May 26

May 26 is the 146th day of the year (147th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 219 days remaining until the end of the year.

• 17 – Germanicus returns to Rome as a conquering hero following several battle victories over Germanic tribes.
• 946 – King Edmund I of England is murderered by a thief he personally attacks during mass.
• 1135 - Alfonso VII of Spain is crowned.
• 1293 - An earthquake in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan, kills 30,000 people.
• 1538 – Geneva expels John Calvin and his followers from the city.
• 1573 - The Battle of Haarlemmermeer takes place, as a naval battle in the Dutch War of Independence.
• 1644 – Portuguese Restoration War: Battle of Montijo - Portuguese and Spanish forces both claim victory.
• 1647 – Alse Young is hanged in Hartford, Connecticut. This is the first "witchcraft" execution in the British American colonies.
• 1659 – The "Great Fire" destroys more than half of the city of Stade.
• 1770 - The Orlov Revolt, an attempt to revolt against the Ottoman Empire, ends in disaster for the Greeks.
• 1805 – Napoleon Bonaparte assumes the title of King of Italy.
• 1822 – The Grue Church fire in Norway kills 116 people.
• 1828 – Feral child Kaspar Hauser is discovered walking around Nuremberg. To this day, his early days remain a mystery.
• 1830 – The Indian Removal Act is passed by the United States Congress, and is signed by President Andrew Jackson two days later.
• 1864 – Montana is organised as a US territory.
• 1865 – American Civil War: Edmund Kirby Smith becomes the last Confederate general to surrender.
• 1868 – End of the impeachment trial of US President Andrew Johnson.
• 1869 – Boston University is chartered by Massachusetts.
• 1879 – Russia and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Gandamak, establishing an Afghan state.
• 1896 - Nicholas II of Russia becomes Tsar.
• 1896 – Charles Dow publishes the first edition of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
• 1897 – The novel Dracula by Bram Stoker is published.

• 1906 – The Vauxhall Bridge in London is opened.
• 1908 - The first commercial oil strike in the Middle East is made at Masjed Soleyman in what is then known as Persia.
• 1917 - Several tornadoes occur in Illinois, including the city of Mattoon, killing 101.
• 1918 – Georgia (country) declares independence.
• 1923 - The first 24-hour motor car race at Le Mans, France, takes place.
• 1938 - In the United States, the House of Un-American Activities Committee begins its first session.
• 1940 – World War II: Battle of Dunkirk - Allied forces begin a massive evacuation from Dunkirk, France.
• 1942 - World War II: The Battle of Gazala takes place.
• 1966 – Guyana gains independence (separates) from the United Kingdom.
• 1969 – Apollo 10 returns to Earth.
• 1971 – The Pakistan Army massacres over 70 Hindus in Sylhet, present-day Bangladesh.
• 1972 – Willandra National Park in Australia is created.
• 1972 - The United States and Soviet Union sign the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
• 1977 – George Willig climbs the South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City.
• 1981 – Prime Minister of Italy Arnaldo Forlani and his cabinet resign.
• 1981 - An EA-6B Prowler crashes on the flight carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68), killing 14 crewmen and injuring 45.
• 1983 – A magnitude 7.7 earthquake strikes Japan.
• 1986 – The European Community adopts the European flag.
• 1991 – Zviad Gamsakhurdia becomes President of Georgia.
• 1991 – Lauda Air Flight 004, a Boeing 767 plane, crashes in Bangkok, killing 223 people.
• 1992 – The blockade of Dubrovnik is broken.
• 1998 – The United States Supreme Court rules that Ellis Island is mainly in New Jersey, not New York.

• 2002 - The tugboat Robert Y. Love collides with the support pier of Interstate 40 on the Arkansas River near Webbers Falls, Oklahoma, killing 14 people and injuring 11.
• 2004 – US Army veteran Terry Nichols is found guilty of helping carry out the Oklahoma City bombing.
• 2008 - Severe flooding begins in Eastern and Southern China. The floods go on to kill 148 people and lead to the evacuation of 1.3 million.
• 2011 – Wanted on war crimes charges, Ratko Mladic is captured in Serbia.
• 2012 – Loreen wins the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 for Sweden in Baku, Azerbaijan.
• 2014 - Narendra Modi becomes Prime Minister of India.
• 2017 - Militants carry out a shooting at a bus carrying Coptic Christians in central Egypt, killing 28 people.
• 2018 - Real Madrid C.F. defeat Liverpool F.C. 3-1 in the UEFA Champions League final, winning the competition for the third time in-a-row, and meaning that Madrid-based teams have won both major European club trophies in the season.
• 2019 - The 2019 elections to the European Parliament are completed; Far-right and Green political parties increase their number of seats.

