February 26

Events

• 747 BC - Epoch of Ptolemy's Nabonassar Era.
• 364 - Valentinian I is proclaimed Roman emperor.
• 1233 - Mongol–Jin War: The Mongols capture Kaifeng, the capital of the Jin dynasty, after besieging it for months.
• 1266 - Battle 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.
• 1365 - The Ava Kingdom and the royal city of Ava founded by King Thado Minbya
• 1606 - The 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.
• 1616 - Galileo Galilei is formally banned by the Roman Catholic Church from teaching or defending the view that the earth orbits the sun.
• 1775 - The British East India Company factory on Balambangan Island is destroyed by Moro pirates.
• 1794 - The first Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen burns down.
• 1815 - Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from Elba.
• 1876 - Japan and Korea sign a treaty granting Japanese citizens extraterritoriality rights, opening three ports to Japanese trade, and ending Korea's status as a tributary state of Qing dynasty China.
• 1909 - Kinemacolor, the first successful color motion picture process, is first shown to the general public at the Palace Theatre in London.
• 1914 -, sister to the, is launched at Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast.
• 1919 - President Woodrow Wilson signs an act of Congress establishing the Grand Canyon National Park.
• 1929 - President Calvin Coolidge signs an executive order establishing the 96,000 acre Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
• 1935 - Adolf Hitler orders the Luftwaffe to be re-formed, violating the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles.
• 1935 - Robert Watson-Watt carries out a demonstration near Daventry which leads directly to the development of radar in the United Kingdom.
• 1936 - In the February 26 Incident, young Japanese military officers attempt to stage a coup against the government.
• 1952 - Vincent Massey is sworn in as the first Canadian-born Governor General of Canada.
• 1960 - A New York-bound Alitalia airliner crashes into a cemetery in Shannon, Ireland, shortly after takeoff, killing 34 of the 52 persons on board.
• 1966 - Apollo program: Launch of AS-201, the first flight of the Saturn IB rocket
• 1971 - U.N. Secretary-General U Thant signs United Nations proclamation of the vernal equinox as Earth Day.
• 1979 - The Superliner railcar enters revenue service with Amtrak.
• 1980 - Egypt and Israel establish full diplomatic relations.
• 1987 - Iran–Contra affair: The Tower Commission rebukes President Ronald Reagan for not controlling his national security staff.
• 1992 - 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.
• 1993 - World 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.
• 1995 - The 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.
• 2008 - The New York Philharmonic performs in Pyongyang, North Korea; this is the first event of its kind to take place in North Korea.
• 2012 - Trayvon Martin was shot and killed at the age of 17 in Sanford, Florida.
• 2012 - A train derails in Burlington, Ontario, Canada killing at least three people and injuring 45.
• 2013 - A hot air balloon crashes near Luxor, Egypt, killing 19 people.

  Births

• 1361 - Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia
• 1416 - Christopher of Bavaria
• 1564 - Christopher Marlowe, English playwright, poet and translator
• 1584 - Albert VI, Duke of Bavaria
• 1587 - Stefano Landi, Italian composer and educator
• 1629 - Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll, Scottish peer
• 1651 - Quirinus Kuhlmann, German Baroque poet and mystic
• 1671 - Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, English philosopher and politician
• 1672 - Antoine Augustin Calmet, French monk and theologian
• 1677 - Nicola Fago, Italian composer and teacher
• 1718 - Johan Ernst Gunnerus, Norwegian bishop, botanist and zoologist
• 1720 - Gian Francesco Albani, Italian cardinal
• 1746 - Maria Amalia, Duchess of Parma
• 1770 - Anton Reicha, Bohemian composer and flautist
• 1777 - Matija Nenadović, Serbian priest, historian, and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Serbia
• 1786 - François Arago, French mathematician and politician, 25th Prime Minister of France
• 1799 - Benoît Paul Émile Clapeyron, French physicist and engineer
• 1802 - Victor Hugo, French author, poet, and playwright
• 1808 - Honoré Daumier, French painter, illustrator, and sculptor
• 1808 - Nathan Kelley, American architect, designed the Ohio Statehouse
• 1829 - Levi Strauss, German-American fashion designer, founded Levi Strauss & Co.
