On This Day — 26 September

2000s

2024

Hurricane Helene makes landfall in Perry, Florida as a Category 4 hurricane, killing over 250 people, causing US$78.7 billion in damage and becoming the deadliest hurricane in the mainland United States since Katrina.

Hurricane Helene

2022

A mass shooting occurs at a school in Izhevsk, Udmurtia, Russia, resulting in the deaths of 18 people, including 11 children.

Izhevsk school shooting

2014

A mass kidnapping of 43 students from a teaching college occurs in Iguala, Mexico.

Iguala mass kidnapping

2010

The Philippine Bar exam bombing occurs near the De La Salle University in Taft Avenue, Manila injuring 47 people.

2010 Philippine Bar exam bombing

2009

Typhoon Ketsana hits the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand, causing 700 fatalities.

Typhoon Ketsana

2002

The overcrowded Senegalese ferry, MV Le Joola, capsizes off the coast of the Gambia killing more than 1,000.

MV Le Joola

2000

Anti-globalization protests in Prague (some 20,000 protesters) turn violent during the IMF and World Bank summits.

2000 Prague anti-globalization protests

2000

The MS Express Samina sinks off Paros in the Aegean Sea killing 80 passengers.

MS Express Samina

1900s

1997

A Garuda Indonesia Airbus A300 crashes near Medan airport, killing 234.

Garuda Indonesia

1997

An earthquake strikes the Italian regions of Umbria and the Marche, causing part of the Basilica of St. Francis at Assisi to collapse.

1997 Umbria and Marche earthquakes

1994

A Yakovlev Yak-40 crashes into a river near Vanavara, Russia, killing 24.

Yakovlev Yak-40

1992

A Nigerian Air Force Lockheed C-130 Hercules crashes in Ejigbo, Lagos, killing 159.

Nigerian Air Force

1984

The United Kingdom and China agree to a transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong, to take place in 1997.

Handover of Hong Kong

1983

Soviet Air Force officer Stanislav Petrov identifies a report of an incoming nuclear missile as a computer error and not an American first strike, thus preventing nuclear war.

Stanislav Petrov

1983

Soyuz 7K-ST No. 16L, intended to launch a crew to the Salyut 7 space station, explodes on the launch pad. The launch escape system is activated before the Soyuz-U rocket explodes, saving the crew.

Soyuz 7K-ST No.16L

1980

A terrorist bombing at the Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany, kills 13 people and injures 213 others.

Oktoberfest bombing

1978

Air Caribbean Flight 309 crashes in Residencial Las Casas in San Juan, Puerto Rico, killing six.

Air Caribbean Flight 309

1960

In Chicago, the first televised debate takes place between presidential candidates Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy.

United States presidential debates

1959

Typhoon Vera, the strongest typhoon to hit Japan in recorded history, makes landfall, killing 4,580 people and leaving nearly 1.6 million others homeless.

Typhoon Vera

1954

The Japanese rail ferry Tōya Maru sinks during a typhoon in the Tsugaru Strait, Japan, killing 1,172.

Tōya Maru

1953

Rationing of sugar in the United Kingdom ends.

Rationing in the United Kingdom

1950

Korean War: United Nations troops recapture Seoul from North Korean forces.

Korean War

1942

Holocaust: Senior SS official August Frank issues a memorandum detailing how Jews should be "evacuated".

The Holocaust

1936

Spanish Civil War: Lluis Companys reshuffles the Generalitat de Catalunya, with the marxist POUM and anarcho-syndicalist CNT joining the government.

Spanish Civil War

1933

As gangster Machine Gun Kelly surrenders to the FBI, he shouts out, "Don't shoot, G-Men!", which becomes a nickname for FBI agents.

Machine Gun Kelly (gangster)

1923

The German government calls off the passive resistance to the French and Belgian occupation of the Ruhr.

Occupation of the Ruhr

1919

Ukrainian War of Independence: The Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine defeats the White Russian Volunteer Army at the Battle of Peregonovka.

Ukrainian War of Independence

1918

World War I: The Meuse-Argonne Offensive began which would last until the total surrender of German forces.

Meuse–Argonne offensive

1917

World War I: The Battle of Polygon Wood begins.

World War I

1914

The United States Federal Trade Commission is established by the Federal Trade Commission Act.

Federal Trade Commission

📅

1907

Four months after the 1907 Imperial Conference, New Zealand and Newfoundland are promoted from colonies to dominions within the British Empire.

1907 Imperial Conference

1905

Albert Einstein publishes the third of his Annus Mirabilis papers, introducing the special theory of relativity.

Albert Einstein

1800s

1810

A new Act of Succession is adopted by the Riksdag of the Estates, and Jean Baptiste Bernadotte becomes heir to the Swedish throne.

Swedish Act of Succession

Before 1800

1799

War of the 2nd Coalition: French troops defeat Austro-Russian forces, leading to the collapse of Suvorov's campaign.

War of the Second Coalition

1789

George Washington appoints Thomas Jefferson the first United States Secretary of State.

George Washington

1777

American Revolutionary War: British troops capture and begin the occupation of Philadelphia, which had been serving as the American capital city, during the Philadelphia campaign.

American Revolutionary War

1688

The city council of Amsterdam votes to support William of Orange's invasion of England, which became the Glorious Revolution.

Glorious Revolution

1687

Morean War: The Parthenon in Athens, used as a gunpowder depot by the Ottoman garrison, is partially destroyed after being bombarded during the Siege of the Acropolis by Venetian forces.

Morean War