July 26 is the 207th day of the year (208th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 158 days remain until the end of the year
Today's Highlight in History:
1943 120°F (49°C), Tishmoningo, Oklahoma (state record)
1267 Inquisition forms in Rome under Pope Clement IV
1309 Henry VII is recognized King of the Romans by Pope Clement V
1656 Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn declares he is insolvent after living beyond his means and spending too much on artwork and rare items. Leads to the most experimental and exuberantly creative period of his career.
1775 US Continental Congress creates United States Post Office (U.S.P.O.) in Philadelphia under Benjamin Franklin
1788 New York becomes 11th state to ratify US constitution
1790 US Congress passes the Funding Act of 1790 making the federal government responsible for debts incurred by the states
1803 The Surrey Iron Railway, arguably the
world's first public railway, opens in south London
1864 - US Civil War: Union Brig. General Edward McCook leads unsuccessful cavalry raids at Lovejoy Station, Georgia
1864 US Civil War: Union General George Stoneman leads unsuccessful raid in Macon, Georgia
1896 Vitascope Hall, 1st permanent for-profit movie theatre, opens in New Orleans
1903 Horatio Nelson Jackson, Sewall K. Crocker, and a bulldog named Bud complete 1st automobile trip across the United States; San Francisco to New York in a 2-cylinder Winton (63 days, 12 hours, and 30 minutes)
1908 United States Attorney General Charles Joseph Bonaparte issues an order to immediately staff the Office of the Chief Examiner (later renamed the Federal Bureau of Investigation)
1943 120°F (49°C), Tishmoningo, Oklahoma (state record)
1945 Declaration of Potsdam: US, Britain and China demand the unconditional surrender of Japan during WWII
1945 US cruiser Indianapolis reaches Tinian with atom bomb
1947 President Truman signs National Security Act (1947), establishing Department of Defense, CIA, National Security Council and Joint Chiefs of Staff
1952 Mickey Mantle hits his 1st grand-slammer
1964 Teamsters President and US union leader Jimmy Hoffa convicted of fraud and conspiracy
1970 Reds catcher Johnny Bench, playing for the day in the outfield, goes 4 for 5 with 7 RBIs including 3 consecutive HRs off St. Louis Cardinals
1978 Johnny Bench hits his 300th career home run
2012 Insurgent attack kills 19 people and destroys a helicopter at Baqubah, Iraq
2021 Tunisian government in crisis after President Kais Saied sacks Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and suspends parliament with the help of the army because of its handling of COVID-19
2022 Two new studies published in 'Science' both confirm COVID-19 mostly likely began in the Hunan Seafood Market in Wuhan, China