| 26th 
            August, on this day  55 BC - Roman forces 
            under Julius 
            Ceasar invade Britain1071 Battle 
            of Manzikert: The Seljuk Turks defeat the Byzantine Army at Manzikert.
 1278 Ladislaus 
            IV of Hungary and Rudolph I of Germany defeat Premysl Ottokar 
            II of Bohemia in the 
            Battle of Marchfield near Dürnkrut in Moravia.
 1303 Ala 
            ud din Khilji won Chittor.
 1346 Edward 
            III of England, aided by his son, Edward, the Black Prince, defeat 
            a numerically superior French Army at the battle 
            of Crecy
 1466 A conjure against Piero 
            di Cosimo de' Medici in Florence, led by Luca Pitti, is discovered.
 1498 Michelangelo 
            commissioned to carve the Pietà
 1629 Cambridge 
            Agreement, Mass Bay Co stockholders agree to emigrate
 1748 The first Lutheran 
            denomination in North America, the Pennsylvania Ministerium, is founded 
            in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
 1768 HM 
            Bark Endeavour expedition under Captain James 
            Cook sets sail from England.
 1778 The first recorded ascent of Triglav, 
            the highest mountain of Slovenia
 1789 The French Assembly adopts the Declaration 
            of the Rights of Man
 1791 John 
            Fitch grants US patent for his working steamboat
 1818 The first 
            Illinois Constitution was signed in Kaskaskia.
 1839 The ship Amistad 
            is captured off Long Island.
 1858 First news dispatch by 
            telegraph.
 1874 16 blacks lynched in Tennessee
 1883 Start of two days' continual volcanic eruptions on the island 
            of Krakatoa 
            in the Sundra Strait between Sumatra and Java. Tidal waves caused 
            by the eruptions kill an estimated 36,000 and leave most of the island 
            uninhabitable
 1907 Houdini 
            escapes from chains underwater at Aquatic Park in 57 sec
 1914 Germans defeat Russians in Battle 
            of Tannenberg
 1914 The British 
            Expeditionary Force briefly checks the German advance at Le 
            Cateau.
 1914 The German colony of Togoland 
            is invaded by French and British forces, who take it after 5 days
 1920 United States of America ratifies the 19th 
            Amendment to the Constitution - granting women the right to vote
 1922 Turkish Army started the last attack on Greeks in the Turkish 
            War of Independence.
 1924 (August 13 Old Style) Catastrophe of Smyrna, known as the Asia 
            Minor Catastrophe to Greeks, occurs. The Ottoman army expels Greeks 
            and other non-Turks from Asia Minor in systematic ethnic cleansing. 
            One of the first cases of ethic cleansing in the 20th Century.
 1936 In Britain, the BBC transmits the first high-definition television 
            pictures. More than 7000 people queue at the Olympia Radio Show to 
            see the pictures being beamed onto local television sets from 
            Alexandra Palace in north London
 1940 The RAF bomb Berlin for the first time in retaliation for bombing 
            raids on London
 1940 Chad is the first French colony to join the Allies under the 
            administration of Félix 
            Éboué, France's first black colonial governor
 1942 7,000 Jews rounded up in Vichy 
            Free Zone of France
 1942 Holocaust in Chortkiv, 
            western Ukraine: At 2.30 am the German Schutzpolizei starts driving 
            Jews out of houses, splits in groups of 120, packs them in freight 
            cars and deports 2000 Jews to Belzec death camp. 500 of sick and children 
            murdered on the spot.
 1944 Charles 
            de Gaulle enters Paris.
 1957 USSR announces successful test of 
            intercontinental ballistic missile
 1959 British car manufacturers Austin and Morris launch a small family 
            car known as the 'Mini'
 1964 LBJ nominated at Democratic convention in Atlantic City, NJ
 1972 Summer Olympics 
            open in Munich, West Germany
 1973 U of Tx (Arlington) is 1st accredited school to offer belly dancing
 1974 Soyuz 15 carries 2 cosmonauts to space station Salyut 3
 1977 Charter 
            of the French Language is adopted by the National Assembly of 
            Quebec
 1978 In Rome, Cardinal Albino 
            Luciani is elected Pope John Paul I. Within 33 days he dies of 
            a heart attack
 1978 Sigmund 
            Jahn becomes the first German in space - on board the Russian 
            spacecraft Soyuz 31
 1980 John 
            Birges plants a bomb at Harvey's Resort Hotel in Stateline, Nevada.
 1983 Flooding destroys most of the old 
            town of Bilbao, Spain.
 1987 President Ronald 
            Wilson Reagan proclaims September 11, 1987 as 9-1-1 
            Emergency Number Day.
 1988 Merhan 
            Karimi Nasseri arrives at Charles 
            de Gaulle International Airport.
 1990 2 slain college students found in Gainesville, Florida
 1996 Bill 
            Clinton signs welfare 
            reform into law, representing major shift in US welfare policy
 1997 In Britain, Diana, Princess of Wales, condemns the previous Conservative 
            Government as 'hopeless' over the issue of the banning landmines
 1997 Beni-Ali 
            massacre in Algeria; 60-100 people killed. .
