July 26 is the 207th day of the year (208th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 158 days remaining until the end of the year.
Holidays
- Christian Feast Day:
- Day of National Significance (Barbados)
- Day of the National Rebellion (Cuba)
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Liberia in 1847.
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Maldives from the United Kingdom in 1965.
- Kargil Victory Day or Kargil Vijay Diwas (India)
History
In 657, First Fitna: the Battle of Siffin see the troops led by Ali ibn Abu Talib and those led by Muawiyah I clashing.
In 811, Battle of Pliska: Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros I I is killed and his heir Staurakios is seriously wounded.
In 920, Rout of an alliance of Christian troops from Navarre and Léon against the Muslims at Pamplona.
In 1309, Henry VII is recognized King of the Romans by Pope Clement V.
In 1469, Wars of the Roses: the Battle of Edgecote Moor pitting the forces of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick against those of Edward IV of England takes place.
In 1509, The Emperor Krishnadeva Raya ascends to the throne, marking the beginning of the regeneration of the Vijayanagara Empire.
In 1533, Atahualpa, the 13th and last emperor of the Incas, dies by strangulation at the hands of Francisco Pizarro‘s Spanish conquistadors. His death marks the end of 300 years of Inca civilization.
In 1581, Plakkaat van Verlatinghe (Act of Abjuration): the northern Low Countries declare their independence from the Spanish king, Philip II.
In 1745, The first recorded women’s cricket match takes place near Guildford, England.
In 1758, French and Indian War: the Siege of Louisbourg ends with British forces defeating the French and taking control of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.
In 1775, The office that would later become the United States Post Office Department is established by the Second Continental Congress.
In 1788, New York ratifies the United States Constitution and becomes the 11th state of the United States.
In 1803, The Surrey Iron Railway, arguably the world’s first public railway, opens in south London, England, Great Britain.
In 1822, José de San Martín arrives in Guayaquil, Ecuador, to meet with Simón Bolívar.
In 1822, First day of the three-day Battle of Dervenakia, between the Ottoman Empire force led by Mahmud Dramali Pasha and the Greek Revolutionary force led by Theodoros Kolokotronis.
In 1847, Liberia declares independence.
In 1861, American Civil War: George B. McClellan assumes command of the Army of the Potomac following a disastrous Union defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run.
In 1863, American Civil War: Morgan’s Raid ends – At Salineville, Ohio, Confederate cavalry leader John Hunt Morgan and 360 of his volunteers are captured by Union forces.
In 1863, Sam Houston, American soldier and politician, 7th Governor of Texas (b. 1793) dies after his health deteriorated in 1863 due to a persistent cough. In mid-July, Houston developed pneumonia. He died on July 26, 1863 at Steamboat House, with his wife Margaret by his side. He was an American politician and soldier, best known for his role in bringing Texas into the United States as a constituent state. His victory at the Battle of San Jacinto secured the independence of Texas from Mexico. The only American to be elected governor of two different States (as opposed to territories or indirect appointments), he was also the only governor within a future Confederate state to oppose secession (which led to the outbreak of the American Civil War) and to refuse an oath of allegiance to the Confederacy, a decision that led to his removal from office by the Texas secession convention.
Houston was born at Timber Ridge Plantation in Rockbridge County of Virginia, of Scots-Irish descent. After moving to Tennessee from Virginia, he spent time with the Cherokee Nation (into which he later was adopted as a citizen and into which he married), military service in the War of 1812, and successful participation in Tennessee politics. In 1827, Houston was elected Governor of Tennessee as a Jacksonian. In 1829, he resigned as governor and relocated to Arkansas Territory. In 1832, Houston was involved in an altercation with a U.S. Congressman, followed by a high-profile trial.
In 1882, The Republic of Stellaland is founded in Southern Africa.
In 1882, Premiere of Richard Wagner‘s opera Parsifal at Bayreuth.
In 1887, Publication of the Unua Libro, founding the Esperanto movement.
In 1890, In Buenos Aires, Argentina the Revolución del Parque takes place, forcing President Miguel Ángel Juárez Celman‘s resignation.
In 1891, France annexes Tahiti.
