26 January

Events

• 1340 - King Edward III of England is declared King of France.
• 1500 - Vicente Yáñez Pinzón become the first European to discover Brazil.
• 1531 - Lisbon, Portugal is hit by an earthquake--thousands die.
• 1699 - Treaty of Carlowitz signed.
• 1736 - Stanislaus I of Poland abdicates his throne.
• 1788 - The British First Fleet, led by Arthur Phillip, land at Botany Bay just outside present-day Sydney. They would establish the first permanent European settlement on the continent. Celebrated as Australia Day, the country's national day.
• 1837 - Michigan is admitted as the 26th U.S. state.
• 1841 - The United Kingdom occupies Hong Kong.
• 1863 - American Civil War: Massachusetts Governor receives permission from Secretary of War to raise militia organization for men of African Decent.
• 1870 - American Civil War: Virginia rejoins the Union.
• 1885 - Troops loyal to the Mahdi conquer Khartoum.
• 1887 - Battle of Dogali: Abyssinian troops defeat Italians.
• 1905 - The Cullinan Diamond is found near Pretoria, South Africa at the Premier Mine.
• 1911 - Glenn H. Curtiss flies the first successful seaplane.
• 1934 - The Apollo Theatre opens in Harlem, New York City.
• 1939 - Spanish Civil War: Troops loyal to Francisco Franco and aided by Italy take Barcelona.
• 1942 - World War II: The first American forces arrive in Europe landing in Northern Ireland.
• 1946 - Félix Gouin becomes Prime Minister of France
• 1950 - India promulgates its constitution forming a republic and Rajendra Prasad is sworn in as its first president.
• 1956 - 1956 Winter Olympic Games open in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.
• 1961 - John F. Kennedy appoints Janet G. Travell to be his physician. This is the first time a woman holds this appointment.
• 1962 - Ranger 3 is launched to study the moon. The space probe later missed the moon by 22,000 miles.
• 1965 - Hindi becomes the official language of India.
• 1980 - Israel and Egypt establish diplomatic relations.
• 1983 - Lotus 1-2-3 is released.
• 1986 - Super Bowl XX: The Chicago Bears defeat the New England Patriots, 46-10.
• 1992 - Boris Yeltsin announces that Russia is going to stop targeting United States cities with nuclear weapons.
• 1992 - Super Bowl XXVI: The Washington Redskins defeat the Buffalo Bills, 37-24.
• 1993 - Vaclav Havel elected President of the Czech Republic.
• 1994 - A man fires two blank shots at Charles, Prince of Wales in Sydney, Australia.
• 1996 - Whitewater scandal: Hillary Rodham Clinton testifies before a grand jury.
• 1997 - The Green Bay Packers defeat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI, with a score of 35-21.
• 1998 - Lewinsky scandal: On American television, Bill Clinton denies he had "sexual relations" with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
• 1998 - Compaq buys Digital Equipment Corporation.
• 2001 - A 50-year-old Douglas DC-3 crashes near Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela killing 24.
• 2001 - An earthquake hits Gujarat, India, causing more than 20,000 deaths.
• 2003 - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers win their first Super Bowl title by defeating the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII, 48-21.

Births

• 1781 - Achim von Arnim, poet, (d. 1831)
• 1826 - Louis Favre, engineer Gotthard tunnel, (d. 1879)
• 1826 - Julia Dent Grant, First Lady of the United States, (d. 1902)
• 1831 - Mary Mapes Dodged, writer, (d. 1907)
• 1880 - Douglas MacArthur, general, (d. 1964)
• 1901 - Stuart Symington, politician, (d. 1988)
• 1904 - Ancel Keys, scientist
• 1905 - Bernhard Minetti, actor
• 1905 - Maria von Trapp, singer, (d. 1987)
• 1908 - Stéphane Grappelli, musician, composer, (d. 1997)
• 1918 - Nicolae Ceauşescu, Romanian dictator, (d. 1989)
• 1918 - Philip Jose Farmer, science fiction writer
• 1923 - Anne Jeffreys, actress
• 1925 - Paul Newman, actor
• 1926 - Ralph Brance, baseball star
• 1928 - Eartha Kitt, singer and actress
• 1928 - Roger Vadim, French film director and actor, (d. 2000)
• 1929 - Jules Feiffer, cartoonist, writer
• 1932 - Clement Seymour "Sir Coxsone" Dodd, Jamaican record producer
• 1941 - Henry Jaglom, director
• 1941 - Scott Glenn, actor
• 1944 - Angela Davis, feminist and activist
• 1945 - Jacqueline du Pré, cello player, (d. 1987)
• 1946 - Gene Siskel, film critic, (d. 1999)
• 1953 - Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Prime Minister of Denmark
• 1955 - Eddie Van Halen, musician
• 1958 - Ellen DeGeneres, actress, comedienne
• 1961 - Wayne Gretzky, ice hockey player
• 1963 - Andrew Ridgeley, musician

Deaths

• 1886 - David Rice Atchison, American politician, (b. 1807)
• 1962 - Lucky Luciano, mobster, (b. 1897)
• 1973 - Edward G. Robinson, actor, (b. 1893)
• 1979 - Nelson Rockefeller, Governor of New York, Vice President of the United States, (b. 1908)
• 1972 - Mahalia Jackson, gospel music singer, (b. 1911)
• 1990 - Lewis Mumford, historian (b. 1895)
• 1992 - José Ferrer, actor, (b. 1912)
• 1993 - Jeanne Sauvé, Governor-General of Canada, (b. 1922)
• 2000 - A.E. van Vogt, science fiction author, (b. 1912)
• 2000 - Don Budge, tennis player, (b. 1915)
• 2003 - Valeriy Brumel, Soviet athlete, (b. 1942)

Holidays and observances

• Roman Empire - third day of the Sementivae in honor of Ceres and Terra
• Australia - Australia Day
• Catholicism - Feast day of Ss. Timothy and Titus.
• India - Republic Day

January 25 - January 27 - December 26 - February 26 -- listing of all days

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Referenced By