Historical Events on March 26

  • 1351: 30 English knights are defeated by 30 Breton knights during the Combat of the 30.
  • 1484: The translation of Aesop’s Fables is completed and printed by William Caxton.
  • 1636: In the Netherlands, Utrecht University is established.
  • 1812: The term “gerrymander” is termed by the Boston Gazette to reference the strangely shaped electoral districts that are designed to help incumbents keep their political seats.
  • 1830: The first publication of the Book Of Mormon occurs in Palmyra, New York.
  • 1917: 17,000 Turks block the advance of British forces at the First Battle of Gaza during World War I.
  • 1922: In Poland, the German Social Democratic Party is founded.
  • 1931: In Vietnam, the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union is organized.
  • 1942: The first female prisoners begin to arrive at the Auschwitz Concentration Camp in German controlled Poland.
  • 1945: The Battle of Iwo Jima comes to a conclusion during World War II after American soldiers and marines secure the island.
  • 1958: The artificial satellite Explore 3 is launched by the U.S Army.
  • 1997: Authorities discover almost 40 bodies at the Heaven’s Gate Mass suicide location.
  • 2005: In opposition to the Anti-Secession Law imposed by the People’s Republic of China, around a quarter of a million Taiwanese demonstrators assemble in Taipei.
  • 2017: Protests against corruption erupt in 99 Russian cities. A survey shows that 38% of Russians support the protests and almost two-thirds hold Putin personally responsible for this corruption at the highest echelons of government.

Famous Birthdays on March 26

  • American actor Strother Martin is born in 1919.
  • American comedian, screenwriter and actor, Bob Elliott is born in 1923.
  • American actor Alan Arkin is born in 1934.
  • English-American physicist and Nobel Prize laureate, Anthony James Leggett is born in 1938.
  • American actor James Caan is born in 1940
  • American lawyer and 60th Speaker of the U.S House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi is born in 1940.
  • American journalist and author, Bob Woodward is born in 1943.
  • American singer-songwriter Diana Ross is born in 1944.
  • American actor Johnny Crawford is born in 1946.
  • American singer-songwriter Steven Tyler is born in 1948.
  • American actress and comedienne, Vicki Lawrence is born in 1949.