• 1264 – Prince Koreyasu, Japanese shogun (d. 1326)
• 1478 – Pope Clement VII (d. 1554)
• 1566 – Mehmed III, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1603)
• 1602 – Philippe de Champaigne, French painter (d. 1674)
• 1623 - William Petty, English economist and philosopher (d. 1687)
• 1650 – John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, British general (d. 1722)
• 1667 - Abraham de Moivre, French mathematician (d. 1754)
• 1689 - Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, English writer (d. 1762)
• 1700 – Nicolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf, German religious and social reformer (d. 1760)
• 1764 - Edward Livingston, United States Secretary of State (d. 1836)
• 1810 - Christen Kobke, Danish painter (d. 1848)
• 1822 - Edmond de Goncourt, French author and critic (d. 1896)
• 1826 - Richard Christopher Carrington, English astronomer (d. 1875)
• 1863 - Bob Fitzsimmons, English-New Zealand boxer (d. 1917)
• 1867 – Mary of Teck, Queen Consort to King George V of the United Kingdom (d. 1953)
• 1873 – Olaf Gulbransson, Norwegian artist (d. 1958)
• 1873 - Hans Ludendorff, German astronomer and astrophysicist (d. 1941)
• 1878 – Thomas H. Moodie, Governor of North Dakota (d. 1948)
• 1880 - W. Otto Miessner, American composer and educator (d. 1967)
• 1881 - Adolfo de la Huerta, President of Mexico (d. 1955)
• 1882 – Frank C. Emerson, Governor of Wyoming (d. 1931)
• 1883 – Mamie Smith, American singer (d. 1946)
• 1883 – Peter Kürten, German serial killer (d. 1931)
• 1886 – Al Jolson, American singer (d. 1950)
• 1887 - Ba U, 2nd President of Burma (d. 1963)
• 1893 - Eugene Aynsley Goossens, English conductor and composer (d. 1962)
• 1895 – Dorothea Lange, American photographer (d. 1965)
• 1895 – Paul Lukas, Hungarian actor (d. 1971)
• 1898 – Christfried Burmeister, Estonian speed skater (d. 1965)
• 1899 - Antoine Barrette, 18th Premier of Quebec (d. 1968)

