September 26

September 26 is the 269th day of the year (270th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 96 days remaining until the end of the year.

• 1087 – William II of England is crowned king in Westminster Abbey.
• 1345 – Friso-Hollandic Wars: Frisians defeat Holland in the Battle of Warns.
• 1371 – Battle of Maritsa in the Serbian-Turkish War.
• 1580 – Francis Drake completes his circumnavigation (voyage around the world).
• 1687 – The Parthenon in Athens is partially destroyed by an explosion caused by the bombing from Venetian forces led by Francesco Morosini who are besieging the Ottoman Turks stationed in Athens.
• 1687 – The city council of Amsterdam votes to support William of Orange's invasion of England, later known as the Glorious Revolution.
• 1777 – British forces occupy Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the American Revolutionary War.
• 1786 – Protestors shut down the court in Springfield, Massachusetts in a military stand-off that begins the Shays' Rebellion.
• 1789 – Thomas Jefferson is appointed the first United States Secretary of State.
• 1792 – Marc-David Lasource accuses Maximilien Robespierre of wanting a dictatorship in France.
• 1810 – The Riksdag (Swedish parliament) passes the Act of Succession, allowing Jean Baptiste Bernadotte to become heir to the throne of Sweden.
• 1832 – The Göta Canal in central Sweden opens.
• 1860 – The current Flag of Ecuador is introduced.
• 1872 – The first Shriners Temple (called Mecca) is established in New York City.

• 1907 – New Zealand and Newfoundland are given Dominion status.
• 1908 – The Norwegian football club SK Brann is founded.
• 1914 – The US Federal Trade Commission is established.
• 1917 – World War I: The Battle of Polygon Wood begins.
• 1918 – World War I: The Meuse-Argonne Offensive begins.
• 1923 – Gustav Stresemann resumes (restarts) the Weimar Republic's payment of reparation money.
• 1933 – A hurricane in Tampico, Mexico kills 1,000 people.
• 1934 – The steamship RMS Queen Mary is launched.
• 1941 – Off the Azores, British passenger steamer Avoceta is torpedoed by a German U-boat. It sinks within two minutes, killing 123 people.
• 1944 – World War II: The Allies abandon Operation Market Garden.
• 1950 – Indonesia is admitted to the UN.
• 1950 – Korean War: UN forces re-capture Seoul from North Korean forces.
• 1954 – Japanese railway ferry Toya Maru sinks during a typhoon, killing 1,172 people.
• 1955 – The Flag and Coat of Arms of East Germany are introduced.
• 1959 – Typhoon Vera hits Japan, killing 4,580 people.
• 1960 – The first televised United States Presidential debate takes place, between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon.
• 1960 – Fidel Castro announces Cuba's support for the Soviet Union.
• 1962 – The Yemen Arab Republic is proclaimed.
• 1969 – Abbey Road, the last recorded album by The Beatles, is released.
• 1970 – The Laguna Fire starts in San Diego County, California, burning 175,425 acres (709.92 square kilometers) of land.
• 1973 – Concorde makes its first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in record-breaking time.
• 1980 – The Oktoberfest terror attack in Munich kills 13 people and injures 211.
• 1981 – The first flight of a Boeing 767 takes place.
• 1983 – Sailing: The Yacht Australia II wins the America's Cup, ending a 132-year US winning streak.
• 1984 – The United Kingdom agrees to the 1997 handover of Hong Kong.
• 1992 – A Nigerian troop transporter plane crashes shortly after take-off in Lagos, killing all 163 soldiers on board.
• 1997 – A plane crash in Medan, Sumatra, Indonesia, kills 234 people.
• 1997 – A major earthquake strikes central Italy.
• 2000 – The ship MS Samina sinks off Paros in the Aegean Sea, killing 80 people.

• 2001 – The Polish Wikipedia is launched.
• 2002 – A Senegalese ferry capsizes near the Gambia, killing more than 1,000 people.
• 2006 – Shinzo Abe becomes Prime Minister of Japan for the first time.
• 2007 – Yasuo Fukuda becomes Prime Minister of Japan.
• 2008 – Swiss pilot and inventor Yves Rossy becomes the first person to fly a jet engine-powered wing across the English Channel.
• 2009 – Typhoon Ketsana strikes the Philippines, and several neighboring countries, killing over 700 people.
• 2014 – Several students are kidnapped from Iguala, Mexico.
• 2016 – The first 2016 US presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump takes place.
• 2017 – It is announced that the Republic of Ireland is to hold a referendum on the issue of abortion in 2018.
• 2017 – An end to the ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia is announced.
• 2019 – New South Wales becomes the last Australian state to allow abortion.

