On This Day — 26 August
2000s
2023
Exactly 5 years after the 2018 Jacksonville Landing shooting, there is another shooting in Jacksonville, Florida, leaving 3 people dead.
2018 Jacksonville Landing shooting
2021
During the 2021 Kabul airlift, a suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport kills 13 US military personnel and at least 169 Afghan civilians.
2021 Kabul airlift
2018
Three people are killed and eleven wounded during a mass shooting at a Madden NFL '19 video game tournament in Jacksonville, Florida.
2018 Jacksonville Landing shooting
2015
Two U.S. journalists are shot and killed by a disgruntled former coworker while conducting a live report in Moneta, Virginia.
Murders of Alison Parker and Adam Ward
2014
The Jay Report into the Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal is published.
Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal
2011
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Boeing's all-new composite airliner, receives certification from the EASA and the FAA.
Boeing 787 Dreamliner
2009
Kidnapping victim Jaycee Dugard is discovered alive in California after being missing for over 18 years. Her captors, Phillip and Nancy Garrido, are apprehended.
Kidnapping of Jaycee Dugard
2003
A Beechcraft 1900 operating as Colgan Air Flight 9446 crashes after taking off from Barnstable Municipal Airport in Yarmouth, Massachusetts, killing both pilots on board.
Beechcraft 1900
1900s
1999
Russia begins the Second Chechen War in response to the Invasion of Dagestan by the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade.
Second Chechen War
1998
The first flight of the Boeing Delta III ends in disaster 75 seconds after liftoff, resulting in the loss of the Galaxy X communications satellite.
Delta III
1997
Beni Ali massacre occurs in Algeria, leaving 60 to 100 people dead.
Beni Ali massacre
1993
Sakha Avia Flight 301 crashes on approach to Aldan Airport, killing all 24 aboard.
Sakha Avia Flight 301
1980
After John Birges plants a bomb at Harvey's Resort Hotel in Stateline, Nevada, in the United States, the FBI inadvertently detonates the bomb during its disarming.
Harvey's Resort Hotel bombing
1978
Papal conclave: Albino Luciani is elected as Pope John Paul I.
August 1978 conclave
1977
The Charter of the French Language is adopted by the National Assembly of Quebec.
Charter of the French Language
1972
The Games of the XX Olympiad open in Munich, West Germany.
1972 Summer Olympics
1970
The fiftieth anniversary of American women being able to vote is marked by a nationwide Women's Strike for Equality.
Women's Strike for Equality
1969
Aeroflot Flight 1770 crashes while landing at Vnukovo International Airport, killing 16.
1969 Vnukovo Airport Il-18 crash
1966
The South African Border War starts with the battle at Omugulugwombashe.
South African Border War
1944
World War II: Charles de Gaulle enters Paris.
Charles de Gaulle
1942
The Holocaust in Ukraine: At Chortkiv, the Ukrainian police and German Schutzpolizei deport two thousand Jews to Bełżec extermination camp. Five hundred of the sick and children are murdered on the spot. This continued until the next day.
The Holocaust in Ukraine
1940
World War II: Chad becomes the first French colony to join the Allies under the administration of Félix Éboué, France's first black colonial governor.
World War II
1936
Spanish Civil War: Santander falls to the Nationalists and the Republican Interprovincial Council is dissolved.
Spanish Civil War
1922
Greco-Turkish War (1919–22): Turkish army launched what has come to be known to the Turks as the Great Offensive (Büyük Taarruz). The major Greek defense positions were overrun.
Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)
1920
The 19th amendment to United States Constitution, giving women the right to vote, is certified.
Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
1914
World War I: The German colony of Togoland surrenders to French and British forces after a 20-day campaign. Togoland is the first German colony to fall to Allied hands in World War I.
World War I
1914
World War I: During the retreat from Mons, the British II Corps commanded by General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien fights a vigorous and successful defensive action at Le Cateau.
Battle of Mons
1800s
1883
The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa begins its final, paroxysmal, stage.
1883 eruption of Krakatoa
1863
The Swedish-language liberal newspaper Helsingfors Dagblad proposed the current blue-and-white cross flag as the flag of Finland.
Flag of Finland
1849
President Faustin Soulouque of the First Republic of Haiti has the Senate and Chamber of Deputies proclaim him the Emperor of Haiti, abolishing the Republic and inaugurating the Second Empire of Haiti.
Faustin Soulouque
1833
The great 1833 Kathmandu–Bihar earthquake causes major damage in Nepal, northern India and Tibet, a total of 500 people perish.
1833 Bihar–Nepal earthquake
1814
Chilean War of Independence: Infighting between the rebel forces of José Miguel Carrera and Bernardo O'Higgins erupts in the Battle of Las Tres Acequias.
Chilean War of Independence
1813
War of the Sixth Coalition: An impromptu battle takes place when French and Prussian-Russian forces accidentally run into each other near Liegnitz, Prussia (now Legnica, Poland).
War of the Sixth Coalition
1810
The former viceroy Santiago de Liniers of the Viceroyalty of the RĂo de la Plata is executed after the defeat of his counter-revolution.
Santiago de Liniers, 1st Count of Buenos Aires
Before 1800
1791
John Fitch is granted a United States patent for the steamboat.
John Fitch (inventor)
1789
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen is approved by the National Constituent Assembly of France.
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
1778
The first recorded ascent of Triglav, the highest mountain in Slovenia.
Triglav
1768
Captain James Cook sets sail from England on board HMSÂ Endeavour.
James Cook
1767
Jesuits all over Chile are arrested as the Spanish Empire suppresses the Society of Jesus.
Jesuits
1748
The first Lutheran denomination in North America, the Pennsylvania Ministerium, is founded in Philadelphia.
Lutheranism
1648
The Fronde: First Fronde: In the wake of the successful Battle of Lens, Cardinal Mazarin, Chief Minister of France, suddenly orders the arrest of the leaders of the Parlement of Paris, provoking the rest of Paris to break into insurrection and barricade the streets the next day.
The Fronde
1642
Dutch–Portuguese War: Second Battle of San Salvador: The Dutch force the Spanish garrison at San Salvador (modern day Keelung, Taiwan) to surrender, ending the short-lived Spanish colony on Formosa and replacing it with a new Dutch administration.
Dutch–Portuguese War
1542
A year and a half after leaving Guayaquil on the Pacific coast, Francisco de Orellana finishes his overland journey across South America and reaches the mouth of the Amazon River on the Atlantic coast.
Guayaquil
1444
Battle of St. Jakob an der Birs: A vastly outnumbered force of Swiss Confederates is defeated by the Dauphin Louis (future Louis XI of France) and his army of 'Armagnacs' near Basel.
Battle of St. Jakob an der Birs
1366
The Byzantine Empire retakes Gallipoli with the help of the Savoyard Crusade.
Byzantine Empire
1346
Hundred Years' War: At the Battle of Crécy, an English army easily defeats a French one twice its size.
Hundred Years' War
1303
Chittorgarh falls to the Delhi Sultanate.
Siege of Chittorgarh (1303)
1278
Ladislaus IV of Hungary and Rudolf I of Germany defeat Ottokar II of Bohemia in the Battle on the Marchfeld near DĂĽrnkrut in (then) Moravia.
Ladislaus IV of Hungary
1071
The Seljuq Turks defeat the Byzantine army at the Battle of Manzikert, and soon gain control of most of Anatolia.
Seljuk dynasty
683
The Battle of al-Harrah concludes, with Yazid I's army killing 11,000 people of the city of Medina.
Battle of al-Harra