26 February
Notable Births
Jamal Musiala
b. 2003
German footballer (born 2003)
Gerard Martín (footballer)
b. 2002
Spanish footballer (born 2002)
Yeat
b. 2000
American rapper (born 2000)
Jessie Bates
b. 1997
American football player (born 1997)
Jacob Trouba
b. 1994
American ice hockey player (born 1994)
Morgan Gautrat
b. 1993
American soccer player (born 1993)
Mikael Granlund
b. 1992
Finnish ice hockey player (born 1992)
CL (rapper)
b. 1991
South Korean rapper and singer (born 1991)
Kevin Plawecki
b. 1991
American baseball player (born 1991)
Takanoiwa Yoshimori
b. 1990
Sumo wrestler from Mongolia
Gabriel Obertan
b. 1989
French footballer (born 1989)
Mārtiņš Karsums
b. 1986
Latvian professional ice hockey player (born 1986)
Hannah Kearney
b. 1986
American freestyle skier
Fernando Llorente
b. 1985
Spanish footballer (born 1985)
Emmanuel Adebayor
b. 1984
Togolese footballer (born 1984)
Beren Saat
b. 1984
Turkish actress (born 1984)
Pepe (footballer, born 1983)
b. 1983
Portuguese footballer (born 1983)
Li Na
b. 1982
Chinese tennis player
Matt Prior
b. 1982
English cricketer
Christopher Marlowe
b. 1564
English playwright and poet (1564–1593)
Notable Deaths
Michelle Trachtenberg
d. 2025
American actress (1985–2025)
Joseph Wapner
d. 2017
American reality court show judge (1919–2017)
Andy Bathgate
d. 2016
Canadian ice hockey player (1932–2016)
Don Getty
d. 2016
Premier of Alberta from 1985 to 1992
Sheppard Frere
d. 2015
British historian and archaeologist
Theodore Hesburgh
d. 2015
American Catholic priest and 15th president of Notre Dame
Earl Lloyd
d. 2015
American basketball player and coach (1928–2015)
Tom Schweich
d. 2015
American politician, diplomat and attorney
Sorel Etrog
d. 2014
Romanian born Israeli-Canadian artist, writer and sculptor (1933–2014)
Phyllis Krasilovsky
d. 2014
American writer (1926–2014)
Marie-Claire Alain
d. 2013
French organist (1926–2013)
Stéphane Hessel
d. 2013
Writer, Holocaust survivor and French Resistance member
Simon Li
d. 2013
Arnošt Lustig
d. 2011
Czech Jewish writer (1926–2011)
Nujabes
d. 2010
Japanese hip-hop producer (1974–2010)
Johnny Kerr
d. 2009
American basketball player, coach, and commentator (1932–2009)
Wendy Richard
d. 2009
British actress (1943–2009)
Norm Van Lier
d. 2009
American basketball player (1947–2009)
Jef Raskin
d. 2005
American computer scientist (1943–2005)
Adolf Ehrnrooth
d. 2004
Finnish general
On This Day in History
All 39 ›
2026
The government of Pakistan declares "open war" against the Taliban in Afghanistan, initiating the 2026 Afghanistan–Pakistan War.
Pakistan
2021
A total of 279 female students aged between 10 and 17 are kidnapped by bandits in the Zamfara kidnapping in Zamfara State, Nigeria.
2021 Zamfara school kidnapping
2019
Indian Air Force fighter-jets target Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camps in Balakot, Pakistan.
Indian Air Force
2013
A hot air balloon crashes near Luxor, Egypt, killing 19 people.
Hot air balloon
2012
A train derails in Burlington, Ontario, Canada killing at least three people and injuring 45.
2012 Burlington Via derailment
2012
Seventeen-year-old African-American student Trayvon Martin is shot to death by neighborhood watch coordinator George Zimmerman in an altercation in Sanford, Florida.
Trayvon Martin
2008
The New York Philharmonic performs in Pyongyang, North Korea; this was the first such event to take place in North Korea.
New York Philharmonic
1995
The UK's oldest investment banking institute, Barings Bank, collapses after a rogue securities broker Nick Leeson loses $1.4 billion by speculating on the Singapore International Monetary Exchange using futures contracts.
Barings Bank
1993
World Trade Center bombing: In New York City, a truck bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center explodes, killing six and injuring over a thousand people.
1993 World Trade Center bombing
1992
First Nagorno-Karabakh War: Khojaly Massacre: Armenian armed forces open fire on Azeri civilians at a military post outside the town of Khojaly leaving hundreds dead.
First Nagorno-Karabakh War
1987
Iran–Contra affair: The Tower Commission rebukes President Ronald Reagan for not controlling his national security staff.
Iran–Contra affair
1980
Egypt and Israel establish full diplomatic relations.
Egypt–Israel relations
1979
The Superliner railcar enters revenue service with Amtrak.
Superliner (railcar)
1971
U.N. Secretary-General U Thant signs United Nations proclamation of the vernal equinox as Earth Day.
Secretary-General of the United Nations
1966
Apollo program: Launch of AS-201, the first flight of the Saturn IB rocket.
Apollo program
1960
A New York-bound Alitalia airliner crashes into a cemetery in Shannon, Ireland, shortly after takeoff, killing 34 of the 52 persons on board.
Alitalia
1960
A Kyiv-bound Aeroflot airliner crashes on approach to Snilow Airport in Lviv, killing 32 of the 33 people on board.
Kyiv
1952
Vincent Massey is sworn in as the first Canadian-born Governor General of Canada.
Vincent Massey
1945
World War II: US troops reclaim the Philippine island of Corregidor from the Japanese.
World War II
1936
In the February 26 Incident, young nationalist Japanese military officers assassinate multiple cabinet statesmen and start a rebellion in downtown Tokyo, which is ended 3 days later.
February 26 incident