Historical Events on May 26

  • 1293: Thirty thousand people are killed when an earthquake hits Kamakura, Japan.
  • 1538: John Calvin and his followers are ejected from the city of Geneva. Calvin would live in Strasbourg for the next 3-years.
  • 1644: Spanish and Portuguese forces both claim that their side was victorious at the Battle of Montijo during the Portuguese Restoration War.
  • 1857: The Blow family gives Dred Scott his emancipation papers.
  • 1864: The area that would eventually become Montana is organized as a U.S Territory.
  • 1865: The last full Confederate to surrender – Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith – surrenders at Galveston in Texas.
  • 1868:S President Andrew Johnson is acquitted by one vote during his Impeachment.
  • 1869: The Commonwealth of Massachusetts charters Boston University.
  • 1896: The first edition of the Dow Jones Industrial Average is published by Charles Dow on this day.
  • 1897: Bram Stoker published Dracula on this day.
  • 1918: The Democratic Republic of Georgia is established.
  • 1938: The House Un-American Activities Committee starts its first session in the U.S.
  • 1940: The city of Dunkirk in France is evacuated by Allied forces during Operation Dynamo of World War 2.
  • 1940: French and British forces surrender the garrison at the Siege of Calais during World War II.
  • 1969: Apollo 10 comes back to Earth after an 8-day test of the manned moon landing components.
  • 1998: In Australia, the first National Sorry Day is held.
  • 2002: The Tugboat Robert Y. Love hits the support pier of Interstate 40 on the Arkansas River resulting in 14 people being killed and another 11 being injured.
  • 2004: Terry Nichols is found guilty of over 160 state murder charges for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.
  • 2008: Over a million people will be evacuated and almost a 150 people killed during serious flooding in Southern and Eastern China.

Famous Birthdays on May 26

  • American actor and director, John Wayne is born in 1907.
  • English actor Robert Morley is born in 1908.
  • American actress Pam Grier is born in 1949.
  • American actor Philip Michael Thomas si born in 1949.