On This Day — 26 October
2000s
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
1900s
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
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.
Austrian State Treaty
1955
Ngô Đình Diệm proclaims himself as President of the newly created Republic of Vietnam.
Ngo Dinh Diem
1947
Partition of India: The Maharaja of Kashmir and Jammu signs the Instrument of Accession with India, beginning the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948 and the Kashmir conflict.
Partition of India
1944
World War II: The Battle of Leyte Gulf ends with an overwhelming American victory.
Battle of Leyte Gulf
1942
World War II: In the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands during the Guadalcanal Campaign, one U.S. aircraft carrier is sunk and another carrier is heavily damaged, while two Japanese carriers and one cruiser are heavily damaged.
World War II
1937
Nazi Germany begins expulsions of 18,000 Polish Jews.
Nazi Germany
1936
The first electric generator at Hoover Dam goes into full operation.
Electric generator
1918
World War I: Erich Ludendorff, quartermaster-general of the Imperial German Army, is dismissed by Kaiser Wilhelm II for refusing to cooperate in peace negotiations.
Erich Ludendorff
1917
World War I: Brazil declares war on the Central Powers.
World War I
1912
First Balkan War: The Ottomans lose the cities of Thessaloniki and Skopje.
First Balkan War
1909
Japanese occupation of Korea: An Jung-geun assassinates Japan's Resident-General of Korea.
Korea under Japanese rule
1905
King Oscar II recognizes the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden.
Oscar II
1800s
1892
Ida B. Wells publishes Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases.
Ida B. Wells
1890
Malleco Viaduct in Chile, at the time "the highest railroad bridge in the world", is inaugurated by President José Manuel Balmaceda.
Malleco Viaduct
1881
Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday participate in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona.
Wyatt Earp
1871
Liberian President Edward James Roye is deposed in a coup d'état.
Edward James Roye
1863
The Football Association is founded.
The Football Association
1860
Unification of Italy: The Expedition of the Thousand ends when Giuseppe Garibaldi presents his conquests to King Victor Emmanuel of Sardinia.
Unification of Italy
1859
The Royal Charter Storm kills at least eight hundred people in the British Isles.
Royal Charter Storm
1825
The Erie Canal opens, allowing direct passage from the Hudson River to Lake Erie.
Erie Canal
1813
War of 1812: A combined force of British regulars, Canadian militia and Mohawks defeat the United States Army in the Battle of the Chateauguay.
War of 1812
Before 1800
1774
American Revolution: The First Continental Congress adjourns in Philadelphia.
American Revolution
1689
General Enea Silvio Piccolomini of Austria burns down Skopje to prevent the spread of cholera; he dies of the disease soon afterwards.
Enea Silvio Piccolomini (general)
1640
The Treaty of Ripon is signed, restoring peace between Covenanter Scotland and King Charles I of England.
Treaty of Ripon
1597
Imjin War: Korean Admiral Yi Sun-sin routs the Japanese Navy of 300 ships with only 13 ships at the Battle of Myeongnyang.
Imjin War
1520
Charles V is crowned as Holy Roman Emperor.
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
1377
Tvrtko I is crowned the first king of Bosnia.
Tvrtko I of Bosnia
1341
The Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347 formally begins with the proclamation of John VI Kantakouzenos as Byzantine Emperor.
Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347
1185
The Uprising of Asen and Peter begins on the feast day of St. Demetrius of Thessaloniki and ends with the creation of the Second Bulgarian Empire.
Uprising of Asen and Peter