June 26 is the 177th day of the year (178th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 188 days remaining until the end of the year.
Holidays
- Army and Navy Day (Azerbaijan)
- Christian Feast Day:
- Flag Day (Romania)
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Madagascar from France in 1960
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of British Somaliland from the British Government in 1960. (Somalia)
- International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking (International)
- International Day in Support of Victims of Torture (International)
- Ratcatcher’s Day (Hamelin, Germany)
- Sunthorn Phu Day (Thailand)
History
In 4, Augustus adopts Tiberius
In 221, Roman Emperor Elagabalus adopts his cousin Alexander Severus as his heir and receives the title of Caesar.
In 363, Roman Emperor Julian is killed during the retreat from the Sassanid Empire. General Jovian is proclaimed Emperor by the troops on the battlefield.
In 684, St Benedict II begins his reign as Catholic Pope.
In 699, En no Ozuno, a Japanese mystic and apothecary who will later be regarded as the founder of a folk religion Shugendō, is banished to Izu Ōshima.
In 1284, In Grimm’s Fairy Tales, this was the day that the Pied Piper led the children out of Hamlin, Germany, never to be seen again. He did this after not being paid for piping the rats out of Hamlin. Moral: If you like the services, you better pay the piper.
In 1409, Western Schism: The Roman Catholic church is led into a double schism as Petros Philargos is crowned Pope Alexander V after the Council of Pisa, joining Pope Gregory XII in Rome and Pope Benedict XII in Avignon.
In 1498, the toothbrush is invented in China.
In 1541, Francisco Pizarro is assassinated in Lima by the son of his former companion and later antagonist, Diego Almagro the younger. Almagro is later caught and executed.
In 1718, Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich of Russia, Peter the Great’s son, mysteriously dies after being sentenced to death by his father for plotting against him.
In 1721, the first smallpox inoculations in America are given in Boston by Dr. Zabdiel Boylston.
In 1723, After a siege and bombardment by cannon, Baku surrenders to the Russians.
In 1740, A combined force Spanish, free blacks and allied Indians defeat a British garrison at the Siege of Fort Mose near St. Augustine during the War of Jenkins’ Ear.
In 1784, Caesar Rodney, American lawyer and politician, 4th Governor of Delaware (b. 1728) dies at his home. He was an American lawyer and politician from St. Jones Neck in Dover Hundred, Kent County, Delaware, east of Dover. He was an officer of the Delaware militia during the French and Indian War and the American Revolution, a Continental Congressman from Delaware, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and President of Delaware during most of the American Revolution.
In 1797, Charles Newbold patented a first cast-iron plow. He can’t sell it to farmers, though, because they fear the effects of iron on the soil!
In 1810, Joseph-Michel Montgolfier, French inventor, co-invented the hot air balloon (b. 1740) dies. He and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier (6 January 1745 – 2 August 1799) were the inventors of the Montgolfière-style hot air balloon, globe aérostatique. The brothers succeeded in launching the first manned ascent, carrying Étienne into the sky. Later, in December 1783, in recognition of their achievement, their father Pierre was elevated to the nobility and the hereditary appellation of de Montgolfier by King Louis XVI of France.
In 1819, The Bicycle was patented by William Clarkson Jr. of New York.
In 1822, classes begin in the first public schoolhouse built for the Village of Cleveland, the Cleveland Academy (the first schoolhouse was purchased from a private group).
In 1844, US president John Tyler marries Julia Gardiner in NYC.
In 1848, End of the June Days Uprising in Paris.
In 1857, The first investiture of the Victoria Cross in Hyde Park, London.
In 1857, in Springfield, Abraham Lincoln speaks against the Dred Scott decision.
In 1858, China was forced to open its port cities to foreigners by the threat of military force by European ships.
In 1862, Battle of Beaver Dam Creek-Union repulses Confederacy in Virginia.
In 1862, Day 2 of 7 Days-Battle of Mechanicsville VA (Meadow Bridge).
In 1870, The Christian holiday of Christmas is declared a federal holiday in the United States.
In 1870, the first section of Atlantic City, New Jersey’s Boardwalk was opened to the public.
In 1886, Henri Moissan isolated elemental Fluorine for the first time.
In 1889, Bangui is founded by Albert Dolisie and Alfred Uzac in what was then the upper reaches of the French Congo.
In 1894, the American Railway Union, led by Eugene Debs, called a general strike in sympathy with Pullman workers.
In 1900, a commission that included Dr. Walter Reed began the fight against the deadly disease yellow fever.
In 1902, Start of Sherlock Holmes “The Adventure of the 3 Garidebs” (BG).
In 1906, 1906 French Grand Prix, the first Grand Prix motor racing event held
In 1907, The 1907 Tiflis bank robbery took place in Yerevan Square, now Freedom Square, Tbilisi.
In 1909, The Science Museum in London comes into existence as an independent entity.
In 1912, The Oreo cookie was born by Nabisco.
In 1915, Germany suppresses its “Vorwarts” newspaper after it called for peace.
In 1917, The first U.S. troops arrive in France to fight alongside Britain and France against Germany in World War I.