• 1842 - Camille Flammarion, French astronomer and author
• 1846 - Buffalo Bill, American soldier and hunter
• 1852 - John Harvey Kellogg, American surgeon, co-created Corn flakes
• 1857 - Émile Coué, French psychologist and pharmacist
• 1861 - Ferdinand I of Bulgaria
• 1861 - Nadezhda Krupskaya, Russian soldier and politician
• 1866 - Herbert Henry Dow, Canadian-American businessman, founded the Dow Chemical Company
• 1877 - Henry Barwell, Australian politician, 28th Premier of South Australia
• 1877 - Rudolph Dirks, German-American illustrator
• 1879 - Frank Bridge, English viola player and composer
• 1880 - Kenneth Edgeworth, Irish astronomer
• 1881 - Janus Djurhuus, Faroese poet
• 1882 - Husband E. Kimmel, American admiral
• 1885 - Aleksandras Stulginskis, Lithuanian farmer and politician, 2nd President of Lithuania
• 1887 - Grover Cleveland Alexander, American baseball player and coach
• 1887 - William Frawley, American actor and vaudevillian
• 1887 - Stefan Grabiński, Polish author and educator
• 1893 - Wallace Fard Muhammad, American religious leader, founded the Nation of Islam
• 1893 - Dorothy Whipple, English novelist
• 1896 - Andrei Zhdanov, Ukrainian-Russian civil servant and politician
• 1899 - Max Petitpierre, Swiss jurist and politician, 54th President of the Swiss Confederation
• 1900 - Halina Konopacka, Polish discus thrower and poet
• 1900 - Fritz Wiessner, German-American mountaineer
• 1902 - Jean Bruller, French author and illustrator, co-founded Les Éditions de Minuit
• 1903 - Giulio Natta, Italian chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1903 - Orde Wingate, English general
• 1906 - Madeleine Carroll, English actress
• 1908 - Tex Avery, American animator, producer, and voice actor
• 1908 - Nestor Mesta Chayres, Mexican operatic tenor and bolero vocalist
• 1908 - Jean-Pierre Wimille, French race car driver
• 1909 - Fanny Cradock, English chef, author, and critic
• 1909 - Talal of Jordan
• 1910 - Vic Woodley, English footballer
• 1911 - Tarō Okamoto, Japanese painter and sculptor
• 1912 - Dane Clark, American actor and director
• 1913 - George Barker, English author and poet
• 1914 - Robert Alda, American actor, singer, and director
• 1916 - Jackie Gleason, American actor and singer
• 1918 - Otis R. Bowen, American physician and politician, 44th Governor of Indiana
• 1918 - Pyotr Masherov, Leader of Soviet Belarus
• 1918 - Theodore Sturgeon, American author and critic
• 1919 - Mason Adams, American actor
• 1920 - Danny Gardella, American baseball player and trainer
• 1920 - Tony Randall, American actor, director, and producer
• 1920 - Lucjan Wolanowski, Polish journalist and author
• 1921 - Betty Hutton, American actress and singer
• 1922 - Bill Johnston, Australian cricketer and businessman
• 1922 - Margaret Leighton, English actress
• 1924 - Noboru Takeshita, Japanese soldier and politician, 74th Prime Minister of Japan
• 1924 - Marc Bucci, American composer, lyricist, and dramatist
• 1925 - Everton Weekes, Barbadian cricketer and referee
• 1926 - Doris Belack, American actress
• 1926 - Verne Gagne, American football player, wrestler, and trainer
• 1927 - Tom Kennedy, American game show host and actor
• 1928 - Fats Domino, American singer-songwriter and pianist
• 1928 - Ariel Sharon, Israeli general and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Israel
• 1931 - Ally MacLeod, Scottish footballer and manager
• 1931 - Robert Novak, American journalist and author
• 1931 - Josephine Tewson, English actress
• 1932 - Johnny Cash, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
• 1933 - James Goldsmith, French-British businessman and politician
• 1934 - Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina, Algerian director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1936 - José Policarpo, Portuguese cardinal
