1691 – Charles Perrault’s poem “The Marquise of Salusses or the Patience of Griselidis” is read aloud at the French Academy and later attached to his “Tales of Mother Goose” (1697)
1937 – General Franco’s Nationalist troops conquer Santander during the Spanish Civil War
1956 – Yankees announce the purchase of outfielder Enos Slaughter from Kansas City
1967 – Dutch Second Chamber demands US stop bombing North Vietnam
1977 – Ian Dury releases the single “Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll”
2004 – An American 1-2-3 in the 200 m medals at the Athens Olympics; Shawn Crawford wins gold in 19.79 ahead of Bernard Williams and Justin Gatlin
2011 – The 787 Dreamliner, Boeing’s all-new composite airliner, receives certification from the EASA and the FAA
2015 – WDBJ TV reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward are fatally shot live on TV by an ex-colleague in Moneta, Virginia
Author: gil7
Today in History for 26th August 2026
Historical Events
1903 – Phillies walk 17 Dodgers in a game
1990 – Two murdered college students are found in Gainesville, Florida
2013 – All 25,000 applicants to the University of Liberia fail their university entrance examination
2020 – At least 100 people are killed in flash floods in the city of Charikar, Afghanistan, with 500 houses destroyed
2025 – American pop superstar Taylor Swift (35) and American NFL football player Travis Kelce (35) reveal their marriage engagement in social media post, garnering 1.2 million ‘likes’ in under 10 minutes
Famous Birthdays
1808 – Benjamin Grubb Humphreys, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Claiborne County, Mississippi (d. 1882)
1908 – Walter Bruno Henning, German scholar and linguist specializing in Iranian languages, born in Ragnit, East Prussia, German Empire (d. 1967)
1941 – Barbet Schroeder, Iranian-Swiss director (Barfly, Single White Female, More), born in Tehran, Iran
1962 – Bob Mionske, American cyclist and attorney, born in Evanston and Illinois
1977 – Saeko Chiba, Japanese singer and voice actor (Chrono Crusade, Code Geass), born in Tokyo, Japan
Famous Deaths
1849 – Jacques- Féréol Mazas, French composer, conductor and violinist, dies at 66
1863 – John Bz. Floyd, American Governor (Virginia), Secretary of War (1857-60) and Confederate general, dies of failing health at 57
1937 – Andrew Mellon, American banker (Mellon Bank), industrialist and Secretary of the Treasury (1921-32), dies at 82
2007 – Roy McLean, South African cricket batsman (40 Tests, 5 x 100, HS 142; Natal), dies at 77
2023 – John Kezdy, American punk-rock guitarist and singer (The Effigies), and later prosecuting attorney, dies from injuries sustained in a bicycle crash at 64
Famous Deaths for 25th August 2026
1868 – Henry P Scholte, Dutch/US vicar (Iowa), dies at 62
1936 – Grigory Zinoviev [Hirsch Apfelbaum], Russian revolutionary, Communist International chairman (1919-26), and anti-Stalinist politician, executed on treason charges during Stalin’s ‘Great Purge’ at 52
1957 – Leo Perutz, Austrian writer and mathematician, dies at 74
1969 – Helen Blair Bartlett, American geologist credited with inventing the insulation for spark plugs, dies at 67
1995 – Doug Stegmeyer, American rock bassist (Billy Joel Band, 1976-87), dies of a self-inflicted gun wound at 43
1998 – Lewis F. Powell Jr., American Supreme Court justice (1972-87), dies at 90
2008 – Marpessa Dawn, American-French actress (Black Orpheus), dies of a heart attack at 74
2008 – John Thoday, British geneticist, dies at 91
2016 – Sonia Rykiel, French fashion designer, dies at 86
2023 – Tony Roberts, American College Football HOF broadcaster (play-by-play announcer Notre Dame Fighting Irish football 1980-2006), dies at 94
Historical Events for 25th August 2026
1425 – Countess Jacoba of Bavaria escapes from jail
1814 – British forces destroy the Library of Congress, which contains 3,000 books (War of 1812)
