August 26 is the 238th day of the year (239th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 127 days remain until the end of the year.
1601–1900
1642 – Dutch– Portuguese War: Second Battle of San Salvador: The Dutch force the Spanish garrison at San Salvador (modern day Keelung, Taiwan) to surrender, ending the shortlived Spanish colony on Formosa and replacing it with a new Dutch administration.[ 10] 1648 – The Fronde: First Fronde: In the wake of the successful Battle of Lens, Cardinal Mazarin, Chief Minister of France, suddenly orders the arrest of the leaders of the Parlement of Paris, provoking the rest of Paris to break into insurrection and barricade the streets the next day.[11] 1748 – The first Lutheran denomination in North America, the Pennsylvania Ministerium, is founded in Philadelphia.
1767 – Jesuits all over Chile are arrested as the Spanish Empire suppresses the Society of Jesus.[12] 1768 – Captain James Cook sets sail from England on board HMS Endeavour.
1778 – The first recorded ascent of Triglav, the highest mountain in Slovenia.
1789 – The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen is approved by the National Constituent Assembly of France.
1791 – John Fitch is granted a United States patent for the steamboat.
1810 – The former viceroy Santiago de Liniers of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata is executed after the defeat of his counter-revolution.
1813 – War of the Sixth Coalition: An impromptu battle takes place when French and Prussian-Russian forces accidentally run into each other near Liegnitz, Prussia (now Legnica, Poland).
1814 – Chilean War of Independence: Infighting between the rebel forces of José Miguel Carrera and Bernardo O'Higgins erupts in the Battle of Las Tres Acequias.
1833 – The great 1833 Kathmandu–Bihar earthquake causes major damage in Nepal, northern India and Tibet, a total of 500 people perish.[13] 1849 – President Faustin Soulouque of the First Republic of Haiti has the Senate and Chamber of Deputies proclaim him the Emperor of Haiti, abolishing the Republic and inaugurating the Second Empire of Haiti.[14] 1863 – The Swedishlanguage liberal newspaper Helsingfors Dagblad proposed the current blueand- white cross flag as the flag of Finland.[15] 1883 – The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa begins its final, paroxysmal, stage.
1901–present
1914 – World War I: The German colony of Togoland surrenders to French and British forces after a 20-day campaign. Togoland is the first German colony to fall to Allied hands in World War I.
1914 – World War I: During the retreat from Mons, the British II Corps commanded by General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien fights a vigorous and successful defensive action at Le Cateau.
1920 – The 19th amendment to United States Constitution, giving women the right to vote, is certified.
1922 – Greco-Turkish War (1919–22): Turkish army launched what has come to be known to the Turks as the Great Offensive (Büyük Taarruz). The major Greek defense positions were overrun.
1936 – Spanish Civil War: Santander falls to the Nationalists and the Republican Interprovincial Council is dissolved.[16] 1940 – World War II: Chad becomes the first French colony to join the Allies under the administration of Félix Éboué, France's first black colonial governor.
1942 – The Holocaust in Ukraine: At Chortkiv, the Ukrainian police and German Schutzpolizei deport two thousand Jews to Bełżec extermination camp. Five hundred of the sick and children are murdered on the spot. This continued until the next day.
1944 – World War II: Charles de Gaulle enters Paris.
1966 – The South African Border War starts with the battle at Omugulugwombashe.
1969 – Aeroflot Flight 1770 crashes while landing at Vnukovo International Airport, killing 16.[17] 1970 – The fiftieth anniversary of American women being able to vote is marked by a nationwide Women's Strike for Equality.
1972 – The Games of the XX Olympiad open in Munich, West Germany.[18] 1977 – The Charter of the French Language is adopted by the National Assembly of Quebec.
1978 – Papal conclave: Albino Luciani is elected as Pope John Paul I.
1980 – After John Birges plants a bomb at Harvey's Resort Hotel in Stateline, Nevada, in the United States, the FBI inadvertently detonates the bomb during its disarming.
1993 – Sakha Avia Flight 301 crashes on approach to Aldan Airport, killing all 24 aboard.[19] 1997 – Beni Ali massacre occurs in Algeria, leaving 60 to 100 people dead.
