26th May is the 146th day of the year (147th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. 219 days remain until the end of the year. Find out some important events that occurred on this day in history.
Historical events
451 — The Battle of Avarayr between Armenian rebels and the Sassanid Empire takes place. The Armenians defeated militarily but guaranteed the freedom to openly practice Christianity.
1538 — Geneva expels Protestant reformer and theologian John Calvin and his followers from the city. Calvin lives in exile in Strasbourg for the next three years.
1596 — England, France and the Netherlands sign Drievoudig Covenant against Spain.
1647 — Alse Young becomes the first person executed as a witch in the American colonies, when hanged in Hartford, Connecticut.
1805 — Lewis and Clark first sight the Rocky Mountains.
1805 — French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte crowned King of Italy.
1824 — Brazil recognised by the US.
1828 — Mysterious feral child Kaspar Hauser discovered wandering the streets of Nuremberg.
1834 — Portuguese Civil war ends, Dom Miguel capitulates.
1857 — US slave Dred Scott and family freed by owner Henry Taylor Blow, only 3 months after US courts ruled against them in Dred Scott v. Sandford.
1861 — US Postmaster General Blair announces the end of the postal connection with South.
1864 — Territory of Montana formed.
1869 — Boston University is chartered by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
1876 — HMS Challenger returns from 128,000-km oceanographic exploration.
1887 — Racetrack betting becomes legal in NY state.
1894 — Emanuel Lasker (26) becomes World Champion chess player.
1896 — Last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II, crowned.
1900 — British troops under Ian Hamilton attack the Vaal in South Africa.
26th May in the 20th Century
1903 — Start of Sherlock Holmes “Adventure of Three Gables” (BG).
1918 — Georgian Social Democratic Republic declares independence from Russia.
1922 — Marxist Revolutionary and Soviet Leader Vladimir Lenin suffers a stroke.
1923 — The first Le Mans Grand Prix d’Endurance run.
1926 — Lebanon adopts its constitution.
1927 — Henry Ford and the Ford Motor Company produce the last (and 15th million) Model T Ford / Tin Lizzie.
1940 — The first successful helicopter flight in the US: Vought-Sikorsky US-300 designed by Igor Sikorsky.
1942 — Belgium Jews required by Nazis to wear a Jewish star.
1943 — Edwin Barclay of Liberia becomes the first president of a black country to visit the US.
1946 — Patent filed in the US for H-Bomb.
1948 — South Africa elects a nationalist government under D. F. Malan with an apartheid policy.
1963 — Organisation of African Unity forms.
More 26th May dates
1969 — Musician and Beatle John Lennon and Musician Yoko Ono begin their 2nd bed-in for peace (Queen Elizabeth Hotel, Montreal)
1972 — In the Republic of Ireland, the Special Criminal Court re-institutes to deal with crimes arising out of the Northern Ireland conflict. As part of the measures, trial by jury suspended.
1973 — Bahrain adopts its constitution.
1973 — Tippett’s 3rd Piano sonata premieres.
1974 — During a David Cassidy concert in London, a 14-year old is trampled.
1977 — George Willig climbs NYC World Trade Center.
1978 — The first legal gambling casino opens in Atlantic City.
1987 — Cecilia Bolocco, 22, of Chile, crowned 36th Miss Universe.
1989 — American radio broadcasters go silent for 30 seconds at 7:42 am to honour the radio industry.
1989 — Danish parliament allows same-s*x marriage.
1993 — Emmy 20th Daytime Award presentation – Susan Lucci loses for the 14th time.
1998 — Date for Paula Jones s*x harassment trial vs 42nd US President Clinton.
2000 — Sci-Fi Author Arthur C. Clarke knighted “for services to literature” at a ceremony in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
26th May in the 20th Century
2002 — The Mars Odyssey finds signs of large ice deposits on the planet Mars.
2002 — Rapper Eminem releases his 4th studio album “The Eminem Show” (2002 Billboard Album of the Year, Grammy Award Best Rap Album 2003).
2003 — Only three days after a previous record, Sherpa Lakpa Gelu climbs Mount Everest in 10 hours 56 minutes. The tourism ministry of Nepal confirms this record in July that year.
2012 — Pope Benedict XVI’s butler arrested for allegedly leaking confidential documents.
2013 — 66th Cannes Film Festival. “Blue Is the Warmest Colour”, directed by Abdellatif Kechiche, wins the Palme d’Or. The two main actresses in the film, Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux also awarded.
2014 — World Health Organisation confirms that Ebola has reached Sierra Leone.
2014 — Protests across Thailand in response to a military coup; General Prayuth warns of a crackdown in demonstrations continue.
2018 — Ireland votes to reveal their 8th amendment that will allow legalized abortion, 66.4% vote yes.
2018 — UEFA Champions League Final: Real Madrid beats Liverpool 3-1 in Kiev, Ukraine for the third straight title. Zinédine Zidane first manager to win 3 consecutive titles