Historical Events on 26 Nov

Historical Events on 26 Nov

1476 - Vlad III Dracula defeats Basarab Laiota with the help of Stephen the Great and Stephen V Bathory and becomes the ruler of Wallachia for the third time.
1778 - In the Hawaiian Islands, Captain James Cook becomes the first European to visit Maui.
1784 - Catholic Apostolic Prefecture of the United States established.
1789 - A national Thanksgiving Day is observed in the United States as recommended by President George Washington and approved by Congress.
1805 - Official opening of Thomas Telford's Pontcysyllte Aqueduct.
1825 - At Union College in Schenectady, New York a group of college students form Kappa Alpha Society, the first college social fraternity.
1842 - The University of Notre Dame is founded.
1863 - American Civil War: Mine Run - Union forces under General George Meade position against troops led by Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
1865 - Battle of Papudo: The Spanish navy engages a combined Peruvian-Chilean fleet north of Valparaiso, Chile.
1909 - Sigma Alpha Mu is founded in the City College of New York by 8 Jewish young men.
1913 - Phi Sigma Sigma is founded at Hunter College in New York City.
1917 - The National Hockey League is formed, with the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, Quebec Bulldogs, and Toronto Arenas as its first teams.
1918 - The Podgorica Assembly votes for "union of the people", declaring assimilation into the Kingdom of Serbia.
1922 - Toll of the Sea debuts as the first general release film to use two-tone Technicolor (The Gulf Between was the first film to do so but it was not widely distributed).
1922 - Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon become the first people to enter the tomb of Egyptian King Tutankhamun in over 3000 years.
1939 - Shelling of Mainila: The Soviet Army orchestrates the incident which is used to justify the start of the Winter War with Finland four days later.
1941 - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a bill establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day in the United States.
1942 - Holocaust: Shoah: 572 Norwegian Jews are deported to Auschwitz on the cargo vessel Donau. This was the first step on the journey to the death camp Auschwitz. Altogether the total number of Jews deported from Norway was 767. 25 of the deported survived.
1942 - World War II: Yugoslav Partisans convene the first meeting of the Anti-Fascist Council of National Liberation of Yugoslavia at Bihać in northwestern Bosnia.
1944 - World War II: Germany begins V-1 and V-2 attacks on Antwerp, Belgium.
1949 - The Indian Constituent Assembly adopts India's constitution.
1950 - Korean War: Troops from the People's Republic of China launch a massive counterattack in North Korea against South Korean and American forces (Battle of Chosin Reservoir), ending any hopes of a quick end to the conflict.
1965 - In the Hammaguir launch facility in the Sahara Desert, France launches a Diamant-A rocket with its first satellite, Asterix-1 on board, becoming the third country to enter outer space.
1968 - Vietnam War: United States Air Force helicopter pilot James P. Fleming rescues an Army Special Forces unit pinned down by Viet Cong fire and is later awarded the Medal of Honor.
1970 - In Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe, 1.5 inches (38.1mm) of rain fall in a minute, the heaviest rainfall ever on record.
1977 - 'Vrillon', claiming to be the representative of the 'Ashtar Galactic Command', takes over Britain's Southern Television for six minutes at 5:12 PM.
1983 - Brinks Mat robbery: In London, 6,800 gold bars worth nearly £26 million are stolen from the Brinks Mat vault at Heathrow Airport.
1986 - Iran-Contra scandal: U.S. President Ronald Reagan announces the members of what will become known as the Tower Commission.
1990 - The Delta II rocket makes its maiden flight.
1998 - Tony Blair becomes the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to address the Republic of Ireland's parliament.
2003 - Concorde makes its last ever flight over Bristol, England.
2004 - Ruzhou School massacre: a man stabs and kills eight people and seriously wounds another four in a school dormitory in Ruzhou, China.
43 BC - The Second Triumvirate alliance of Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus ("Octavian", later "Caesar Augustus"), Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, and Mark Antony is formed.
783 - The Asturian queen Adosinda is put up in a monastery to prevent her kin from retaking the throne from Mauregatus.