May 26 is the 146th day of the year (147th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 219 days remaining until the end of the year.
Holidays
- Christian feast day:
- Crown Prince’s Birthday (Denmark)
- Independence Day, commemorates the day of the First Republic in 1918 (Georgia)
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Guyana from the United Kingdom in 1966.
- Mother’s Day (Poland)
- National Day of Healing (Australia)
- National Paper Airplane Day (United States)
History
In 47 BC, Julius Caesar visits Tarsus on his way to Pontus, where he meets enthusiastic support, but where, according to Cicero, Cassius is planning to kill him at this point.
In AD 17, Germanicus returns to Rome as a conquering hero; he celebrates a triumph for his victories over the Cherusci, Chatti and other German tribes west of the Elbe.
In 451, Battle of Avarayr between Armenian rebels and the Sassanid Empire takes place. The Empire defeats the Armenians militarily but guarantees them freedom to openly practice Christianity.
In 946, King Edmund I of England is murdered by a thief whom he personally attacks while celebrating St Augustine‘s Mass Day.
In 1135, Alfonso VII of León and Castile is crowned in the Cathedral of Leon as Imperator totius Hispaniae, “Emperor of all of Spain”.
In 1293, An earthquake strikes Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan, killing about 30,000.
In 1328, William of Ockham, the Franciscan Minister-General Michael of Cesena and two other Franciscan leaders secretly leave Avignon, fearing a death sentence from Pope John XXII.
In 1521, Martin Luther was banned by the Edict of Worms (vohrms) because of his religious beliefs and writings.
In 1538, Geneva expels John Calvin and his followers from the city. Calvin lives in exile in Strasbourg for the next three years.
In 1573, The Battle of Haarlemmermeer, a naval engagement in the Dutch War of Independence.
In 1637, Pequot War: first battle of Pequot at New Haven Ct. A combined Protestant and Mohegan force under the English Captain John Mason attacks a Pequot village in Connecticut, massacring approximately 500 Native Americans.
In 1644, Portuguese Restoration War: Portuguese and Spanish forces both claim victory in the Battle of Montijo.
In 1647, Massachusetts disallows priest access to colony.
In 1647, Alse Young, hanged in Hartford, Connecticut, becomes the first person executed as a witch in the British American colonies.
In 1679, King Charles the Second of England signed the Habeas Corpus Act. The full title — which we will now mangle…`”Habeas corpus ad subjeciendum” — basically means “produce the body.” A writ of habeas corpus requires arresting officers to produce a suspect…explain why he’s being detained…and release him if the court says so. The legal concept of habeas corpus — a new idea just three centuries ago — is that if you arrest somebody, you’d better have a reason. King Charles effectively was promising his subjects not to throw somebody into hoosegow just because he felt like it.
In 1736, Battle of Ackia: British and Chickasaw soldiers repel a French and Choctaw attack on the Chickasaw village of Ackia, near present-day Tupelo, Mississippi. The French, under the governor of Louisiana, Jean Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, had sought to link Louisiana with Acadia and the other northern colonies of New France.
In 1770, The Orlov Revolt, an attempt to revolt against the Ottoman Empire before the Greek War of Independence, ends in disaster for the Greeks.
In 1781, The Bank of North America is incorporated in Philadelphia.
In 1783, A Great Jubilee Day held at North Stratford, Connecticut, celebrated end of fighting in American Revolution.
In 1788, Mary Clark of England gives birth to a baby without a brain.
In 1790, Tennessee was organized as a territory.
In 1798, British kill about 500 Irish insurgents at the Battle of Tara.
In 1805, Napoléon Bonaparte assumes the title of King of Italy and is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy in Milan Cathedral, the gothic cathedral in Milan.
In 1805, Lewis and Clark, after a year of exploration, spot the snow-capped peaks of the Rocky Mountains.
In 1821, Establishment of the Peloponnesian Senate by the Greek rebels.
In 1824, The Empire of Brazil is recognized by the U.S.
In 1828, Feral child Kaspar Hauser is discovered wandering the streets of Nuremberg.
In 1830, The Indian Removal Act is passed by the U.S. Congress; it is signed into law by President Andrew Jackson two days later.
In 1836, the United States House of Representatives adopted what has been called the Gag Rule. One of our staffers inquired if the Gag Rule had anything to do with the food served in the Congressional cafeteria. We were assured that it did not. This rule was made to restrict needless, overly long discussion about legislation in Congress.
In 1849, Today we think of Germany as a single country, and the German language is the official tongue of only two European nations…Germany and Austria. But throughout the 1700s there were more than dozen tiny kingdoms in today’s Germany. Three kings of three of the biggest areas — Prussia, Saxony and Hanover — formed an alliance on this day in 1849. Just 13 years later, Bismarck would go to Paris as German ambassador on this day in 1862.
