Famous Events For May 26 – Today In History

May 26: Today in History – Historical Events

Early Centuries – May 26 Historic Events – Before the 1700s

1. 26th May 1328: Pope John XXII forced William of Ockham to flee Avignon.
2. 26th May 1538: John Calvin and his followers were expelled from the city of Geneva. Calvin lived in exile in Strasbourg for the next three years.
3. 26th May 1596: The Drievoudig Covenant against Spain was signed by England, France, and the Netherlands.

4. 26th May 1647: Priest access to the colony was disallowed by Massachusetts.
5. 26th May 1647: Alse Young was hanged in Hartford Connecticut. She was executed as a witch. She was the first person to be executed as a witch in the American colonies.

18th Century – What Happened on May 26 – The 1700s

6. 26th May 1736: The British and the Chickasaw Indians defeated the French in the Battle of Ackia.
7. 26th May 1781: In Philadelphia today “Bank of North America” was incorporated.
8. 26th May 1798: About 500 Irish insurgents were killed by the British at the Battle of Tara.

19th Century – May 26 This Day That Year – The 1800s

9. 26th May 1805: In Italy, Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned as King of Italy today.
10. 26th May 1824: US recognizes Brazil.
11. 26th May 1830: US President signed the Removal Act today which paved the way for reluctant and often forcible emigration of tens of thousands of American Indians to the West.

12. 26th May 1868: The impeachment motion against US President Andre Johnson was defeated by one vote.
13. 26th May 1869: The Commonwealth of Massachusetts chartered the Boston University.
14. 26th May 1876: HMS Challenger completes 128,000 Km oceanographic exploration and returns today.
15. 26th May 1883: G Barbee aboard Jacobus won the 11th Preakness in 2:42.5.
16. 26th May 1887: Racetrack betting was legalized today in New York state.
17. 26th May 1894: Twenty-six-year-old Emanuel Lasker, today became world champion chess player.
18. 26th May 1896: Publication Dow Jones Industrial Average, an index of 12 industrial stocks was first published today. The average price of these 12 stocks was 40.94.
19. 26th May 1896: The first American intercollegiate bicycle race was held at Manhattan Beach in New York today.
20. 26th May 1896: In Russia Nicholas II was crowned as Tsar. He was the last Tsar of Russia.
21. 26th May 1897: “Dracula” the Vampire novel written by Bram Stoker, an Irish writer went on sale today in London book shops.
22. 26th May 1898: The City Charter was approved by San Francisco. Municipal ownership of utilities was allowed.

20th Century – Important Events On This Day May 26th – The 1900s

23. 26th May 1900: British troops led by Ian Hamilton today attacked Vaal in South Africa.
24. 26th May 1903: Marks the beginning of Sherlock Homes’ “Adventure of Three Gables”.
25. 26th May 1904: The Japanese Army fought bitterly for two days to defeat the Russians at Kinchan and captured the forts at Nanshan.
26. 26th May 1906: This day marks the formation of the Archaeological Institute of America.
27. 26th May 1906: In England, Vauxhall Bridge was today opened in London.
28. 26th May 1908: The first major commercial oil strike in the Middle East happened at Masjed Soleyman in southwest Persia. Rights acquired by the United Kingdom.
29. 26th May 1911: Germany today passed legislation organizing Alsace and Lorraine as autonomous states with a legislature.
30. 26th May 1913: Marks the formation of the US Actors Equity Association.
31. 26th May 1913: Emily Duncan became a magistrate today. She became Great Britain’s first woman magistrate.
32. 26th May 1915: British Prime Minister H. H. Asquith formed a coalition government in the United Kingdom today.

33. 26th May 1918: the Social Democratic Republic of Georgia declared independence from Russia today.
34. 26th May 1922: Marxist Revolutionary and Soviet Leader Vladimir Lenin suffered a stroke today.
35. 26th May 1923: In Hamburg, Socialist Workers Youth International formed today.
36. 26th May 1924: An Immigration law restricting immigration was signed today by US President Calvin Coolidge.
37. 26th May 1926: Lebanon today adopted its constitution.
38. 26th May 1927: The 15 millionth and the last Model T Ford was produced today by Henry Ford’s Ford Motor Company.
39. 26th May 1930: It was today ruled by the Supreme Court that buying liquor does not violate the Constitution.
40. 26th May 1932: In Japan, Admiral Makoto Saito formed a parliament in Tokyo.
41. 26th May 1934: This day marks the re-opening of the Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago.

42. 26th May 1936: Marks the end of the first government of Zealand in Belgium.
43. 26th May 1938: Marks the formation of the US House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities.
44. 26th May 1940: Helicopter Vought-Sikorsky US-300 designed by Igor Sikorsky was successfully flown today. This was the first helicopter flight in the US.
45. 26th May 1941: The home of Betsy Ross who is credited with Creating the First American Flag, American Flag House was given to the city of Philadelphia today.
46. 26th May 1941: German battleship Bismarck was today sighted by an aircraft from HMS Ark Royal.
47. 26th May 1942: In London, the Anglo-Soviet treaty was signed today.
48. 26th May 1942: Jews in Belgium were required by the Nazis to wear the Jewish star.
49. 26th May 1943: Liberian president Edwin Barclay visited the USA today. He became the first president of a black country to visit the USA.
50. 26th May 1943: Prime Minister of Britain Winston Churchill and Genera Marshall flew from the US to North Africa today.
51. 26th May 1943: Jews in Amsterdam today rioted against the Germany.