• 1937 - Paul Dickson, American football player and coach
• 1939 - Chuck Wepner, American professional boxer
• 1940 - Oldřich Kulhánek, Czech painter, illustrator, and stage designer
• 1942 - Jozef Adamec, Slovak footballer and manager
• 1943 - Paul Cotton, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1943 - Bill Duke, American actor and director
• 1943 - Dante Ferretti, Italian art director and costume designer
• 1943 - Bob "The Bear" Hite, American singer-songwriter and musician
• 1944 - Christopher Hope, South African author and poet
• 1944 - Ronald Lauder, American businessman and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Austria
• 1945 - Peter Brock, Australian race car driver
• 1945 - Marta Kristen, Norwegian-American actress
• 1945 - Mitch Ryder, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1946 - Colin Bell, English footballer
• 1946 - Ahmed Zewail, Egyptian-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1947 - Sandie Shaw, English singer and psychotherapist
• 1948 - Sharyn McCrumb, American author
• 1949 - Simon Crean, Australian trade union leader and politician, 14th Australian Minister for the Arts
• 1949 - Elizabeth George, American author and educator
• 1949 - Emma Kirkby, English soprano
• 1950 - Jonathan Cain, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
• 1950 - Helen Clark, New Zealand academic and politician, 37th Prime Minister of New Zealand
• 1951 - Steve Bell, English cartoonist
• 1951 - Wayne Goss, Australian lawyer and politician, 34th Premier of Queensland
• 1953 - Michael Bolton, American singer-songwriter and actor
• 1954 - Prince Ernst August of Hanover
• 1954 - Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkish politician, 12th President of Turkey
• 1955 - Andreas Maislinger, Austrian historian and academic, founded the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service
• 1956 - Michel Houellebecq, French author, poet, screenwriter, and director
• 1957 - David Beasley, American lawyer and politician, 113th Governor of South Carolina
• 1957 - Joe Mullen, American ice hockey player and coach
• 1957 - Keena Rothhammer, American swimmer
• 1958 - Paul Ackford, English rugby player
• 1958 - Greg Germann, American actor and director
• 1958 - Susan Helms, American general, engineer, and astronaut
• 1958 - Tim Kaine, American lawyer and politician, 70th Governor of Virginia
• 1959 - Rolando Blackman, American basketball player and coach
• 1959 - Ahmet Davutoğlu, Turkish political scientist, academic, and politician, 37th Prime Minister of Turkey
• 1960 - Jaz Coleman, English singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
• 1962 - Ahn Cheol-soo, South Korean physician, academic, and politician
• 1963 - Chase Masterson, American actress, singer, and activist
• 1965 - James Mitchell, American wrestler and manager
• 1966 - Garry Conille, Haitian physician and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Haiti
• 1966 - Marc Fortier, French-Canadian ice hockey player
• 1966 - Najwa Karam, Lebanese singer
• 1967 - Mark Carroll, Australian rugby league player
• 1967 - Kazuyoshi Miura, Japanese footballer
• 1968 - Tim Commerford, American bass player
• 1969 - Hitoshi Sakimoto, Japanese composer and producer
• 1970 - Mark Harper, English accountant and politician, Minister of State for Immigration
• 1970 - Scott Mahon, Australian rugby league player
• 1971 - Erykah Badu, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
• 1971 - Max Martin, Swedish-American record producer and songwriter
• 1971 - Hélène Segara, French singer-songwriter and actress
• 1973 - Marshall Faulk, American football player
• 1973 - Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Norwegian footballer and manager