• 1904 – George Formby, British musician (d. 1961)
• 1904 - Vlado Perlemuter, Lithuanian-born French pianist and teacher (d. 2002)
• 1906 - Márcio Melo, Brazilian military officer and politician (d. 1991)
• 1907 – John Wayne, American actor (d. 1979)
• 1908 – Robert Morley, English actor (d. 1992)
• 1908 - Nguyen Ngoc Tho, Vietnamese politician (d. 1976)
• 1909 – Matt Busby, Scottish football player and manager (d. 1994)
• 1909 – Adolfo Lopez Mateos, Mexican politician (d. 1992)
• 1910 - Imi Lichtenfeld, Hungarian-Israeli martial artist (d. 1998)
• 1910 - Laurance Rockefeller, American billionaire (d. 2004)
• 1911 - Henry Ephron, American playwright, screenwriter and producer (d. 1992)
• 1912 – János Kádár, Hungarian politician (d. 1989)
• 1912 - Jay Silverheels, Canadian-American actor (d. 1980)
• 1913 – Peter Cushing, English actor (d. 1994)
• 1916 – Moondog, American musician, composer and poet (d. 1999)
• 1917 – Eva Szorenyi, Hungarian actress and activist (d. 2009)
• 1919 – Ruben Gonzalez, Cuban musician (d. 2003)
• 1920 – Peggy Lee, American singer and actress (d. 2002)
• 1921 - Inge Borkh, German soprano (d. 2018)
• 1921 - Walter Laqueur, German-American historian and publicist (d. 2018)
• 1923 – James Arness, American actor (d. 2011)
• 1923 - Roy Dotrice, British actor (d. 2017)
• 1923 – Horst Tappert, German actor (d. 2008)
• 1925 - Alec McCowen, English actor (d. 2017)
• 1926 - Miles Davis, American trumpeter, composer and bandleader (d. 1991)
• 1928 – Jack Kevorkian, American assisted suicide advocate (d. 2011)
• 1929 - Catherine Sauvage, French singer and actress (d. 1998)
• 1933 - Edward Whittemore, American author (d. 1995)
• 1936 - Beth Whittall, Canadian swimmer (d. 2015)
• 1936 - David Stevens, Baron Stevens of Ludgate, English politician
• 1937 – Paul Patton, former Governor of the U.S. state of Kentucky
• 1938 – Lyudmila Petrushevskaya, Russian writer, writer and playwright
• 1939 – Merab Kostava, Georgian activist (d. 1989)
• 1939 - Herb Trimpe, American comic book artist and writer (d. 2015)
• 1940 – Levon Helm, American musician and actor (d. 2012)
• 1941 – Aldrich Ames, CIA counter-intelligence officer
• 1941 - Jim Dobbin, Scottish politician (d. 2014)
• 1944 – Sam Posey, American racing driver, TV commentator and writer
• 1945 - René Féret, French actor, screenwriter, director and producer (d. 2015)
• 1945 - Garry Peterson, Canadian drummer
• 1945 - Vilasrao Deshmukh, Indian politician, 17th Chief Minister of Maharashtra (d. 2012)
• 1946 – Mick Ronson, English guitarist (d. 1993)
• 1946 - Simon Hoggart, English journalist (d. 2014)
• 1948 – Stevie Nicks, American songwriter
• 1949 - Jeremy Corbyn, British politician, leader of the Labour Party
• 1949 – Ward Cunningham, American computer programmer
• 1949 - Pam Grier, American actress
• 1949 - Anne McGuire, Scottish politician
• 1949 - Hank Williams, Jr., American singer-songwriter and guitarist

• 1951 – Sally Ride, American astronaut and physicist (d. 2012)
• 1951 - Ramón Calderón, Spanish lawyer and President of Real Madrid
• 1953 – Michael Portillo, British politician
• 1954 - Alan Hollinghurst, British writer
• 1955 - Masaharu Morimoto, Japanese chef
• 1956 – Lisa Niemi, American actress
• 1956 - Ricky Sbragia, Scottish footballer and manager
• 1957 - Diomedes Díaz, Colombian singer and composer (d. 2013)
• 1958 - Howard Goodall, English composer
• 1959 - Ole Bornedal, Norwegian actor, director and producer
• 1961 - Tarsem Singh, Indian-American director
• 1962 – Bobcat Goldthwait, American actor and comedian
• 1962 - Black, English singer-songwriter (d. 2016)
• 1963 - Simon Armitage, English author, poet and playwright
• 1963 - Mary Nightingale, English news presenter
• 1964 - Valery Salov, Russian chess player
• 1964 – Lenny Kravitz, American singer
• 1964 - Paul Okalik, Canadian politician, 1st Premier of Nunavut
• 1964 - Caitlin R. Kiernan, Irish-American paleontologist and author
• 1965 - Hazel Irvine, Scottish television presenter
• 1966 – Helena Bonham Carter, English actress
• 1966 – Zola Budd, South African athlete
• 1966 - Shona Robison, Scottish politician
• 1968 – Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark
• 1968 - Pat Kenney, American baseball player, wrestler and agent
• 1969 - John Baird, Canadian politician
• 1970 - Nobuhiro Watsuki, Japanese mangaka
• 1971 – Matt Stone, American animator and movie maker
• 1971 – Ivan O. Godfroid, writer
• 1972 – Patsy Palmer, English actress
• 1972 - Alan White, English drummer
• 1975 – Travis Lee, American baseball player
• 1975 - Nicki Lynn Aycox, American actress
• 1975 - Kwasi Kwarteng, British politician

