February 26Birthdays & History

On this day: February 26 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 747 BCAccording to Ptolemy, the epoch (origin) of the Nabonassar Era began at noon on this date. Historians use this to establish the modern BC chronology for dating historic events.Middle East
2. 320Chandragupta I is officially crowned as the first Gupta Emperor.Asia
3. 364Valentinian I is proclaimed Roman Emperor.Europe
4. 1074Battle of Kemej: The royal army of Solomon, King of Hungary defeats the force of his rebellious cousin Duke Géza.Europe
5. 1266Battle of Benevento: An army led by Charles, Count of Anjou, defeats a combined German and Sicilian force led by Manfred, King of Sicily. Manfred is killed in the battle and Pope Clement IV invests Charles as king of Sicily and Naples.Europe
6. 1365The Ava Kingdom and the royal city of Ava (Inwa) were founded by King Thado Minbya.Asia
7. 1606The Janszoon voyage of 1605–06 becomes the first European expedition to set foot on Australia, although it is mistaken as a part of New Guinea.EuropeOceania
8. 1616Galileo Galilei is formally banned by the Roman Catholic Church from teaching or defending the view that the earth orbits the sun.Europe
9. 1775The British East India Company factory on Balambangan Island is destroyed by Moro pirates.EuropeAsia
10. 1794The first Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen burns down.Europe
11. 1815Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from exile on the island of Elba.Europe
12. 1870The Beach Pneumatic Transit in New York City, intended as a demonstration for a subway line, opens.North America
13. 1876Japan and Korea sign the Treaty of Kangwha, which grants Japanese citizens extraterritoriality rights in Korea, opens three Korean ports to Japanese trade, and ends Korea's status as a tributary state of Qing dynasty China.AsiaAsia
14. 1909Kinemacolor, the first successful color motion picture process, is first shown to the general public at the Palace Theatre in London.Europe
15. 1914HMHS Britannic, sister to the RMS Titanic, is launched at Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast.Europe
16. 1919President Woodrow Wilson signs an act of Congress establishing the Grand Canyon National Park.North America
17. 1929President Calvin Coolidge signs legislation establishing the 96,000 acres (390 km2) Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.North America
18. 1935Robert Watson-Watt carries out a demonstration near Daventry which leads directly to the development of radar in the United Kingdom.Europe
19. 1935Adolf Hitler orders the Luftwaffe to be re-formed, violating the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles.Europe
20. 1936In the February 26 Incident, young nationalist Japanese military officers assassinate multiple cabinet statesmen and start a rebellion in downtown Tokyo, which is ended 3 days later.Asia
21. 1945World War II: US troops reclaim the Philippine island of Corregidor from the Japanese.North AmericaAsiaAsia
22. 1952Vincent Massey is sworn in as the first Canadian-born Governor General of Canada.North America
23. 1960A New York-bound Alitalia airliner crashes into a cemetery in Shannon, Ireland, shortly after takeoff, killing 34 of the 52 persons on board.North AmericaEurope
24. 1960A Kyiv-bound Aeroflot airliner crashes on approach to Snilow Airport in Lviv, killing 32 of the 33 people on board.Europe
25. 1966Apollo program: Launch of AS-201, the first flight of the Saturn IB rocket.North America
26. 1971U.N. Secretary-General U Thant signs United Nations proclamation of the vernal equinox as Earth Day.North America
27. 1979The Superliner railcar enters revenue service with Amtrak.North America
28. 1980Egypt and Israel establish full diplomatic relations.Middle East
29. 1987Iran–Contra affair: The Tower Commission rebukes President Ronald Reagan for not controlling his national security staff.Middle East
30. 1992First Nagorno-Karabakh War: Khojaly Massacre: Armenian armed forces open fire on Azeri civilians at a military post outside the town of Khojaly leaving hundreds dead.Europe
31. 1993World Trade Center bombing: In New York City, a truck bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center explodes, killing six and injuring over a thousand people.North America
32. 1995The UK's oldest investment banking institute, Barings Bank, collapses after a rogue securities broker Nick Leeson loses $1.4 billion by speculating on the Singapore International Monetary Exchange using futures contracts.EuropeAsia
33. 2008The New York Philharmonic performs in Pyongyang, North Korea; this was the first such event to take place in North Korea.North AmericaAsia
34. 2012Seventeen-year-old African-American student Trayvon Martin is shot to death by neighborhood watch coordinator George Zimmerman in an altercation in Sanford, Florida.AfricaNorth America
35. 2012A train derails in Burlington, Ontario, Canada killing at least three people and injuring 45.North America
36. 2013A hot air balloon crashes near Luxor, Egypt, killing 19 people.Middle East
37. 2019Indian Air Force fighter-jets target Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camps in Balakot, Pakistan.Asia
38. 2021A total of 279 female students aged between 10 and 17 are kidnapped by bandits in the Zamfara kidnapping in Zamfara State, Nigeria.Africa
39. 2026The government of Pakistan declares "open war" against the Taliban in Afghanistan, initiating the 2026 Afghanistan–Pakistan War.Asia

Source: Wikipedia "February 26" / CC BY-SA 4.0