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This day in history

This day in history: 26 September

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 day265 · 109

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Key facts

423 historical events, births and deaths are listed for 26 September.
Entries come from Wikipedia’s day pages and are ordered by page views.
2024: Hurricane Helene makes landfall in Perry, Florida as a Category 4 hurricane, killing over 250 people, causing US$78.7 billion in damage and becoming the deadliest hurricane in the mainland United States since Katrina.

Holidays and observances

Christian feast days: Blessed Crescencia Valls Espí

Christian feast days: Blessed Kaspar Stanggassinger

Christian feast days: Blessed Luigi Tezza

Christian feast days: Canadian Martyrs (Catholic Church in Canada)

Christian feast days: Cosmas and Damian

Christian feast days: John of Meda

Christian feast days: Nilus the Younger

Christian feast days: September 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Christian feast days: Thérèse Couderc

Christian feast days: Wilson Carlile (Anglican)

Day of the National Flag (Ecuador)

Dominion Day (New Zealand)

Events

2024Hurricane Helene makes landfall in Perry, Florida as a Category 4 hurricane, killing over 250 people, causing US$78.7 billion in damage and becoming the deadliest hurricane in the mainland United States since Katrina.

2022A mass shooting occurs at a school in Izhevsk, Udmurtia, Russia, resulting in the deaths of 18 people, including 11 children.

2014A mass kidnapping of 43 students from a teaching college occurs in Iguala, Mexico.

2010The Philippine Bar exam bombing occurs near the De La Salle University in Taft Avenue, Manila injuring 47 people.

2009Typhoon Ketsana hits the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand, causing 700 fatalities.

2002The overcrowded Senegalese ferry, MV Le Joola, capsizes off the coast of the Gambia killing more than 1,000.

2000Anti-globalization protests in Prague (some 20,000 protesters) turn violent during the IMF and World Bank summits.

2000The MS Express Samina sinks off Paros in the Aegean Sea killing 80 passengers.

1997A Garuda Indonesia Airbus A300 crashes near Medan airport, killing 234.

1997An earthquake strikes the Italian regions of Umbria and the Marche, causing part of the Basilica of St. Francis at Assisi to collapse.

1994A Yakovlev Yak-40 crashes into a river near Vanavara, Russia, killing 24.

1992A Nigerian Air Force Lockheed C-130 Hercules crashes in Ejigbo, Lagos, killing 159.

1984The United Kingdom and China agree to a transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong, to take place in 1997.

1983Soviet Air Force officer Stanislav Petrov identifies a report of an incoming nuclear missile as a computer error and not an American first strike, thus preventing nuclear war.

1983Soyuz 7K-ST No. 16L, intended to launch a crew to the Salyut 7 space station, explodes on the launch pad. The launch escape system is activated before the Soyuz-U rocket explodes, saving the crew.

1980A terrorist bombing at the Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany, kills 13 people and injures 213 others.

1978Air Caribbean Flight 309 crashes in Residencial Las Casas in San Juan, Puerto Rico, killing six.

1960In Chicago, the first televised debate takes place between presidential candidates Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy.

1959Typhoon Vera, the strongest typhoon to hit Japan in recorded history, makes landfall, killing 4,580 people and leaving nearly 1.6 million others homeless.

1954The Japanese rail ferry Tōya Maru sinks during a typhoon in the Tsugaru Strait, Japan, killing 1,172.

1953Rationing of sugar in the United Kingdom ends.

1950Korean War: United Nations troops recapture Seoul from North Korean forces.

1942Holocaust: Senior SS official August Frank issues a memorandum detailing how Jews should be "evacuated".

1936Spanish Civil War: Lluis Companys reshuffles the Generalitat de Catalunya, with the marxist POUM and anarcho-syndicalist CNT joining the government.

1933As gangster Machine Gun Kelly surrenders to the FBI, he shouts out, "Don't shoot, G-Men!", which becomes a nickname for FBI agents.

1923The German government calls off the passive resistance to the French and Belgian occupation of the Ruhr.

1919Ukrainian War of Independence: The Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine defeats the White Russian Volunteer Army at the Battle of Peregonovka.

1918World War I: The Meuse-Argonne Offensive began which would last until the total surrender of German forces.

1917World War I: The Battle of Polygon Wood begins.

1914The United States Federal Trade Commission is established by the Federal Trade Commission Act.

1907Four months after the 1907 Imperial Conference, New Zealand and Newfoundland are promoted from colonies to dominions within the British Empire.

1905Albert Einstein publishes the third of his Annus Mirabilis papers, introducing the special theory of relativity.

1810A new Act of Succession is adopted by the Riksdag of the Estates, and Jean Baptiste Bernadotte becomes heir to the Swedish throne.

1799War of the 2nd Coalition: French troops defeat Austro-Russian forces, leading to the collapse of Suvorov's campaign.

