Important Historical Events Today, What Happened Today in History?
Today's Historical Events. What Happened This Day In History? Here is a chronological timetable of historical events that occurred on this day in history. Historical facts of the day in the areas of military, politics, science, music, sports, arts, entertainment and more. Discover what happened 26 September in history.
Historical Events on September 26
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 46 | Julius Caesar dedicates a temple to Venus Genetrix, fulfilling a vow he made at the Battle of Pharsalus. |
| 715 | Ragenfrid defeats Theudoald at the Battle of Compiègne. |
| 1087 | William II is crowned King of England, and reigns until 1100. |
| 1212 | The Golden Bull of Sicily is issued to confirm the hereditary royal title in Bohemia for the Přemyslid dynasty. |
| 1345 | Friso-Hollandic Wars: Frisians defeat Holland in the Battle of Warns. |
| 1371 | Serbian–Turkish wars: Ottoman Turks fought against a Serbian army at the Battle of Maritsa. |
| 1423 | Hundred Years' War: A French army defeats the English at the Battle of La Brossinière. |
| 1493 | Pope Alexander VI issues the papal bull Dudum siquidem to the Spanish, extending the grant of new lands he made them in Inter caetera. |
| 1580 | Francis Drake finishes his circumnavigation of the Earth in Plymouth, England. |
| 1687 | Morean War: The Parthenon in Athens, used as a gunpowder depot by the Ottoman garrison, is partially destroyed after being bombarded during the Siege of the Acropolis by Venetian forces. |
| 1688 | The city council of Amsterdam votes to support William of Orange's invasion of England, which became the Glorious Revolution. |
| 1777 | American Revolution: British troops occupy Philadelphia. |
| 1789 | George Washington appoints Thomas Jefferson the first United States Secretary of State. |
| 1799 | War of the 2nd Coalition: French troops defeat Austro-Russian forces, leading to the collapse of Suvorov's campaign. |
| 1810 | A new Act of Succession is adopted by the Riksdag of the Estates, and Jean Baptiste Bernadotte becomes heir to the Swedish throne. |
| 1905 | Albert Einstein publishes the third of his Annus Mirabilis papers, introducing the special theory of relativity. |
| 1907 | Four months after the 1907 Imperial Conference, New Zealand and Newfoundland are promoted from colonies to dominions within the British Empire. |
| 1910 | Indian journalist Swadeshabhimani Ramakrishna Pillai is arrested after publishing criticism of the government of Travancore and is exiled. |
| 1914 | The United States Federal Trade Commission is established by the Federal Trade Commission Act. |
| 1917 | World War I: The Battle of Polygon Wood begins. |
| 1918 | World War I: The Meuse-Argonne Offensive began which would last until the total surrender of German forces. |
| 1923 | The German government accepts the occupation of the Ruhr. |
| 1933 | As gangster Machine Gun Kelly surrenders to the FBI, he shouts out, "Don't shoot, G-Men!", which becomes a nickname for FBI agents. |
| 1934 | The ocean liner RMS Queen Mary is launched. |
| 1936 | Spanish Civil War: Lluis Companys reshuffles the Generalitat de Catalunya, with the marxist POUM and anarcho-syndicalist CNT joining the government. |
| 1942 | Holocaust: Senior SS official August Frank issues a memorandum detailing how Jews should be "evacuated". |
| 1950 | Korean War: United Nations troops recapture Seoul from North Korean forces. |
| 1953 | Rationing of sugar in the United Kingdom ends |
| 1954 | The Japanese rail ferry Tōya Maru sinks during a typhoon in the Tsugaru Strait, Japan, killing 1,172. |
| 1959 | Typhoon Vera, the strongest typhoon to hit Japan in recorded history, makes landfall, killing 4,580 people and leaving nearly 1.6 million others homeless. |
| 1960 | In Chicago, the first televised debate takes place between presidential candidates Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy. |
| 1969 | Abbey Road, the last recorded album by the Beatles, is released. |
| 1973 | Concorde makes its first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic in record-breaking time. |
| 1980 | At the Oktoberfest terror attack in Munich 13 people die and 211 are injured. |
| 1981 | Nolan Ryan sets a Major League record by throwing his fifth no-hitter. |
| 1983 | Soviet Air Force officer Stanislav Petrov identifies a report of an incoming nuclear missile as a computer error and not an American first strike. |
| 1983 | Australia II wins the America's Cup, ending the New York Yacht Club's 132-year domination of the race. |
| 1984 | The United Kingdom and China agree to a transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong, to take place in 1997. |
| 1997 | A Garuda Indonesia Airbus A300 crashes near Medan airport, killing 234. |
| 1997 | An earthquake strikes the Italian regions of Umbria and the Marche, causing part of the Basilica of St. Francis at Assisi to collapse. |
| 2000 | Anti-globalization protests in Prague (some 20,000 protesters) turn violent during the IMF and World Bank summits. |
| 2000 | The MS Express Samina sinks off Paros in the Aegean Sea killing 80 passengers. |
| 2002 | The overcrowded Senegalese ferry, MV Le Joola, capsizes off the coast of the Gambia killing more than 1,000. |
| 2005 | The PBS Kids Channel is shut down and replaced by a joint network with Comcast called Sprout. |
| 2008 | Swiss pilot and inventor Yves Rossy becomes first person to fly a jet engine-powered wing across the English Channel. |
| 2009 | Typhoon Ketsana hits the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand, causing 700 fatalities. |
| 2010 | The Philippine Bar exam bombing occurred near the De La Salle University in Taft Avenue, Manila injuring 47 people. |
| 2014 | A mass kidnapping occurs in Iguala, Mexico. |
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