1819 – Odd Fellows Lodge forms
1912 – First home run hit at Fenway Park by Hugh Bradley of the Red Sox
1956 – First modern container ship, the Ideal X, leaves Port Newark, New Jersey for Houston, Texas
1967 – Jule Styne, Adolph Green and Betty Comden’s musical “Hallelujah, Baby!”, starring Leslie Uggams, opens at Martin Beck Theater, NYC; runs for 293 performances and wins 2 Tony Awards
1976 – Pan Am begins nonstop flights between NYC and Tokyo
1983 – San Antonio spurs beat Denver Nuggets, 152-133 in NBA playoff game
1994 – Physicists announce the first evidence of the top quark subatomic particle
2012 – NFL Draft: Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck first pick by Indianapolis Colts
Author: gil7
Today in History for 26th April 2026
Historical Events
1906 – Motion pictures begin regular showings at the Orpheum Theater in Honolulu, Hawaii
1996 – Shaun Pollock takes 4 wkts in 4 balls for Warwickshire in BandH
2014 – Oratorio for chorus evoking Pennsylvania coal-mining life “Anthracite Fields” by composer Julia Wolfe premieres in Philadelphia (Pulitzer Prize for Music 2015)
2019 – Six suspected militants connected to Sri Lankan terror attacks killed along with ten others in a shootout with police in Sainthamaruthu
2023 – Brazilian Portuguese-language Michaelis dictionary adds “pelé” as a new adjective to its online edition, meaning “exceptional, incomparable, unique”
Famous Birthdays
1798 – Eugène Delacroix, French painter and etcher (Journal), born in Charenton-Saint-Maurice, Île-de-France, France (d. 1863)
1931 – Bernie Brillstein, American talent agent, manager and producer (The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd), born in Manhattan, New York (d. 2008)
1955 – Mike Scott, American baseball pitcher (NL Cy Young Award and NLCS MVP 1986, NL wins leader 1989; 3 × MLB All-Star Houston Astros), born in Santa Monica, California
1957 – Rosa Briceño, Venezuelan conductor, and educator, born in Caracas, Venezuela (d. 2018)
1975 – Joey Jordison, American drummer (Slipknot, 1995-2013 – “All Hope Is Gone”), born in Des Moines, Iowa (d. 2021)
Famous Deaths
1196 – Alfonso II, King of Aragon (1162-96), dies at 39
1984 – May McAvoy, American actress (Ben Hur), dies from heart attack at 84
2003 – Max Nicholson, Irish environmentalist, dies at 98
2017 – Jonathan Demme, American film director (Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia), dies at 73
2021 – Al Schmitt, American Grammy Award-winning recording engineer and record producer (Sam Cooke, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand), dies at 91
Famous Deaths for 25th April 2026
1295 – Sancho IV, the Brave, scholar/king of Castile/Leon, dies
1828 – Johannes Goldberg, Dutch politician and first Agent of the National Economy, dies at 64
1911 – Emilio Salgari, Italian novelist (b. 1862)
1946 – Joseph Vine, cricketer (batted in two Tests Eng v Aust 1911-12), dies
1949 – Jankel Adler, Polish painter and printmaker, dies at 53
1972 – George Sanders, Russian actor (All About Eve-Academy Award 1950), commits suicide at 65
1995 – Ginger Rogers [Virginia McMath], American vaudeville, stage and screen dancer, singer (Top Hat), and Academy Award-winning actress (Kitty Foyle; Stage Door), dies at 83
1999 – Michael Morris, 3rd Baron Killanin, Irish journalist, author, sports official and 6th President of the International Olympic Committee (1972-80), dies at 84
2023 – Sir Winfried Bischoff, German-British banker and chairman of Lloyds Banking Group, dies at 81
2023 – Vera Krepkina, Russian athlete (Olympic gold USSR long jump 1960; WR 4×100m relay 1956, tied WR 100m 11.3s 1958), dies at 90
Historical Events for 25th April 2026
1829 – Charles Fremantle arrives in HMS Challenger off the coast of modern-day Western Australia prior to declaring the Swan River Colony for the United Kingdom
1875 – Latest date for measurable snow in NYC (3″)
1901 – Erve Beck hits American League’s 1st home run
1950 – Chuck Cooper becomes the 1st African American to be drafted into the NBA (for Boston Celtics)
1982 – USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
