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This day in history

This day in history: 26 October

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

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Events49

Born on this day · Died on this day237 · 120

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Key facts

406 historical events, births and deaths are listed for 26 October.
Entries come from Wikipedia’s day pages and are ordered by page views.
2015: A 7.5 magnitude earthquake strikes in the Hindu Kush mountain range in South Asia, killing 399 people and leaving 2,536 people injured.

Holidays and observances

Accession Day (Jammu and Kashmir, India)

Angam Day (Nauru)

Armed Forces Day (Benin)

Christian feast day: Alfred the Great (Catholic Church, Anglican Church, Eastern Orthodox Church)

Christian feast day: Amandus of Strasbourg

Christian feast day: Beóán (Bean) of Mortlach

Christian feast day: Blessed Celine Borzecka

Christian feast day: Cedd

Christian feast day: Cuthbert of Canterbury

Christian feast day: Demetrius of Thessaloniki

Christian feast day: Eadfrith of Leominster

Christian feast day: Eastern Orthodox liturgics

Events

2015A 7.5 magnitude earthquake strikes in the Hindu Kush mountain range in South Asia, killing 399 people and leaving 2,536 people injured.

2012Microsoft made a public release of Windows 8 and made it available on new PCs.

2004Rockstar Games releases Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for the PlayStation 2 in North America, which sold 12 million units for the PS2, becoming the console's best-selling video game.

2003The Cedar Fire, the third-largest wildfire in California history, kills 15 people, consumes 250,000 acres (1,000 km2), and destroys 2,200 homes around San Diego.

2002Approximately 50 Chechen terrorists and 150 hostages die when Russian special forces troops storm a theater building in Moscow, which had been occupied by the terrorists during a musical performance three days before.

2001The United States passes the USA PATRIOT Act into law.

2000A wave of protests forces Robert Guéï to step down as president after the Ivorian presidential election.

1999The United Kingdom's House of Lords votes to end the right of most hereditary peers to vote in Britain's upper chamber of Parliament.

1995An avalanche hits the Icelandic village of Flateyri, destroying 29 homes and burying 45 people, and killing 20.

1995Mossad agents assassinate Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Fathi Shaqaqi in his hotel in Malta.

1994Jordan and Israel sign a peace treaty.

1991Three months after the end of the Ten-Day War, the last soldier of the Yugoslav People's Army leaves the territory of the Republic of Slovenia.

1989China Airlines Flight 204 crashes after takeoff from Hualien Airport in Taiwan, killing all 54 people on board.

1985The Australian government returns ownership of Uluru to the local Pitjantjatjara Aboriginals.

1979Park Chung Hee, President of South Korea, is assassinated by Korean CIA head Kim Jae-gyu.

1977Ali Maow Maalin, the last natural case of smallpox, develops a rash in Somalia. The WHO and the CDC consider this date to be the anniversary of the eradication of smallpox, the most spectacular success of vaccination.

1968Space Race: The Soyuz 3 mission achieves the first Soviet space rendezvous.

1967Mohammad Reza Pahlavi crowns himself Emperor of Iran.

1958Pan American Airways makes the first commercial flight of the Boeing 707 from New York City to Paris.

1956Hungarian Revolution: In the towns of Mosonmagyaróvár and Esztergom, Hungarian secret police forces massacre civilians. As rebel strongholds in Budapest hold, fighting spreads throughout the country.

1955After the last Allied troops have left the country, and following the provisions of the Austrian Independence Treaty, Austria declares that it will never join a military alliance.

1955Ngô Đình Diệm proclaims himself as President of the newly created Republic of Vietnam.

1947Partition of India: The Maharaja of Kashmir and Jammu signs the Instrument of Accession with India, beginning the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948 and the Kashmir conflict.

1944World War II: The Battle of Leyte Gulf ends with an overwhelming American victory.

1942World War II: In the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands during the Guadalcanal Campaign, one U.S. aircraft carrier is sunk and another carrier is heavily damaged, while two Japanese carriers and one cruiser are heavily damaged.

1937Nazi Germany begins expulsions of 18,000 Polish Jews.

1936The first electric generator at Hoover Dam goes into full operation.

1918World War I: Erich Ludendorff, quartermaster-general of the Imperial German Army, is dismissed by Kaiser Wilhelm II for refusing to cooperate in peace negotiations.

1917World War I: Brazil declares war on the Central Powers.

1912First Balkan War: The Ottomans lose the cities of Thessaloniki and Skopje.

1909Japanese occupation of Korea: An Jung-geun assassinates Japan's Resident-General of Korea.

1905King Oscar II recognizes the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden.

1892Ida B. Wells publishes Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases.

