On this day: August 26

Events on August 26

• 683 Second Fitna: The Battle of al-Harra was fought between Umayyad forces and the rebel defenders of Medina at a lava field northeast of the city. Wikipedia
• 683 The Battle of al-Harrah concludes, with Yazid I's army killing 11,000 people of the city of Medina. Wikipedia
• 1071 Byzantine–Seljuk wars: Seljuk Turks led by Alp Arslan captured Byzantine emperor Romanos IV at the Battle of Manzikert, marking a decline in Byzantine fortunes. Wikipedia
• 1071 The Seljuq Turks defeat the Byzantine army at the Battle of Manzikert, and soon gain control of most of Anatolia. Wikipedia
• 1346 Hundred Years' War: At the Battle of Crécy, English forces established the military supremacy of English longbows over the French combination of crossbows and armoured knights. Wikipedia
• 1366 The Byzantine Empire retakes Gallipoli with the help of the Savoyard Crusade. Wikipedia
• 1444 Battle of St. Jakob an der Birs: A vastly outnumbered force of Swiss Confederates is defeated by the Dauphin Louis (future Louis XI of France) and his army of 'Armagnacs' near Basel. Wikipedia
• 1542 A year and a half after leaving Guayaquil on the Pacific coast, Francisco de Orellana finishes his overland journey across South America and reaches the mouth of the Amazon River on the Atlantic coast. Wikipedia
• 1648 The Fronde: First Fronde: In the wake of the successful Battle of Lens, Cardinal Mazarin, Chief Minister of France, suddenly orders the arrest of the leaders of the Parlement of Paris, provoking the rest of Paris to break into insurrection and barricade the streets the next day. Wikipedia
• 1748 The first Lutheran denomination in North America, the Pennsylvania Ministerium, is founded in Philadelphia. Wikipedia
• 1768 Captain James Cook sets sail from England on board HMS Endeavour, starting his first voyage of discovery. Wikipedia
• 1778 The first recorded ascent of Triglav, the highest mountain in Slovenia. Wikipedia
• 1789 French Revolution: The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, defining a set of individual and collective rights of the people, was approved by the National Constituent Assembly. Wikipedia
• 1914 World War I: The German colony of Togoland surrendered to French and British forces after a 20-day campaign. Wikipedia
• 1914 World War I: As the British Expeditionary Force and French Fifth Army began their retreat from Mons, the British II Corps delayed the pursuing Germans at the Battle of Le Cateau long enough for the main force to escape. Wikipedia
• 1914 World War I: The German colony of Togoland surrenders to French and British forces after a 20-day campaign. Togoland is the first German colony to fall to Allied hands in World War I. Wikipedia
• 1940 World War II: Chad becomes the first French colony to join the Allies under the administration of Félix Éboué, France's first black colonial governor. Wikipedia
• 1944 World War II: Charles de Gaulle enters Paris. Wikipedia
• 1955 Pather Panchali, the first film in The Apu Trilogy by Satyajit Ray, was released and went on to win many Indian and international film awards. Wikipedia
• 1968 The Beatles released "Hey Jude", which became the then-longest single to top the UK charts. Wikipedia
• 1968 The U.S. Democratic Party's National Convention opened in Chicago, sparking four days of clashes between anti-Vietnam War protesters and police. Wikipedia
• 1972 The Games of the XX Olympiad open in Munich, West Germany. Wikipedia
• 1997 Beni Ali massacre occurs in Algeria, leaving 60 to 100 people dead. Wikipedia
• 2008 After a ceasefire was reached in the Russo-Georgian War, Russia recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Wikipedia
• 2018 Three people are killed and eleven wounded during a mass shooting at a Madden NFL '19 video game tournament in Jacksonville, Florida. Wikipedia
• 2023 Exactly five years after the 2018 Jacksonville Landing shooting, there is another shooting in Jacksonville, Florida, leaving three people dead. Wikipedia