1835 – The New York Sun publishes the Great Moon Hoax story about John Herschel, who claimed he had discovered life, landscapes, and fantastical creatures on the Moon through a powerful telescope
1936 – Three Braves hit twice in an inning, each getting two hits
1950 – “Rashomon,” a Japanese film directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring Toshiro Mifune and Machiko Kyō, is released (Honorary Academy Award 1952)
1960 – AFL begins placing players’ names on the backs of their jerseys
1980 – MLB Texas Rangers pitcher Ferguson Jenkins is arrested for possession of drugs
2003 – Tłı̨chǫ land claims agreement is signed between the Tłı̨chǫ First Nations and the Canadian federal government in Rae-Edzo (now called Behchokǫ̀)
Today in History for 25th August 2026
Historical Events
1942 – SS begins transporting Jews from Maastricht
1990 – Li Hui Rong of China sets the women’s triple jump record of 47 ft 8½ in (14.54 m)
1995 – Gloucestershire cricketer Andrew Symonds scores 254 against Glamorgan, including a then first-class record of 16 sixes
2004 – Gal Fridman becomes Israel’s first Olympic gold medalist when he wins the men’s Mistral One Design windsurfing event at the Athens Games
2004 – Olga Kuzenkova of Russia throws an Olympic record 75.02 m to win the women’s hammer throw gold medal at the Athens Games
Famous Birthdays
1846 – Judith Gautier, French poetess, novelist (Le Dragon Impérial) and daughter of Theophile Gautier, born in Paris (d. 1917)
1897 – Jaroslav Řídký, Czech harpist, conductor, and composer, born in Reichenberg, Kingdom of Bohemia, Austria-Hungary (d. 1956)
1903 – Arpad Elo, American chess writer and creator of the Elo rating system for two-player games such as chess, born in Egyházaskesző, Hungary (d. 1992)
1965 – Kathy Horvath, American tennis player (World #10 1984, 6 WTA titles), born in Chicago, Illinois
1988 – Raymond Quinn, British pop singer, born in Knowsley Village, Merseyside, England
Famous Deaths
1282 – Thomas Cantilupe, English saint (b. ca 1218)
1868 – Costache Negruzzi, Romanian author/poet, dies at about 60
1945 – Willis Augustus Lee, American World War II admiral (Guadalcanal), and sport shooter (5 Olympic gold medals, 1920), dies of a heart attack while being ferried out to visit his flagship USS Wyoming off the coast of Maine at 57
1996 – Sylvia Fisher, Australian operatic soprano (Albert Herring Opera), dies at 86
2008 – Pehr Henrik Nordgren, Finnish composer (The Whole World Will Lament; Kwaidan-balladit), dies at 64
Famous Deaths for 24th August 2026
1801 – Jacques-Denis Antoine, French builder (La Monnaie Paris), dies at 68
1833 – Adrian Hardy Haworth, English entomologist and botanist, dies at 65
1958 – John G. Strijdom, South African politician and nationalist, Prime Minister of South Africa (1954-58), dies at 65
1962 – Henry George Ley, British organist, and choral composer, dies at 74
1978 – Louis Prima, American jazz and pop singer, trumpeter, and bandleader (“That Old Black Magic”; “Oh, Marie”), dies at 67
2001 – Bettejane “Jane” Greer, American actress (Out of the Past, Prisoner of Zenda, Clown), dies at 76
2012 – Pauli Ellefsen, Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (1981-85), dies at 76
2019 – Arun Jaitley, Indian politician and lawyer, leader of the opposition (2009-14), and MP (2000-19), dies at 66
2020 – Tony Colton [Chalk], British singer-songwriter, and record producer (Head, Hands, and Feet), dies of kidney failure at 68
2020 – Pascal Lissouba, Congo politician, 1st democratically-elected President of the Republic of the Congo (1992-97), dies at 88
Historical Events for 24th August 2026
1908 – Canadian champion Tommy Burns KOs Bill Squires in the 13th round at Sydney Stadium, Australia, to retain the world heavyweight boxing title; Burns’ third KO of Squires
1914 – German troops occupy Namur, Belgium
1940 – WWII: German Luftwaffe bombs London
