26th August, on this day

55 BC - Roman forces under Julius Ceasar invade Britain
1071 Battle of Manzikert: The Seljuk Turks defeat the Byzantine Army at Manzikert.
1278 Ladislaus IV of Hungary and Rudolph I of Germany defeat Premysl Ottokar II of Bohemia in the Battle of Marchfield near Dürnkrut in Moravia.
1303 Ala ud din Khilji won Chittor.
1346 Edward III of England, aided by his son, Edward, the Black Prince, defeat a numerically superior French Army at the battle of Crecy
1466 A conjure against Piero di Cosimo de' Medici in Florence, led by Luca Pitti, is discovered.
1498 Michelangelo commissioned to carve the Pietà
1629 Cambridge Agreement, Mass Bay Co stockholders agree to emigrate
1748 The first Lutheran denomination in North America, the Pennsylvania Ministerium, is founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1768 HM Bark Endeavour expedition under Captain James Cook sets sail from England.
1778 The first recorded ascent of Triglav, the highest mountain of Slovenia
1789 The French Assembly adopts the Declaration of the Rights of Man
1791 John Fitch grants US patent for his working steamboat
1818 The first Illinois Constitution was signed in Kaskaskia.
1839 The ship Amistad is captured off Long Island.
1858 First news dispatch by telegraph.
1874 16 blacks lynched in Tennessee
1883 Start of two days' continual volcanic eruptions on the island of Krakatoa in the Sundra Strait between Sumatra and Java. Tidal waves caused by the eruptions kill an estimated 36,000 and leave most of the island uninhabitable
1907 Houdini escapes from chains underwater at Aquatic Park in 57 sec
1914 Germans defeat Russians in Battle of Tannenberg
1914 The British Expeditionary Force briefly checks the German advance at Le Cateau.
1914 The German colony of Togoland is invaded by French and British forces, who take it after 5 days
1920 United States of America ratifies the 19th Amendment to the Constitution - granting women the right to vote
1922 Turkish Army started the last attack on Greeks in the Turkish War of Independence.
1924 (August 13 Old Style) Catastrophe of Smyrna, known as the Asia Minor Catastrophe to Greeks, occurs. The Ottoman army expels Greeks and other non-Turks from Asia Minor in systematic ethnic cleansing. One of the first cases of ethic cleansing in the 20th Century.
1936 In Britain, the BBC transmits the first high-definition television pictures. More than 7000 people queue at the Olympia Radio Show to see the pictures being beamed onto local television sets from Alexandra Palace in north London
1940 The RAF bomb Berlin for the first time in retaliation for bombing raids on London
1940 Chad is the first French colony to join the Allies under the administration of Félix Éboué, France's first black colonial governor
1942 7,000 Jews rounded up in Vichy Free Zone of France
1942 Holocaust in Chortkiv, western Ukraine: At 2.30 am the German Schutzpolizei starts driving Jews out of houses, splits in groups of 120, packs them in freight cars and deports 2000 Jews to Belzec death camp. 500 of sick and children murdered on the spot.
1944 Charles de Gaulle enters Paris.
1957 USSR announces successful test of intercontinental ballistic missile
1959 British car manufacturers Austin and Morris launch a small family car known as the 'Mini'
1964 LBJ nominated at Democratic convention in Atlantic City, NJ
1972 Summer Olympics open in Munich, West Germany
1973 U of Tx (Arlington) is 1st accredited school to offer belly dancing
1974 Soyuz 15 carries 2 cosmonauts to space station Salyut 3

1977 Charter of the French Language is adopted by the National Assembly of Quebec
1978 In Rome, Cardinal Albino Luciani is elected Pope John Paul I. Within 33 days he dies of a heart attack
1978 Sigmund Jahn becomes the first German in space - on board the Russian spacecraft Soyuz 31
1980 John Birges plants a bomb at Harvey's Resort Hotel in Stateline, Nevada.
1983 Flooding destroys most of the old town of Bilbao, Spain.
1987 President Ronald Wilson Reagan proclaims September 11, 1987 as 9-1-1 Emergency Number Day.
1988 Merhan Karimi Nasseri arrives at Charles de Gaulle International Airport.
1990 2 slain college students found in Gainesville, Florida
1996 Bill Clinton signs welfare reform into law, representing major shift in US welfare policy
1997 In Britain, Diana, Princess of Wales, condemns the previous Conservative Government as 'hopeless' over the issue of the banning landmines
1997 Beni-Ali massacre in Algeria; 60-100 people killed. .
2002 Earth Summit 2002 begins in Johannesburg, South Africa.
2003 Columbia Accident Investigation Board releases its final reports on Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.

