) – At the Polish city of Chortoryisk, representatives of Švitrigaila, Grand Duke of Lithuania and of the King of Poland, Władysław II Jagiełło agree to a truce to end the Lutsk War.source
  • 1441Bishop Alberto da Sarteano, who had been sent by the Vatican on a mission to seek the Ethiopian Coptic Christian Church to join with the Roman Catholic Church, returns to Rome with four Ethiopians who had been allowed to leave by the Emperor Zara Yaqob. Two of the visitors the attend the Council of Florence to discuss the possible union of Coptic Orthodoxy and the Latin Church, marking the earliest recorded contact of the Ethiopian Coptic Church with Europe.source
  • 1444Old Zürich War – Battle of St. Jakob an der Birs: Charles VII of France, seeking to send away troublesome troops made idle by the truce with England, sends his son (the Dauphin Louis) with a large army into Switzerland, to support the claims of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor. The massively outnumbered Swiss force is destroyed in this battle, but inflict such casualties on the French that they withdraw.source
  • 1444French troops fight the Battle of St. Jakob an der Birs against the Old Swiss Confederacysource
  • 1454At Elbistan, capital of the principality of Dulkadir, Malik Arslan becomes the new ruler upon the death of his father, Suleiman of Dulkadir.source
  • 1466In the Republic of Florence, an attempted coup d'etat against Piero di Cosimo de' Medici fails after his son Lorenzo discovers a roadblock that had been set by the conspirators to capture Medici during his planned trip to the Medici estate at Villa di Careggi.source
  • 1468Baeda Maryam succeeds his father Zara Yaqob, as Emperor of Ethiopia.source
  • 1517Treaty of Rouen, treaty between France and Scotland.source
  • 1528Askia Muhammad I, ruler of the Songhai Empire in West Africa since 1493, is forced to abdicate by his son, Askia Musa, who declares himself to be the new Songhai Emperor.source
  • 1531Comet Halley achieves its perihelion.source
  • 1534Piero de Ponte becomes the 45th Grandmaster of the Knights Hospitaller.source
  • 1537The siege of the island of Corfu is started by the Ottoman Empire Navy, commanded by Suleiman the Magnificent. Suleiman abandons the siege in September after an outbreak of plague, and the Ottoman troops return home.source
  • 1565The Chaseabout Raid begins in Scotland as a rebellion against Mary, Queen of Scots by her half-brother, by James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, following her July 29 marriage to Lord Darnley.source
  • 1612Battle of Kringen: A Scottish mercenary force is destroyed in Norway.source
  • 1612A Norwegian peasant militia is ambushed by Scottish mercenaries at the Battle of Kringen as part of the Kalmar War.source
  • 1619Frederick V of the Palatinate is elected King of Bohemia by the states of the Bohemian Confederacy.source
  • 1629The Cambridge Agreement is signed in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in America, providing for the colony to be under the control of stockholders who actually emigrate to New England.source
  • 1638Dutch siege of Geldern liftedsource
  • 1643Brussels Council of Finances issues specifications of coins to be considered legal tender.source
  • 1649After his "True Levellers", commonly called "The Diggers", abandon their last major colony at St. George's Hill at Weybridge in England, their leader, Gerrard Winstanley, publishes the pamphlet "A Watch-Word to The City of London, and the Armie", recounting the experience.source
  • 1652First Anglo-Dutch War: Battle of Plymouth – A fleet from the Commonwealth of England attacks an outward-bound convoy of the Dutch Republic, escorted by 23 men-of-war and six fire ships, commanded by Vice-Commodore Michiel de Ruyter; the Dutch escape.source
  • 1652First Anglo-Dutch War: An English fleet attacks an outward-bound Dutch convoy of the escorted by 23 men-of-war and six fire ships commanded by Vice-Commodore Michiel de Ruyter at the Battle of Plymouth; the Dutch escape.source
  • 1670The Parliament of France enacts a uniform criminal code for the nation with the passage of the Criminal Ordinance of 1670, which takes effect on January 1. The code remains in force until October 9, 1789, when it is abrogated during the French Revolution.source
  • 1748The first Lutheran Church body in America is founded at a conference in Philadelphia, organized by German-born evangelist Henry Muhlenberg and attended by pastors of orthodox and pious Lutheran communities. The two groups agree to create a common liturgy to govern public worship.source
