On this day: October 26

Events on October 26

• 1341 The Byzantine army proclaimed chief minister John VI Kantakouzenos as emperor, triggering a civil war between his supporters and those of John V Palaiologos, the heir to the throne. Wikipedia
• 1520 Charles V was crowned as Holy Roman Emperor. Wikipedia
• 1597 Imjin War: Thirteen Korean ships commanded by Admiral Yi Sun-sin defeated a far larger Japanese invading fleet at the Battle of Myeongnyang in the Myeongnyang Strait. Wikipedia
• 1813 War of 1812: British forces and Mohawk allies under Charles de Salaberry repulsed an American attempt to invade Canada. Wikipedia
• 1863 The Football Association, world's first governing body of association football, was founded in London. Wikipedia
• 1871 Liberian president Edward James Roye was overthrown in modern Africa's first coup d'état. Wikipedia
• 1892 Ida B. Wells began publishing her research on lynching in the United States, for which she was posthumously awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 2020. Wikipedia
• 1902 A group of Russian explorers led by Baron von Toll left their camp on Bennett Island and disappeared without a trace. Wikipedia
• 1905 The Saint Petersburg Soviet held its first meeting, becoming the first elected body in Russia to represent workers. Wikipedia
• 1906 The Illinois Memorial, honoring Union army soldiers from Illinois who fought at the Siege of Vicksburg, was dedicated at Vicksburg National Military Park. Wikipedia
• 1912 First Balkan War: The Ottomans lose the cities of Thessaloniki and Skopje. Wikipedia
• 1921 The Chicago Theatre, the oldest surviving grand movie palace, opened. Wikipedia
• 1936 The first electric generator at Hoover Dam goes into full operation. Wikipedia
• 1944 World War II: The Battle of Leyte Gulf ends with an overwhelming American victory. Wikipedia
• 1955 Ngô Đình Diệm proclaimed himself president of the newly created Republic of Vietnam after defeating former emperor Bảo Đại in a fraudulent referendum supervised by his brother Ngô Đình Nhu. Wikipedia
• 1955 After the last Allied troops have left the country, and following the provisions of the Austrian Independence Treaty, Austria declares that it will never join a military alliance. Wikipedia
• 1967 Mohammad Reza Pahlavi crowns himself Emperor of Iran. Wikipedia
• 1977 Somali hospital cook Ali Maow Maalin began displaying symptoms of smallpox, becoming the last person known to be naturally infected by the disease. Wikipedia
• 1985 The Australian government returns ownership of Uluru to the local Pitjantjatjara Aboriginals. Wikipedia
• 1991 Three months after the end of the Ten-Day War, the last soldier of the Yugoslav People's Army leaves the territory of the Republic of Slovenia. Wikipedia
• 1994 Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty, settling relations between the two countries and pledging that neither would allow its territory to become a staging ground for military strikes by a third country. Wikipedia
• 2000 Following protests against military leader Robert Guéï, Laurent Gbagbo became the president of Ivory Coast. Wikipedia
• 2001 President George W. Bush signed the Patriot Act into law, significantly expanding the authority of United States law enforcement agencies. Wikipedia
• 2002 Approximately 50 Chechen terrorists and 150 hostages die when Russian special forces troops storm a theater building in Moscow, which had been occupied by the terrorists during a musical performance three days before. Wikipedia
• 2004 Rockstar Games released Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, considered one of the best video games ever made, in North America. Wikipedia
• 2012 Microsoft made a public release of Windows 8 and made it available on new PCs. Wikipedia

