June 26

Historic Events

2024

Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, returns to Australia after pleading guilty to one charge of espionage in a Saipan court and subsequently being released by the United States Department of Justice. ›

2015

Five different terrorist attacks in France, Tunisia, Somalia, Kuwait, and Syria occur on what was dubbed Bloody Friday by international media. Upwards of 750 people are either killed or injured in these uncoordinated attacks. ›

2015

The U.S. Supreme Court rules, 5–4, that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marriage under the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution. ›

2013

Riots in China's Xinjiang region kill at least 36 people and injure 21 others. ›

2013

The U.S. Supreme Court rules, 5–4, that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional and in violation of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. ›

2012

The Waldo Canyon fire descends into the Mountain Shadows neighborhood in Colorado Springs, United States, burning 347 homes in a matter of hours and killing two people. ›

2008

A suicide bomber dressed as an Iraqi policeman detonates an explosive vest, killing 25 people. ›

2007

Pope Benedict XVI reinstates the traditional laws of papal election in which a successful candidate must receive two-thirds of the votes. ›

2006

Mari Alkatiri, the first Prime Minister of East Timor, resigns after weeks of political unrest. ›

2003

The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Lawrence v. Texas that sex-based sodomy laws are unconstitutional. ›

2000

The Human Genome Project announces the completion of a "rough draft" sequence. ›

1997

The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the Communications Decency Act violates the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. ›

1997

J. K. Rowling publishes the first of her Harry Potter novel series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, in the United Kingdom. ›

1995

Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani deposes his father Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, in a bloodless coup d'état. ›

1991

Yugoslav Wars: The Yugoslav People's Army begins the Ten-Day War in Slovenia. ›

1988

The first crash of an Airbus A320 occurs when Air France Flight 296Q crashes at Mulhouse–Habsheim Airfield in Habsheim, France, during an air show, killing three of the 136 people on board. ›

1981

Dan-Air Flight 240, flying to East Midlands Airport, crashes in Nailstone, Leicestershire. All three crew members perish. ›

1978

Air Canada Flight 189, flying to Toronto, overruns the runway and crashes into the Etobicoke Creek ravine. Two of the 107 passengers on board perish. ›

1975

Two FBI agents and a member of the American Indian Movement are killed in a shootout on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota; Leonard Peltier is later convicted of the murders in a controversial trial. ›

1974

The Universal Product Code is scanned for the first time to sell a package of Wrigley's chewing gum at the Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio. ›

1967

Karol Wojtyła (later John Paul II) is made a cardinal by Pope Paul VI. ›

1963

Cold War: U.S. President John F. Kennedy gives his "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech, underlining the support of the United States for democratic West Germany shortly after Soviet-supported East Germany erected the Berlin Wall. ›

1960

The former British Protectorate of British Somaliland gains its independence as Somaliland. ›

1960

Madagascar gains its independence from France. ›

1959

Swedish boxer Ingemar Johansson becomes world champion of heavyweight boxing, by defeating American Floyd Patterson on technical knockout after two minutes and three seconds in the third round at Yankee Stadium. ›

1955

The South African Congress Alliance adopts the Freedom Charter at the Congress of the People in Kliptown. ›

1953

Lavrentiy Beria, head of MVD, is arrested by Nikita Khrushchev and other members of the Politburo. ›

1952

The Pan-Malayan Labour Party is founded in Malaya, as a union of statewide labour parties. ›

1948

Cold War: The first supply flights are made in response to the Berlin Blockade. ›

1948

William Shockley files the original patent for the grown-junction transistor, the first bipolar junction transistor. ›

1945

The United Nations Charter is signed by 50 Allied nations in San Francisco, California. ›

1944

World War II: San Marino, a neutral state, is mistakenly bombed by the RAF based on faulty information, leading to 35 civilian deaths. ›

1944

World War II: The Battle of Osuchy in Osuchy, Poland, one of the largest battles between Nazi Germany and Polish resistance forces, ends with the defeat of the latter. ›

