Some of the significant events which took place on August 26 taken from the leaf of History:

1071 – Battle of Manzikert: Seljuq Turks led by sultan Alp Arslan beat and capture Byzantine Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes.

1278 – Battle of Marchfeld: Rudolf of Habsburg defeats Ottokar II.

1303 – Ala ud din Khilji captures Chittorgarh.

1545 – Pope Paul III names his son Pierluigi Farnese as Duke of Parma.

1629 – Cambridge Agreement, Massachusetts Bay Company stockholders agree to emigrate.

1634 – Battle at Nordlingen Bavarian: emperor Ferdinand II & Spain beat Sweden & German Protestants.

1641 – West India Company conquers Sao Paulo de Loanda, Angola.

1648 – People’s uprising against Anna of Austria & Cardinal Mazarin.

1652 – Battle of Plymouth: General-at-Sea George Ayscue of the Commonwealth of England attacked a convoy of the Dutch Republic commanded by Vice-Commodore Michiel de Ruyter. Dutch victory.

1745 – Britan, Prussia & Hannover sign treaty.

1748 – The first Lutheran denomination in North America, the Pennsylvania Ministerium, is founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1778 – The first recorded ascent of Triglav, the highest mountain in Slovenia.

1789 – The National Constituent Assembly adopts the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen at the beginning of the French Revolution.

1791 – John Fitch granted US patent for his working steamboat.

1794 – French troops occupy Lock.

1843 – Charles Thurber patents a typewriter.

1846 – W A Bartlett appointed 1st US mayor of Yerba Buena (San Francisco).

1858 – First news dispatch by telegraph.

1863 – Battle of Rocky Gap, WV (White Sulphur Springs).

1972 – NY Cosmos beat St Louis Stars, 2-1 to win NASL championship.

1972 – 1972 – USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR.

1973 – David Eisenhower writes his last sports column.

1973 – University of Texas (Arlington) is first accredited school to offer belly dancing.

1973 – 10-year-old Mary Boitano is 1st woman to win 6.8-mile Dipsea Race in Marin County, CA, beating a field of 1,500 runners.

1974 – Guinee-Bissau becomes independent of Portugal.

1974 – Soyuz 15 carries 2 cosmonauts to space station Salyut 3.

1977 – Frank Martinus Arion forms Surinamese Writers group 77.

1978 – Cardinal Albino Luciani of Venice becomes Pope John Paul I.

1978 – Soyuz 31 carries 2 cosmonauts (1 East German) to Salyut 6.

1980 – Pete Comita replaces Tom Peterson as bassist of Cheap Trick.

1980 – John Birges plants a bomb at Harvey’s Resort Hotel in Stateline, Nevada.

1981 – Space Shuttle vehicle moves to Launch Complex 39A for STS-2 mission.

1981 – Voyager 2 takes photos of Saturn’s moon Titan.

1982 – NASA launches Telesat-F.

1983 – Floods destroy most of the old town of Bilbao, Spain.

1984 -Tatyana Kazankina of USSR sets 3k woman record (8:22.62) in Leningrad.

1984 – Zdena Silvaha (Cz) throws discus 74.55 m (women’s world record).

1985 – 42nd Venice Film Festival: “Sans toit ni loi (Vagabond)” directed by Agnes Varda wins the Golden Lion.

1986 – Rosa Mota wins Stuttgart female marathon (2:28:38).

1986 – Robert Chambers, the “Preppie Killer” murders Jennifer Levin in New York City’s Central Park, afterwards claimed “rough sex” as motive.

1987 – Paul Molitor goes 0-for-4 ends hitting streak at 39 consecutive games.

1988 -Mehran Karimi Nasseri arrives at Charles de Gaulle International Airport.

1989 – Trumbull, Conn, is 1st US team since 1983 to win Little League WS.

1990 – 2 murdered college students found in Gainesville, Florida.

1990 – Bo Jackson hits 4th of 4 consecutive HRs.

1991 -Royal Brett Saberegen no-hits White Sox 7-0.

1992 – “Anna Karenina” opens at Circle in Sq Theater NYC for 46 performances.