26th August 2006

Iran nuclear project forges ahead

Uganda and LRA rebels sign truce

Team vindicated, Pakistanis say

26th August 2007

Fires reach ancient Olympic city

Maliki returns fire at US critics

Troops withdraw from Basra base

26th August 2008

Russia recognises Georgian rebels

Iraq bomb kills police recruits

Migrants die off Spanish coast

26th August 2009

Obama leads tributes to Kennedy

Fresh explosion rocks Afghan city

Latam exports 'worst in 70 years'

26th August 2010

Taliban kill 8 Afghan policemen

UN reviews security after Taliban 'threat'

UN urges action over Congo rapes

Birthdates which occurred on 26th August :

1676 Sir Robert Walpole (Whig) British PM (1721-42)
1728 Johann Lambert Switzerland, mathematician, proved ã is irrational
1740 Joseph Montgolfier France, aeronaut (ballooning)
1743 Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier Paris, father of mod chemistry (Oxygen)
1820 James Harlan (Rep-Iowa)/US Seretary of Interior (1865-66)
1850 Charles Richet French physiologist (anaphylaxis-Nobel 1913)
1873 Lee De Forest Council Bluffs, inventor (Audion vacuum (radio) tube)
1875 Sir John Buchan Scotland, Gov-Gen of Canada/writer
1880 Guillaume Apollinaire France, poet/movie critic (Alcoola)
1884 Earl Biggers author ("Charlie Chan" detective series)
1885 Jules Romains France, novelist/dramatist/poet (Men of Good Will)
19-- Brett Cullen Houston Tx, actor (Bob-Thorn Birds)
19-- Jon Hensley Doylestown, Penn, actor (As the World Turns)
19-- Jorge De Sait rocker (Tuff-What Comes Around Goes Around)
19-- Richard Kantor Bkln NY, actor (Brian-Finder of Lost Loves)
1901 Gen Maxwell D Taylor former US Army chief of staff
1904 Christopher Isherwood England, novelist/playwright (I Am a Camera)
1906 Dr Albert B Sabin polio vaccine discoverer
1909 Frank Gasparro Phila Pa, US chief engraver (1965-81)
1911 Lester Lanin orchestra leader (40 Beatle Hits)
1914 Julio Cort zar Argentina, writer (We Love Glenda So Much)
1915 Jim Davis Edgerton Mo, actor (Jack Ewing-Dallas)
1917 Jan Clayton Tularosa NM, actress (Ellen Miller-Lassie)
1917 William French Smith Attorney General (1981-85)
1919 Ronny Graham Phila Pa, actor (Bob Crane Show, Chico & the Man)
1921 Benjamin C Bradlee journalist (Wash Post)
1921 William Preston Columbia Penn (Penn State), actor
1927 Francois Leydet sierra club (Last Redwoods)
1927 Sam Massell
1932 Joe H Engle Abilene Ks, Brig Gen USAF/astro (STS T-2, T-4, 2, 51I)
1935 Geraldine Ferraro (Rep-D-NY) 1st female major-party VP candidate
1937 Tom Heinsohn NBA star/coach (Boston Celtic)
1938 Francine York Aurora Minn, actress (Slattery's People)
1942 John E Blaha San Antonio, Col USAF/astronaut (STS 29, 33, STS 43)
1942 Vic Dana Buffalo, singer/dancer (Talent Scouts)
1943 Ulf Sundelin Sweden, yachtsmen (Olympic-gold-1968)
1947 Candy Moore Maplewood NJ, actress (Lunch Wagon, Tomboy & Champ)
1948 Jet Black rocker (Stranglers-Dreamtime)
1948 Valerie Simpson Bronx, singer, Ashford's partner (Like a Rock)
1952 John Kinsella USA, swimmer (Olympic-gold-1972)
1954 Steve Wright Britain's wacky DJ
1957 Alex Trevino catcher (LA Dodgers)
1960 Branford Marsalis actor (Bring on the Night)
1960 Ola Ray St Louis Mo, playmate (Jun, 1980) (Thriller)
1965 Chris Burke actor with down syndrome (Life Goes On)
1981 Macauley Culkin actor (Home Alone, My Girl)

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Deaths which occurred on August 26th:
1963 Larry Keating actor (George Burns Show, Roger-Mr Ed), dies at 67
1966 Art Baker TV host (You Asked For It), dies at 67
1974 Charles Lindbergh dies at 72 in his Hawaiian home
1976 Warner Anderson actor (Doctor, Lineup, Peyton Place), dies at 65
1977 HA Rey author of popular constellation book, dies at 78
1978 Charles Boyer actor (The Rogues), dies at 78
1981 Roger Nash Baldwin founder of the ACLU, dies
1983 Mike Kellin actor (Honestly Celeste), dies at 61 of cancer
1984 Julie Stevens actress (Lorelei-Big Town), dies at 67
1986 Jennifer Levin strangled by Robert Chambers in Central Park
1986 Ted Knight actor (Mary Tyler Moore Show), dies at 62