  • 1758August 26–28 - Battle of Fort Frontenac: Colonel John Bradstreet, with nearly 3,000 men, mostly colonial militia, takes and burns Fort Frontenac, (present-day Kingston).source
  • 1765In protest of the Stamp Act, Bostonians destroy the home of lieutenant governor Thomas Hutchinson.source
  • 1767Construction begins on Tryon Palace in New Bern, North Carolina. The construction proves more expensive than initially expected, leading the government to increase local taxes. This stirs resentment among some North Carolinians, and helps prolong the War of the Regulation.source
  • 1768James Cook departs from Plymouth aboard HMS Endeavour on his first voyage of discovery.source
  • 1768James Cook departs from Plymouth aboard HMS Endeavour on his first voyage of discovery.source
  • 1772King Gustav III formally abolish torture, and the Rose Chamber in Nya smedjegården and the Thief Cellar in the Town Hall, is closed.source
  • 1778Triglav, at 2,864 m above sea level the highest peak of Slovenia, is ascended for the first time by four men: Luka Korošec, Matevž Kos, Štefan Rožič, and Lovrenc Willomitzer, on Sigmund Zois' initiative.source
  • 1780Edward Williames Salusbury Vaughan succeeds to the Rûg estate.source
  • 1789The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen is proclaimed in France by the Constituent Assembly.source
  • 1789César-Constantin-François de Hoensbroeck, prince-bishop of Liège, flees to Trier; Republic of Liège proclaimed.source
  • 1791John Fitch is granted a patent for the steamboat in the United States.source
  • 1810August 20–27 – Battle of Grand Port: The French defeat a Royal Navy frigate squadron attempting to blockade a harbour on Isle de France (Mauritius).source
  • 1813Napoleonic Wars – Battle of Katzbach: Napoleon's troops are defeated by Prussia and Russia.source
  • 1813August 26–27 – Napoleonic Wars – Battle of Dresden: Napoleon's troops are victorious.source
  • 1817The University of Michigan is founded in the U.S., initially near the intersection of Bates Street and Congress Street in Detroit. It will move its campus to Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1837.source
  • 1833The Canton of Basel is partitioned by the Swiss Tagsatzung to create the two half-cantons of Basel-City and Basel-Country.source
  • 18331833 Bihar–Nepal earthquakesource
  • 1843A riot of armed New Zealand Company workers occurs at the Company office in Nelson, spurred by issues surrounding quality of life and payment of wages. Several are arrested, and many leave for New South Wales as a result.source
  • 1846The Public Baths and Wash Houses Act (An Act to encourage the Establishment of public Baths and Wash-houses) is passed by Parliament permitting local authorities to establish baths and wash houses in Britain.source
  • 1854A new conscription law was sanctioned, under which all Norwegian men regardless of condition and position had an obligation to serve in the armed forces.source
  • 1863The Swedish-language liberal newspaper Helsingfors Dagblad proposes a blue-and-white cross as the flag of Finland.source
  • 1878Uyedineniya Island is discovered in the Kara Sea, by Norwegian explorer Captain Edvard Holm Johannesen.source
  • 1879Cape Midland – Mount Stewart to Graaff-Reinet, 72 mi 18 ch.source
  • 1880Competing circus owners P. T. Barnum and James A. Bailey sign a contract in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to create the Barnum & Bailey Circus. In 1907, the circus will merge forces with another competitor, the Ringling Brothers Circus.source
  • 1880Elementary Education Act ("Mundella's Act") enforces school attendance up to the age of ten in England and Wales.source
  • 1883August 26–27 – 1883 eruption of Krakatoa: The volcanic island of Krakatoa erupts at 10:02 am (local time); 163 villages are destroyed, 36,417 killed by tsunami.source
  • 1889Act of incorporation of the Barry Railway Company#Vale of Glamorgan Railway.source
  • 1889Official Secrets Act for the first time imposes criminal penalties to deter officials from disclosing confidential information.source
  • 1889Prevention of Cruelty to, and Protection of, Children Act ("Children's Charter") for the first time imposes criminal penalties to deter child abuse.source
  • 1889The Prevention of Cruelty to, and Protection of, Children Act, commonly known as the Children's Charter, is passed in the United Kingdom; for the first time it imposes criminal penalties to deter child abuse.source
  • 1892An underground explosion at Parc Slip Colliery, Aberkenfig, Glamorgan, kills 110 people.source
  • 1899Campo Grande, the current capital of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, is founded.source