In 1897, Anglo-Afghan War: The Pashtun fakir Saidullah leads an army of more than 10,000 to begin a siege of the British garrison in the Malakand Agency of the North West Frontier Province of India.
In 1908, United States Attorney General Charles Joseph Bonaparte issues an order to immediately staff the Office of the Chief Examiner (later renamed the Federal Bureau of Investigation).
In 1914, Serbia and Bulgaria interrupt diplomatic relationship.
In 1925, William Jennings Bryan, American lawyer and politician, 41st United States Secretary of State (b. 1860) dies during a nap that afternoon, five days after the Scopes trial’s conclusion. He was an American orator and politician from Nebraska, and a dominant force in the populist wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as the Party’s nominee for President of the United States (1896, 1900, and 1908). He served two terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Nebraska and was United States Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wilson (1913–1915). He resigned because of his pacifist position on World War I. Bryan was a devout Presbyterian, a strong advocate of popular democracy, and an enemy of the banks and the gold standard. He demanded “Free Silver” because he believed it undermined the evil “Money Power” and put more cash in the hands of the common people. He was a peace advocate, a supporter of Prohibition, and an opponent of Darwinism on religious and humanitarian grounds. With his deep, commanding voice and wide travels, he was perhaps the best-known orator and lecturer of the era. Because of his faith in the wisdom of the common people, he was called “The Great Commoner.”
In 1926, Robert Todd Lincoln, American lawyer and politician, 35th United States Secretary of War, son of Abraham Lincoln (b. 1843) dies in his sleep at Hildene, his Vermont home, on July 26, 1926. He was 82. The cause of death was given by his physician as a “cerebral hemorrhage induced by arteriosclerosis“. He was an American politician, lawyer, and businessman. He was the first son of President Abraham Lincolnand Mary Todd Lincoln. Born in Springfield, Illinois, United States, he was the only one of Lincoln’s four sons to live an adult life (his brother Tad Lincoln died shortly after his 18th birthday), and the only member of the family to survive into the 20th century.
Lincoln attended Harvard University, and then served on the staff of Ulysses S. Grant as a captain in the Union Army in the closing days of the American Civil War. Following completion of law school in Chicago, he built a successful law practice, becoming wealthy representing corporate clients.
After the war Lincoln married Mary Eunice Harlan, the daughter of a United States Senator. They remained married until his death, and were the parents of three children.
Active in Republican politics, and a tangible symbol of his father’s legacy, Robert Lincoln was often spoken of as a possible candidate for office, including the presidency, but never took steps to mount a campaign. The one office to which he was elected was Town Supervisor of South Chicago, which he held from 1876 to 1877. (The town later became part of the city of Chicago.) He did accept appointments as Secretary of War in the administration of James A. Garfield, continuing under Chester A. Arthur, and as Minister to England in the Benjamin Harrison administration.
In 1936, The Axis powers decide to intervene in the Spanish Civil War.
In 1936, King Edward VIII, in one of his few official duties before he abdicates the throne, officially unveils the Canadian National Vimy Memorial.
In 1937, End of the Battle of Brunete in the Spanish Civil War.
In 1941, World War II: in response to the Japanese occupation of French Indochina, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders the seizure of all Japanese assets in the United States.
In 1945, The Labour Party wins the United Kingdom general election of July 5 by a landslide, removing Winston Churchill from power.
In 1946, Aloha Airlines begins service from Honolulu International Airport
In 1944, World War II: the Soviet Army enters Lviv, a major city in western Ukraine, liberating it from the Nazis. Only 300 Jews survive out of 160,000 living in Lviv prior to occupation.
In 1944, The first German V-2 rocket hits the United Kingdom.
In 1945, HMS Vestal (J215) is the last British Royal Navy ship to be sunk in the Second World War
In 1945, The US Navy cruiser USS Indianapolis arrives at Tinian with parts of the warhead for the Hiroshima atomic bomb.
In 1945, The Potsdam Declaration is signed in Potsdam, Germany.
In 1947, Cold War: U.S. President Harry S. Truman signs the National Security Act of 1947 into United States law creating the Central Intelligence Agency, United States Department of Defense, United States Air Force, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the United States National Security Council.
