On this day: July 26

Events on July 26

• 657 First Fitna: In the Battle of Siffin, troops led by Ali ibn Abu Talib clash with those led by Muawiyah I. Wikipedia
• 1184 Approximately 60 local nobles died when the floor of a building collapsed in Erfurt, causing them to fall through the ground floor into a latrine cesspit below. Wikipedia
• 1529 Francisco Pizarro González, Spanish conquistador, is appointed governor of Peru. Wikipedia
• 1551 The Knights Hospitaller surrendered the Castello of Gozo to the Ottoman Empire following a brief siege, leading to the mass enslavement and dispersal of the Gozitan population. Wikipedia
• 1759 French and Indian War: Troops led by French brigadier general François-Charles de Bourlamaque attempted to blow up Fort Carillon, near present-day Ticonderoga, New York, rather than defending it against approaching British forces. Wikipedia
• 1778 On the orders of Catherine the Great the first of tens of thousands of Greek and Armenian Christians were removed from Crimea and resettled in Pryazovia. Wikipedia
• 1788 New York ratifies the United States Constitution and becomes the 11th state of the United States. Wikipedia
• 1861 American Civil War: George B. McClellan assumes command of the Army of the Potomac following a disastrous Union defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run. Wikipedia
• 1882 Boer mercenaries established the Republic of Stellaland in land claimed by the United Kingdom as part of British Bechuanaland. Wikipedia
• 1887 L. L. Zamenhof published Unua Libro, the first publication to describe Esperanto, a constructed international language. Wikipedia
• 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). Wikipedia
• 1918 Emmy Noether's paper, which became known as Noether's theorem was presented at Göttingen, Germany, from which conservation laws are deduced for symmetries of angular momentum, linear momentum, and energy. Wikipedia
• 1936 The Canadian National Vimy Memorial, dedicated to Canadian Expeditionary Force members killed in the First World War, was unveiled in Pas-de-Calais, France. Wikipedia
• 1944 World War II: The Red Army enters Lviv, a major city in western Ukraine, capturing it from the Nazis. Only 300 Jews survive out of 160,000 living in Lviv prior to occupation. Wikipedia
• 1951 Walt Disney's 13th animated film, Alice in Wonderland, premieres in London, England, United Kingdom. Wikipedia
• 1953 In Short Creek, Arizona, police conducted a mass arrest of approximately 400 Mormon fundamentalists for polygamy. Wikipedia
• 1953 The Battle of the Samichon River, the last engagement of the Korean War, ended a few hours before the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement. Wikipedia
• 1956 Following the World Bank's refusal to fund building the Aswan Dam, Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalizes the Suez Canal, sparking international condemnation. Wikipedia
• 1963 The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development votes to admit Japan. Wikipedia
• 1963 An earthquake in Skopje, Yugoslavia (present-day North Macedonia) leaves 1,100 dead. Wikipedia
• 1968 After coming second to Nguyễn Văn Thiệu in a rigged presidential election, Trương Đình Dzu was jailed by a South Vietnamese military court for illicit currency transactions. Wikipedia
• 1993 Asiana Airlines Flight 733 crashed into a mountain during a failed attempt to land at Mokpo Airport, South Korea, leading to the deaths of 68 people on board. Wikipedia
• 1999 Kargil conflict officially comes to an end. The Indian Army announces the complete eviction of Pakistani intruders. Wikipedia
• 2007 After widespread controversy throughout Wales, Shambo, a black Friesian bull that had been adopted by the local Hindu community, was slaughtered due to concerns about bovine tuberculosis. Wikipedia
• 2012 The New Irish Republican Army was formed from a merger of a number of dissident republican militant groups. Wikipedia
• 2016 Hillary Clinton became the first female nominee for president of the United States by a major political party at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Wikipedia

