February 26

Events Pre-1600 747 BC – According to Ptolemy, the epoch (origin) of the Nabonassar Era began at noon on this date. Historians use this to establish the modern BC chronology for dating historic events. 320 – Chandragupta I is officially crowned as the first Gupta Emperor. 364 – Valentinian I is proclaimed Roman Emperor. 1074 – Battle of Kemej: The royal army of Solomon, King of Hungary defeats the force of his rebellious cousin Duke Géza. 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 (Inwa) were founded by King Thado Minbya.: Tuesday, 6th waxing of Tabaung 726 ME = Tuesday, 26 February 1365

1601–1900 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 exile on the island of Elba. 1870 – The Beach Pneumatic Transit in New York City, intended as a demonstration for a subway line, opens. 1876 – Japan and Korea sign the Treaty of Kangwha, which grants Japanese citizens extraterritoriality rights in Korea, opens three Korean ports to Japanese trade, and ends Korea's status as a tributary state of Qing dynasty China.

1901–present 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 legislation establishing the 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 nationalist Japanese military officers assassinate multiple cabinet statesmen and start a rebellion in downtown Tokyo, which is ended 3 days later. 1945 – World War II: US troops reclaim the Philippine island of Corregidor from the Japanese. 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. 1960 – A Kyiv-bound Aeroflot airliner crashes on approach to Snilow Airport in Lviv, killing 32 of the 33 people 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 – First 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 was the first such event to take place in North Korea. 2012 – A train derails in Burlington, Ontario, Canada killing at least three people and injuring 45. 2012 – Seventeen-year-old African-American student Trayvon Martin is shot to death by neighborhood watch coordinator George Zimmerman in an altercation in Sanford, Florida. 2013 – A hot air balloon crashes near Luxor, Egypt, killing 19 people. 2019 – Indian Air Force fighter-jets target Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camps in Balakot, Pakistan. 2021 – A total of 279 female students aged between 10 and 17 are kidnapped by bandits in the Zamfara kidnapping in Zamfara State, Nigeria. 2026 – The government of Pakistan declares "open war" against the Taliban in Afghanistan, initiating the 2026 Afghanistan–Pakistan War.

Births Pre-1600 1361 – Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia (died 1419) 1416 – Christopher of Bavaria (died 1448) 1564 – Christopher Marlowe, English playwright, poet and translator (died 1593) 1584 – Albert VI, Duke of Bavaria (died 1666) 1587 – Stefano Landi, Italian composer and educator (died 1639)

1601–1900 1629 – Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll, Scottish peer (died 1685) 1651 – Quirinus Kuhlmann, German Baroque poet and mystic (died 1689) 1671 – Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, English philosopher and politician (died 1713) 1672 – Antoine Augustin Calmet, French monk and theologian (died 1757) 1677 – Nicola Fago, Italian composer and teacher (died 1745) 1714 – Biagio Bellotti, Italian painter and architect (died 1789) 1718 – Johan Ernst Gunnerus, Norwegian bishop, botanist and zoologist (died 1773) 1720 – Gian Francesco Albani, Italian cardinal (died 1803) 1729 – Anders Chydenius, Finnish economist, philosopher and Lutheran priest (died 1803) 1746 – Maria Amalia, Duchess of Parma (died 1804) 1770 – Anton Reicha, Bohemian composer and flautist (died 1836) 1777 – Matija Nenadović, Serbian priest, historian, and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Serbia (died 1854) 1786 – François Arago, French mathematician and politician, 25th Prime Minister of France (died 1853) 1802 – Victor Hugo, French author, poet, and playwright (died 1885) 1808 – Honoré Daumier, French painter, illustrator, and sculptor (died 1879) 1808 – Nathan Kelley, American architect, designed the Ohio Statehouse (died 1871) 1829 – Levi Strauss, German-American fashion designer, founded Levi Strauss & Co. (died 1902) 1842 – Camille Flammarion, French astronomer and author (died 1925) 1846 – Buffalo Bill, American soldier and hunter (died 1917) 1852 – John Harvey Kellogg, American surgeon, co-created Corn flakes (died 1943) 1857 – Émile Coué, French psychologist and pharmacist (died 1926) 1861 – Ferdinand I of Bulgaria (died 1948) 1861 – Nadezhda Krupskaya, Russian soldier and politician (died 1939) 1866 – Herbert Henry Dow, Canadian-American businessman, founded the Dow Chemical Company (died 1930) 1866 – Gustave Mathieu, French anarchist illegalist, suspected of being one of Ravachol's main accomplices (died 1947) 1871 – Matti Turkia, Finnish politician (died 1946) 1877 – Henry Barwell, Australian politician, 28th Premier of South Australia (died 1959) 1877 – Rudolph Dirks, German-American illustrator (died 1968) 1879 – Frank Bridge, English viola player and composer (died 1941) 1880 – Kenneth Edgeworth, Irish astronomer (died 1972) 1881 – Janus Djurhuus, Faroese poet (died 1948) 1882 – Husband E. Kimmel, American admiral (died 1968) 1885 – Aleksandras Stulginskis, Lithuanian farmer and politician, 2nd President of Lithuania (died 1969) 1887 – Grover Cleveland Alexander, American baseball player and coach (died 1950) 1887 – William Frawley, American actor and vaudevillian (died 1966) 1887 – Stefan Grabiński, Polish author and educator (died 1936) 1893 – Wallace Fard Muhammad, American religious leader, founded the Nation of Islam (disappeared 1934) 1893 – Dorothy Whipple, English novelist (died 1966) 1896 – Andrei Zhdanov, Ukrainian-Russian civil servant and politician (died 1948) 1899 – Max Petitpierre, Swiss jurist and politician, 54th President of the Swiss Confederation (died 1994) 1900 – Halina Konopacka, Polish discus thrower and poet (died 1989) 1900 – Fritz Wiessner, German-American mountaineer (died 1988)

