Some of the significant events which took place on July 26 taken from the leaf of History:
657 – Battle of Siffin during the first Muslim civil war between Ali ibn Abi Talib and Muawiyah I beside Euphrates River.
811 – Battle of Pliska: Bulgarians under Krum beat Byzantines.
920 – Rout of an alliance of Christian troops from Navarre and Léon against the Muslims at Pamplona.
1267 – Inquisition forms in Rome under Pope Clement IV.
1309 -Clement V Proclaims Henry VII as the Holy Roman Emperor: Henry VII began his efforts to be crowned as the Holy Roman Emperor following the death of King Albert I in 1308. He finally succeeded in his mission and ascended the throne in January 1309. On July 26, 1309, Pope Clement V bestowed his blessings to Henry VII and proclaimed him as the Holy Roman Emperor in exchange for protection 1469 – Wars of the Roses: Battle of Edgecote Moor – Pitting the forces of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick against those of King Edward IV.
1469- Wars of the Roses: The Battle of Edgecote Moor: On July 26, 1469, the forces of Richard Neville, the 16th Earl of Warwick and Edward IV of England clashed during the Battle of Edgecote Moor. The skirmish was a part of the Wars of Roses, which was a contest between the House of Lancaster and York for the throne of England.
1499 – Spanish conquistador Alonso de Ojeda discovers Curacao Island.
1758- French and Indian War: The Siege of Louisburg Ends – The Watershed Battle between the British American colonies and New France, known as the Siege of Louisburg, concluded with the a French defeat on July 26, 1758. The British acquired the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and eventually also captured Quebec.
1775 – Postal System Established in US: The Second Continental Congress, that witnessed the congregation of delegates from thirteen colonies in Philadelphia in 1775, announced the establishment of first United States Post Office. The convention also named Benjamin Franklin as its first postmaster general, this formally marking the beginning of United States Postal System.
1847 – Liberia Becomes an Independent Nation: On this day in 1847, Liberia became the West African nation to become a democratic republic. The American colony was granted sovereignty and the process of preparing a constitution for the Republic of Liberia began.
1863- Confederate Hero John Hunt Morgan held captive: John Hunt Morgan was a Confederate hero who led the troops in four daring raids against the Union. However on this fateful day in 1863, the Southerner and 360 of his cavalrymen were captured during a raid at Salineville, Ohio.
1908 – U.S. Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte ordered creation of a force of special agents that was a forerunner of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
1916- Australians and Germans Lock Horns – Battle of Somme: The Battle of Somme fought during World War I was an Allied mission to capture the Poziers Ridge in France. The combined troops of Australia and New Zealand fought alongside the British troops in the decisive battle. On this day in 1916, the Australian army launched an offensive against the Germans.
1936 – Hitler Extends Support to Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War: As the Second Spanish Republic and Nationalists declared war against each other in Spain, Germany agreed to extend their support to the latter in the war on this day in 1936. Upon Hitler’s orders, forces were deployed and transportation facilities were provided to the troops of General Francisco Franco.
1941 – President Franklin Roosevelt Issued Orders to seize Japanese assets: In response to Japan’s advancement towards the Cam Ranh naval base in French Indo-China territory, United States made their displeasure clear by freezing Japanese assets in the country. The British and Dutch East Indies followed in the footsteps of their North American ally. The move caused Japan to lose a major chunk of overseas trade and was faced with limited oil reserves.
1945- Winston Churchill defeated by Clement Attlee in General Election: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was defeated in the general election of 1945, on this day. He was replaced by Clement Attlee, the Labor party candidate after securing a landslide victory.
1945 – The Potsdam Declaration warned Imperial Japan to unconditionally surrender, or face “prompt and utter destruction.” Winston Churchill resigned as Britain’s prime minister after his Conservatives were soundly defeated by the Labor Party; Clement Attlee succeeded him.