• 1329 – Anna of Bavaria, Queen of the Romans (d. 1353)
• 1406 – Thomas de Ros, 9th Baron de Ros, English soldier and politician (d. 1430)
• 1698 – William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire (d. 1755)
• 1711 – Richard Grenville-Temple, 2nd Earl of Temple, English politician (d. 1779)
• 1774 – Johnny Appleseed, American folk hero (d. 1847)
• 1791 – Théodore Géricault, French painter and lithographer (d. 1824)
• 1793 – William Hobson, 1st Governor of New Zealand (d. 1842)
• 1820 – Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Bengali scholar (d. 1891)
• 1840 – Louis-Olivier Taillon, French-Canadian politician (d. 1923)
• 1843 – Joseph Furphy, Australian writer (d. 1912)
• 1849 – Ivan Pavlov, Russian scientist (d. 1936)
• 1856 – Leo Graetz, German physicist (d. 1941)
• 1865 – Mary Russell, Duchess of Bedford, English pilot and ornithologist (d. 1937)
• 1867 – Winsor McCay, American animator (d. 1934)
• 1869 – Komitas Vardapet, Armenian composer (d. 1935)
• 1870 – King Christian X of Denmark (d. 1947)
• 1872 – Max Ehrmann, American poet (d. 1945)
• 1873 – Alexey Shchusev, Russian architect (d. 1949)
• 1874 – Lewis Hine, American photographer and scientist (d. 1940)
• 1876 – Ghulam Bhik Nairang, Indian poet and Muslim nationalist (d. 1952)
• 1877 – Alfred Cortot, French pianist (d. 1962)
• 1877 – Ugo Cerletti, Italian neurologist (d. 1963)
• 1881 – Hiram Wesley Evans, American Ku Klux Klan leader (d. 1966)
• 1886 – Archibald Hill, English mathematician, won the 1922 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1977)
• 1887 – Antonio Moreno, Spanish actor (d. 1967)
• 1887 – Barnes Wallis, English scientist and inventor (d. 1979)
• 1888 – T. S. Eliot, American poet (d. 1965)
• 1889 – Martin Heidegger, German philosopher (d. 1976)
• 1891 – Hans Reichenbach, German philosopher (d. 1953)
• 1893 – Gladys Brockwell, American actress (d. 1929)
• 1895 – Jürgen Stroop, German SS officer (d. 1952)
• 1897 – Pope Paul VI (d. 1978)
• 1898 – George Gershwin, American composer (d. 1937)

• 1901 – George Raft, American actor (d. 1980)
• 1905 – Millito Navarro, Puerto Rican baseball player (d. 2011)
• 1907 – Anthony Blunt, British double-agent (d. 1983)
• 1909 – Bill France, Sr., American racing driver (d. 1992)
• 1910 – Delfin Benitez Caceres, Paraguayan footballer (d. 2004)
• 1913 – Berthold Beitz, German businessman (d. 2013)
• 1914 – Achille Compagnoni, Italian mountaineer (d. 2009)
• 1914 – Jack LaLanne, American fitness expert (d. 2011)
• 1917 – Tran Duc Thao, Vietnamese philosopher (d. 1993)
• 1918 – Olafur Johann Stefansson, Icelandic writer (d. 1988)
• 1918 – John Zacherle, American television host, voice actor and singer
• 1919 – Matilde Camus, Spanish poet (d. 2012)
• 1919 – Ezio Loik, Italian footballer (d. 1949)
• 1921 – Cyprian Ekwensi, Nigerian writer (d. 2007)
• 1922 – Nicholas Romanov, Prince of Russia, claimant to Russian throne (d. 2014)
• 1923 – Dev Anand, Indian actor and movie producer (d. 2011)
• 1923 – James Hennessy, British diplomat and public servant
• 1925 – Marty Robbins, American singer (d. 1982)

