On this day: November 26

Events on November 26

• 1778 In the Hawaiian Islands, Captain James Cook becomes the first European to visit Maui. Wikipedia
• 1812 The Battle of Berezina begins during Napoleon's retreat from Russia. Wikipedia
• 1835 Texas Revolution: Texian forces attacked a Mexican pack train, capturing 40 saddlebags of grass. Wikipedia
• 1842 The University of Notre Dame was founded by Edward Sorin of the Congregation of Holy Cross as an all-male institution in the U.S. state of Indiana. Wikipedia
• 1851 The French navy bombarded Salé, Morocco, damaging the city's infrastructure and its Great Mosque. Wikipedia
• 1852 A massive earthquake struck the Dutch East Indies, creating a tsunami that washed away villages, ships and residents. Wikipedia
• 1914 A large internal explosion destroyed HMS Bulwark near Sheerness, killing 741 people on board. Wikipedia
• 1917 Being unable to resolve disputes with Eddie Livingstone, owner of the Toronto Blueshirts, the other ice hockey clubs of Canada's National Hockey Association officially agreed to break away and form the National Hockey League. Wikipedia
• 1917 The Manchester Guardian publishes the 1916 secret Sykes-Picot Agreement between the United Kingdom and France. Wikipedia
• 1921 The Bolshevik–Makhnovist conflict resumes with a surprise attack by the Red Army against the Makhnovshchina. Wikipedia
• 1939 The Soviet Red Army shelled the village of Mainila and then claimed that the fire originated from Finland, giving them a casus belli to launch the Winter War a few days later. Wikipedia
• 1940 The Iron Guard killed 64 political detainees at a penitentiary near Bucharest and followed up with several high-profile assassinations, including that of former Romanian prime minister Nicolae Iorga. Wikipedia
• 1942 Casablanca, starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, premiered at the Hollywood Theatre in New York City to coincide with the Allied invasion of French North Africa and the capture of Casablanca. Wikipedia
• 1942 World War II: Josip Broz Tito and the Yugoslav Partisans convened the first meeting of the Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia at Bihać in northwestern Bosnia. Wikipedia
• 1942 A riot involving infantrymen, military police, and local law enforcement officers killed three people in Phoenix, Arizona. Wikipedia
• 1977 A speaker claiming to represent the "Intergalactic Association" interrupted a broadcast of Southern Television in South East England. Wikipedia
• 1979 Pakistan International Airlines Flight 740, crashed shortly after takeoff near Taif, Saudi Arabia, killing all 156 people on board. Wikipedia
• 1983 Six robbers broke into a Brink's-Mat warehouse at Heathrow Airport in London and stole £26 million in gold, diamonds and cash. Wikipedia
• 2000 George W. Bush is certified the winner of Florida's electoral votes by Katherine Harris, going on to win the United States presidential election, despite losing in the national popular vote. Wikipedia
• 2003 The Concorde makes its final flight, over Bristol, England. Wikipedia
• 2008 A coordinated group of shooting and bombing attacks across Mumbai began, ultimately killing 175 people and wounding more than 300 others. Wikipedia
• 2011 In a friendly-fire incident, a skirmish occurred between U.S.-led NATO forces and Pakistani security forces at two military checkposts along the Afghanistan–Pakistan border. Wikipedia
• 2011 NASA launched the Mars Science Laboratory mission from Cape Canaveral, carrying the Curiosity rover on board. Wikipedia
• 2019 A magnitude 6.4 earthquake strikes western Albania leaving at least 52 people dead and over 1,000 injured. This was the world's deadliest earthquake of 2019, and the deadliest to strike the country in 99 years. Wikipedia
• 2021 COVID-19 pandemic: The World Health Organization identifies the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant. Wikipedia
• 2025 The Wang Fuk Court fire, a catastrophic fire in Tai Po, Hong Kong, leaves at least 168 dead and 79 injured. Wikipedia

Born on November 26

• 1731 William Cowper, English poet and hymnwriter (died 1800) Wikipedia
• 1827 Ellen G. White, American religious leader and author, co-founded the Seventh-day Adventist Church (died 1915) Wikipedia
• 1857 Ferdinand de Saussure, Swiss linguist and author (died 1913) Wikipedia
• 1869 Maud of Wales (died 1938) Wikipedia
• 1885 Heinrich Brüning, German lieutenant, economist, and politician, Chancellor of Germany (died 1970) Wikipedia
• 1894 Norbert Wiener, American-Swedish mathematician and philosopher (died 1964) Wikipedia
• 1898 Karl Ziegler, German chemist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1973) Wikipedia
• 1909 Eugène Ionesco, Romanian-French playwright and critic (died 1994) Wikipedia
• 1919 Frederik Pohl, American journalist and author (died 2013) Wikipedia
• 1922 Charles M. Schulz, American cartoonist, created Peanuts (died 2000) Wikipedia
• 1931 Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Argentinian painter, sculptor, and activist, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 1939 Tina Turner, American-Swiss singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress (died 2023) Wikipedia
• 1939 Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Malaysian civil servant and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Malaysia (died 2025) Wikipedia
• 1943 Marilynne Robinson, American novelist and essayist Wikipedia
• 1948 Elizabeth Blackburn, Australian-American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 1951 Ilona Staller, Hungarian-Italian porn actress, singer, and politician Wikipedia
• 1954 Velupillai Prabhakaran, Sri Lankan rebel leader, founded the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (died 2009) Wikipedia
• 1975 DJ Khaled, American rapper and producer Wikipedia
• 1981 Natasha Bedingfield, English singer-songwriter and producer Wikipedia
• 1990 Rita Ora, Kosovan-English singer-songwriter and actress Wikipedia
• 1990 Danny Welbeck, English footballer Wikipedia
• 1996 Louane, French singer and actress Wikipedia

Died on November 26

• 399 Siricius, pope of the Catholic Church (born 334) Wikipedia
• 1504 Isabella I, queen of Castile and León (born 1451) Wikipedia
• 1851 Jean-de-Dieu Soult, French general and politician, 12th Prime Minister of France (born 1769) Wikipedia
• 1855 Adam Mickiewicz, Polish poet and playwright (born 1798) Wikipedia
• 1857 Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff, German poet and author (born 1788) Wikipedia
• 1883 Sojourner Truth, American activist (born 1797) Wikipedia
• 1926 John Browning, American weapons designer, founded the Browning Arms Company (born 1855) Wikipedia
• 1928 Reinhard Scheer, German admiral (born 1863) Wikipedia
• 1934 Mykhailo Hrushevsky, Ukrainian historian and politician (born 1866) Wikipedia
• 1952 Sven Hedin, Swedish geographer and explorer (born 1865) Wikipedia
• 1981 Max Euwe, Dutch chess player, mathematician, and author (born 1901) Wikipedia
• 2012 Joseph Murray, American surgeon and soldier, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1919) Wikipedia
• 2018 Stephen Hillenburg, American animator, voice actor, and marine science educator (born 1961) Wikipedia
• 2021 Stephen Sondheim, American composer and lyricist (born 1930) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast days: Alypius the Stylite Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: Basolus (Basle) Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: Bellinus of Padua Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: Conrad of Constance Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: Ethelwine of Athelney Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: Blessed Gaetana Sterni Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: John Berchmans Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: Pope Siricius Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: Sylvester Gozzolini Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: Isaac Watts (Episcopal Church (USA)) Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: November 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Constitution Day (Abkhazia, Georgia) Wikipedia
• Constitution Day (India) Wikipedia
• Republic Day (Mongolia) Wikipedia

Sources

• Wikipedia — “November 26” — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/November 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 “November 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 November 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.