• 1977 – Luca Toni, Italian footballer
• 1977 – Nikos Hatzivrettas, Greek basketball player
• 1977 - Mark Hunter, American musician
• 1978 - Dan Parks, Australian-Scottish rugby player
• 1978 - Jaheim, American singer
• 1979 - Amanda Bauer, American astronomer
• 1979 - Elisabeth Harnois, American actress
• 1979 - Ashley Massaro, American professional wrestler, television host and model (d. 2019)
• 1979 – Mehmet Okur, Turkish basketball player
• 1981 – Eda-Ines Etti, Estonian singer
• 1981 – Jason Manford, English comedian
• 1981 – Irini Merkouri, Greek singer
• 1981 - Razvan Rat, Romanian footballer
• 1981 - Ben Zobrist, American baseball player
• 1983 - Demy de Zeeuw, Dutch footballer
• 1986 - Astrid Berges-Frisbey, Spanish-French actress
• 1986 - Matt Oivanen, Finnish volleyball player
• 1987 - Josh Thomas, Australian comedian, actor and writer
• 1988 - Juan Guillermo Cuadrado, Colombian footballer
• 1989 - Tomas Pekhart, Czech footballer
• 1989 - Amit Farkash, Canadian-Israeli actress
• 1991 - Amber Bondin, Maltese singer
• 1991 – Julianna Rose Mauriello, American actress and dancer
• 1999 - Kerry Ingram, English actress
• 2001 - Megan Charpentier, Canadian actress

• 451 – Saint Vartan Mamikonian, Armenian warrior
• 604 – Augustine of Canterbury, Archbishop of Canterbury
• 735 - Bede, English monk, historian and theologian (b. 672)
• 818 – Ali ar-Rida, Shia Imam (b. 766)
• 946 – King Edmund I of England (b. 921)
• 1055 – Margrave Adalbert of Austria
• 1421 – Mehmed I, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1389)
• 1512 – Bayezid II, Ottoman Sultan
• 1536 – Francesco Berni, Italian poet
• 1595 – Philip Neri, Italian churchman (b. 1515)
• 1647 - Alse Young, American woman executed for witchcraft (b. 1600)
• 1648 – Vincent Voiture, French poet (b. 1597)
• 1653 – Robert Filmer, English writer (b. 1588)
• 1679 – Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria (b. 1636)
• 1685 – Karl II, Elector Palatine (b. 1651)
• 1703 – Samuel Pepys, English civil servant and diarist (b. 1633)
• 1742 - Pylyp Orlyk, Ukrainian diplomat (b. 1672)
• 1762 – Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten, German philosopher (b. 1714)
• 1799 – James Burnett, Lord Monboddo, Scottish judge (b. 1714)
• 1824 – Capel Lofft, English writer (b. 1751)
• 1828 - John Oxley, British officer and explorer (b. 1785)
• 1831 - Ciro Menotti, Italian patriot (b. 1798)
• 1840 – Sidney Smith, British admiral (b. 1764)
• 1845 - Jónas Hallgrímsson, Icelandic poet (b. 1807)
• 1881 – Jakob Bernays, German philologist (b. 1824)
• 1883 – Edward Sabine, Irish astronomer (b. 1788)
• 1883 – Abd al-Qadir, Algerian political and military leader (b. 1808)
• 1888 - Ascanio Sobrero, Italian chemist (b. 1812)
• 1895 - Ahmet Cevdet Pasha, Ottoman statesman (b. 1822)

• 1902 – Almon Strowger, American inventor (b. 1839)
• 1904 – Georges Gilles de la Tourette, French neurologist (b. 1857)
• 1907 – Ida Saxton McKinley, First Lady of the United States (b. 1847)
• 1908 – Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Punjabi founder of the Qadianism (b. 1839)
• 1914 - Jacob August Riis, Danish-American journalist, photographer and reformer (b. 1849)
• 1924 – Victor Herbert, Irish composer (b. 1859)
• 1926 – Simon Petlyura, Ukrainian independence fighter (b. 1879)
• 1933 – Horatio Bottomley, British financier and politician (b. 1860)
• 1933 – Jimmie Rodgers, American singer (b. 1897)
• 1939 – Charles Horace Mayo, American medical practitioner (Mayo Clinic) (b. 1865)
• 1943 – Edsel Ford, American automobile executive (b. 1893)
• 1943 - Alice Tegnér, Swedish composer, organist and educator (b. 1864)
• 1948 – Theodore Morell, Hitler's personal physician (b. 1886)
• 1951 – Lincoln Ellsworth, American scientist and polar explorer (b. 1880)
• 1954 – Lionel Conacher, Canadian athlete (b. 1900)
• 1955 – Alberto Ascari, Italian race car driver (b. 1918)
• 1968 – Little Willie John, American R&B singer (b. 1937)
• 1969 – Paul Hawkins, Australian racing driver (b. 1937)
• 1969 - Allan Haines Loughead, American aviation pioneer and engineer (b. 1889)
• 1974 – Silvio Moser, Swiss racing driver (b. 1941)
• 1976 – Martin Heidegger, German philosopher (b. 1889)
• 1979 – George Brent, British actor (b. 1899)
• 1989 - Don Revie, English footballer and manager (b. 1927)
• 1995 – Friz Freleng, American animator (b. 1905)
• 1999 – Paul Sacher, Swiss conductor (b. 1906)
• 1999 – Waldo Semon, American inventor (b. 1898)