1942

The first flight of the Grumman F6F Hellcat. ›

1941

World War II: Soviet planes bomb Kassa, Hungary (now Košice, Slovakia), giving Hungary the impetus to declare war the next day. ›

1940

World War II: Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, the Soviet Union presents an ultimatum to Romania requiring it to cede Bessarabia and the northern part of Bukovina. ›

1936

Initial flight of the Focke-Wulf Fw 61, the first practical helicopter. ›

1934

United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Federal Credit Union Act, which establishes credit unions. ›

1924

The American occupation of the Dominican Republic ends after eight years. ›

1918

World War I: Allied forces under John J. Pershing and James Harbord defeat Imperial German forces under Wilhelm, German Crown Prince in the Battle of Belleau Wood. ›

1917

World War I: The American Expeditionary Forces begin to arrive in France. They will first enter combat in the Battle of Hamel on July 4. ›

1909

The Science Museum in London comes into existence as an independent entity. ›

1906

The first Grand Prix motor race is held at Le Mans. ›

1889

Bangui is founded by Albert Dolisie and Alfred Uzac in what was then the upper reaches of the French Congo. ›

1886

Henri Moissan isolates elemental fluorine for the first time. ›

1857

The first investiture of the Victoria Cross takes place in Hyde Park, London. ›

1848

End of the June Days Uprising in Paris, France. ›

1843

Treaty of Nanking comes into effect; Hong Kong Island is ceded to the British "in perpetuity". ›

1830

William IV becomes king of Britain and Hanover following the death without surviving legitimate issue of his older brother George IV. ›

1794

French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Fleurus marks the first successful military use of aircraft and turns the tide of the War of the First Coalition. ›

1740

A combined force of Spanish, free blacks and allied Indians defeat a British garrison at the Siege of Fort Mose near St. Augustine during the War of Jenkins' Ear. ›

1723

After a siege and bombardment by cannon, Baku surrenders to the Russians. ›

1718

Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia, Peter the Great's son, mysteriously dies after being sentenced to death by his father for plotting against him. ›

1656

A joined Hospitaller-Venetian fleet defeats a numerically superior Ottoman fleet in the battle of the Dardanelles. ›

1579

Livonian campaign of Stephen Báthory begins. ›

1541

Francisco Pizarro is assassinated in Lima by the son of his former companion and later antagonist, Diego de Almagro the younger. Almagro is later caught and executed. ›

1539

Afghan Sur forces under Sher Shah Suri defeat a Mughal army under Humayun in the battle of Chausa. ›

1522

Ottomans begin the second Siege of Rhodes. ›

1483

Richard III becomes King of England. ›

1460

War of the Roses: Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, and Edward, Earl of March, land in England with a rebel army and march on London. ›

1409

Western Schism: The Roman Catholic Church is led into a double schism as Petros Philargos is crowned Pope Alexander V after the Council of Pisa, joining Pope Gregory XII in Rome and Pope Benedict XIII in Avignon. ›

1407

Ulrich von Jungingen becomes Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights. ›

1295

Przemysł II crowned king of Poland, following Ducal period. The white eagle is added to the Polish coat of arms. ›

1243

Mongols under Baiju Noyan defeat the Seljuk Turks under Kaykhusraw II at the Battle of Köse Dağ. The Sultanate of Rum subsequently becomes a vassal to the Mongol Empire. ›

1243

Election of Pope Innocent IV following the death of Pope Celestine IV in 1241. ›

699

En no Ozuno, a Japanese mystic and apothecary who will later be regarded as the founder of the folk religion Shugendō, is banished to Izu Ōshima. ›

684

Pope Benedict II is consecrated as pope following imperial approval from the Byzantine Emperor. He is the last pope to require the confirmation of the emperor; the next popes require only that of the more closely situated exarch of Ravenna. ›

363

Roman emperor Julian is fatally wounded by Sassanid troops in a skirmish close to Samarra while retreating from his failed siege of Ctesiphon. ›

221

Roman emperor Elagabalus adopts his cousin Alexander Severus as his heir and grants him the title of Caesar. ›

4

Augustus adopts Tiberius. ›