• 1973 - Jenny Thompson, American swimmer
• 1974 - Sébastien Loeb, French race car driver
• 1974 - Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski, Filipina television actress, host and equestrienne
• 1976 - Nalini Anantharaman, French mathematician
• 1976 - Chad Urmston, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1977 - Marty Reasoner, American ice hockey player and coach
• 1977 - Tim Thomas, American basketball player
• 1977 - Shane Williams, Welsh rugby union player
• 1978 - Abdoulaye Faye, Senegalese footballer
• 1979 - Corinne Bailey Rae, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1979 - Steve Evans, Welsh footballer
• 1979 - Pedro Mendes, Portuguese international footballer, midfielder
• 1980 - Steve Blake, American basketball player
• 1981 - Kertus Davis, American race car driver
• 1981 - Oh Seung-bum, South Korean footballer
• 1982 - Li Na, Chinese tennis player
• 1982 - Matt Prior, South African-English cricketer
• 1982 - Nate Ruess, American singer-songwriter
• 1983 - Jerome Harrison, American football player
• 1983 - Pepe, Brazilian-Portuguese footballer
• 1984 - Emmanuel Adebayor, Togolese international footballer, forward
• 1984 - Natalia Lafourcade, Mexican singer-songwriter
• 1984 - Beren Saat, Turkish actress
• 1985 - Fernando Llorente, Spanish international footballer, striker
• 1986 - Hannah Kearney, American skier
• 1989 - Gabriel Obertan, French footballer
• 1990 - Kateřina Cachová, Czech heptathlete
• 1990 - Takanoiwa Yoshimori, Mongolian sumo wrestler
• 1991 - Lee Chae-rin, South Korean singer
• 1992 - Mikael Granlund, Finnish professional hockey player
• 1992 - Michael Chee Kam, New Zealand rugby league player
• 1997 - Reghan Tumilty, Scottish footballer

  Deaths

• 420 - Porphyry of Gaza, Greek bishop and saint
• 943 - Muirchertach mac Néill, king of Ailech
• 1154 - Roger II of Sicily
• 1266 - Manfred, King of Sicily
• 1275 - Margaret of England, Queen consort of Scots
• 1349 - Fatima bint al-Ahmar, Nasrid princess in the Emirate of Granada
• 1360 - Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March, English commander
• 1462 - John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford, English politician
• 1548 - Lorenzino de' Medici, Italian writer and assassin
• 1577 - Eric XIV of Sweden
• 1603 - Maria of Austria, Holy Roman Empress, spouse of Maximilian II
• 1608 - John Still, English bishop
• 1611 - Antonio Possevino, Italian priest and diplomat
• 1625 - Anna Vasa of Sweden, Polish and Swedish princess
• 1630 - William Brade, English violinist and composer
• 1638 - Claude Gaspard Bachet de Méziriac, French mathematician and linguist
• 1723 - Thomas d'Urfey, English poet and playwright
• 1726 - Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria
• 1770 - Giuseppe Tartini, Italian violinist and composer
• 1790 - Joshua Rowley, English admiral
• 1802 - Esek Hopkins, American admiral
• 1806 - Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, Haitian-French general
• 1813 - Robert R. Livingston, American lawyer and politician, 1st United States Secretary of Foreign Affairs
• 1815 - Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
• 1821 - Joseph de Maistre, French lawyer and diplomat
• 1864 - Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, Canadian jurist and politician, 3rd Premier of Canada East
• 1883 - Alexandros Koumoundouros, Greek lawyer and politician, 56th Prime Minister of Greece
• 1887 - Anandi Gopal Joshi, First Indian women physician
• 1889 - Karl Davydov, Russian cellist and composer
• 1903 - Richard Jordan Gatling, American engineer, invented the Gatling gun
• 1906 - Jean Lanfray, Swiss convicted murderer
• 1913 - Felix Draeseke, German composer and academic