In 1948, U.S. President Harry S. Truman signs Executive Order 9981 desegregating the military of the United States.
In 1951, Walt Disney‘s 13th animated film, Alice in Wonderland, premieres in London, England, United Kingdom.
In 1952, King Farouk of Egypt abdicates in favor of his son Fuad.
In 1953, Arizona Governor John Howard Pyle orders an anti-polygamy law enforcement crackdown on residents of Short Creek, Arizona, which becomes known as the Short Creek raid.
In 1953, Fidel Castro leads an unsuccessful attack on the Moncada Barracks, thus beginning the Cuban Revolution. The movement took the name of the date: 26th of July Movement
In 1956, Following the World Bank‘s refusal to fund building the Aswan Dam, Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalizes the Suez Canal sparking international condemnation.
In 1957, Carlos Castillo Armas, dictator of Guatemala, is assassinated.
In 1958, Explorer program: Explorer 4 is launched.
In 1963, The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development votes to admit Japan.
In 1963, Syncom 2, the world’s first geosynchronous satellite, is launched from Cape Canaveral on a Delta B booster.
In 1963, An earthquake in Skopje, Yugoslavia (now in the Macedonia) leaves 1,100 dead.
In 1965, Full independence is granted to the Maldives.
In 1968, Vietnam War: South Vietnamese opposition leader Truong Dinh Dzu is sentenced to five years hard labor for advocating the formation of a coalition government as a way to move toward an end to the war.
In 1971, Apollo program: launch of Apollo 15 on the first Apollo “J-Mission“, and first use of a Lunar Roving Vehicle.
In 1974, Greek Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis forms the country’s first civil government after seven years of military rule.
In 1977, The National Assembly of Quebec imposes the use of French as the official language of the provincial government.
In 1989, A federal grand jury indicts Cornell University student Robert T. Morris, Jr. for releasing the Morris worm, thus becoming the first person to be prosecuted under the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
In 1990, The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 is signed into law by President George Bush.
In 1992, Mary Wells, American singer-songwriter (b. 1943) dies after cancer returned and she was rushed to the Kenneth Norris Jr. Cancer Hospital in Los Angeles with pneumonia. With the effects of her unsuccessful treatments and a weakened immune system, Wells died on July 26, 1992, at the age of 49. After her funeral, which included a eulogy given by her old friend and former collaborator, Smokey Robinson, Wells was laid to rest in Glendale‘s Forest Lawn Memorial Park, in a Womack family crypt. Family friend, Sam Cooke, is buried in The Garden of Honor, about 850 feet west. She was an American singer who helped to define the emerging sound of Motown in the early 1960s. Along with the Supremes, the Miracles, the Temptations, and the Four Tops, Wells was said to have been part of the charge in black music onto radio stations and record shelves of mainstream America, “bridging the color lines in music at the time.”
With a string of hit singles composed mainly by Smokey Robinson, including “The One Who Really Loves You”“, “Two Lovers” (1962), the Grammy-nominated“You Beat Me to the Punch” (1962) and her signature hit, “My Guy” (1964), she became recognized as “The Queen of Motown” until her departure from the company in 1964, at the height of her popularity. She was one of Motown’s first singing superstars.
In 2007, Shambo, a black cow in Wales that had been adopted by the local Hindu community, is slaughtered due to a bovine tuberculosis infection, causing widespread controversy.
In 2005, Mumbai, India receives 99.5cm of rain (39.17 inches) within 24 hours, bringing the city to a halt for over 2 days.
In 2005, Space Shuttle program: STS-114 Mission – Launch of Discovery, NASA‘s first scheduled flight mission after the Columbia Disaster in 2003.
In 2008, 56 people are killed and over 200 people are injured in 21 bomb blasts in Ahmedabad bombing in India.
In 2009, The militant Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram attacks a police station in Bauchi, leading to reprisals by the Nigeria Police Force and four days of violence across multiple cities.
In 2013, A gunman kills six people in Hialeah, Florida, and gets fatally shot by police.
In 2016, The Sagamihara stabbings occur in Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. 19 people are killed.
In 2016, Hillary Clinton becomes the first female nominee for President of the United States by a major political party at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