Born on October 26

• 1673 Dimitrie Cantemir, Moldavian geographer, historian, and philosopher (died 1723) Wikipedia
• 1685 Domenico Scarlatti, Italian harpsichord player and composer (died 1757) Wikipedia
• 1759 Georges Danton, French lawyer and politician, French Minister of Justice (died 1794) Wikipedia
• 1800 Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, Prussian field marshal (died 1891) Wikipedia
• 1802 Miguel I of Portugal (died 1866) Wikipedia
• 1842 Vasily Vereshchagin, Russian soldier and painter (died 1904) Wikipedia
• 1880 Andrei Bely, Russian novelist, poet, and critic (died 1934) Wikipedia
• 1883 Napoleon Hill, American philosopher and author (died 1970) Wikipedia
• 1900 Karin Boye, Swedish poet and novelist (died 1941) Wikipedia
• 1911 Mahalia Jackson, American singer (died 1972) Wikipedia
• 1916 François Mitterrand, French lawyer and politician, 21st President of France (died 1996) Wikipedia
• 1919 Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran (died 1980) Wikipedia
• 1942 Bob Hoskins, English actor, singer, and director (died 2014) Wikipedia
• 1947 Hillary Clinton, American lawyer and politician, 67th United States Secretary of State and 44th First Lady of the United States Wikipedia
• 1956 Rita Wilson, American actress and producer Wikipedia
• 1959 Evo Morales, Bolivian soldier and politician, 80th President of Bolivia Wikipedia
• 1961 Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenyan politician, 4th President of Kenya Wikipedia
• 1972 Raveena Tandon, Indian actress, producer, and former model Wikipedia
• 1973 Seth MacFarlane, American voice actor, singer, director, producer, and screenwriter Wikipedia
• 1978 CM Punk, American wrestler, mixed martial artist, and actor Wikipedia
• 1980 Cristian Chivu, Romanian footballer Wikipedia
• 1984 Adriano Correia, Brazilian footballer Wikipedia

Died on October 26

• 899 Alfred the Great, English king (born 849) Wikipedia
• 1764 William Hogarth, English painter and engraver (born 1697) Wikipedia
• 1890 Carlo Collodi, Italian journalist and author (born 1826) Wikipedia
• 1902 Elizabeth Cady Stanton, American activist (born 1815) Wikipedia
• 1909 Itō Hirobumi, Japanese samurai and politician, Prime Minister of Japan (born 1841) Wikipedia
• 1952 Hattie McDaniel, American actress and singer (born 1895) Wikipedia
• 1957 Gerty Cori, Czech-American biochemist and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1896) Wikipedia
• 1957 Nikos Kazantzakis, Greek philosopher, author, and playwright (born 1883) Wikipedia
• 1972 Igor Sikorsky, Ukrainian-American engineer and academic, founded Sikorsky Aircraft (born 1889) Wikipedia
• 1973 Semyon Budyonny, Marshal of the Soviet Union (born 1883) Wikipedia
• 1979 Park Chung Hee, South Korean general and politician, 3rd President of South Korea (born 1917) Wikipedia
• 1989 Charles J. Pedersen, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1904) Wikipedia
• 2007 Arthur Kornberg, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize (born 1918) Wikipedia
• 2021 Roh Tae-woo, South Korean general and politician, 6th President of South Korea (born 1932) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Accession Day (Jammu and Kashmir, India) Wikipedia
• Angam Day (Nauru) Wikipedia
• Armed Forces Day (Benin) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Alfred the Great (Catholic Church, Anglican Church, Eastern Orthodox Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Amandus of Strasbourg Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Beóán (Bean) of Mortlach Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Celine Borzecka Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Cedd Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Cuthbert of Canterbury Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Demetrius of Thessaloniki Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Eadfrith of Leominster Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Eata of Hexham Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Pope Evaristus (Aristus) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Fulk of Pavia (Roman Catholic Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Philipp Nicolai, Johann Heermann and Paul Gerhardt (Lutheran Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Quadragesimus Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Quodvultdeus Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Rusticus of Narbonne Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Witta (Albinus) of Büraburg Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Eastern Orthodox liturgics Wikipedia
• National Day, celebrates the anniversary of the Declaration of Neutrality in 1955. (Austria) Wikipedia
• Intersex Awareness Day Wikipedia

Sources

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