1971 – India beats England by 4 wickets in their first win against the English
1979 – UN’s Vienna office begins issuing postage stamps
2004 – Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia vaults 4.91 m to break her own pole vault world record and wins the gold medal from teammate Svetlana Feofanova at the Athens Olympics
2012 – Yangmingtan Bridge collapses in China, killing three people
2018 – Scott Morrison becomes Prime Minister of Australia after defeating Peter Dutton in a leadership spill, replacing Malcolm Turnbull
Today in History for 24th August 2026
Historical Events
1635 – The Great Colonial Hurricane affects the Virginia Colony at Jamestown
1921 – British airship R-38 crashes into the River Humber, killing 44 people
2008 – XXIX Summer Olympic Games close at the Beijing National Stadium
2008 – Samuel Wanjiru becomes the first Kenyan to win the men’s Olympic marathon in Beijing, winning in an Olympic record time; silver medalist Jaouad Gharib of Morocco is also faster than the Olympic record, yet finishes 44 seconds behind
2022 – South Korea records the world’s lowest fertility rate at 0.81 (advanced economies average 1.6, population replacement needs 2.1)
Famous Birthdays
1561 – Bartholomeus Pitiscus, German mathematician (Trigonometry), born in Zielona Góra, Poland (d. 1613)
1879 – Rentaro Taki, Japanese pianist and composer, born in Tokyo, Japan (d. 1903)
1903 – Claude Hopkins, American jazz stride pianist, arranger, bandleader, and musical director (Josephine Baker), born in Alexandria, Virginia (d. 1984)
1934 – Roger Donald Dickerson, American pianist, composer (New Orleans Concerto), and educator, born in New Orleans, Louisiana
1945 – Ronee Blakley, American actress (Nashville), and singer-songwriter, born in Nampa, Idaho
Famous Deaths
1647 – Nicholas Stone “Elder”, English sculptor and architect, dies at about 61
1712 – Thomas Bullis, Jr. English organist and composer, dies at 54 (burial date)
1870 – Edwin Gray Lee, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 34
2002 – Ted Ashley [Theodore Assofsky], American talent agent and chairman of Warner Brothers (1969-80), dies at 80
2016 – Michel Butor, French novelist and essayist (La Modification), dies at 89
Famous Deaths for 23rd August 2026
1628 – George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham and English courtier who was a favorite of King James I, assassinated by army officer John Felton at 35
1975 – Hank Patterson, American actor (Gunsmoke, Fred Ziffel-Green Acres), dies at 87
1980 – Norman Shelley, British radio actor (Churchill’s Speech), dies at 77
1981 – (Thaman) “Pete” Daily, American swing and dixieland jazz cornetist and valve trombonist (The Chicagoans), dies at 70
1989 – Helen le Clerq, Dutch dancer and choreographer, dies at 57
1992 – Malcolm Atterbury, American actor (Jonas-Thicker than Water, Apples Way), dies at 85
1994 – Rabah Stambouli, Algerian sociologist/politician, murdered at 65
2005 – Ninjalicious, Canadian author and urban explorer (b. 1973)
2016 – Steven Hill, American actor (Mission Impossible, Law and Order), dies at 94
2023 – Erkin Koray, Turkish psychedelic rock guitarist, electro baglama player, and singer, dies of lung disease at 82
Historical Events for 23rd August 2026
1708 – Meidingnu Pamheiba is crowned King of Manipur
1862 – Skirmish at Big Hill, Kentucky (two Federal regiments)
1940 – Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands dismisses Dutch Prime Minister Dirk Jan de Geer
1968 – Ringo temporarily quits The Beatles over a disagreement and rejoins the group after a holiday in Sardinia
1969 – 30th Venice Film Festival opens
1979 – Iranian army opens offensive against Kurds
1982 – Seattle Mariners pitcher Gaylord Perry is ejected for throwing a spitter
1992 – Wilhelm Verwoerd, grandson of former South African Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd, the main architect of apartheid, joins the African National Congress