In 1918, World War I, Western Front: Battle for Belleau Wood – Allied Forces under John J. Pershing and James Harbord defeat Imperial German Forces under Wilhelm, German Crown Prince.
In 1919, the first illustrated daily U.S. newspaper, The Illustrated Daily News, was published.
In 1919, The first issue of the New York Daily News was published.
In 1924, American occupying forces leave the Dominican Republic.
In 1927, The Cyclone roller coaster opens on Coney Island.
In 1934, Germany & Poland sign no-attack treaty.
In 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Federal Credit Union Act, which establishes credit unions.
In 1936, Initial flight of the Focke-Wulf Fw 61, the first practical helicopter.
In 1940, World War II: Under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the Soviet Union presents an ultimatum to Romania requiring it to cede Bessarabia and the northern part of Bukovina.
In 1941, World War II: Soviet planes bomb Kassa, Hungary (now Košice, Slovakia), giving Hungary the impetus to declare war the next day.
In 1942, The first flight of the Grumman F6F Hellcat.
In 1944, World War II: The Battle of Osuchy in Osuchy, Poland, ends with the defeat of the Polish resistance forces.
In 1945, The United Nations Charter is signed in San Francisco.
In 1948, The Western allies begin an airlift to Berlin after the Soviet Union blockades West Berlin.
In 1948, William Shockley files the original patent for the grown junction transistor, the first bipolar junction transistor.
In 1948, Shirley Jackson‘s short story The Lottery is published in The New Yorker magazine.
In 1952, The Pan-Malayan Labour Party is founded in Malaya, as a union of statewise labour parties.
In 1953, Lavrentiy Beria, head of MVD, is arrested by Nikita Khrushchev and other members of the Politburo.
In 1955, The South African Congress Alliance adopts the Freedom Charter at the Congress of the People in Kliptown.
In 1959, The Saint Lawrence Seaway opens, opening North America’s Great Lakes to ocean-going ships. In 1959, President Eisenhower joined Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II in the ceremonies.
In 1960, The former British Protectorate of British Somaliland gains its independence as Somaliland.
In 1960, Madagascar gains its independence from France.
In 1963, U.S. President John F. Kennedy gave his “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech, underlining the support of the United States for democratic West Germany shortly after Soviet-supported East Germany erected the Berlin Wall.
In 1968, The U.S. returns Iwo Jima and the Bonin Islands to Japan.
In 1970, Alexander Dubcek was expelled from the Czechoslovak Communist Party.
In 1973, At Plesetsk Cosmodrome nine people are killed in an explosion of a Cosmos 3-M rocket.
In 1974, The Universal Product Code is scanned for the first time to sell a package of Wrigley’s chewing gum at the Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio
In 1975, Two FBI agents and a member of the American Indian Movement are killed in a shootout on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota; Leonard Peltier is later convicted of the murders in a controversial trial.
In 1975, Citing what she called a “deep and widespread conspiracy” against her government, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency.
In 1976, The CN Tower in Toronto, the world’s tallest free-standing structure (555 meters), opened. That’s “CN”, not “CNN”! It later had its “official” grand opening on Friday, October 1st, 1976.
In 1977, The Yorkshire Ripper kills 16 year old shop assistant Jayne MacDonald in Leeds, changing public perception of the killer as she is the first victim who is not a prostitute.
In 1977, Elvis Presley held his final concert in Indianapolis, Indiana at Market Square Arena
In 1978, Air Canada Flight 189 to Toronto overruns the runway and crashes into the Etobicoke Creek ravine. Two of 107 passengers on board perish.
In 1978, South Yemeni President Salim Rubai Ali was overthrown and executed. Now that’s a rough way to get rid of the head of state!
In 1982, The U.S. vetoed the UN Security Council resolution for a limited withdrawal from Beirut of Israeli & Palestine Liberation Organization forces.
In 1983, The Soviet Union announced that 15 Pentecostalists would be allowed to leave the country, including five who had taken refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow for nearly five years.
In 1986, Voters in Ireland decided by a more than 3-2 margin against a proposal that would have ended the nation’s constitutional ban on divorce.
In 1987, Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. announced his retirement from the nation’s highest court, leaving a vacancy that was eventually filled by Anthony M. Kennedy.
In 1989, In a pair of decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty may be imposed for murderers who committed their crimes as young as 16, and for mentally retarded killers.
In 1990, “Read my lips” — candidate George Bush had said in the 1988 campaign — “No new taxes”…and went on to defeat Walter Mondale, who had said that both he AND Bush would HAVE to raise taxes. Mondale lost.. .Bush won…and on this day in 1990, President Bush conceded that tax increases would have to be included in any deficit-reduction package worked out with congressional negotiators. You can hear the song “Liar! Liar” playing in the background!
In 1990, A proposed Constitutional amendment against burning the American flag is defeated in Congress.
In 1990, African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela addressed the U.S. Congress, asking for “material resources” to hasten the end of white-led rule.
In 1991, Ten-Day War: The Yugoslav people’s army begins the Ten-Day War in Slovenia.