• 2001 – Vittorio Brambilla, Italian racing driver (b. 1937)
• 2001 - Roger Brocksom, English engineer and soldier (b. 1919)
• 2001 - Anne Haney, American actress (b. 1934)
• 2002 – Mamo Wolde, Ethiopian runner (b. 1932)
• 2003 – Kathleen Winsor, American writer (b. 1919)
• 2004 – Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh, Russian astronomer (b. 1931)
• 2004 – Dullah Omar, South African lawyer and politician (b. 1934)
• 2005 – Eddie Albert, American actor (b. 1906)
• 2005 – Chico Carrasquel, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player (b. 1928)
• 2005 - Krzysztof Nowak, Polish footballer (b. 1975)
• 2005 - Sangoulé Lamizana, President of Burkina Faso (b. 1916)
• 2006 – Édouard Michelin, CEO of Michelin (b. 1963)
• 2006 – C. H. Patterson, American psychologist (b. 1912)
• 2008 – Sydney Pollack, American actor (b. 1934)
• 2013 - Jack Vance, American mystery, fantasy and science fiction writer (b. 1916)
• 2014 - Manuel Uribe, Mexican computer repairman, was once the world's heaviest man (b. 1965)
• 2015 - Vicente Aranda, Spanish movie director (b. 1926)
• 2015 - Les Johnson, Australian politician (b. 1924)
• 2015 - Dayton Waller, American politician (b. 1925)
• 2015 - Rocky Frisco, American pianist (b. 1937)
• 2015 - Bob Hornery, Australian actor (b. 1931)
• 2015 - Robert Craft, American astronomer (b. 1927)
• 2016 - Kazimierz Barburski, Polish fencer (b. 1942)
• 2016 - Loris Francesco Capovilla, Italian cardinal (b. 1915)
• 2016 - Ted Dumitru, Romanian football manager (b. 1939)
• 2016 - Hedy Epstein, German-American Holocaust survivor and activist (b. 1924)
• 2016 - Angela Paton, American actress (b. 1930)
• 2016 - Arturo Pomar, Spanish chess player (b. 1931)
• 2016 - Bob Williams, American football player (b. 1930)
• 2017 - Toni Bertorelli, Italian actor (b. 1948)
• 2017 - Laura Biagiotti, Italian fashion designer (b. 1943)
• 2017 - Zbigniew Brzezinski, Polish-American political scientist and diplomat (b. 1928)
• 2017 - Jim Bunning, American baseball player and politician (b. 1931)
• 2018 - Alan Bean, American astronaut (b. 1932)
• 2018 - Pierre Bellemare, French television presenter, actor and radio personality (b. 1929)
• 2018 - Ted Dabney, American electrical engineer (b. 1937)
• 2018 - Roger Piantoni, French footballer (b. 1931)
• 2018 - Svetlin Rusev, Bulgarian artist (b. 1933)
• 2018 - Antonio Pujía, Italian-Argentine sculptor (b. 1929)
• 2019 - Abdel Latif El Zein, Lebanese politician (b. 1932)
• 2019 - Harry Hood, Scottish footballer (b. 1944)
• 2019 - Ibrahim Lame, Nigerian educator and politician (b. 1953)
• 2019 - Bart Starr, American football player and coach (b. 1934)
• 2019 - Stephen Thorne, British actor (b. 1935)
• 2019 - Prem Tinsulanonda, Prime minister and Regent of Thailand (b. 1920)
• 2019 - Vittorio Zucconi, Italian-American journalist and writer (b. 1944)

• Independence Day in Georgia and Guyana
• Crown Prince's Birthday (Denmark)
• Mother's Day (Poland)
• National Sorry Day (Australia)
• National Book Day (Uruguay)