  • 1905Near Point Barrow, Alaska, the crew of the Norwegian ship Gjoa, led by Roald Amundsen, make the breakthrough of finding the long-sought "Northwest Passage" from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.source
  • 1905Roald Amundsen begins the first to travel through the Northwest Passagesource
  • 1907August 24–31 – The International Anarchist Congress of Amsterdam meets in the Netherlands.source
  • 1913Dublin Lock-out: members of James Larkin's Irish Transport and General Workers' Union employed by the Dublin United Tramways Company began strike action in defiance of the dismissal of trade union members by the chairman, businessman William Martin Murphy.source
  • 1914The Togoland Campaign ends with the German West African colony of Togoland (Togo from 1960) surrendering to Britain and France.source
  • 1914August 26–30 – Battle of Tannenberg: The Russian Second Army is surrounded and defeated.source
  • 1914August 26–27 – Battle of Le Cateau: British, French, and Belgian forces make a successful tactical retreat from the German advance.source
  • 1921Following the assassination of former Finance Minister Matthias Erzberger by right-wing terrorists, the German government declares martial law.source
  • 1921Scheduled date of evacuation of Zone A, delayed by 48 hourssource
  • 1922A Turkish large-scale attack opens against Greek forces in Afyon; Turkish victory is achieved on August 30.source
  • 1928In Scotland, May Donoghue finds the remains of a snail in her ginger beer, leading to the landmark negligence case Donoghue v Stevenson.source
  • 19341934 Swiss Grand Prix takes place in Switzerlandsource
  • 1936The Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936 is signed.source
  • 1939The first televised Major League Baseball games are shown on experimental station W2XBS in the United States: a double-header between the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field.source
  • 1942Irish Willow rescues 47 survivors from the British ship Empire Breeze in the Atlantic.source
  • 1950August 22 – August 30 - Rail workers strike shuts down much of the Canadian economysource
  • 1952A British passenger jet makes a return crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in the same day.source
  • 1955Satyajit Ray's film Pather Panchali is released in India.source
  • 1958A general strike is called in Paraguay.source
  • 1959The original Mini car, designed by Sir Alec Issigonis, is launched in England.source
  • 1962U.S. vice president Lyndon B. Johnson visits Turkey.source
  • 1964August 24–27 – The Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City nominates incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson for a full term, and U.S. Senator Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota as his running mate.source
  • 1964Zadok Malka, Israeli footballersource
  • 1966The first battle of the South African Air Force and the South African Police with PLAN, the armed wing of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), takes place at Ongulumbashe during Operation Blue Wildebeest, triggering the South African Border War which continues until 1989.source
  • 1966A new TV studio is officially opened for Radio and Television Singapore in Caldecott Hill.source
  • 19671966–67 Balkans Cup: Albania defeats Turkey 2-0 at Selman Stërmasi Stadium, Tiranasource
  • 1968August 22–30 – 1968 Democratic National Convention protests: Police clash with anti-Vietnam War protesters in Chicago outside the 1968 Democratic National Convention, which nominates Hubert Humphrey for U.S. president and Edmund Muskie for vice president. The riots and subsequent trials are an essential part of the activism of the Youth International Party.source
  • 1972September 10 – The 1972 Summer Olympics are held in Munich, West Germany.source
  • 1976The second known outbreak of Ebola virus occurs in Yambuku, Zaire.source
  • 1976Parliamentary immunity is revoked for leftist deputies Fortunato Herrera and Salom Mesa Espinoza in connection with the Niehous case.source
  • 1976Bernabe Buscayno also known as Kumander Dante of the New People's Army is arrested.source
  • 1976Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld, husband of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, resigns from various posts over a scandal involving alleged corruption in connection with business dealings with the Lockheed Corporation.source
  • 1977The National Assembly of Quebec passes the Charter of the French Language (Law 101, La charte de la langue française) making French the official language of the Canadian province of Quebec.source
