September 26Birthdays & History

On this day: September 26 in history

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

1. 46 BCJulius Caesar dedicates a temple to Venus Genetrix, fulfilling a vow he made at the Battle of Pharsalus.Europe
2. 715Ragenfrid defeats Theudoald at the Battle of Compiègne.Europe
3. 1087William II is crowned King of England, and reigns until 1100.Europe
4. 1142Stephen of Blois's army approaches Oxford, beginning the siege of Oxford.Europe
5. 1143Election of pope Celestine II following the death of pope Innocent II.Europe
6. 1212The Golden Bull of Sicily is issued to confirm the hereditary royal title in Bohemia for the Přemyslid dynasty.Europe
7. 1345Friso-Hollandic Wars: Frisians defeat Holland in the Battle of Warns.Europe
8. 1371Serbian–Turkish wars: Ottoman Turks fight against a Serbian army at the Battle of Maritsa.EuropeMiddle East
9. 1423Hundred Years' War: A French army defeats the English at the Battle of La Brossinière.Europe
10. 1493Pope Alexander VI issues the papal bull Dudum siquidem to the Spanish, extending the grant of new lands he made them in Inter caetera.Europe
11. 1580Francis Drake finishes his circumnavigation of the Earth in Plymouth, England.Europe
12. 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.EuropeMiddle East
13. 1688The city council of Amsterdam votes to support William of Orange's invasion of England, which became the Glorious Revolution.Europe
14. 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.North AmericaEurope
15. 1789George Washington appoints Thomas Jefferson the first United States Secretary of State.North America
16. 1799War of the 2nd Coalition: French troops defeat Austro-Russian forces, leading to the collapse of Suvorov's campaign.Europe
17. 1810A new Act of Succession is adopted by the Riksdag of the Estates, and Jean Baptiste Bernadotte becomes heir to the Swedish throne.Europe
18. 1905Albert Einstein publishes the third of his Annus Mirabilis papers, introducing the special theory of relativity.Europe
19. 1907Four months after the 1907 Imperial Conference, New Zealand and Newfoundland are promoted from colonies to dominions within the British Empire.OceaniaNorth AmericaEurope
20. 1914The United States Federal Trade Commission is established by the Federal Trade Commission Act.North America
21. 1917World War I: The Battle of Polygon Wood begins.Europe
22. 1918World War I: The Meuse-Argonne Offensive began which would last until the total surrender of German forces.Europe
23. 1919Ukrainian War of Independence: The Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine defeats the White Russian Volunteer Army at the Battle of Peregonovka.Europe
24. 1923The German government calls off the passive resistance to the French and Belgian occupation of the Ruhr.Europe
25. 1933As gangster Machine Gun Kelly surrenders to the FBI, he shouts out, "Don't shoot, G-Men!", which becomes a nickname for FBI agents.North America
26. 1936Spanish Civil War: Lluis Companys reshuffles the Generalitat de Catalunya, with the marxist POUM and anarcho-syndicalist CNT joining the government.Europe
27. 1942Holocaust: Senior SS official August Frank issues a memorandum detailing how Jews should be "evacuated".Europe
28. 1950Korean War: United Nations troops recapture Seoul from North Korean forces.Asia
29. 1953Rationing of sugar in the United Kingdom ends.Europe
30. 1954The Japanese rail ferry Tōya Maru sinks during a typhoon in the Tsugaru Strait, Japan, killing 1,172.Asia
31. 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.Asia
32. 1960In Chicago, the first televised debate takes place between presidential candidates Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy.North America
33. 1978Air Caribbean Flight 309 crashes in Residencial Las Casas in San Juan, Puerto Rico, killing six.Latin America
34. 1980A terrorist bombing at the Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany, kills 13 people and injures 213 others.Europe
35. 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.Europe
36. 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.EuropeNorth America
37. 1984The United Kingdom and China agree to a transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong, to take place in 1997.EuropeAsia
38. 1992A Nigerian Air Force Lockheed C-130 Hercules crashes in Ejigbo, Lagos, killing 159.Africa
39. 1994A Yakovlev Yak-40 crashes into a river near Vanavara, Russia, killing 24.Europe
40. 1997An earthquake strikes the Italian regions of Umbria and the Marche, causing part of the Basilica of St. Francis at Assisi to collapse.Europe
41. 1997A Garuda Indonesia Airbus A300 crashes near Medan airport, killing 234.Asia
42. 2000The MS Express Samina sinks off Paros in the Aegean Sea killing 80 passengers.Europe
43. 2000Anti-globalization protests in Prague (some 20,000 protesters) turn violent during the IMF and World Bank summits.Europe
44. 2002The overcrowded Senegalese ferry, MV Le Joola, capsizes off the coast of the Gambia killing more than 1,000.Africa
45. 2009Typhoon Ketsana hits the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand, causing 700 fatalities.Asia
46. 2010The Philippine Bar exam bombing occurs near the De La Salle University in Taft Avenue, Manila injuring 47 people.Asia
47. 2014A mass kidnapping of 43 students from a teaching college occurs in Iguala, Mexico.Latin America
48. 2022A mass shooting occurs at a school in Izhevsk, Udmurtia, Russia, resulting in the deaths of 18 people, including 11 children.Europe
49. 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.North America

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