Historical EventsToday: 26 September

Events

• 46 BC - Julius Caesar dedicates a temple to his mythical ancestor Venus Genetrix in accordance with a vow he made at the battle of Pharsalus.


• 715 - Ragenfrid defeats Theudoald at the Battle of Compiègne.


• 1212 - Golden Bull of Sicily certified hereditary royal title in Bohemia for Přemyslid dynasty.


• 1580 - Sir Francis Drake circumnavigates the globe.


• 1687 - The Parthenon in Athens is partially destroyed after an explosion caused by the bombing from Venetian forces led by Morosini who were besieging the Ottoman Turks stationed in Athens.


• 1687 - The city council of Amsterdam votes to support William of Orange's invasion of England, which became the Glorious Revolution.


• 1777 - British troops occupy Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the American Revolution.


• 1783 - Fayette County, Pennsylvania created


• 1789 - Thomas Jefferson is appointed the first United States Secretary of State, John Jay is appointed the first Chief Justice of the United States, Samuel Osgood is appointed the first United States Postmaster General, and Edmund Randolph is appointed the first United States Attorney General.


• 1792 - Marc-David Lasource begins accusing Maximilien Robespierre of wanting a dictatorship for France.


• 1810 - A new Act of Succession is adopted by the Riksdag of the Estates and Jean Baptiste Bernadotte becomes heir to the Swedish throne.


• 1872 - The first Shriners Temple (called Mecca) was established in New York City.


• 1907 - New Zealand and Newfoundland each become dominions within the British Empire.


• 1908 - Ed Reulbach became the first and only pitcher to throw two shutouts in one day against the Brooklyn Dodgers.


• 1914 - The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is established by the Federal Trade Commission Act.


• 1918 - World War I: Battle of Meuse.


• 1934 - Steamship RMS Queen Mary is launched.


• 1937 - Street and Smith Publications launches a half-hour radio program featuring the announcer for its "Detective Stories" radio show, The Shadow, with Orson Welles in the title role.


• 1944 - World War II: Operation Market Garden fails.


• 1944 - World War II: On the central front of the Gothic Line Brazilian troops controlled the Serchio valley region after ten days of fighting.


• 1950 - United Nations troops recapture Seoul from the North Koreans.


• 1950 - Indonesia admitted to the United Nations.


• 1954 - Japanese rail ferry Toya Maru sinks during a typhoon in the Tsugaru Strait, Japan killing 1,172.


• 1960 - In Chicago, the first televised debate takes place between presidential candidates Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy.


• 1960 - Fidel Castro announces Cuba's support for the U.S.S.R.


• 1962 - Yemen Arab Republic is proclaimed.


• 1970 - The Laguna Fire starts in San Diego County, California, burning 175,425 acres (710 km²).


• 1973 - Concorde makes its first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic in record-breaking time.


• 1981 - Baseball: Nolan Ryan sets a Major League record by throwing his fifth no-hitter.


• 1983 - Soviet military officer Stanislav Petrov averts a worldwide nuclear war.


• 1983 - Australia II, the first non-American winner, wins the Americas Cup.


• 1984 - United Kingdom agrees to handover of Hong Kong


• 1997 - A Garuda Indonesia Airbus A-300 crashes near Medan, Indonesia, airport, killing 234.


• 1997 - An earthquake strikes the Italian regions of Umbria and the Marche, causing part of the Basilica of St. Francis at Assisi to collapse.


• 2000 - Anti-globalization protests in Prague (some 20,000 protesters) turned violent during the IMF and World Bank summits.


• 2000 - M/S Express Samina sinks off Paros in the Agean sea killing 80 passengers.


• 2002 - The overcrowded Senegalese ferry MV Joola capsizes off the coast of Gambia killing more than 1,000.