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This day in history

This day in history: 26 June

Events, births and deaths on this date, ordered by how many people look them up.

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Born on this day · Died on this day216 · 113

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Key facts

399 historical events, births and deaths are listed for 26 June.
Entries come from Wikipedia’s day pages and are ordered by page views.
2024: Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, returns to Australia after pleading guilty to one charge of espionage in a Saipan court and subsequently being released by the United States Department of Justice.

Holidays and observances

Christian feast day: Anthelm of Belley

Christian feast day: Blessed Giacinto Longhin

Christian feast day: Blessed Therese-Madeleine Fantou

Christian feast day: David the Dendrite

Christian feast day: Hermogius

Christian feast day: Isabel Florence Hapgood (Episcopal Church)

Christian feast day: Jeremiah (Lutheran)

Christian feast day: John and Paul

Christian feast day: Josemaría Escrivá

Christian feast day: José María Robles Hurtado (one of Saints of the Cristero War)

Christian feast day: June 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Christian feast day: Mar Abhai (Syriac Orthodox Church)

Events

2024Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, returns to Australia after pleading guilty to one charge of espionage in a Saipan court and subsequently being released by the United States Department of Justice.

2015Five different terrorist attacks in France, Tunisia, Somalia, Kuwait, and Syria occur on what was dubbed Bloody Friday by international media. Upwards of 750 people are either killed or injured in these uncoordinated attacks.

2015The U.S. Supreme Court rules, 5–4, that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marriage under the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution.

2013Riots in China's Xinjiang region kill at least 36 people and injure 21 others.

2013The U.S. Supreme Court rules, 5–4, that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional and in violation of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

2012The Waldo Canyon fire descends into the Mountain Shadows neighborhood in Colorado Springs, United States, burning 347 homes in a matter of hours and killing two people.

2008A suicide bomber dressed as an Iraqi policeman detonates an explosive vest, killing 25 people.

2007Pope Benedict XVI reinstates the traditional laws of papal election in which a successful candidate must receive two-thirds of the votes.

2006Mari Alkatiri, the first Prime Minister of East Timor, resigns after weeks of political unrest.

2003The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Lawrence v. Texas that sex-based sodomy laws are unconstitutional.

2000The Human Genome Project announces the completion of a "rough draft" sequence.

1997J. K. Rowling publishes the first of her Harry Potter novel series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, in the United Kingdom.

1997The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the Communications Decency Act violates the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

1995Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani deposes his father Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, in a bloodless coup d'état.

1991Yugoslav Wars: The Yugoslav People's Army begins the Ten-Day War in Slovenia.

1988The first crash of an Airbus A320 occurs when Air France Flight 296Q crashes at Mulhouse–Habsheim Airfield in Habsheim, France, during an air show, killing three of the 136 people on board.

1981Dan-Air Flight 240, flying to East Midlands Airport, crashes in Nailstone, Leicestershire. All three crew members perish.

1978Air Canada Flight 189, flying to Toronto, overruns the runway and crashes into the Etobicoke Creek ravine. Two of the 107 passengers on board perish.

1975Two FBI agents and a member of the American Indian Movement are killed in a shootout on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota; Leonard Peltier is later convicted of the murders in a controversial trial.

1974The Universal Product Code is scanned for the first time to sell a package of Wrigley's chewing gum at the Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio.

1967Karol Wojtyła (later John Paul II) is made a cardinal by Pope Paul VI.

1963Cold War: U.S. President John F. Kennedy gives his "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech, underlining the support of the United States for democratic West Germany shortly after Soviet-supported East Germany erected the Berlin Wall.

1960Madagascar gains its independence from France.

1960The former British Protectorate of British Somaliland gains its independence as Somaliland.

1959Swedish boxer Ingemar Johansson becomes world champion of heavyweight boxing, by defeating American Floyd Patterson on technical knockout after two minutes and three seconds in the third round at Yankee Stadium.

1955The South African Congress Alliance adopts the Freedom Charter at the Congress of the People in Kliptown.

1953Lavrentiy Beria, head of MVD, is arrested by Nikita Khrushchev and other members of the Politburo.

1952The Pan-Malayan Labour Party is founded in Malaya, as a union of statewide labour parties.

1948Cold War: The first supply flights are made in response to the Berlin Blockade.

1948William Shockley files the original patent for the grown-junction transistor, the first bipolar junction transistor.

1945The United Nations Charter is signed by 50 Allied nations in San Francisco, California.

1944World War II: San Marino, a neutral state, is mistakenly bombed by the RAF based on faulty information, leading to 35 civilian deaths.

1944World War II: The Battle of Osuchy in Osuchy, Poland, one of the largest battles between Nazi Germany and Polish resistance forces, ends with the defeat of the latter.

1942The first flight of the Grumman F6F Hellcat.