1789George Washington appoints Thomas Jefferson the first United States Secretary of State.

1777American Revolutionary War: British troops capture and begin the occupation of Philadelphia, which had been serving as the American capital city, during the Philadelphia campaign.

1688The city council of Amsterdam votes to support William of Orange's invasion of England, which became the Glorious Revolution.

1687Morean War: The Parthenon in Athens, used as a gunpowder depot by the Ottoman garrison, is partially destroyed after being bombarded during the Siege of the Acropolis by Venetian forces.

1580Francis Drake finishes his circumnavigation of the Earth in Plymouth, England.

1493Pope Alexander VI issues the papal bull Dudum siquidem to the Spanish, extending the grant of new lands he made them in Inter caetera.

Born on this day

2006Myles Lewis-Skelly, English footballer

2003Jane Remover, American musician

2001João Pedro, Brazilian footballer

2001Xinyu Wang, Chinese tennis player

2000Frankie Amaya, American soccer player

2000Princess Salma bint Abdullah, Jordanian princess

1997Özge Yağız, Turkish actress

1995Miloš Veljković, Serbian footballer

1994Jack Conger, American swimmer

1993Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, American basketball player

1993Rosicleide Andrade, Brazilian Paralympic judoka

1992Yoo Ara, South Korean singer and actress

1991Alma Jodorowsky, French actress, fashion model and singer

1991Dan Preston, English footballer

1989Jonny Bairstow, English cricketer

1988Buddy Matthews, Australian wrestler

1988Chris Archer, American baseball player

1988James Blake, English singer-songwriter and producer

1988Kiira Korpi, Finnish figure skater

1987Rosanna Munter, Swedish singer-songwriter

1986Sean Doolittle, American baseball player

1985Talulah Riley, English actress

1984Nev Schulman, American photographer, television host, and producer

1983Ricardo Quaresma, Portuguese footballer

1982John Scott, Canadian ice hockey player

1982Rob Burrow, English rugby player (died 2024)

1982Sun Li, Chinese actress

1981Asuka, Japanese professional wrestler

1981Ayumi Tsunematsu, Japanese voice actress

1981Christina Milian, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress

1981Serena Williams, American tennis player

1981Yao Beina, Chinese singer (died 2015)

1980Brooks Orpik, American ice hockey player

1980Daniel Sedin, Swedish ice hockey player

1980Henrik Sedin, Swedish ice hockey player

1980Patrick Friesacher, Austrian racing driver

1979Cameron Mooney, Australian footballer

1979Chris Kunitz, Canadian ice hockey player

1979Fuifui Moimoi, Tongan-New Zealand rugby league player

1979Jacob Tierney, Canadian actor, director, and screenwriter

Died on this day

2024John Ashton, American actor (born 1948)

2019Jacques Chirac, French politician, President of France (born 1932)

2016Toughie, last known Rabbs' fringe-limbed treefrog (h. fl. 2005)

2015Ana Seneviratne, Sri Lankan police officer and diplomat (born 1927)

2015Eudóxia Maria Froehlich, Brazilian zoologist (born 1928)

2015Sidney Phillips, American soldier, physician, and author (born 1924)

2014Gerald Neugebauer, American astronomer and physicist (born 1932)

2014Jim Boeke, American football player and coach (born 1938)

2014Sam Hall, American screenwriter (born 1921)

2014Tamir Sapir, Georgian-American businessman (born 1946)

2013Azizan Abdul Razak, Malaysian politician, 10th Menteri Besar of Kedah (born 1944)

2013Mario Montez, Puerto Rican-American actor (born 1935)

2013Seánie Duggan, Irish hurler (born 1922)

2013Sos Sargsyan, Armenian actor and director (born 1929)

2012Eugene Genovese, American historian and author (born 1930)

2012M'el Dowd, American actress and singer (born 1933)

2012Sam Steiger, American journalist and politician (born 1929)

2012Sylvia Fedoruk, Canadian physicist and politician, 17th Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan (born 1927)

2011Bob Cassilly, American sculptor, founded the City Museum (born 1949)

2010Gloria Stuart, American actress (born 1910)

2010Terry Newton, English rugby player (born 1978)

2008Marc Moulin, Belgian keyboard player, producer, and journalist (born 1942)

2008Paul Newman, American actor, director, producer, and businessman (born 1925)

2007Bill Wirtz, American businessman (born 1929)

2006Byron Nelson, American golfer and coach (born 1912)

2006Iva Toguri D'Aquino, American wartime propaganda broadcaster (born 1916)

2005Helen Cresswell, English author and screenwriter (born 1934)

2004Marianna Komlos, Canadian bodybuilder, model, and wrestler (born 1969)

2003Robert Palmer, English singer-songwriter (born 1949)

2003Shawn Lane, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer (born 1963)

Quote of the day

“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive, to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.”

Marcus Aurelius

Questions people ask

Where do the entries come from?

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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