1984 – USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
2012 – The United Kingdom dips back into recession after the economy shrank 0.2% in the first quarter of 2012
2018 – Danish inventor Peter Madsen found guilty of killing and desecrating body of journalist Kim Wall aboard submarine, sentenced to life imprisonment
Today in History for 25th April 2026
Historical Events
1952 – American Bowling Congress approves use of an automatic pinsetter
1955 – Captiol Records releases “In the Wee Small Hours”, the ninth studio album by American vocalist Frank Sinatra; collection of melancholy ballads with arrangements by Nelson Riddle was an early example of a concept album and helped popularize the 12-inch format for non-classical recordings
1959 – St Lawrence Seaway linking Atlantic and the Great Lakes opens to shipping
1994 – Tsutomu Hata elected premier of Japan
2015 – 7.8-magnitude earthquake near Kathmandu in Nepal, killing 8000, leaving over 100,000 homeless, destroying many historic sites
Famous Birthdays
1867 – Jean Demoor, Belgian physician and physiologist, born in Etterbeek, Belgium (d. 1941)
1869 – Karl Prohaska, Austrian composer, born in Mödling, Austria (d. 1927)
1923 – Anita Björk, Swedish actress (Miss Julie, Loving Couples, Night People), born in Tällberg, Sweden (d. 2012)
1949 – Michael Brown, American musician and songwriter (Don’t Walk Away Renee), born in New York City (d. 2015)
1994 – Sam Fender, English singer-songwriter and actor (Seventeen Going Under), born in South Shields, England
Famous Deaths
1960 – Amanullah Khan, Emir and King of Afghanistan (1919-28), dies at 67
1969 – Margarita Xirgu, Catalan stage actress, director and political radical (Bloody Wedding, Mariana Pineda), dies at 80
1990 – Dexter Gordon, American jazz tenor saxophonist Go!; The Other Side of ‘Round Midnight), and actor (‘Round Midnight), dies of kidney failure at 67
2000 – Lucien le Cam, French mathematician (b. 1924)
2009 – John J. Marchi, American politician (NY Senate 1957-2006), dies at 87
Famous Deaths for 24th April 2026
1731 – Daniel Defoe, English novelist (Robinson Crusoe), dies at about 70
1776 – Carolus van de Abeele, Flemish Jesuit, dies at 84
1852 – Vasily Zhukovsky, Russian poet and leading figure in Russian literature, dies at 69
1945 – Hubert Bath, British film score and light music composer (Cornish Rhapsody), and music director, dies at 61
1957 – Andries Cornelis Dirk de Graeff, Dutch politician (Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies 1926-31), dies at 84
1961 – Lee Moran, American actor (Circus Clown), dies of heart ailment at 72 (b. 1888)
1967 – Frank Overton, American actor (Fail Safe; 12 O’Clock High (TV series, not film)), dies of a heart attack at 49
1988 – Bob Newson, South African cricket fast bowler (3 Tests, 4 wickets; Transvaal; Rhodesia), dies at 87
2000 – Alma Heflin, American commercial airplane test pilot and child psychologist, dies at 89
2021 – Christa Ludwig, German soprano (Vienna State Opera, 1955-94; Metropolitan Opera, 1959-93), dies at 93
Historical Events for 24th April 2026
1288 – Jews of Troyes France are accused of ritual murder
1910 – German Catholic youth movement Quickborn forms
1917 – NY Yankees left-handed pitcher George Mogridge no-hits Boston Red Sox, 2-1 at Fenway Park
1921 – First municipal elections for men and women in Belgium
1950 – Leonard Bernstein’s musical “Peter Pan”, starring Jean Arthur and Boris Karloff, opens at Imperial Theater, NYC; runs for 320 performances
1955 – Gaullists lose elections in France
1965 – “Comedy in Music-Opus 2” closes at John Golden NYC after 192 performances
1990 – Brian Friel’s stage drama “Dancing at Lughnasa” opens at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, Ireland; later wins Olivier Award, Tony Award, and Drama Desk Award for Best Play
Today in History for 24th April 2026
Historical Events
1910 – German Catholic youth movement Quickborn forms
1915 – Leaders of the Armenian community in Constantinople (now Istanbul) are arrested by Ottoman authorities, and many later killed, marking the start of the Armenian Genocide