1890Malleco Viaduct in Chile, at the time "the highest railroad bridge in the world", is inaugurated by President José Manuel Balmaceda.

1881Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday participate in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona.

1871Liberian President Edward James Roye is deposed in a coup d'état.

1863The Football Association is founded.

1860Unification of Italy: The Expedition of the Thousand ends when Giuseppe Garibaldi presents his conquests to King Victor Emmanuel of Sardinia.

1859The Royal Charter Storm kills at least eight hundred people in the British Isles.

1825The Erie Canal opens, allowing direct passage from the Hudson River to Lake Erie.

Born on this day

2002Lee Eunsang, South Korean singer

1997Rhenzy Feliz, American actor and singer

1996Rebecca Tunney, English gymnast

1995Yuta, Japanese singer

1994Allie DeBerry, American model and actress

1994Waqa Blake, Fijian rugby league player

1993Sergey Karasev, Russian basketball player

1992Joseph Cramarossa, Canadian hockey player

1991Riho Iida, Japanese model and actress

1990Mark Swanepoel, South African rugby player

1989Dre Kirkpatrick, American football player

1989Emil Sayfutdinov, Russian motorcycle racer

1988Greg Zuerlein, American figure skater

1988Nosliw Rodríguez, Venezuelan politician

1987Abudramae Bamba, Ivorian footballer

1987Shawn Lauvao, American football player

1986Ibor Bakar, French footballer

1986Jakub Rzeźniczak, Polish footballer

1986Marco Ruben, Argentinian footballer

1986Schoolboy Q, German-American rapper

1985Andrea Bargnani, Italian basketball player

1985Kafoumba Coulibaly, Ivorian footballer

1985Kieran Read, New Zealand rugby player

1985Monta Ellis, American basketball player

1984Adriano Correia, Brazilian footballer

1984Amanda Overmyer, American singer-songwriter

1984Jefferson Farfán, Peruvian footballer

1984Mathieu Crépel, French snowboarder

1984Sasha Cohen, American figure skater

1983Dmitri Sychev, Russian footballer

1983Francisco Liriano, Dominican baseball player

1983Luke Watson, South African rugby player

1982Adam Carroll, Irish race car driver

1982Nicola Adams, English boxer

1981Chou Ssu-Chi, Taiwanese baseball player

1981Guy Sebastian, Malaysian-Australian singer-songwriter

1981Martina Schild, Swiss skier

1981Sam Brown, American actor, producer, and screenwriter

1980Claire Cooper, English actress

1980Cristian Chivu, Romanian footballer

Died on this day

2025Bjorn Andresen, Swedish actor and musician (born 1955)

2021Roh Tae-woo, South Korean general and politician, 6th President of South Korea (born 1932)

2017Ali Ashraf Darvishian, Iranian novelist, short story writer and academic. (born 1941)

2015Giuseppe Nazzaro, Italian-Syrian bishop and theologian (born 1937)

2015Leo Kadanoff, American physicist and academic (born 1937)

2015Willis Carto, American activist and theorist (born 1926)

2014Brian Moore, Australian rugby league player (born 1944)

2014Germain Gagnon, Canadian ice hockey player (born 1942)

2014Gordy Soltau, American football player and sportscaster (born 1925)

2014Jeff Robinson, American baseball player (born 1961)

2014Mo Collins, American football player and coach (born 1976)

2014Oscar Taveras, Dominican baseball player (born 1992)

2014Senzo Meyiwa, South African footballer (born 1987)

2014Vic Allen, English sociologist, economist, and historian (born 1923)

2013Al Johnson, American singer-songwriter and producer (born 1948)

2013Andries Maseko, South African footballer (born 1955)

2013Doug Ireland, American journalist and activist (born 1946)

2013Gabriel of Komana (born 1946)

2013Ritva Arvelo, Finnish actress, director, and screenwriter (born 1921)

2013Ron Davies, Welsh photographer (born 1921)

2012Alan Kirschenbaum, American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1961)

2012Alan Stretton, Australian general (born 1922)

2012Arnold Greenberg, American businessman, co-founded Snapple (born 1932)

2012Björn Sieber, Austrian skier (born 1989)

2012John M. Johansen American architect, designed the Morris A. Mechanic Theatre (born 1916)

2012Mac Ahlberg, Swedish-Italian director, screenwriter, and cinematographer (born 1931)

2011Jona Senilagakali, Fijian physician and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Fiji (born 1929)

2010Glen Little, American clown (born 1925)

2010Mbah Maridjan, Indonesian spiritual leader (born 1927)

2010Romeu Tuma, Brazilian police officer and politician (born 1931)

Quote of the day

“Do you have the patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear?”

Lao Tzu

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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