  • 1978Pope John Paul I succeeds Pope Paul VI as the 263rd Pope.source
  • 1978Cardinal Albino Luciani, the patriarch of Venice, elected pope – John Paul I. So far, 2026, last Italian pope.source
  • 1980Doe leaves to visit Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in his first international visit since his taking power.source
  • 1983August 23–29: Hurricane Barry.source
  • 1983Heavy rain triggers flooding at Bilbao, Spain, and surrounding areas, killing 44 people and causing millions in damages.source
  • 1987Smith v. Board of School Commissioners of Mobile County decision: The U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals overturns the earlier ruling of a lower court which found that certain public school textbooks promoted the "religion" of secular humanism; in this final ruling, the court finds that the plaintiffs have not proven that the state is presenting secular humanism as a religious ideology.source
  • 1990In Sofia, protesters set fire to the headquarters of the governing Bulgarian Socialist Party.source
  • 1996David Dellinger, Bradford Lyttle, and nine others are arrested by the Federal Protective Service while protesting in a demonstration at the Kluczynski Federal Building in downtown Chicago during that year's Democratic National Convention.source
  • 1997The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning is set up in Northern Ireland, as part of a peace process.source
  • 1999WWE introduce their secondary program, SmackDown, which started its broadcast on UPN.source
  • 200150,000 people are marooned by flash floodingsource
  • 2002August 26–September 4 – Earth Summit 2002 takes places in Johannesburg, South Africa, aimed at discussing sustainable development by the United Nations.source
  • 2002August 22–September 4 – Typhoon Rusa, the most powerful typhoon to hit South Korea in 43 years, makes landfall, killing at least 236 people.source
  • 2005The Constitution of Chile is heavily amended, eliminating senators for life, reducing the presidential terms from six to four years, giving the president exclusive rights to summon the National Security Council, and removes legal obstacles for the creation of new regions.source
  • 2006President Déby forces oil companies Chevron and Petronas out of the country, citing that neither company had not paid taxes to the country.source
  • 2010August 14–26 – Lithuania achieved 19th place in 2010 Summer Youth Olympics with 5 medal (3 golden and 2 bronze)source
  • 2011August 20–28 – Libyan rebels take control of the capital Tripoli, effectively overthrowing the government of Muammar Gaddafi.source
  • 2017August 25–30 – Hurricane Harvey strikes the United States as a Category 4 hurricane, causing catastrophic damage to the Houston metropolitan area, mostly due to record-breaking floods. At least 108 deaths are recorded, and total damage reaches $125 billion (2017 USD), making Harvey the costliest natural disaster in United States history, tied with Hurricane Katrina in 2005.source
  • 2020Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos becomes the first person in history to have a net worth exceeding US$200 billion, according to Forbes.source
  • 2020The number of deaths from Hurricane Laura increases to 21.source
  • 2021August 24–September 5 – The 2020 Summer Paralympics were held in Tokyo, Japan. They were originally scheduled for 25 August–6 September 2020, but were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.source

Births

  • 1278Safi al-Din al-Hilli, Persian poet and writer (died 1349)source
  • 1468Bernardo de' Rossi, Italian bishop (died 1527)source
  • 1469King Ferdinand II of Naples (died 1496)source
  • 1557Sibylle of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, Duchess of Jülich-Cleves-Berg by birth and by marriage Margravine of Burgau (died 1628)source
  • 1596Frederick V of the Palatinate (died 1632)source
  • 1676Robert Walpole, first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1745)source
  • 1676Robert Walpole, first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1745)source
  • 1695Marie-Anne-Catherine Quinault, singer and composer (died 1793)source
  • 1702George Carpenter, 2nd Baron Carpenter, of England (died 1749)source
  • 1704Marie-Anne Barbel, French-Canadian Businesswomen who lived in New France (died 1793)source
  • 1728Johann Heinrich Lambert, Swiss mathematician, physicist and astronomer (died 1777)source
  • 1740Joseph-Michel Montgolfier, French inventor (died 1810)source
  • 1743Antoine Lavoisier, French chemist (died 1794)source