• 1926 – Julie London, American singer and actress (d. 2000)
• 1927 – Patrick O'Neal, American actor
• 1927 – Robert Cade, American physician (d. 2007)
• 1927 – Romano Mussolini, Italian jazz musician (d. 2006)
• 1927 – Enzo Bearzot, Italian footballer (d. 2010)
• 1930 – Fritz Wunderlich, German tenor (d. 1966)
• 1932 – Donna Douglas, American actress (d. 2015)
• 1932 – Manmohan Singh, former Prime Minister of India
• 1932 – Vladimir Voinovich, Russian writer and dissident (d. 2018)
• 1932 – Richard Herd, American actor
• 1934 – Dick Heckstall-Smith, English musician (d. 2004)
• 1935 – Lou Myers, American actor (d. 2013)
• 1936 – Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, South African activist (d. 2018)
• 1937 – Valentin Pavlov, Russian politician (d. 2003)
• 1937 – Jerry Weintraub, American movie producer (d. 2015)
• 1938 – Raoul Cauvin, Belgian comic writer
• 1939 – Ricky Tomlinson, English actor
• 1939 – George McWhirter, Northern Irish-Canadian writer
• 1941 – Salvatore Accardo, Italian violinist and composer
• 1941 – Martine Beswick, English model and actress
• 1941 – Vadim Glowna, German actor (d. 2012)
• 1942 – Kent McCord, American actor
• 1942 – Ingrid Becker, German athlete
• 1943 – Ian Chappell, Australian cricketer
• 1944 – Jan Brewer, American politician, 22nd Governor of Arizona
• 1944 – Anne Robinson, English television presenter
• 1944 – Jean-Pierre Ricard, French cardinal, Archbishop of Bordeaux
• 1945 – Bobby Clark, Scottish footballer
• 1945 – Gal Costa, Brazilian singer
• 1945 – Bryan Ferry, English singer
• 1946 – Radhna Krishna Mainali, Nepalese politician
• 1946 – Andrea Dworkin, American activist and writer (d. 2005)
• 1946 – Christine Todd Whitman, 50th Governor of New Jersey
• 1946 – Homa Rousta, Iranian actress (d. 2015)
• 1947 – Lynn Anderson, American singer (d. 2015)
• 1948 – Olivia Newton-John, Australian-British singer and actress (d. 2022)
• 1948 – Stuart Tosh, Scottish singer-songwriter and producer
• 1949 – Clodoaldo, Brazilian footballer
• 1949 – Minette Walters, English novelist

• 1952 – George Wood, Scottish footballer
• 1954 – Alice, Italian singer-songwriter
• 1954 – Kevin Kennedy, American baseball player and manager
• 1956 – Linda Hamilton, American actress
• 1957 – Roger MacBride Allen, American science fiction writer
• 1957 – Luigi De Canio, Italian footballer
• 1957 – Klaus Augenthaler, German footballer
• 1958 – Rudi Cerne, German ice skater and TV presenter
• 1958 – Robert Kagan, American historian and writer
• 1959 – Andrew Bolt, Australian journalist and political commentator
• 1960 – Uwe Bein, German footballer
• 1960 – Jouke de Vries, Frisian politician and professor
• 1961 – Will Self, British writer
• 1962 – Mark Haddon, British writer
• 1962 – Melissa Sue Anderson, American actress
• 1962 – Al Pitrelli, American guitarist (Megadeth)
• 1962 – Jacky Wu, Taiwanese singer, actor and television host
• 1963 – Lysette Anthony, English actress and model
• 1964 – Nicki French, English singer and actress
• 1965 – Petro Poroshenko, Ukrainian businessman and politician, former President of Ukraine
• 1968 – James Caviezel, American actor
• 1969 – Holger Stanislawski, German football manager
• 1969 – Anthony Cavanagh, French-Canadian comedian, actor and singer
• 1969 – David Slade, English director
• 1972 – Beto O'Rourke, American politician
• 1973 – Chris Small, Scottish snooker player
• 1973 – Julienne Davis, American actress, producer and screenwriter
• 1975 – Jake Paltrow, American director

• 1976 – Michael Ballack, German footballer
• 1976 – Dean Butterworth, English-American drummer (Good Charlotte)
• 1976 – Tyler Denk, American model
• 1978 – Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot, Kenyan runner
• 1979 – Naomichi Marufuji, Japanese professional wrestler
• 1979 – Jaycie Phelps, American gymnast
• 1979 – Taavi Roivas, former Prime Minister of Estonia
• 1980 – Daniel Sedin, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1980 – Henrik Sedin, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1980 – Kazuki Ganaha, Japanese footballer
• 1981 – Christina Milian, American singer
• 1981 – Serena Williams, American tennis player
• 1981 – Yao Beina, Chinese singer (d. 2015)
• 1983 – Ricardo Quaresma, Portuguese footballer
• 1985 – Lenna Kuurmaa, Estonian singer
• 1985 – M. Pokora, French singer and songwriter
• 1986 – Ashley Leggat, Canadian actress, singer and dancer
• 1987 – Rosanna Munter, Swedish singer
• 1988 – James Blake, English singer-songwriter
• 1988 – Marina Kuroki, Japanese actress and singer
• 1988 – Kiira Korpi, Finnish figure skater
• 1989 – Ciaran Clark, Irish footballer
• 1989 – Emma Rigby, English actress
• 1990 – Pavel Avdeyev, Russian footballer
• 1991 – Alma Jodorowsky, French actress, fashion model and singer
• 1993 – Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, American basketball player
• 2000 – Princess Salma bint Al Abdullah II of Jordan

