# On this day: May 26

May 26 is the 146th day of the year (147th in leap years), with 219 days left until the end of the year.

## May 26 in one line

Headline entries for May 26, from Wikipedia: in 1967, The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, one of the first progressive rock albums, was released; born 1907: John Wayne, American actor, director, and producer (died 1979); died 1976: Martin Heidegger, German philosopher and academic (born 1889). In 2026 it is a Tuesday, in 2027 a Wednesday.

## Events on May 26

- 946 King Edmund I of England was murdered at Pucklechurch on the feast day of St Augustine. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_I)
- 1328 English friar William of Ockham, who popularised the methodological principle known as Occam's razor, secretly left Avignon under threat from Pope John XXII. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_of_Ockham)
- 1538 Geneva expels John Calvin and his followers from the city. Calvin lives in exile in Strasbourg for the next three years. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Calvin)
- 1644 Portuguese Restoration War: Portuguese and Spanish forces both claimed victory at the Battle of Montijo. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Montijo)
- 1822 The deadliest fire in Norwegian history occurred at a church in Grue, killing at least 113 people. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grue_Church_fire)
- 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](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Kirby_Smith)
- 1868 The impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson adjourned after the second and third articles of impeachment did not obtain enough votes from the U.S. Senate to convict. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_trial_of_Andrew_Johnson)
- 1869 Boston University is chartered by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_University)
- 1888 The comic novel The Diary of a Nobody by brothers George and Weedon Grossmith first appeared in serial form in Punch. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Diary_of_a_Nobody)
- 1894 Germany's Emanuel Lasker defeated Wilhelm Steinitz to become the world chess champion, beginning a record 27-year reign. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emanuel_Lasker)
- 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](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Of_Plymouth_Plantation)
- 1906 Vauxhall Bridge in London opened, crossing the River Thames between Vauxhall and Westminster. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vauxhall_Bridge)
- 1932 Donoghue v Stevenson is decided, ultimately establishing the foundation for negligence in common law jurisdictions worldwide. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donoghue_v_Stevenson)
- 1933 American singer Jimmie Rodgers died at the Taft Hotel in New York City. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmie_Rodgers)
- 1938 The House Un-American Activities Committee was established to investigate alleged disloyalty and subversive activities by people or organizations in the U.S. suspected of having communist or fascist ties. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Un-American_Activities_Committee)
- 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](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkirk_evacuation)
- 1942 World War II: The Battle of Gazala begins, in present-day Libya. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gazala)
- 1967 The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, one of the first progressive rock albums, was released. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sgt._Pepper's_Lonely_Hearts_Club_Band)
- 1986 The European Community adopts the European flag. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Economic_Community)
- 1989 Tropical Storm Cecil dissipated over Laos after devastating Quảng Nam province, Vietnam, and causing the deaths of 751 people. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_Storm_Cecil)
- 1991 Zviad Gamsakhurdia becomes the first elected President of the Republic of Georgia in the post-Soviet era. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zviad_Gamsakhurdia)
- 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](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_UEFA_Champions_League_final)
- 2002 Barges being towed destroyed part of a bridge near Webbers Falls, Oklahoma, causing vehicles to fall into the Robert S. Kerr Reservoir on the Arkansas River. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I-40_bridge_disaster)
- 2014 Narendra Modi takes oath as the 15th Prime Minister of India. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narendra_Modi)
- 2020 Protests following the murder of George Floyd erupted in Minneapolis–Saint Paul before spreading across the United States and internationally. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Floyd_protests)
- 2025 A car rammed into a crowd on Water Street, Liverpool, injuring 65 people. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Liverpool_parade_attack)

## Born on May 26

- 1478 Clement VII, pope of the Catholic Church (died 1534) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Clement_VII)
- 1566 Mehmed III, Ottoman sultan (died 1603) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehmed_III)
- 1650 John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire (died 1722) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Churchill%2C_1st_Duke_of_Marlborough)
- 1667 Abraham de Moivre, French-English mathematician and theorist (died 1754) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_de_Moivre)
- 1822 Edmond de Goncourt, French author and critic, founded the Académie Goncourt (died 1896) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmond_de_Goncourt)
- 1867 Mary of Teck, Queen Consort of George V of the United Kingdom, Empress Consort of India (died 1953) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_of_Teck)
- 1895 Dorothea Lange, American photographer and journalist (died 1965) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothea_Lange)
- 1907 John Wayne, American actor, director, and producer (died 1979) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wayne)
- 1912 János Kádár, Hungarian mechanic and politician, 46th Prime Minister of Hungary (died 1989) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%A1nos_K%C3%A1d%C3%A1r)
- 1913 Peter Cushing, English actor (died 1994) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Cushing)
- 1920 Peggy Lee, American singer-songwriter and actress (died 2002) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peggy_Lee)
- 1926 Miles Davis, American trumpet player, composer, and bandleader (died 1991) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_Davis)
- 1948 Stevie Nicks, American singer-songwriter [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevie_Nicks)
- 1949 Jeremy Corbyn, British journalist and politician [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Corbyn)
- 1949 Ward Cunningham, American computer programmer, developed the first wiki [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ward_Cunningham)
- 1951 Sally Ride, American physicist and astronaut, founded Sally Ride Science (died 2012) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Ride)
- 1964 Lenny Kravitz, American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and actor [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenny_Kravitz)
- 1966 Helena Bonham Carter, English actress [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helena_Bonham_Carter)
- 1968 Frederik X, King of Denmark [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederik_X)
- 1975 Lauryn Hill, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauryn_Hill)
- 1977 Luca Toni, Italian footballer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luca_Toni)
- 1988 Juan Cuadrado, Colombian footballer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Cuadrado)