Born on July 26

• 1678 Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1711) Wikipedia
• 1842 Alfred Marshall, English economist and academic (died 1924) Wikipedia
• 1856 George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright and critic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1950) Wikipedia
• 1875 Carl Jung, Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist (died 1961) Wikipedia
• 1875 Antonio Machado, Spanish poet and academic (died 1939) Wikipedia
• 1885 André Maurois, French soldier and author (died 1967) Wikipedia
• 1894 Aldous Huxley, English novelist and philosopher (died 1963) Wikipedia
• 1928 Stanley Kubrick, American director, producer, screenwriter, and cinematographer (died 1999) Wikipedia
• 1928 Francesco Cossiga, Italian academic and politician, 8th President of Italy (died 2010) Wikipedia
• 1939 John Howard, Australian lawyer and politician, 25th Prime Minister of Australia Wikipedia
• 1943 Mick Jagger, English singer-songwriter, producer, and actor Wikipedia
• 1945 Helen Mirren, English actress Wikipedia
• 1949 Thaksin Shinawatra, Thai businessman and politician, 23rd Prime Minister of Thailand Wikipedia
• 1949 Roger Taylor, English singer-songwriter, drummer, and producer Wikipedia
• 1955 Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistani businessman and politician, 11th President of Pakistan Wikipedia
• 1959 Kevin Spacey, American actor and director Wikipedia
• 1964 Sandra Bullock, American actress and producer Wikipedia
• 1967 Jason Statham, English actor Wikipedia
• 1973 Kate Beckinsale, English actress Wikipedia
• 1975 Liz Truss, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Wikipedia
• 1980 Jacinda Ardern, 40th Prime Minister of New Zealand Wikipedia
• 1993 Taylor Momsen, American singer-songwriter, model, and actress Wikipedia

Died on July 26

• 811 Nikephoros I, Byzantine emperor Wikipedia
• 1471 Paul II, pope of the Catholic Church (born 1417) Wikipedia
• 1533 Atahualpa, Inca emperor abducted and murdered by Francisco Pizarro (born ca. 1500) Wikipedia
• 1684 Elena Cornaro Piscopia, Italian mathematician and philosopher (born 1646) Wikipedia
• 1863 Sam Houston, American general and politician, 7th Governor of Texas, and 6th Governor of Tennessee (born 1793) Wikipedia
• 1867 Otto, king of Greece (born 1815) Wikipedia
• 1925 Gottlob Frege, German mathematician and philosopher (born 1848) Wikipedia
• 1925 William Jennings Bryan, American lawyer and politician, 41st United States Secretary of State (born 1860) Wikipedia
• 1934 Winsor McCay, American cartoonist, animator, producer, and screenwriter (born 1871) Wikipedia
• 1941 Henri Lebesgue, French mathematician and academic (born 1875) Wikipedia
• 1952 Eva Perón, Argentinian politician, 25th First Lady of Argentina (born 1919) Wikipedia
• 2013 Sung Jae-gi, South Korean philosopher and activist (born 1967) Wikipedia
• 2020 Olivia de Havilland, American actress (born 1916) Wikipedia
• 2023 Sinéad O'Connor, Irish singer and musician (born 1966) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Andrew of Phú Yên Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Anne and Joachim (Western Christianity) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Bartolomea Capitanio Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Camilla Gentili Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: George Preca Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Maria Pierina Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Paraskevi of Rome (Eastern Orthodox Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Titus Brandsma Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Venera Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: July 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Emancipation Day (Barbados) Wikipedia
• Day of the National Rebellion (Cuba) Wikipedia
• Esperanto Day Wikipedia
• Independence Day (Liberia), celebrates the independence of Liberia from the American Colonization Society in 1847. Wikipedia
• Independence Day (Maldives), celebrates the independence of Maldives from the United Kingdom in 1965. Wikipedia
• Kargil Victory Day or Kargil Vijay Diwas (India) Wikipedia

Sources

• Wikipedia — “July 26” — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/July 26” — the anniversaries editors chose for the date and the article each one is about (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikidata — in how many language editions each entry's own article exists, used to fill the lists (CC0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• vacanza/holidays (open-source holiday rules, MIT licence) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-15)

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “July 26” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-15 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. Every anniversary that Wikipedia's editors selected for July 26 stays on the list; the remaining places, up to 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths, go to the entries whose own article — about the event itself, or else the person or thing it is about — appears in the most language editions (counted from Wikidata); an article about a person or thing, which covers far more than one day, counts half. An entry with no article of its own counts, also at half, by the least covered article it links, and one that links only places counts for nothing. Each list runs by year, and the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures, audio and video.