In 1857, Dred Scott is emancipated by the Blow family, his original owners.
In 1861, Postmaster General Blair announces end of postal connection with South.
In 1864, Montana is organized as a United States territory from a portion of the Territory of Idaho.
In 1865, American Civil War: The Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith, commander of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi division, is the last full general of the Confederate Army to surrender, at Galveston, Texas.
In 1868, Michael Barrett was the last person to be publicly executed in Great Britain
In 1868, The Senate impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson ended with his acquittal as the Senate fell one vote short of the two-thirds majority required for conviction.
In 1869, Boston University is chartered by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
In 1876, General Custer led his cavalry toward the Little Big Horn.
In 1879, Russia and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Gandamak establishing an Afghan state.
In 1897, The original manuscript of William Bradford‘s history, “Of Plymouth Plantation” is returned to the Governor of Massachusetts by the Bishop of London after being taken during the American Revolutionary War.
In 1896, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, co-founded by Charles Dow, first appeared in the Wall Street Journal. The Dow Jones Industrial 12-stock average opened and posted a 40.94 for the day.
In 1896, Last Czar of Russia, Nicholas II, crowned.
In 1897, Dracula, a novel by the Irish author Bram Stoker, is published.
In 1897, The original manuscript of William Bradford‘s history, “Of Plymouth Plantation” is returned to the Governor of Massachusetts by the Bishop of London after being taken during the American Revolutionary War.
In 1900, Thousand Days’ War: The Colombian Conservative Party turns the tide of war in their favor with victory against the Colombian Liberal Party in the Battle of Palonegro.
In 1903, Start of Sherlock Holmes “The Adventure of the 3 Gables” (BG).
In 1906, the Archaeological Institute of America was founded in Boston.
In 1908, At Masjed Soleyman in southwest Persia, the first major commercial oil strike in the Middle East is made. The rights to the resource are quickly acquired by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company.
In 1913, a grasshopper cloud measuring 5 miles by 18 miles is reported in New Mexico.
In 1917, Several powerful tornadoes rip through Illinois, including the city of Mattoon, killing 101 people and injuring 689.
In 1918, Democratic Republic of Georgia declares independence from Russia.
In 1923, The first 24 Hours of Le Mans was held and has since been run annually in June.
In 1924, President Coolidge signs the Immigration law: restricting immigration.
In 1927, Ford Motor Company manufactures its 15 millionth Model T automobile.
In 1930, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that the purchase of intoxicating liquor is not a violation of the Constitution.
In 1936, In the House of Commons of Northern Ireland, Tommy Henderson begins speaking on the Appropriation Bill. By the time he sits down in the early hours of the following morning, he had spoken for ten hours.
In 1937, San Francisco Bay’s Golden Gate Bridge opened.
In 1938, In the United States, the House Un-American Activities Committee begins its first session. (HUAC) is formed.
In 1940, During his Memorial Day fireside chat, President Franklin Roosevelt voices his concerns about the world’s hostile state.
In 1940, World War II: Operation Dynamo: In northern France, Allied forces begin a massive evacuation from Dunkirk, France.
In 1940, World War II: The Siege of Calais ends with the surrender of the British and French garrison.
In 1941, Ark Royal airplane sights German battleship Bismarck.
In 1942, Tank battle at Bir Hakeim: African corps vs British army. World War II: The Battle of Gazala takes place.
In 1943, The first president of a majority black country to visit the U.S. was Edwin Barclay of Liberia.
In 1945, US B-29s firebombed Tokyo.
In 1946, a patent is filed in the U.S. for the H-Bomb.
In 1948, The U.S. Congress passes Public Law 80-557, which permanently establishes the Civil Air Patrol as an auxiliary of the United States Air Force.
In 1950, the first whooping crane hatched in captivity is born in Arkansas.
In 1954, off Quonset Point, R.I.: explosion and fire aboard aircraft carrier Bennington killed 103 crewmen.
In 1958, COVER STORY OF “LIFE” Vice President NIXON in Caracas, Venezuela
In 1960, U.N. Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge accused the Soviets of hiding a microphone inside a wood carving of the Great Seal of the United States that had been presented to the U.S. embassy in Moscow.
In 1966, British Guiana gains independence, becoming Guyana.
In 1966, Buddhist sets self on fire at US consulate in Hue South-Vietnam.
In 1968, MEET THE PRESS Guest: California Governor (and presidential hopeful) Ronald Reagan
In 1969, Apollo program: Apollo 10 returns to Earth after a successful eight-day test of all the components needed for the forthcoming first manned moon landing.