In 1991, A Kentucky medical examiner announced that test results showed President Zachary Taylor had died in 1850 of natural causes — and not arsenic poisoning, as speculated by a writer. (Taylor’s remains were exhumed June 17th so that tissue samples could be taken.).
In 1992, Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl Gates, the target of public wrath for the Rodney King beating, stepped down from office.
In 1992, NYC’s MTA votes to ban cigarette ads on Jan 1, 1993.
In 1995, Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani deposes his father Khalifa bin Hamad al-Thani, the Emir of Qatar, in a bloodless coup.
In 1995, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s motorcade comes under attack en route to an African summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
In 1995, The Supreme Court ruled, 6-3, that public schools can require drug tests for its athletes.
In 1996, the Supreme Court ordered the Virginia Military Academy to admit women or forgo state support.
In 1997, In a series of decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court : Ruled that terminally ill Americans had no constitutional right to doctor-assisted suicide, but did nothing to bar states from legalizing the process; rules that the Communications Decency Act violates the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.; let stand the president’s line-item veto authority without addressing its constitutionality.
In 1997, Israel Kamakawiwoʻole, American singer-songwriter and ukulele player (Makaha Sons of Ni’ihau) (b. 1959) dies at the age of 38 in Queen’s Medical Center. He was a Hawaiian musician, entertainer, and sovereignty activist. His voice became famous outside Hawaii when his album Facing Future was released in 1993. His medley of “Somewhere over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World” was subsequently featured in several films, television programs, and television commercials. Through his skillful ukulele playing and incorporation of other genres (such as jazz and reggae), Kamakawiwoʻole remains a very strong influence on Hawaiian music.
In 1998, U.S. and Peru open school to train commandos to patrol Peru’s rivers for drug traffickers.
In 1998, The Supreme Court issued a landmark sexual harassment ruling, putting employers on notice that they can be held responsible for supervisors’ misconduct even if they knew nothing about it.
In 2000, President Clinton announces the completion of the first survey of the entire human genome.
In 2000, The Supreme Court gave new power to its landmark Miranda decision of 1966, ruling police still must warn the people they arrest of their “right to remain silent” when questioned.
In 2000, The Human Genome Project announces the completion of a “rough draft” sequence.
In 2000, Federal investigators conclude John F. Kennedy Jr.’s plane crashed after he became disoriented and lost control.
In 2003, The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Lawrence v. Texas that gender-based sodomy laws are unconstitutional.
In 2006, Mari Alkatiri, the first Prime Minister of East Timor, resigns after weeks of political unrest.
In 2012, The Waldo Canyon Fire descends into the Mountain Shadows neighborhood in Colorado Springs burning 347 homes in a matter of hours and killing two people.
In 2013, The U.S. Supreme Court rules that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional and in violation of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
In 2013, Riots in China‘s Xinjiang region kill at least 36 people and injuring 21 others.
In 2013, Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani became Prime Minister of Qatar.
In 2014, Howard Baker, American lawyer, politician, and diplomat, 12th White House Chief of Staff (b. 1925) dies. He was an American politician and diplomat who served as a Republican U.S. Senator fromTennessee and Senate Majority Leader. Baker later served as White House Chief of Staff for President Ronald Reagan, and a United States Ambassador toJapan. He worked as a lobbyist and adviser at Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz.
Known in Washington, D.C., as the “Great Conciliator”, Baker was often regarded as one of the most successful senators in terms of brokering compromises, enacting legislation and maintaining civility. Baker was a moderate conservative who was also respected enormously by most of his Democratic colleagues, which meant he was pretty much a principled empty representative of your rights as a citizen.
In the 1966 U.S. Senate election for Tennessee, Bass lost the Democratic primary to former Governor Frank G. Clement, and Baker handily won his Republican primary race over Kenneth Roberts, 112,617 (75.7 percent) to 36,043 (24.2 percent). Baker won the general election, capitalizing on Clement’s failure to energize the Democratic base, including specifically organized labor. He won by a somewhat larger-than-expected margin of 55.7 percent to Clement’s 44.2 percent. Baker thus became the first Republican senator from Tennessee since Reconstruction and the first Republican to be popularly elected to the Senate from Tennessee. Harry W. Wellford, then a private attorney but later a U.S. District Court justice and then U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals Justice, served as Baker’s campaign chair and closest confidant.
In 2015, Once again, the U.S. Supreme Court screwed up and ruled, 5–4, that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marriage under the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution. At a 5-4 vote, that surely meant that this decision was not evidence of a unanimous support.
In 2015, Five different terrorist attacks in France, Tunisia, Somalia, Kuwait, and Syria occurred on what was dubbed Bloody Friday by international media. Upwards of 750 people were either killed or injured in these uncoordinated attacks.
In 2022, The prime minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina inaugurates the longest bridge of Bangladesh, Padma Bridge.
In 2022, Russo-Ukrainian War: The Battle of Sievierodonetsk ends after weeks of heavy fighting with the Russian capture of the city, leading to the Battle of Lysychansk.[6]
In 2022, Two people are killed and 21 more injured after a gunman opens fire at three sites in Oslo in a suspected Islamist anti-LGBTQ+ attack.