Historical Events
- 657 Battle of Siffin during the first Muslim civil war between Ali ibn Abi Talib and Muawiyah I beside Euphrates River
- 1519 Francisco Pizarro receives royal charter for the west coast of South America
- 1533 Francisco Pizarro orders the death of the last Sapa Inca Emperor, Atahualpa
- 1803 The Surrey Iron Railway, arguably the world's first public railway, opens in south London
- 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)
- 1945 Declaration of Potsdam: US, Britain and China demand the unconditional surrender of Japan during WWII
- 1953 Fidel Castro leads a failed attack on the Moncada Barracks, intended to spark a revolution in Cuba
- More Historical Events
Jul 26 in Film & TV
- 1896 Vitascope Hall, 1st permanent for-profit movie theatre, opens in New Orleans
Jul 26 in Music
- 1882 Richard Wagner's opera "Parsifal" premieres in Bayreuth, Germany
Jul 26 in Sport
Did You Know?
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)
On July 26, 1903
George Bernard Shaw
Aldous Huxley
Stanley Kubrick
Mick Jagger
Sandra Bullock
Jason StathamWould You Believe?
3 live king cobras reported found inside potato chip cans by customs officials in Los Angeles
On July 26, 2017
Famous Weddings
- 1797 US President John Quincy Adams (29) weds Louisa Johnson (22) at All Hallows Barking parish in London
- 1849 Prime Minister of Canada John Abbott (28) weds Mary Bethune at bride's parents home
- 1895 Physicist and chemist Maria Skłodowska (27) weds physicist Pierre Curie (36) in Sceaux, France
Famous Divorces
- 2006 Former Baywatch actor David Hasselhoff (54) divorces actress and singer Pamela Bach (42) due to irreconcilable differences after 16 years of marriage
More Weddings & Divorces
Atahualpa
Elena Cornaro Piscopia
William Jennings Bryan
Ed Gein
George Gallup
Sinead O'ConnorArticles, Photos and Quiz
How 200 Conquistadors Conquered an Empire of 10 Million
How did a mere 200 Spanish conquistadors capture the Incan Emperor-god Atahualpa, execute him and conquer an entire empire?
July 26, 1533
Potsdam Declaration
Allied leaders in conference in the German city of Potsdam, after Germany's defeat but before Japan's surrender
July 26, 1945
Oh! Calcutta! - The Bare Facts
Born when free love and anything goes were the mantra of youth, the show "Oh! Calcutta!" opened in London on this day. Police considered a prosecution for obscenity.
July 26, 1970
Weekly Quiz for July 22-28
Test your knowledge of historical events and famous people in our multi-choice, weekly history quiz for July 22-28. Then challenge your friends!