1916 – Ernest Shackleton and five men of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition launch a lifeboat from uninhabited Elephant Island in the Southern Ocean to organise a rescue for ice-trapped ship Endurance
1949 – 3rd Tony Awards: “Death of a Salesman” and “Kiss Me Kate” win
1976 – American composer Steve Reich’s “Music for 16 Musicians,” scored for four pianos, multiple percussion instruments, two clarinets, a violin, a cello, and four wordless and amplified women’s voices, a violin, has its world premiere at Town Hall in New York City
Famous Birthdays
1743 – Edmund Cartwright, English inventor (power loom), born in Marnham, Nottinghamshire, England (d. 1823)
1904 – Willem De Kooning, Dutch artist (North Atlantic Light), born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 1997)
1941 – Richard Holbrooke, American diplomat (Assistant Secretary of State, UN Ambassador) and author, born in New York City (d. 2010)
1948 – Paul Cellucci, American politician, 69th Governor of Massachusetts and former United States Ambassador to Canada, born in Hudson, Massachusetts (d. 2013)
1961 – Roger Mayweather, American boxer, (WBA and lineal super featherweight titles 1983-84, WBC light welterweight 1987-89; IBO light welterweight; IBO welterweight 1994-95), born in Grand Rapids, Michigan (d. 2020)
Famous Deaths
1776 – Giuseppe Paolucci, Italian composer, dies at 49
1824 – Herman Muntinghe, Dutch theologian and writer (History of Mankind), dies at 71
1948 – Rosita Marstini, actress (I Cover Waterfront, Big Parade), dies at 54
1967 – Frank Overton, American actor (Fail Safe; 12 O’Clock High (TV series, not film)), dies of a heart attack at 49
1988 – Bob Newson, South African cricket fast bowler (3 Tests, 4 wickets; Transvaal; Rhodesia), dies at 87
Famous Deaths for 23rd April 2026
1014 – Brian Boru, High King of Ireland, dies in battle at Clontarf at 72 or 73
1728 – Tomás de Torrejón y Velasco, Spanish organist, composer (La púrpura de la rosa), and maestro de capilla (Catedral de Lima, Peru, 1676-1707), dies at 83
1792 – Karl Friedrich Bahrdt, German theologian and adventurer, dies at 50
1823 – Joseph Nollekens, English sculptor (portrait busts, patronized by George III), dies at 85
1986 – Harold Arlen [Hyman Arluck], American popular song composer (“Over the Rainbow”; “It’s Only A Paper Moon”; “Stormy Weather”), dies of cancer at 81
1986 – Otto Preminger, Austro-Hungarian-American theatre and film director, producer (Laura; Advise and Consent; Anatomy of A Murder), and actor (Stalag 17), dies of lung cancer at 80
1999 – Tullio Pandolfini, Italian water polo athlete (Olympic gold, 1948), dies at 84
2011 – Max van der Stoel, Dutch politician and Minister of Foreign Affairs (PvdA), dies at 86
2022 – Orrin Hatch, American politician (US Senator from Utah (R), 1977-2019) longest-serving Utah US Senator, dies at 88
2025 – Jonnie Boer, Dutch chef with three Michelin Stars and a pioneer of the New Nordic food movement, dies of a pulmonary embolism at 60
Historical Events for 23rd April 2026
1851 – Canada issues its first postage stamp, a Three-Pence Beaver
1918 – Zeebrugge Raid: Dover Patrol attempted to block Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge to prevent German U-boats from leaving port
1942 – 4-day allied bombing on Rostock, Germany begins
1950 – NBA Championship: Minneapolis Lakers beat Syracuse Nationals, 110-95 to take series, 4 games to 2
1958 – Robert Kurka’s “The Good Soldier Schweik”, with libretto written by Abe Meeropol, premieres at the New York City Opera
1963 – Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick’s musical “She Loves Me”, based on the film “The Shop Around the Corner”, opens at Eugene O’Neill Theater, NYC; runs for 302 performances and a Tony Award for Jack Cassidy
2013 – “Star Trek Into Darkness” directed by J. J. Abrams starring Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto premieres in Sydney
2017 – Adam Ondra sets a new highpoint for the Project indoor sport route in Stockholm, Sweden