 2002 Earth 
            Summit 2002 begins in Johannesburg, South Africa.
 2003 Columbia 
            Accident Investigation Board releases its final reports on Space 
            Shuttle Columbia disaster.
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        | Birthdates which 
            occurred on 26th August : 1676 Sir Robert 
            Walpole (Whig) British PM (1721-42) 1728 Johann Lambert Switzerland, mathematician, proved ã is 
            irrational
 1740 Joseph Montgolfier France, aeronaut (ballooning)
 1743 Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier Paris, father of mod chemistry (Oxygen)
 1820 James Harlan (Rep-Iowa)/US Seretary of Interior (1865-66)
 1850 Charles Richet French physiologist (anaphylaxis-Nobel 1913)
 1873 Lee De Forest Council Bluffs, inventor (Audion vacuum (radio) 
            tube)
 1875 Sir John Buchan Scotland, Gov-Gen of Canada/writer
 1880 Guillaume Apollinaire France, poet/movie critic (Alcoola)
 1884 Earl Biggers author ("Charlie Chan" detective series)
 1885 Jules Romains France, novelist/dramatist/poet (Men of Good Will)
 19-- Brett Cullen Houston Tx, actor (Bob-Thorn Birds)
 19-- Jon Hensley Doylestown, Penn, actor (As the World Turns)
 19-- Jorge De Sait rocker (Tuff-What Comes Around Goes Around)
 19-- Richard Kantor Bkln NY, actor (Brian-Finder of Lost Loves)
 1901 Gen Maxwell D Taylor former US Army chief of staff
 1904 Christopher Isherwood England, novelist/playwright (I Am a Camera)
 1906 Dr Albert B Sabin polio vaccine discoverer
 1909 Frank Gasparro Phila Pa, US chief engraver (1965-81)
 1911 Lester Lanin orchestra leader (40 Beatle Hits)
 1914 Julio Cort zar Argentina, writer (We Love Glenda So Much)
 1915 Jim Davis Edgerton Mo, actor (Jack Ewing-Dallas)
 1917 Jan Clayton Tularosa NM, actress (Ellen Miller-Lassie)
 1917 William French Smith Attorney General (1981-85)
 1919 Ronny Graham Phila Pa, actor (Bob Crane Show, Chico & the 
            Man)
 1921 Benjamin C Bradlee journalist (Wash Post)
 1921 William Preston Columbia Penn (Penn State), actor
 1927 Francois Leydet sierra club (Last Redwoods)
 1927 Sam Massell
 1932 Joe H Engle Abilene Ks, Brig Gen USAF/astro (STS T-2, T-4, 2, 
            51I)
 1935 Geraldine Ferraro (Rep-D-NY) 1st female major-party VP candidate
 1937 Tom Heinsohn NBA star/coach (Boston Celtic)
 1938 Francine York Aurora Minn, actress (Slattery's People)
 1942 John E Blaha San Antonio, Col USAF/astronaut (STS 29, 33, STS 
            43)
 1942 Vic Dana Buffalo, singer/dancer (Talent Scouts)
 1943 Ulf Sundelin Sweden, yachtsmen (Olympic-gold-1968)
 1947 Candy Moore Maplewood NJ, actress (Lunch Wagon, Tomboy & 
            Champ)
 1948 Jet Black rocker (Stranglers-Dreamtime)
 1948 Valerie Simpson Bronx, singer, Ashford's partner (Like a Rock)
 1952 John Kinsella USA, swimmer (Olympic-gold-1972)
 1954 Steve Wright Britain's wacky DJ
 1957 Alex Trevino catcher (LA Dodgers)
 1960 Branford Marsalis actor (Bring on the Night)
 1960 Ola Ray St Louis Mo, playmate (Jun, 1980) (Thriller)
 1965 Chris Burke actor with down syndrome (Life Goes On)
 1981 Macauley Culkin actor (Home Alone, My Girl)
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Deaths which occurred 
            on August 26th:
 1963 Larry Keating actor (George Burns Show, Roger-Mr Ed), dies at 
            67
 1966 Art Baker TV host (You Asked For It), dies at 67
 1974 Charles Lindbergh dies at 72 in his Hawaiian home
 1976 Warner Anderson actor (Doctor, Lineup, Peyton Place), dies at 
            65
 1977 HA Rey author of popular constellation book, dies at 78
 1978 Charles Boyer actor (The Rogues), dies at 78
 1981 Roger Nash Baldwin founder of the ACLU, dies
 1983 Mike Kellin actor (Honestly Celeste), dies at 61 of cancer
 1984 Julie Stevens actress (Lorelei-Big Town), dies at 67
 1986 Jennifer Levin strangled by Robert Chambers in Central Park
 1986 Ted Knight actor (Mary Tyler Moore Show), dies at 62
 
 
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