  • 1819Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Consort to Queen Victoria (died 1861)source
  • 1873Lee de Forest, American inventor (died 1961)source
  • 1875John Buchan, Scottish-Canadian novelist, historian and politician, 15th Governor General of Canada (died 1940)source
  • 1910Mother Teresa, Macedonian-born Albanian-Indian nun, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1997)source
  • 1935Geraldine Ferraro, U.S. Congresswoman, vice presidential candidate (died 2011)source
  • 1948Jeon Tae-il, Korean worker's right activist (died 1970)source

Deaths

  • 787Arechis II, autonomous prince (or duke) of Benevento, dies. Grimoald III, taken hostage by the Franks, succeeds his father as ruler of Benevento.source
  • 787Arechis II, duke of Beneventosource
  • 887Kōkō, emperor of Japan (born 830)source
  • 887Emperor Kōkō abdicates the throne and soon dies, after a 3-year reign. He is succeeded by his 20-year-old son Uda, as the 59th emperor of Japan.source
  • 979Zhao Dezhao, prince of the Song Dynasty (born 951)source
  • 1078Herluin, founder of Bec Abbeysource
  • 1278Ottokar II, Bohemian nobleman and king (born 1233)source
  • 1346John of Bohemia (born 1296) — killed in the Battle of Crécysource
  • 1346Louis I, Count of Flanders (born 1304) — killed in the Battle of Crécysource
  • 1346Charles II, Count of Alençon (born 1297) — killed in the Battle of Crécysource
  • 1346Rudolph, Duke of Lorraine (born 1320) — killed in the Battle of Crécysource
  • 1349Thomas Bradwardine, Archbishop of Canterburysource
  • 1399Mikhail II, Grand Prince of Tver (born 1333)source
  • 1462Catherine Zaccaria, Despotess of the Moreasource
  • 1474James III, the one-year old de jure King of Cyprus, dies 20 days after his first birthday, apparently from malaria. His mother, Catherine Cornaro, who had been serving as regent since her son's birth, becomes the ruling queen of Cyprus.source
  • 1486Ernest, Elector of Saxony, progenitor of the Ernestine Wettins (born 1441)source
  • 1500Philipp I, Count of Hanau-Münzenberg, German noble (born 1449)source
  • 1539Piers Butler, 8th Earl of Ormonde, Lord Treasurer (born c.1467)source
  • 1551Margaret Leijonhufvud, queen of Gustav I of Sweden (born 1516)source
  • 1572Pierre de la Ramée, French humanist scholar (born 1515)source
  • 1595Antonio, Prior of Crato, claimant to the throne of Portugal (born 1531)source
  • 1612George Sinclair, mercenary (born c. 1580).source
  • 1666Frans Hals, Dutch painter (born 1580)source
  • 1713August 26 (bur.) – Denis Papin, French inventor (born 1647)source
  • 1714Constantin Brâncoveanu, Prince of Wallachia (born 1654)source
  • 1723Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, Dutch scientist (born 1632)source
  • 1728Anne Marie d'Orléans, Queen consort of Sicily and Sardinia (born 1669)source
  • 1744William Byrd II, prominent planter from Virginia (born 1674)source
  • 1754Charles Powlett, 3rd Duke of Bolton (born 1685)source
  • 1762John Fane, 7th Earl of Westmorland, British politician (born 1685)source
  • 1785George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville, British soldier, politician (born 1716)source
  • 1795Alessandro Cagliostro, Italian Freemason (born 1743)source
  • 1810Santiago de Liniers, 1st Count of Buenos Aires, French officer in Spanish colonial military service (executed) (born 1753)source
  • 1850King Louis Philippe I of France (born 1773)source
  • 1865Johann Franz Encke (born 1791), German astronomersource
  • 1910William James, American psychologist, philosopher (born 1842)source
  • 1921Matthias Erzberger, German politician (assassinated; b. 1875)source
  • 1926Nazım Bey (born in 1870), MD and politiciansource
  • 1930Lon Chaney, American actor (born 1883)source
  • 1937Andrew Mellon, American banker, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury (born 1855)source
  • 1945Muhammad Ishan Khan, commander of the Afghan air force, dies of illness; his illness and death contribute to a decline in aviation training between the end of July and the end of Octobersource
  • 1956Yeung Kwo – Deputy Secretary General of the Malayan Communist Partysource
  • 1958Ralph Vaughan Williams, English composer (born 1872)source
  • 1974Charles Lindbergh, American aviator (born 1902)source
  • 1979Mika Waltari, author (born 1908)source
  • 1992August 24–28 – Hurricane Andrew hits south Florida and Louisiana and dissipates over the Tennessee valley when it merges with a storm system; 23 are killed.source
  • 20212021 Kabul airport attack: At least 182 people are killed, including 13 U.S. service members, in a suicide bomb attack at Kabul airport.source