On this day: May 26

Events on May 26

• 961 King Otto I elects his six-year-old son Otto II as heir apparent and co-ruler of the East Frankish Kingdom. He is crowned at Aachen, and placed under the tutelage of his grandmother Matilda. Wikipedia
• 1538 Geneva expels John Calvin and his followers from the city. Calvin lives in exile in Strasbourg for the next three years. Wikipedia
• 1637 Pequot War: A combined English and Mohegan force under John Mason attacks a village in Connecticut, massacring approximately 500 Pequots. Wikipedia
• 1805 Napoléon Bonaparte assumes the title of King of Italy and is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy in Milan Cathedral, the gothic cathedral in Milan. Wikipedia
• 1864 President Abraham Lincoln signs legislation organizing the Montana Territory. Wikipedia
• 1865 American Civil War: General Edmund Kirby Smith negotiated the surrender of his army, the only significant Confederate Army force remaining in the war. Wikipedia
• 1868 Impeachment of Andrew Johnson: President Andrew Johnson is acquitted by one vote in the United States Senate. Wikipedia
• 1869 Boston University is chartered by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Wikipedia
• 1879 Russia and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Gandamak establishing an Afghan state. Wikipedia
• 1896 Nicholas II is crowned as the last Tsar of Imperial Russia. Wikipedia
• 1897 The Church of England returned the original manuscript of William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation, an account of the Pilgrims and the early years of the Plymouth Colony, to the state of Massachusetts. Wikipedia
• 1903 Românul de la Pind, the longest-running newspaper by and about Aromanians until World War II, is founded. Wikipedia
• 1908 The first major commercial oil strike in the Middle East is made at Masjed Soleyman in southwest Persia. The rights to the resource were quickly acquired by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. Wikipedia
• 1933 American singer Jimmie Rodgers died at the Taft Hotel in New York City. Wikipedia
• 1940 Second World War: The Allies began a mass evacuation of British, French and Belgian troops cut off by the German army during the Battle of Dunkirk. Wikipedia
• 1940 World War II: Operation Dynamo: In northern France, Allied forces begin a massive evacuation from Dunkirk, France. The Battle of Dunkirk begins simultaneously as Allied defenders fight to slow down the German offensive. Wikipedia
• 1966 British Guiana gains independence, becoming Guyana. Wikipedia
• 1967 The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, one of the first progressive rock albums, was released. Wikipedia
• 1967 The Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is released. Wikipedia
• 1972 Cold War: The United States and the Soviet Union sign the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. Wikipedia
• 1983 The 7.8 Mw Sea of Japan earthquake shakes northern Honshu with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). A destructive tsunami is generated that leaves about 100 people dead. Wikipedia
• 1991 Zviad Gamsakhurdia becomes the first elected President of the Republic of Georgia in the post-Soviet era. Wikipedia
• 1998 The Supreme Court of the United States rules in New Jersey v. New York that Ellis Island, the historic gateway for millions of immigrants, is mainly in the state of New Jersey, not New York. Wikipedia
• 1999 Manchester United won the UEFA Champions League final to become the first English football club to win three major championships in the same season. Wikipedia
• 2014 Narendra Modi takes oath as the 15th Prime Minister of India. Wikipedia
• 2021 Ten people are killed in a shooting at a VTA rail yard in San Jose, California, United States. Wikipedia

Born on May 26

• 1478 Clement VII, pope of the Catholic Church (died 1534) Wikipedia
• 1566 Mehmed III, Ottoman sultan (died 1603) Wikipedia
• 1650 John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire (died 1722) Wikipedia
• 1667 Abraham de Moivre, French-English mathematician and theorist (died 1754) Wikipedia
• 1822 Edmond de Goncourt, French author and critic, founded the Académie Goncourt (died 1896) Wikipedia
• 1867 Mary of Teck, Queen Consort of George V of the United Kingdom, Empress Consort of India (died 1953) Wikipedia
• 1895 Dorothea Lange, American photographer and journalist (died 1965) Wikipedia
• 1907 John Wayne, American actor, director, and producer (died 1979) Wikipedia
• 1912 János Kádár, Hungarian mechanic and politician, 46th Prime Minister of Hungary (died 1989) Wikipedia
• 1913 Peter Cushing, English actor (died 1994) Wikipedia
• 1926 Miles Davis, American trumpet player, composer, and bandleader (died 1991) Wikipedia
• 1948 Stevie Nicks, American singer-songwriter Wikipedia
• 1949 Ward Cunningham, American computer programmer, developed the first wiki Wikipedia
• 1949 Jeremy Corbyn, British journalist and politician Wikipedia
• 1951 Sally Ride, American physicist and astronaut, founded Sally Ride Science (died 2012) Wikipedia
• 1964 Lenny Kravitz, American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and actor Wikipedia
• 1966 Helena Bonham Carter, English actress Wikipedia
• 1968 Frederik X, King of Denmark Wikipedia
• 1971 Matt Stone, American actor, animator, screenwriter, producer, and composer Wikipedia
• 1975 Lauryn Hill, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress Wikipedia
• 1977 Luca Toni, Italian footballer Wikipedia
• 1988 Juan Cuadrado, Colombian footballer Wikipedia

Died on May 26

• 735 Bede, English monk, historian, and theologian Wikipedia
• 946 Edmund I, king of England (born 921) Wikipedia
• 1421 Mehmed I, Ottoman sultan (born 1389) Wikipedia
• 1512 Bayezid II, Ottoman sultan (born 1447) Wikipedia
• 1703 Samuel Pepys, English politician (born 1633) Wikipedia
• 1883 Abdelkader El Djezairi, Algerian ruler (born 1808) Wikipedia
• 1908 Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Indian religious leader, founded the Ahmadiyya movement (born 1835) Wikipedia
• 1944 Christian Wirth, German SS officer (born 1885) Wikipedia
• 1955 Alberto Ascari, Italian racing driver (born 1918) Wikipedia
• 1976 Martin Heidegger, German philosopher and academic (born 1889) Wikipedia
• 2008 Sydney Pollack, American actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1934) Wikipedia
• 2017 Zbigniew Brzezinski, Polish-born American politician (born 1928) Wikipedia
• 2019 Prem Tinsulanonda, Former Prime Minister of Thailand (born 1920) Wikipedia
• 2022 Ray Liotta, American actor (born 1954) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Andrew Kaggwa Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Augustine of Canterbury (Anglican Communion and Eastern Orthodox) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Lambert of Vence Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Mariana de Jesús de Paredes Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Martyrs of the Paris Commune Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Peter Sanz (one of Martyr Saints of China) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Philip Neri Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Pope Eleutherius Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Zachary, Bishop of Vienne Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: May 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Independence Day, commemorates the declaration of independence of the Democratic Republic of Georgia in 1918 (Georgia) Wikipedia
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Guyana from the United Kingdom in 1966. Wikipedia
• Mother's Day (Poland) Wikipedia
• National Paper Airplane Day (United States) Wikipedia
• National Sorry Day (Australia) Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “May 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.