Born on August 26

• 1676 Robert Walpole, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1745) Wikipedia
• 1728 Johann Heinrich Lambert, Swiss mathematician, physicist, and astronomer (died 1777) Wikipedia
• 1740 Joseph-Michel Montgolfier, French inventor, invented the hot air balloon (died 1810) Wikipedia
• 1743 Antoine Lavoisier, French chemist and biologist (died 1794) Wikipedia
• 1797 Saint Innocent of Alaska, Russian Orthodox missionary priest, then the first Orthodox bishop and archbishop in the Americas, and finally the Metropolitan of Moscow and all Russia (died 1879) Wikipedia
• 1819 Albert, Prince Consort of the United Kingdom (died 1861) Wikipedia
• 1880 Guillaume Apollinaire, Italian-French author, poet, playwright, and critic (died 1918) Wikipedia
• 1882 James Franck, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1964) Wikipedia
• 1897 Yun Posun, South Korean activist and politician, 2nd President of South Korea (died 1990) Wikipedia
• 1901 Hans Kammler, German SS officer and engineer (died 1945) Wikipedia
• 1910 Mother Teresa, Albanian-Indian nun, missionary, Catholic saint, and Nobel Prize laureate (died 1997) Wikipedia
• 1914 Julio Cortázar, Belgian-Argentinian author and translator (died 1984) Wikipedia
• 1918 Katherine Johnson, American physicist and mathematician (died 2020) Wikipedia
• 1920 Prem Tinsulanonda, Thai general and politician, 16th Prime Minister of Thailand (died 2019) Wikipedia
• 1951 Edward Witten, American physicist and academic Wikipedia
• 1952 Michael Jeter, American actor (died 2003) Wikipedia
• 1964 Mehriban Aliyeva, 1st Vice President of Azerbaijan, goodwill ambassador of UNESCO and ISESCO Wikipedia
• 1970 Melissa McCarthy, American actress, comedian, producer, and screenwriter Wikipedia
• 1971 Thalía, Mexican-American singer-songwriter and actress Wikipedia
• 1980 Chris Pine, American actor Wikipedia
• 1980 Macaulay Culkin, American actor Wikipedia
• 1983 Nicol David, Malaysian squash player Wikipedia

Died on August 26

• 787 Arechis II, duke of Benevento Wikipedia
• 1551 Margaret Leijonhufvud, queen of Gustav I of Sweden (born 1516) Wikipedia
• 1666 Frans Hals, Dutch painter and educator (born 1580) Wikipedia
• 1714 Constantin Brâncoveanu, Ruler of Wallachia (born 1654) Wikipedia
• 1723 Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, Dutch microscopist and biologist (born 1632) Wikipedia
• 1850 Louis Philippe I of France (born 1773) Wikipedia
• 1910 William James, American psychologist and philosopher (born 1842) Wikipedia
• 1945 Franz Werfel, Austrian author and playwright (born 1890) Wikipedia
• 1974 Charles Lindbergh, American pilot and explorer (born 1902) Wikipedia
• 1979 Mika Waltari, Finnish author, translator, and academic (born 1908) Wikipedia
• 1987 Georg Wittig, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1897) Wikipedia
• 1998 Frederick Reines, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1918) Wikipedia
• 2004 Laura Branigan, American singer-songwriter and actress (born 1952) Wikipedia
• 2024 Sven-Göran Eriksson, Swedish footballer and manager (born 1948) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Alexander of Bergamo (Roman Catholic Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Ceferino Namuncurá Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Jeanne-Elisabeth Bichier des Ages Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed John Paul I Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Lavrentia Herasymiv Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Mariam Baouardy (Melkite Greek Catholic Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Melchizedek Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Our Lady of Częstochowa Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Simplicius, Constantius and Victorinus Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Teresa Jornet Ibars Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: August 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Heroes' Day (Namibia) Wikipedia
• International Dog Day, an observance promoting dog adoption and animal welfare (2004). Wikipedia
• Repentance Day (Papua New Guinea) Wikipedia
• Women's Equality Day (United States) Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “August 26” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.