1947- President Harry S. Truman signed the National Security Act, which reorganized America’s armed forces as the National Military Establishment and created the Central Intelligence Agency.
1947-US president signs the National Security Act: On this day in 1947 US President Harry Truman signed the National Security Act, which became one of the most effective piece of legislation to protect the nation’s interest during the Cold War. The Act was instrumental in establishing United States national Security Council and the Central Intelligence Agency.
1948-Executive Order 9981 ends discrimination in the United States Military: The Executive Order 9981, which was instrumental in ending color based discrimination of soldiers of the United States Army, was issued on this day in 1948. Prime Minister signed the order which banished racial discrimination of any form in the Armed Forces.
1952 – Argentina’s first lady, Eva Peron, died in Buenos Aires at age 33. King Farouk I of Egypt abdicated in the wake of a coup led by Gamal Abdel Nasser.
1953 – Fidel Castro began his revolt against Fulgencio Batista (fool-HEN’-see-oh bah-TEES’-tah) with an unsuccessful attack on an army barracks in eastern Cuba. (Castro ousted Batista in 1959.)
1965-The Maldives claim complete independence: Maldives, which was a British protectorate for almost eight decades secured complete independence on July 26, 1965. The former, however, hosted two British Air Force stations on its soil.
1968- South Vietnamese opposition leader sentenced to five years of hard labor: On this day in 1968, South Vietnamese political figure Truong Dinh Dzu became the first citizen to be tried under the 1965 decree that demanded prosecution of individuals ‘who interfere with the government’s struggle against communism.’ Truong, who contested in the 1967 Presidential elections, advocated a coalition government to end the Vietnam Conflict.
1974- Konstantinos Karamanlis forms First Civil Government in Greece: The Seven Years in Greece refers to the dictatorial rule of the right wing military junta, which ended in July 1974. On 26th July, Konstantinos Karamanlis headed a civil government, which was formed after discarding the previous military establishment, as the Prime Minister.
1986 – Islamic radicals in Lebanon released the Rev. Lawrence Martin Jenco, an American hostage held for nearly 19 months. American statesman W. Averell Harriman died in Yorktown Heights, New York, at age 94.
1990 – The ‘Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990’ Is Signed By President George Bush: Based on the lines of Civil Rights Act of 1964, the ‘Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990’, also aimed at preventing the discrimination of American citizens based on disabilities was passed. On this day in 1990, President George Bush signed the act, thus formally converting it into legislation to promote the upliftment of people with special needs.
2005 – NASA Launched ‘Discovery’: Following the disaster during NASA’s Columbia mission, ‘Discovery’ too had a rough start when technical failures caused the launch to be aborted on July 13, 2005. However, on July 26, following troubleshooting, the Orbiter Vehicle was successfully launched from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad ‘39B’.
2006 – In a dramatic turnaround from her first murder trial, Andrea Yates was found not guilty by reason of insanity by a Houston jury in the bathtub drowning of her five children; she was committed to a state mental hospital. (Yates had initially been found guilty of murder, but had her conviction overturned.)
2008 – At least 22 small bombs exploded in Ahmadabad (AH’-muh-duh-bahd) in the Indian state of Gujarat, killing 58 people.
2016 – Hillary Clinton became the first woman to be nominated for president by a major political party at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
2017- President Donald Trump announced on Twitter that he will not “accept or allow” transgender people to serve in the U.S. military. (The pronouncement was blocked by legal challenges, and the Pentagon began allowing transgender recruits to seek enlistment on January .) A thrill ride broke apart at the Ohio State Fair, killing an 18-year-old high school student and injuring seven others. Child killer Ronald Phillips was put to death in Ohio’s first execution in 3 years; they’d been put on hold amid an uproar over the reliability of the lethal injection drugs used by the state. Actress June Foray, the voice of Rocky the Flying Squirrel and hundreds of other cartoon characters, died in a Los Angeles hospital at the age of 99.
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