In 1970, The Soviet Tupolev Tu-144 becomes the first commercial transport to exceed Mach 2.
In 1972, COVER STORY OF “LIFE” Shooting of Gov. GEORGE WALLACE
In 1972, Richard Nixon — who would later resign the presidency RATHER than be impeached and tried — had an altogether better day…when he and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev signed Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
In 1977, The human fly, George H. Willig, scaled the outside of the South Tower of New York’s World Trade Center; he was arrested at the top of the 110-story building after climbing for 3-1/2 hours. He was charged with criminal trespassing and reckless endangerment. He was fined a penny for each story he climbed: $1.10.
In 1978, the first legal casino in the U.S. outside Nevada is opened in Atlantic City, New Jersey, by Resorts International Hotel Casino.
In 1978, The Prime Interest Rate went to 8.5 percent
In 1981, Fourteen people were killed when a Marine jet crashed onto the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS “Nimitz” off Florida.
In 1984, A Frisbee was kept aloft for 16.72 seconds in Philadelphia.
In 1986, Relatives of 110 Vietnam-era casualties whose names were belatedly added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial gathered at the monument in Washington D.C. for a Memorial Day dedication ceremony.
In 1987, The U.S. Supreme Court holds that dangerous defendants may be held without bail.
In 1987, Former PTL leader Jim Bakker told ABC’s “Nightline” he had made a “terrible mistake” in turning control of the ministry over to the Rev. Jerry Falwell. He accused Falwell of misleading him.
In 1989, Danish parliament allows legal marriage among homosexuals.
In 1989, Reports began circulating that House Majority Whip Tony Coelho would resign to spare himself and the Democratic Party the ordeal of an investigation into his ethics.
In 1990, Soviet maverick politician Boris N. Yeltsin failed in a second round of voting to win the presidency of the Russian Federation (however, he succeeded in a third round of balloting three days later).
In 1991, a Lauda Air Boeing 767 crashed in Thailand, killing all 223 people aboard; crash investigators blamed an engine thrust reverser that had inexplicably deployed shortly after takeoff.
In 1992, President Bush and Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton won primaries in Kentucky, Arkansas and Idaho.
In 1992, the White House announced that the Coast Guard was returning a group of Haitian refugees picked up at sea to their homeland under a new executive order signed by President Bush.
In 1992, former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos demanded the Manila government return billions of dollars in assets seized after her late husband was ousted from power in 1986. We don’t know if her demands included any of the thousands of pairs of shoes that were found in the presidential palace after the Marcoses fled.
In 1994, President Clinton renewed trade privileges for China, and announced his administration would no longer link China’s trade status with its human rights record.
In 1995, in the tobacco industry’s largest recall ever, Philip Morris USA halts sales of several cigarette brands, including some versions of top-selling Marlboro, because some filters are contaminated.
In 1996, a police sergeant searching the murky waters where ValuJet Flight 592 crashed into the Florida Everglades, killing all 110 people aboard, found the crucial cockpit voice recorder.
In 1996, Albania’s opposition parties pulled out of the election on polling day because of “terror” and manipulation of the poll by the ruling Democratic Party.
In 1997, President Clinton left for Paris to sign a new agreement between NATO and Russia.
In 1998, the Supreme Court made it far more difficult for police to be sued by people hurt during high-speed chases.
In 1998, the Supreme Court ruled that Ellis Island, historic gateway for millions of immigrants, is mainly in New Jersey, not New York.
In 1998 – The first “National Sorry Day” was held in Australia, and reconciliation events were held nationally, and attended by over a million people.
In 1999, Indian aircraft fired on separatist guerrillas in Kashmir province and Pakistan threatened retaliation; it was the first use of air power in years in the long-running conflict over the Himalayan border region.
In 1999, House Republicans pushed through legislation that would put new obstacles in the way of spending government surpluses that came from Social Security taxes.
In 2000, Justice Department submits to the court a fine-tuned plan to break up Microsoft, but hews totally to its initial proposal to divide the software maker into two, not three-companies.
In 2000, Barry Grunow, 35, an English teacher at Lake Worth Community Middle School in Florida, was shot to death by Nathaniel Brazill, a seventh grader who’d been sent home for throwing water balloons on the last day of classes.
In 2002, The tugboat Robert Y. Love collides with a support pier of Interstate 40 on the Arkansas River near Webbers Falls, Oklahoma, resulting in 14 deaths and 11 others injured.
In 2004, United States Army veteran Terry Nichols is found guilty of 161 state murder charges for helping carry out the Oklahoma City bombing.
In 2008, Severe flooding begins in eastern and southern China that will ultimately cause 148 deaths and force the evacuation of 1.3 million.