26 October
Notable Births
Lee Eun-sang (singer)
b. 2002
South Korean singer (born 2002)
Yuta (Japanese singer)
b. 1995
Japanese singer (born 1995)
Waqa Blake
b. 1994
Fiji international rugby league footballer
Allie DeBerry
b. 1994
American actress and model
Sergey Karasev
b. 1993
Russian basketball player (born 1993)
Joseph Cramarossa
b. 1992
Canadian ice hockey player (born 1992)
Mark Swanepoel
b. 1990
Rugby player
Dre Kirkpatrick
b. 1989
American football player (born 1989)
Emil Sayfutdinov
b. 1989
Russian motorcycle speedway rider
Greg Zuerlein (figure skater)
b. 1988
American ice dancer (born 1988)
Shawn Lauvao
b. 1987
American football player (born 1987)
Jakub Rzeźniczak
b. 1986
Polish footballer
Marco Ruben
b. 1986
Argentine footballer (born 1986)
Schoolboy Q
b. 1986
American rapper and singer (born 1986)
Andrea Bargnani
b. 1985
Italian basketball player (born 1985)
Kafoumba Coulibaly
b. 1985
Ivorian footballer
Monta Ellis
b. 1985
American basketball player (born 1985)
Kieran Read
b. 1985
New Zealand rugby union player (born 1985)
Sasha Cohen
b. 1984
American figure skater (born 1984)
Adriano (footballer, born 1984)
b. 1984
Brazilian footballer
Notable Deaths
Björn Andrésen
d. 2025
Swedish actor and musician (1955–2025)
Roh Tae-woo
d. 2021
President of South Korea from 1988 to 1993
Willis Carto
d. 2015
American political activist (1926–2015)
Leo Kadanoff
d. 2015
American physicist (1937–2015)
Giuseppe Nazzaro
d. 2015
Vic Allen
d. 2014
British communist, professor and anti-apartheid activist
Germain Gagnon
d. 2014
Canadian ice hockey player (1942–2014)
Senzo Meyiwa
d. 2014
South African footballer (1984–2014)
Jeff Robinson (starting pitcher)
d. 2014
American baseball player (1961–2014)
Gordy Soltau
d. 2014
American football player (1925–2014)
Oscar Taveras
d. 2014
Dominican–Canadian baseball player (1992–2014)
Ritva Arvelo
d. 2013
Finnish actress, film director and screenwriter
Ron Davies (photographer)
d. 2013
Welsh photographer
Doug Ireland
d. 2013
American journalist (1946–2013)
Gabriel of Komana
d. 2013
Mac Ahlberg
d. 2012
Swedish director and cinematographer (1931–2012)
Björn Sieber
d. 2012
Austrian alpine skier (1989–2012)
Jona Senilagakali
d. 2011
Prime Minister of Fiji (1929–2011)
Glen Little (clown)
d. 2010
Igor Sikorsky
d. 1972
Russian-American aviation pioneer (1889–1972)
On This Day in History
All 49 ›
2015
A 7.5 magnitude earthquake strikes in the Hindu Kush mountain range in South Asia, killing 399 people and leaving 2,536 people injured.
October 2015 Hindu Kush earthquake
2012
Microsoft made a public release of Windows 8 and made it available on new PCs.
Microsoft
2004
Rockstar Games releases Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for the PlayStation 2 in North America, which sold 12 million units for the PS2, becoming the console's best-selling video game.
Rockstar Games
2003
The Cedar Fire, the third-largest wildfire in California history, kills 15 people, consumes 250,000 acres (1,000 km2), and destroys 2,200 homes around San Diego.
Cedar Fire
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.
Moscow theater hostage crisis
2001
The United States passes the USA PATRIOT Act into law.
Patriot Act
2000
A wave of protests forces Robert Guéï to step down as president after the Ivorian presidential election.
Robert Guéï
1999
The United Kingdom's House of Lords votes to end the right of most hereditary peers to vote in Britain's upper chamber of Parliament.
United Kingdom
1995
Mossad agents assassinate Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Fathi Shaqaqi in his hotel in Malta.
Mossad
1995
An avalanche hits the Icelandic village of Flateyri, destroying 29 homes and burying 45 people, and killing 20.
Flateyri
1994
Jordan and Israel sign a peace treaty.
Jordan
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.
Ten-Day War
1989
China Airlines Flight 204 crashes after takeoff from Hualien Airport in Taiwan, killing all 54 people on board.
China Airlines Flight 204
1985
The Australian government returns ownership of Uluru to the local Pitjantjatjara Aboriginals.
Uluru
1979
Park Chung Hee, President of South Korea, is assassinated by Korean CIA head Kim Jae-gyu.
Park Chung Hee
1977
Ali Maow Maalin, the last natural case of smallpox, develops a rash in Somalia. The WHO and the CDC consider this date to be the anniversary of the eradication of smallpox, the most spectacular success of vaccination.
Ali Maow Maalin
1968
Space Race: The Soyuz 3 mission achieves the first Soviet space rendezvous.
Space Race
1967
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi crowns himself Emperor of Iran.
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
1958
Pan American Airways makes the first commercial flight of the Boeing 707 from New York City to Paris.
Pan Am
1956
Hungarian Revolution: In the towns of Mosonmagyaróvár and Esztergom, Hungarian secret police forces massacre civilians. As rebel strongholds in Budapest hold, fighting spreads throughout the country.
Hungarian Revolution of 1956