1992 -Hurricane Andrew makes landfall in Louisiana as Category 3 storm after causing deaths and severe damage in Florida.

1993 – Ernest Shonekan is appointed interim president of Nigeria by General Ibrahim Babangida.

1995 – Andrew Symonds hits 20 sixes in match for Gloucestershire v Glamorgan.

1995 – Lara completes 7th Test Cricket century, 179 at The Oval.

1997 – Beni-Ali massacre in Algeria; 60-100 people killed.

1999 – Michael Johnson breaks the 400 metres world record with a time of 43.18 seconds.

2000 – Australia clinches first Tri Nations Rugby Series with a 19-18 win over South Africa in Durban; Wallabies centre Stirling Mortlock lands 4 penalties and a conversion.

2002 – Earth Summit 2002 begins in Johannesburg, South Africa.

2003 – The Columbia Accident Investigation Board releases its final reports on Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.

2004 – Félix Sánchez wins the men’s 400m hurdles 47.63 in Athens; the Dominican Republic’s first ever Olympic gold medal.

2004 – An American 1-2-3 in the 200m medals at the Athens Olympics; Shawn Crawford gold in 19.79 ahead of Bernard Williams & Justin Gatlin.

2004 – Germany wins its first ever Olympic women’s field hockey gold medal with a 2-1 win against the Netherlands in Athens.

2004 – Lindsay Tarpley and Mary Wambach score as the US beats Brazil 2-1, maintaining an undefeated record to win the women’s football gold medal at the Athens Olympics.

2004 – Hamish Carter of New Zealand wins the men’s gold medal ahead of team mate Bevan Docherty, whilst Kate Allen of Austria takes out the women’s Triathlon at the Athens Olympics.

2006 – New Zealand retain Tri Nations Rugby Series with 45-26 win over South Africa in Pretoria; All Blacks flyhalf Dan Carter lands 4 penalties and 4 conversions.

2008 – Russia unilaterally recognizes the independence of the former Georgian breakaway republics Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

2011 – The 787 Dreamliner, Boeing’s all-new composite airliner, receives certification from the EASA and the FAA.

2012 – 17 villagers in Afghanistan’s Kajaki district are beheaded by an unknown organization.

2012 – 36 people are killed in a bus crash in Yan’an, China.

2012 – A Legionella outbreak in Quebec City, Canada, kills 8 and infects 104.

1957 – Edsel Automobiles: The Ford Motor Company’s first Edsel automobile rolls of the production line ready for the publicity machine to kick in one month later. The original models sold in 1958 included the Citation and Corsair, and the Pacer and Ranger. By the end of 1959 Ford announced the end of the sale of Edsel cars after Ford had lost approx. $350 million on the project.

1920 – U.S.A. 19th Amendment: The 19th Amendment, guaranteeing women the right to vote, is formally adopted into the U.S. Constitution.

1928 – Nicotine Concerns: Since so much material has been written about the dangers about Nicotine in Tobacco, a number of manufacturers are trying to reduce the amount of Nicotine in Cigarettes and Cigars by Re sweating the tobacco using pre-heated steam, and are putting them on the shelves proclaiming they are de-nicotized, but they do still contain some Nicotine as the processes are not perfect. 

1932 – Temporary Halt on Foreclosures: With America in the depths of the worst depression ever seen millions of people could not keep up with mortgage payments due to the mass unemployment. In a move to offer some relief the Comptroller of the Currency (or OCC) announced a temporary halt on foreclosures of first mortgages. 

1934 – Germany Expels Foreign Correspondents: Hitler’s Nazi propaganda machine is now expelling foreign correspondents who place a slur or criticize Adolf Hitler and the latest is a US correspondent Dorothy Thompson. 

1945 – U.S.A. Manhattan Project: It has been revealed that over 25,000 mice were used in the Manhattan project to determine if radiation would have any ill effects on the workers in Atomic Bomb Plants. 

1956 – Cyprus Archbishop Makarios: Britain has accused exiled Archbishop Makarios of inciting and orchestrating the bombing and terrorist acts by Greek Cypriots on Cyprus. 