1901–present 1902 – Jean Bruller, French author and illustrator, co-founded Les Éditions de Minuit (died 1991) 1903 – Giulio Natta, Italian chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1979) 1903 – Orde Wingate, English general (died 1944) 1906 – Madeleine Carroll, English actress (died 1987) 1908 – Tex Avery, American animator, producer, and voice actor (died 1980) 1908 – Nestor Mesta Chayres, Mexican operatic tenor and bolero vocalist (died 1971) 1908 – Jean-Pierre Wimille, French racing driver (died 1949) 1909 – Fanny Cradock, English chef, author, and critic (died 1994) 1909 – Talal of Jordan (died 1972) 1910 – Vic Woodley, English footballer (died 1978) 1911 – Tarō Okamoto, Japanese painter and sculptor (died 1996) 1914 – Robert Alda, American actor, singer, and director (died 1986) 1918 – Otis Bowen, American physician and politician, 44th Governor of Indiana (died 2013) 1918 – Pyotr Masherov, Leader of Soviet Belarus (died 1980) 1918 – Theodore Sturgeon, American author and critic (died 1985) 1919 – Mason Adams, American actor (died 2005) 1920 – Danny Gardella, American baseball player and trainer (died 2005) 1920 – Lucjan Wolanowski, Polish journalist and author (died 2006) 1921 - Betty Hutton, American actress, singer, dancer and comedian (died 2007) 1922 – Bill Johnston, Australian cricketer and businessman (died 2007) 1922 – Margaret Leighton, English actress (died 1976) 1924 – Marc Bucci, American composer, lyricist, and dramatist (died 2002) 1924 – Noboru Takeshita, Japanese soldier and politician, 74th Prime Minister of Japan (died 2000) 1925 – Everton Weekes, Barbadian cricketer and referee (died 2020) 1926 – Doris Belack, American actress (died 2011) 1926 – Verne Gagne, American football player, wrestler, and trainer (died 2015) 1926 – Henry Molaison, American medical patient (died 2008) 1927 – Tom Kennedy, American game show host and actor (died 2020) 1928 – Fats Domino, American singer-songwriter and pianist (died 2017) 1928 – Ariel Sharon, Israeli general and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Israel (died 2014) 1931 – Ally MacLeod, Scottish footballer and manager (died 2004) 1933 – James Goldsmith, French-British businessman and politician (died 1997) 1934 – Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina, Algerian director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2025) 1936 – José Policarpo, Portuguese cardinal (died 2014) 1937 – Paul Dickson, American football player and coach (died 2011) 1939 – Chuck Wepner, American boxer 1940 – Oldřich Kulhánek, Czech painter, illustrator, and stage designer (died 2013) 1942 – Jozef Adamec, Slovak footballer and manager (died 2018) 1943 – Paul Cotton, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2021) 1943 – Dante Ferretti, Italian art director and costume designer 1943 – Bob Hite, American singer-songwriter and musician (died 1981) 1944 – Christopher Hope, South African author and poet 1944 – Ronald Lauder, American businessman and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Austria 1945 – Peter Brock, Australian racing driver (died 2006) 1946 – Colin Bell, English footballer (died 2021) 1946 – Bingo Smith, American basketball player (died 2023) 1946 – Ahmed Zewail, Egyptian-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2016) 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 (died 2023) 1949 – Elizabeth George, American author and educator 1949 – Emma Kirkby, English soprano