26th April

April 26 is the 116th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (117th in leap years). There are 249 days remaining.

Events

• 1478 - The Pazzi attack Lorenzo de' Medici and kill his brother Giuliano during High Mass in the Florence Cathedral.
• 1607 - English colonists make landfall at Cape Henry, Virginia, later moving up the James River to found Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America.
• 1865 - American Civil War: Confederate General Joseph Johnston surrenders his army to General William Tecumseh Sherman at Durham Station, North Carolina.
• 1865 - Union Cavalry corner John Wilkes Booth and cavalryman Boston Corbett shoots the assassin dead.
• 1937 - Spanish Civil War: Guernica, Spain is bombed by German Luftwaffe.
• 1962 - The Ranger 4 spacecraft crashes into the Moon.
• 1964 - Tanganyika and Zanzibar merge to form Tanzania.
• 1986 - In the Ukraine, one of the reactors at the Chornobyl (Chernobyl) nuclear plant explodes creating the worlds worst nuclear disaster. 31 are killed directly by the incident and many thousands more were exposed to significant amounts of radioactive material.
• 1994 - South Africa holds its first multiracial elections.
• 1994 - A China Airlines Airbus A-300-600R crashes at Nagoya Airport, Japan killing 264

Births

• 121 - Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor († 180)
• 1785 - John James Audubon, naturalist, illustrator († 1851)
• 1798 - Eugène Delacroix, painter († 1863)
• 1888 - Anita Loos, writer († 1981)
• 1889 - Ludwig Wittgenstein, Austian-born English philosopher († 1951)
• 1894 - Rudolf Hess, Nazi official († 1987)
• 1895 - Nathaniel Kleitman, sleep researcher († 1999)
• 1897 - Olga Tschechowa, actress († 1980)
• 1897 - Douglas Sirk, director († 1987)
• 1900 - Charles Richter, geophysicist, inventor († 1985)
• 1911 - Marianne Hoppe, actress
• 1912 - A.E. van Vogt, science fiction writer († 2000)
• 1914 - Bernard Malamud, author († 1986)
• 1918 - Fanny Blankers-Koen, Dutch athlete
• 1934 - Alan Arkin, actor
• 1935 - Carol Burnett, singer, actress, comedienne
• 1938 - Duane Eddy, musician
• 1940 - Giorgio Moroder, composer
• 1942 - Bobby Rydell, singer
• 1947 - Donna DeVarona, Olympic gold medalist in swimming, sports journalist, sports activist
• 1956 - Koo Stark, actress
• 1960 - Roger Taylor, musician ("Duran Duran")
• 1961 - Joan Chen, actress
• 1963 - Jet Li, martial arts fighter, actor
• 1989 - Ana Cecilia Montes, fighter

Deaths

• 1865 - John Wilkes Booth, shot while trying to avoid capture for the assassination of Abraham Lincoln
• 1892 - Sir Provo William Perry Wallis, British Admiral and naval hero, dies at 100
• 1970 - Gypsy Rose Lee, actress
• 1970 - John Knittel, dramatist
• 1973 - Irene Ryan, actress
• 1984 - Count Basie, musician, composer
• 1986 - Broderick Crawford, actor
• 1989 - Lucille Ball, actress, comedienne
• 1991 - Carmine Coppola, composer, conductor
• 1991 - William Andrew Paton, accountant and economist, dies at 101
• 1996 - Stirling Silliphant, writer, producer

Holidays and observances

April 25 - April 27 - March 26 - May 26 -- listing of all days

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