1978 – Voting For new Pope: Cardinals have begun the Papal Enclave to choose the 236rd Pope, the 111 prelates are inside the Sistine Chapel and could well be many days before they choose the successor to Pope Paul VI. 

1989 – Assistance for battling Drug Lords: The United States is sending helicopters, Machine Guns, Mortars, four wheel drive personal carriers and the ammunition they are also sending medical equipment to help the Columbian Government battle the Drug Lords. They also sending military advisers but are not sending troops. The U.S. is also sending financial aid to encourage farmers to move from drug related crops to more traditional crops. 

1994 – UK LVAD Heart: A man has been given the world’s first battery operated Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD), the device is used to help the work of the Heart’s left ventricle by performing the pumping action needed, in a pioneering operation in Britain. 

2001 – Australia MV Tampa: The MV Tampa a Norwegian Cargo Vessel receives a distress call from Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC) Australia, to rescue 439 Afghans from a distressed fishing vessel in international waters beginning an International incident involving Australia, Norway, Indonesia, New Zealand and the tiny Pacific island nation of Nauru. The Afghans were attempting to gain entry into Australia through entry to the Christmas Islands an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean where they planned to seek asylum as refugees. The Australian government refused the rescue ship entry to Australian waters and sent members of the Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) to assist with medical emergencies. The refugees eventually ended up in New Zealand and Nauru where most were refused asylum status and sent back to their places of origin in Afghanistan and Iraq. Australia was criticized by many countries, particularly Norway, who accused it of evading its human rights responsibilities. 

2002 – South Africa Earth Summit: 60,000 delegates and politicians from 174 countries around the world have gathered for the latest Earth Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa (the last one was 10 years ago in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). 

2002 – Possible Attack by US on Iraq: The mood in Washington is bullish over a possible attack by US forces on Iraq without gaining approval from both houses as lawyers have declared that US President George W. Bush does not need approval due to his status as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. Saddam Hussein has warned that Iraq “will never surrender” to an invasion and will fight to the last man to protect its sovereignty. 

2004 – Number of Poor Increases to 35 million: The US Census Bureau has released new figures which put the number of poor in the US at 35.9 million an increase of more than 1 million. The definition of poor is a family of four with an annual income of less than $18,810 and less than $9,393 for a single person. 

2005 – France Hostel Fire in Paris: A fire in a charitable organizations hostel to house African immigrant hostel in Paris has killed fourteen children and three adults. 

2006 – Catholic Bishop Released After 10 Years: An underground Roman Catholic Bishop in China was released from prison after ten years. The Bishop was arrested for being loyal to the Vatican above all and jailed with other underground Roman Catholics, this is because China only recognizes the authority of its state-run churches. 

2007 – Greece Multiple Forest Fires: The country of Greece declared a state of emergency as multiple forest fires, over 200, continued to assault various parts of the country. By the time the fires were tamed in September 2007, 84 people had died as a result. Many of the fires were believed to be the cause of arson. 

2008 – Barack Obama Nominated: Democrats gathered at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado to officially nominate Barack Obama as their presidential candidate. Obama became the first African-American presidential candidate. 

2011 – Bodies Found in Abandoned Tripoli Hospital: Hundreds of dead bodies were found in a Tripoli hospital that was abandoned after being surrounded by clashes between rebels and Gaddafi’s forces. People who had sustained injuries were taken to the hospital for treatment but nearly all of the staff had fled and the people had been left in the hospital to die. Seventeen survivors were found within the hospital. 

2012 – Bus and Tanker Collide in China: Thirty-six people died after a bus collided with a tanker in the city of Yanan. Both vehicles burst into flames after the two collided and only three people survived the incident. 

2013 – Students Fail University Admission Exam: Not a single student in who took Liberia’s admission test for the University of Liberia passed this year’s exam. The country is still recovering from a very long civil war and President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf stated that the education system needed to be improved. 

2015 – Alison Parker, a reporter for WDBJ-TV in Roanoke, Virginia, and her cameraman, Adam Ward, were shot to death during a live broadcast by a disgruntled former station employee who fatally shot himself while being pursued by police.