Historical Events
- 1616 Roman Inquisition delivers injunction to Galileo demanding he abandon his belief in heliocentrism, which states the Earth and planets revolve around the Sun
- 1797 Bank of England issues first £1 note
- 1815 Napoleon Bonaparte and his supporters leave Elba to start a 100 day re-conquest of France
- 1885 Berlin Conference gives Congo to Belgium and Nigeria to Great Britain
- 1935 RADAR (Radio Detection and Ranging) first demonstrated by Robert Watson-Watt
- 1991 Coalition planes bomb Iraqi forces retreating from Kuwait during the Gulf War, killing hundreds and creating the so-called 'Highway of Death'
- 2005 Hosni Mubarak, President of Egypt, orders the constitution changed to allow multi-candidate presidential elections, asking Egyptian parliament to amend Article 76
- More Historical Events
Feb 26 in Film & TV
- 1960 Vera Miles stars in"Mirror Image" episode of CBS anthology series "The Twilight Zone"
Feb 26 in Music
- 1917 1st jazz records recorded - "Dixie Jazz Band One Step" and "Livery Stable Blues" by Original Dixieland Jass Band for the Victor Talking Machine Company in NYC
Feb 26 in Sport
- 1839 1st Grand National steeplechase, Aintree Racecourse, Liverpool: Jem Mason wins aboard 5/1 favourite Lottery
Did You Know?
1st mass celebrated in 1st American Catholic church, St Joseph's, Philadelphia
On February 26, 1732
Victor Hugo
Levi Strauss
Alexander III
Fats Domino
Johnny Cash
Recep Tayyip ErdoğanWould You Believe?
P&O's SS Ceylon begins world's 1st round-the-world pleasure cruise from Liverpool
On February 26, 1881
Famous Weddings
- 1924 American astronomer Edwin Hubble (34) weds Grace Burke (34) in Pasadena, California, until his death in 1953
- 1928 American actress Mary Astor (21) weds American film director Kenneth Hawks (30) at her family home "Moorcrest" in the Hollywood Hills, until his death in 1930
- 1934 Hungarian-American theoretical physicist Edward Teller (25) weds Hungarian-American computer scientist Augusta Maria "Mici" Schütz-Harkányi (24) in Hungary, until her death in 2000
Famous Divorces
- 1979 Actor Max Von Sydow (49) divorces actress Christina Olin after 28 years of marriage
More Weddings & Divorces
Roger II
Robert R. Livingston
Richard Jordan Gatling
Jimmie Lee Jackson
Howard Hanson
Earl LloydArticles, Photos and Quiz
Enter Victor Hugo, Author of Les Mis
Les Misérables is the world’s longest running musical, an achievement that could never have been predicted by the story’s author, Victor Hugo, born on this day.
February 26, 1802
Highway of Death
The so-called Highway of Death in Iraq after coalition planes repeatedly bombed it during Operation Desert Storm
February 26, 1991
Weekly Quiz for February 24 - March 1
Under what name did Muhammad Ali win his 1st heavyweight world title this week in 1964? What was the world's first national park, created in 1872?