52. 26th May 1945: The first US bombing of Tokyo.
53. 26th May 1946: Patent for the H-Bomb was today filed in the United States.
54. 26th May 1948: In South Africa, a nationalist government with an apartheid policy was elected today under D. F. Malan.
55. 26th May 1950: Today, the rationing of petrol ended in Great Britain after eleven years of rationing.
56. 26th May 1955: In the British parliamentary elections Antony Eden led a conservative party that emerged victorious.
57. 26th May 1955: Soviet First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev arrived in Belgrade today.
58. 26th May 1956: About 103 crew members of the aircraft carrier USS Bennington were killed in Narragansett Bay, off Rhode Island, when a fire broke out in the ship.
59. 26th May 1958: The US today performed an atmospheric nuclear test at Eniwetok.
60. 26th May 1961: Bombers of the USAF flew across the Atlantic in a record time of just over 3 hours.
61. 26th May 1963: The Organization of African Unity was formed today.
62. 26th May 1963: Roy Emerson today beat Pierre Darmon in four sets to win the 62n French Open Championship.

63. 26th May 1965: The Voting Rights Bill was passed today in the Netherlands.
64. 26th May 1966: In Hoé in South Vietnam, a Buddhist sets himself on fire at the US consulate.
65. 26th May 1966: Guyana today declared its independence from the United Kingdom.
66. 26th May 1967: The US today performed its nuclear test at the Nevada test site.
67. 26th May 1969: This day marks the return to earth of the Apollo 10 astronauts.
68. 26th May 1970: Tupolev Tu-144 of the Soviet Union today became the first commercial transport to surpass Mach 2 speed.
69. 26th May 1972: President Nixon of the US and Leonid Brezhnev of the Soviet Union today signed the SALT accord.
70. 26th May 1972: The United States today performed a nuclear test at its Nevada test site.
71. 26th May 1972: A consortium of private businesses led by the Midland Bank today bought over the British state-owned travel firm Thomas Cook & Son.
72. 26th May 1972: Heavyweight Boxing Champion Joe Frazier today knocked out Ron Stander in 5 for the heavyweight boxing title.
73. 26th May 1972: A 64-year-old woman was killed in Oxford Street, Belfast, by a bomb planted by the Irish Republican Army.
74. 26th May 1972: To deal with crimes arising out of the Northern Ireland conflict, the Special Criminal Court was re-instituted today in Ireland.

75. 26th May 1973: Bahrain today adopted its constitution.
76. 26th May 1975: To save oil-consuming nations from being held hostages by oil-producing nations, the US Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger today outlined a trillion-dollar program for including Nuclear Power and funding alternate forms of energy.
77. 26th May 1977: George Willig climbed the South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City today.
78. 26th May 1978: Atlantic City today opened its first legal gambling casino.
79. 26th May 1981: The Italian cabinet headed by Prime Minister Arnaldo Forlani resigned today following a scandal over membership in the P2 Masonic Lodge.
80. 26th May 1989: The US today performed a nuclear test at its Nevada Test Site.
81. 26th May 1990: China today performed a nuclear test at Lop Nor in the People’s Republic of China.
82. 26th May 1991: In Thailand, a Boeing 767 crashed into the jungle near Bangkok, killing 223 people on board.
83. 26th May 1994: Michael Jackson today married Lisa Marie Presley in the Dominican Republic.

21st Century – May 26 This Day In History – The 2000s

84. 26th May 2000: Following the withdrawal of Israelis, Hezbollah announced that its fighters would soon pull out of Southern Lebanon.
85. 26th May 2000: In a ceremony held in Colombo in Sri Lanka, science fiction author Arthur C Clarke was knighted for “Services to literature”.
86. 26th May 2002: In Colombia, Alvaro Uribe today became its President.
87. 26th May 2003: Sherpa Lakpa Gelu established a new record by climbing Mount Everest in 10 hours and 56 minutes, bettering his previous record just three days after establishing it. The Tourism Ministry of Nepal has confirmed the record.
88. 26th May 2004: For being an accomplice to Timothy McVeigh who carried out the Oklahoma City bombing, US Army veteran Terry Nichols was today found guilty of 161 state murder charges.
89. 26th May 2004: The New York Times today published its admission of flawed reporting, and its other journalistic failings during the build-up to the 2003 Iraq War helped the belief that Ira possessed large stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction.
90. 26th May 2006: In Berlin Germany, The Hauptbahnhof, the largest railway station in Europe was opened today. It was built at a cost of over 700 million Euros.

91. 26th May 2006: A devastating earthquake struck Java, killing over 5,700 people and rendering 200,000 people homeless.
92. 26th May 2008: The “Chengdu Population and Family Planning Committee”, in China, relaxed the Single Child rule, which was instituted in 1970, following a devastating earthquake that killed the only child of many a couple.
93. 26th May 2012: For allegedly leaking confidential documents, the butler of Pope Benedict XVI was today arrested.
94. 26th May 2012: In the Finnish town of Hyvinkaa, a gunman today killed 2 and wounded 7 people.
95. 26th May 2013: In the 20/20 Premier League in India, Mumbai Indians won the championship by defeating Chennai Super Kings in the Final.
96. 26th May 2013: In the 66th Cannes Film Festival, the film “Blue is the Warmest Colour” won the Palme d’Or. The film was directed by Abdellatif Kechiche.
97. 26th May 2014: It was today confirmed by the World Health Organization that Ebola has reached Sierra Leone.
98. 26th May 2014: After winning the general elections in India, Narendra Modi became the 15th Prime Minister of India.
99. 26th May 2014: Following a military coup, there were protests across Thailand. General Prayuth has warned of a crackdown if demonstrations continue.
100. 26th May 2018: Ireland today voted for the 8th amendment which will allow abortion to be legalized with 66.4% of the voters, voting in its favor.

See Also:

Sun Signs Everything Under The Sun!