## Died on May 26

- 735 Bede, English monk, historian, and theologian [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bede)
- 818 Ali al-Ridha, 8th of The Twelve Imams [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_al-Rida)
- 946 Edmund I, king of England (born 921) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_I)
- 1421 Mehmed I, Ottoman sultan (born 1389) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehmed_I)
- 1512 Bayezid II, Ottoman sultan (born 1447) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayezid_II)
- 1703 Samuel Pepys, English politician (born 1633) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Pepys)
- 1883 Abdelkader El Djezairi, Algerian ruler (born 1808) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emir_Abdelkader)
- 1908 Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Indian religious leader, founded the Ahmadiyya movement (born 1835) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirza_Ghulam_Ahmad)
- 1955 Alberto Ascari, Italian racing driver (born 1918) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Ascari)
- 1976 Martin Heidegger, German philosopher and academic (born 1889) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Heidegger)
- 2008 Sydney Pollack, American actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1934) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Pollack)
- 2017 Zbigniew Brzezinski, Polish-born American politician (born 1928) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zbigniew_Brzezinski)
- 2019 Prem Tinsulanonda, Former Prime Minister of Thailand (born 1920) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prem_Tinsulanonda)
- 2022 Ray Liotta, American actor (born 1954) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Liotta)

## Holidays and observances

- Christian feast day: Andrew Kaggwa [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Kaggwa)
- Christian feast day: Augustine of Canterbury (Anglican Communion and Eastern Orthodox) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustine_of_Canterbury)
- Christian feast day: Lambert of Vence [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambert_of_Vence)
- Christian feast day: Mariana de Jesús de Paredes [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariana_de_Jes%C3%BAs_de_Paredes)
- Christian feast day: Martyrs of the Paris Commune [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacre_in_the_Rue_Haxo)
- Christian feast day: Peter Sanz (one of Martyr Saints of China) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Sanz)
- Christian feast day: Philip Neri [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Neri)
- Christian feast day: Pope Eleutherius [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Eleutherius)
- Christian feast day: Zachary, Bishop of Vienne [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zacharias_of_Vienne)
- Christian feast day: May 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_26_(Eastern_Orthodox_liturgics))
- Independence Day, commemorates the declaration of independence of the Democratic Republic of Georgia in 1918 (Georgia) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_(Georgia))
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Guyana from the United Kingdom in 1966. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guyana)
- Mother's Day (Poland) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother's_Day)
- National Paper Airplane Day (United States) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Paper_Airplane_Day)
- National Sorry Day (Australia) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Sorry_Day)

## Sources

- [Wikipedia — “May 26”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_26) — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
- [Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/May 26”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Selected_anniversaries/May_26) — the anniversaries editors chose for the date and the article each one is about (checked 2026-10-15)
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/) — 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)](https://github.com/vacanza/holidays) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-15)

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article [“May 26”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_26) and the articles it links to ([authors and history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_26?action=history)), retrieved 2026-10-15 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/); this selection is shared under the same licence. Every anniversary that Wikipedia's editors selected for May 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.

## May 26 in the calendar

| Year | Weekday | ISO week | Moon (UTC) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026 | Tuesday | 2026-W22 | 🌔 Waxing Gibbous |
| 2027 | Wednesday | 2027-W21 | 🌖 Waning Gibbous |
| 2028 | Friday | 2028-W21 | 🌒 Waxing Crescent |
| 2029 | Saturday | 2029-W21 | 🌔 Waxing Gibbous |
| 2030 | Sunday | 2030-W21 | 🌘 Waning Crescent |

Moon phases are for the day in UTC; at the edges of a phase your local date can differ.

## Public holidays on May 26

- [🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates](https://whathappen.today/holidays/united-arab-emirates/): Day of Arafah (estimated) (2026)

[Today's holidays in 28 countries →](https://whathappen.today/holidays/)

## Nearby dates

[← May 25](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/may-25/) · [May 27 →](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/may-27/)

[All 366 days](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/)

Last updated: 15 October 2026

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Web page: https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/may-26/