1998 – The first flight of the Boeing Delta III ends in disaster 75 seconds after liftoff, resulting in the loss of the Galaxy X communications satellite.
1999 – Russia begins the Second Chechen War in response to the Invasion of Dagestan by the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade.
2003 – A Beechcraft 1900 operating as Colgan Air Flight 9446 crashes after taking off from Barnstable Municipal Airport in Yarmouth, Massachusetts, killing both pilots on board.[20] 2009 – Kidnapping victim Jaycee Dugard is discovered alive in California after being missing for over 18 years. Her captors, Phillip and Nancy Garrido, are apprehended. 2011 – The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Boeing's allnew composite airliner, receives certification from the EASA and the FAA.
2014 – The Jay Report into the Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal is published.[21] 2015 – Two U.S. journalists are shot and killed by a disgruntled former coworker while conducting a live report in Moneta, Virginia.
2018 – Three people are killed and eleven wounded during a mass shooting at a Madden NFL '19 video game tournament in Jacksonville, Florida.[22] 2021 – During the 2021 Kabul airlift, a suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport kills 13 US military personnel and at least 169 Afghan civilians.[23] 2023 – Exactly 5 years after the 2018 Jacksonville Landing shooting, there is another shooting in Jacksonville, Florida, leaving 3 people dead.[24] BIRTHS 1901–present
1901 – Eleanor Dark, Australian author and poet (died 1985) 1901 – Hans Kammler, German SS officer and engineer (died 1945) 1901 – Jimmy Rushing, American singer and bandleader (died 1972) 1901 – Maxwell D. Taylor, American general and diplomat, United States Ambassador to South Vietnam (died 1987) 1901 – Chen Yi, Chinese general and politician, 2nd Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China (died 1972) 1903 – Caroline Pafford Miller, American author (died 1992) 1904 – Christopher Isherwood, English-American author and academic (died 1986) 1904 – Joe Hulme, English footballer and cricketer (died 1991) 1905 – Helen Sharsmith, American biologist and educator (died 1982)[30] 1906 – Bunny Austin, English tennis player (died 2000)[31] 1906 – Albert Sabin, Polish-American physician and virologist, developed the polio vaccine (died 1993) 1908 – Walter Bruno Henning, Prussian-American linguist and scholar (died 1967) 1908 – Aubrey Schenck, American screenwriter and producer (died 1999) 1909 – Eric Davies, South African cricketer and educator (died 1976) 1909 – Jim Davis, American actor (died 1981) 1909 – Gene Moore, American baseball player (died 1978) 1910 – Mother Teresa, Albanian-Indian nun, missionary, Catholic saint, and Nobel Prize laureate (died 1997)[32] 1911 – Otto Binder, American author and screenwriter (died 1974) 1912 – John Tinniswood, British supercentenarian (died 2024)[33] 1914 – Julio Cortázar, Belgian- Argentinian author and translator (died 1984) 1914 – Fazıl Hüsnü Dağlarca, Turkish soldier and poet (died 2008) 1915 – Humphrey Searle, English composer and conductor (died 1982) 1918 – Katherine Johnson, American physicist and mathematician (died 2020)[34] 1919 – Gerard Campbell, American priest and academic (died 2012) 1920 – Brant Parker, American illustrator (died 2007) 1920 – Prem Tinsulanonda, Thai general and politician, 16th Prime Minister of Thailand (died 2019) 1921 – Shimshon Amitsur, Israeli mathematician and scholar (died 1994) 1921 – Benjamin C. Bradlee, American journalist and author (died 2014) 1922 – Irving R. Levine, American journalist and author (died 2009) 1923 – Wolfgang Sawallisch, German pianist and conductor (died 2013) 1924 – Alex Kellner, American baseball player (died 1996) 1925 – Jack Hirshleifer, American economist and academic (died 2005) 1925 – Alain Peyrefitte, French scholar and politician, Minister of Justice for France (died 1999) 1925 – Pyotr Todorovsky, Ukrainian-Russian director, screenwriter, and cinematographer (died 2013) 1925 – Etelka Keserű, Hungarian economist and politician (died 2018) 1925 – Gustavo Becerra-Schmidt, Chilean composer (died 2010)