• 1290 – Margaret, Maid of Norway, Queen of Scotland (b. 1283)
• 1417 – Francesco Zabarella, Italian jurist (b. 1360)
• 1425 – Sophia of Bavaria, Queen of Bohemia (b. 1376)
• 1468 – Juan de Torquemada, Spanish cardinal (b. 1388)
• 1620 – Taicheng, Chinese Emperor (b. 1582)
• 1626 – Wakisaka Yasuharu, Japanese daimyo (b. 1554)
• 1716 – Antoine Parent, French mathematician (b. 1666)
• 1763 – John Byron, English poet (b. 1692)
• 1802 – Jurij Vega, Slovenian mathematician and military officer (b. 1754)
• 1820 – Daniel Boone, American frontiersman (b. 1734)
• 1867 – James Ferguson, Scottish-American astronomer (b. 1797)
• 1877 – Hermann Grossmann, German polymath (b. 1809)
• 1902 – Levi Strauss, German-born clothing manufacturer (b. 1829)
• 1904 – Lafcadio Hearn, Irish-Greek writer (b. 1850)
• 1904 – John F. Stairs, Canadian businessman and statesman (b. 1848)
• 1937 – Bessie Smith, American blues singer (b. 1894)
• 1945 – Béla Bartók, Hungarian composer (b. 1881)
• 1945 – Kiyoshi Miki, Japanese philosopher (b. 1897)
• 1947 – Hugh Lofting, English writer (b. 1886)
• 1952 – George Santayana, Spanish philosopher (b. 1863)
• 1953 – Xu Beihong, Chinese painter (b. 1895)
• 1954 – Ellen Roosevelt, American tennis player (b. 1868)
• 1959 – Solomon Bandaranaike, Prime Minister of present-day Sri Lanka (b. 1899)

• 1968 – Daniel Johnson, Sr., 20th Premier of Quebec (b. 1915)
• 1973 – Anna Magnani, Italian actress (b. 1908)
• 1976 – Lavoslav Ruzicka, Croatian chemist (b. 1887)
• 1978 – Manne Siegbahn, Swedish physicist (b. 1886)
• 1983 – Tino Rossi, French singer and actor (b. 1907)
• 1984 – Paquirri, Spanish bullfighter (b. 1948)
• 1987 – Ramang, Indonesian footballer and manager (b. 1928)
• 1987 – Herbert Tichy, Austrian mountaineer (b. 1912)
• 1990 – Alberto Moravia, Italian writer (b. 1907)
• 1996 – Geoffrey Wilkinson, British chemist (b. 1921)
• 1998 – Betty Carter, American singer (b. 1929)
• 2000 – Baden Powell de Aquino, Brazilian guitarist (b. 1937)
• 2000 – Richard Mulligan, American actor (b. 1932)
• 2003 – Shawn Lane, American guitarist (b. 1963)
• 2003 – Robert Palmer, British singer (b. 1949)
• 2006 – Iva Toguri D'Aquino, alleged Tokyo Rose (b. 1916)
• 2006 – Byron Nelson, American golfer (b. 1912)
• 2008 – Paul Newman, American actor and director (b. 1925)
• 2010 – Gloria Stuart, American actress (b. 1910)
• 2012 – Johnny Lewis, American actor (b. 1983)
• 2013 – Sos Sargsyan, Armenian actor (b. 1929)
• 2014 – Michael McCarty, American stage actor (b. 1946)
• 2014 – Sam Hall, American television writer (b. 1921)
• 2015 – Homa Rousta, Iranian actress (b. 1946)

• 2016 – Herschell Gordon Lewis, American movie director (b. 1929)
• 2016 – Ioan Gyuri Pascu, Romanian singer, actor and comedian (b. 1961)
• 2017 – Robert Delpire, French photographer and filmmaker (b. 1926)
• 2017 – Barry Dennen, American actor (b. 1938)
• 2017 – Günter Halm, German World War II lieutenant (b. 1922)
• 2017 – Rinse Zijlstra, Dutch politician (b. 1927)
• 2018 – Joe Carolan, Irish footballer (b. 1937)
• 2018 – Ignaz Kirchner, Austrian actor (b. 1946)
• 2019 – Giovanni Bramucci, Italian cyclist (b. 1946)
• 2019 – Jacques Chirac, President of France (b. 1932)
• 2019 – William Levada, American cardinal (b. 1936)
• 2019 – Gennadi Manakov, Russian cosmonaut (b. 1950)
• 2019 – Ronald L. Schlicher, American politician (b. 1956)

• European Day of Languages (Council of Europe and EU)
• Day of the National Flag (Ecuador)
• Dominion Day (New Zealand)
• Republic Day (Yemen)