1941World War II: Soviet planes bomb Kassa, Hungary (now Košice, Slovakia), giving Hungary the impetus to declare war the next day.

1940World War II: Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, the Soviet Union presents an ultimatum to Romania requiring it to cede Bessarabia and the northern part of Bukovina.

1936Initial flight of the Focke-Wulf Fw 61, the first practical helicopter.

1934United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Federal Credit Union Act, which establishes credit unions.

1924The American occupation of the Dominican Republic ends after eight years.

1918World War I: Allied forces under John J. Pershing and James Harbord defeat Imperial German forces under Wilhelm, German Crown Prince in the Battle of Belleau Wood.

Born on this day

2005Princess Alexia of the Netherlands

2004Mikey Williams, American basketball player

2002Chandler Smith, American race car driver

2002Manon Bannerman, Swiss singer and dancer

2000Ann Li, American tennis player

1999Connor Dewar, Canadian ice hockey player

1997Baek Ye-rin, South Korean singer

1997Callum Taylor, English cricketer

1997Ethan Bear, Canadian ice hockey player

1997Jacob Elordi, Australian actor

1994Hollie Arnold, English javelin thrower

1994Leonard Carow, German actor

1993Ariana Grande, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress

1992Jennette McCurdy, American actress and singer-songwriter

1992Joel Campbell, Costa Rican footballer

1992Rudy Gobert, French basketball player

1991Diego Falcinelli, Italian footballer

1991Dustin Martin, Australian rules footballer

1991Houssem Chemali, French footballer

1990Belaynesh Oljira, Ethiopian runner

1990Brandon Sklenar, American actor

1990Igor Subbotin, Estonian footballer

1990Iman Shumpert, American basketball player

1988King Bach, Canadian-American actor, comedian, director, producer, writer and social media personality

1988Oliver Stang, German footballer

1987Carlos Iaconelli, Brazilian racing driver

1987Samir Nasri, French footballer

1986Duvier Riascos, Colombian footballer

1985Ogyen Trinley Dorje, Tibetan spiritual leader, 17th Karmapa Lama

1984Aubrey Plaza, American actress

1984Cody McLeod, Canadian ice hockey player

1984Deron Williams, American basketball player

1984Elijah Dukes, American baseball player

1984Indila, French singer

1984J. J. Barea, Puerto Rican-American basketball player

1984Preslava, Bulgarian singer

1984Priscah Jeptoo, Kenyan runner

1984Raymond Felton, American basketball player

1984Yankuba Ceesay, Gambian footballer

1983Antonio Rosati, Italian footballer

Died on this day

2026Joe Doering, American professional wrestler (born 1982)

2025Bill Moyers, American journalist, 13th White House Press Secretary (born 1934)

2025Carolyn McCarthy, American nurse and politician (born 1944)

2025Lalo Schifrin, Argentinian pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1932)

2025Takutai Tarsh Kemp, New Zealand politician (born 1975)

2024Taiki Matsuno, Japanese voice actor (born 1967)

2022Margaret Keane, American artist (born 1927)

2021Mike Gravel, American politician (born 1930)

2020Milton Glaser, American graphic designer (born 1929)

2019Beth Chapman, American reality Television star, Bounty Hunter (born 1967)

2015Chris Thompson, American screenwriter and producer (born 1952)

2015Yevgeny Primakov, Ukrainian-Russian journalist and politician, 32nd Prime Minister of Russia (born 1929)

2014Bill Frank, American-Canadian football player (born 1938)

2014Bob Mischak, American football player and coach (born 1932)

2014Howard Baker, American lawyer, politician, and diplomat, 12th White House Chief of Staff (born 1925)

2014Julius Rudel, Austrian-American conductor (born 1921)

2014Mary Rodgers, American composer and author (born 1931)

2014Rollin King, American businessman, co-founded Southwest Airlines (born 1931)

2013Byron Looper, American politician (born 1964)

2013Edward Huggins Johnstone, Brazilian-American sergeant and judge (born 1922)

2013Henrik Otto Donner, Finnish trumpet player and composer (born 1939)

2013Justin Miller, American baseball player (born 1977)

2013Marc Rich, Belgian-American businessman (born 1934)

2012Doris Singleton, American actress (born 1919)

2012Mario O'Hara, Filipino director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1944)

2012Nora Ephron, American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1941)

2012Pat Cummings, American basketball player (born 1956)

2012Sverker Åström, Swedish diplomat, Swedish Permanent Representative to the United Nations (born 1915)

2011Edith Fellows, American actress (born 1923)

2011Jan van Beveren, Dutch footballer and coach (born 1948)

Quote of the day

“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”

attributed to the Buddha

Questions people ask

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From Wikipedia’s on-this-day pages for this language, updated once a day and ordered by how often each article is read.

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