• 1921 - Carl Menger, Polish-Austrian economist and academic
• 1930 - Mary Whiton Calkins, American philosopher and psychologist
• 1931 - Otto Wallach, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1936 - February 26 Incident:
• *Takahashi Korekiyo, Japanese accountant and politician, 20th Prime Minister of Japan
• *Saitō Makoto, Japanese admiral and politician, 30th Prime Minister of Japan
• *Jōtarō Watanabe, Japanese general
• 1943 - Theodor Eicke, German general
• 1945 - Sándor Szurmay, Minister of Defence of the Hungarian portion of Austria-Hungary
• 1947 - Heinrich Häberlin, Swiss judge and politician, President of the Swiss National Council
• 1950 - Harry Lauder, Scottish comedian and singer
• 1951 - Sabiha Kasimati, Albanian ichthyologist executed with 20 others
• 1952 - Theodoros Pangalos, Greek general and politician, President of Greece
• 1961 - Karl Albiker, German sculptor, lithographer, and educator
• 1961 - Mohammed V of Morocco
• 1966 - Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Indian poet and politician
• 1969 - Levi Eshkol, Israeli soldier and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Israel
• 1969 - Karl Jaspers, German-Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher
• 1981 - Robert Aickman, English author and activist
• 1981 - Howard Hanson, American composer, conductor, and educator
• 1985 - Tjalling Koopmans, Dutch-American economist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1989 - Roy Eldridge, American trumpet player
• 1993 - Constance Ford, American model and actress
• 1994 - Bill Hicks, American comedian
• 1995 - Jack Clayton, English director and producer
• 1997 - David Doyle, American actor
• 1998 - Theodore Schultz, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 2000 - George L. Street III, American captain, Medal of Honor recipient
• 2002 - Lawrence Tierney, American actor
• 2004 - Adolf Ehrnrooth, Finnish general
• 2004 - Boris Trajkovski, Macedonian politician, 2nd President of the Republic of Macedonia
• 2005 - Jef Raskin, American computer scientist, created Macintosh
• 2006 - Georgina Battiscombe, British biographer
• 2008 - Bodil Udsen, Danish actress
• 2009 - Johnny Kerr, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster
• 2009 - Wendy Richard, English actress
• 2009 - Norm Van Lier, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster
• 2010 - Jun Seba, also known as "Nujabes", Japanese record producer, DJ, composer and arranger
• 2011 - Arnošt Lustig, Czech author, playwright, and screenwriter
• 2012 - Richard Carpenter, English actor and screenwriter
• 2013 - Marie-Claire Alain, French organist and educator
• 2013 - Stéphane Hessel, German-French diplomat and author
• 2013 - Simon Li, Hong Kong judge and politician
• 2014 - Sorel Etrog, Romanian-Canadian sculptor, painter, and illustrator
• 2014 - Phyllis Krasilovsky, American author and academic
• 2014 - Paco de Lucía, Spanish guitarist, songwriter, and producer
• 2015 - Sheppard Frere, English historian and archaeologist
• 2015 - Theodore Hesburgh, American priest, theologian, educator, and academic
• 2015 - Earl Lloyd, American basketball player and coach
• 2015 - Tom Schweich, American lawyer and politician, 36th State Auditor of Missouri
• 2016 - Andy Bathgate, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager
• 2016 - Don Getty, Canadian football player and politician, 11th Premier of Alberta
• 2017 - Joseph Wapner, American lieutenant and judge

  Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
• *Alexander of Alexandria
• *Emily Malbone Morgan
• *Isabelle of France
• *Li Tim-Oi
• *Porphyry of Gaza
• *February 26
• The first day of Ayyám-i-Há
• Day of Remembrance for Victims of Khojaly Massacre
• Liberation Day
• Saviours' Day