What happened on April 26? There are more than 256 events that were made this day in history. Here are the important historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

Interesting Facts & Myths About April 26

April 26 In HistoryApril 26 is the 117th day of the year 2024. There are 249 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Friday. This day falls under the 17th week of the year 2024.

On this day in Burke, South Dakota 57523 sunrise will occur at 06:34 AM and sunset will occur at 08:34 PM (local time).

The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Taurus. The modern birthstone for this month is Diamond while the mystical birthstone is Opal.

According to the Chinese calendar, there are 278 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (January 29, 2025).

Birthday curiousity Is your birthday coming up in two days? Are you not curious to find out who is sharing your special day? Discover all the March 31 famous birthdays. There are fun facts about that day that you must know. (Sponsored link)

Historical Events For April 26

  • 1336
    Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) ascends Mont Ventoux
  • 1478
    The Pazzi attack Lorenzo de' Medici and kill his brother Giuliano during High Mass in the Duomo of Florence.
  • 1607
    English colonists make landfall at Cape Henry, Virginia.
  • 1802
    Napoleon Bonaparte signs a general amnesty to allow all but about one thousand of the most notorious émigrés of the French Revolution to return to France, as part of a reconciliary gesture with the factions of the Ancien Regime and to eventually consolidate his own rule.
  • 1803
    Thousands of meteor fragments fall from the skies of L'Aigle, France; the event convinces European science that meteors exist.
  • 1805
    First Barbary War: United States Marines captured Derne under the command of First Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon.
  • 1865
    American Civil War: Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston surrenders his army to General William Tecumseh Sherman at the Bennett Place near Durham, North Carolina. Also the date of Confederate Memorial Day for most states.
  • 1865
    Union cavalry troopers corner and shoot dead John Wilkes Booth, assassin of President Lincoln, in Virginia.
  • 1923
    The Duke of York weds Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon at Westminster Abbey.
  • 1925
    Paul von Hindenburg defeats Wilhelm Marx in the second round of the German presidential election to become the first directly elected head of state of the Weimar Republic.
  • 1926
    Spanish tonadilla singer Raquel Meller appears on the cover of Time magazine.
  • 1928
    Los Angeles City Hall dedicated.
  • 1933
    The Gestapo, the official secret police force of Nazi Germany, is established.
  • 1937
    Spanish Civil War: Guernica (or Gernika in Basque), Spain is bombed by German Luftwaffe.
  • 1942
    Benxihu Colliery accident in Manchukuo leaves 1549 Chinese miners dead.
  • 1944
    Georgios Papandreou becomes head of the Greek government-in-exile based in Egypt.
  • 1945
    World War II: Battle of Bautzen – last successful German tank-offensive of the war and last noteworthy victory of the Wehrmacht.
  • 1945
    World War II: Filipino troops of the 66th Infantry Regiment, Philippine Commonwealth Army, USAFIP-NL and the American troops of the 33rd and 37th Infantry Division, United States Army was liberated in Baguio City and they fought against the Japanese forces under by General Tomoyuki Yamashita.
  • 1946
    Naperville train disaster kills 47.
  • 1954
    The Geneva Conference, an effort to restore peace in Indochina and Korea, begins.
  • 1956
    First container ship left Port Newark, New Jersey for Houston, Texas.
  • 1958
    Final run of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad’s Royal Blue from Washington, D.C., to New York City after 68 years, the first U.S. passenger train to use electric locomotives.
  • 1960
    Forced out by the April Revolution, President of South Korea Syngman Rhee resigns after twelve years of dictatorial rule.
  • 1962
    NASA’s Ranger 4 spacecraft crashes into the Moon.
  • 1963
    In Libya, amendments to the constitution transform Libya (United Kingdom of Libya) into one national unity (Kingdom of Libya) and allows for female participation in elections.
  • 1964
    Tanganyika and Zanzibar merge to form Tanzania.
  • 1965
    A Rolling Stones concert in London, Ontario is shut down by police after 15 minutes due to rioting.
  • 1966
    An earthquake of magnitude 7.5 destroys Tashkent.
  • 1966
    A new government is formed in the Republic of Congo, led by Ambroise Noumazalaye.
  • 1970
    The Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization enters into force.
  • 1981
    Dr. Michael R. Harrison of the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center performs the world’s first human open fetal surgery.
  • 1982
    57 people are killed by former police officer Woo Bum-kon in a shooting spree in Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea.
  • 1986
    A nuclear reactor accident occurs at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Soviet Union (now Ukraine), creating the world’s worst nuclear disaster.
  • 1989
    People’s Daily publishes the People’s Daily editorial of April 26 which inflames the nascent Tiananmen Square protests
  • 1989
    The deadliest tornado in world history strikes Central Bangladesh, killing upwards of 1,300, injuring 12,000, and leaving as many as 80,000 homeless.
  • 1991
    Seventy tornadoes break out in the central United States. Before the outbreak’s end, Andover, Kansas, would record the year’s only F5 tornado (see Andover, Kansas Tornado Outbreak).
  • 1994
    China Airlines flight 140 crashes at Nagoya Airport in Japan, killing 264 of the 271 people on board.
  • 2002
    Robert Steinhäuser infiltrates and kills 17 at Gutenberg-Gymnasium in Erfurt, Germany before dying of a self-inflicted gunshot.
  • 2005
    Under international pressure, Syria withdraws the last of its 14,000 troop military garrison in Lebanon, ending its 29-year military domination of that country ( Syrian occupation of Lebanon ).

Who Were Born On April 26?

  • 121
    Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor (d. 180)
  • 570
    Muhammed, founder of Islam, according to the Shi'a sect. Other sources suggest April 20. (d. 632)
  • 1538
    Gian Paolo Lomazzo, Italian painter (d. 1600)
  • 1573
    Marie de' Medici, wife of Henry IV of France (d. 1642)
  • 1648
    King Peter II of Portugal (d. 1706)
  • 1662
    Maria Luisa of Orleans, queen consort of Spain (d. 1689)
  • 1710
    Thomas Reid, British philosopher (d. 1796)
  • 1711
    David Hume,Scottish philosopher (d. 1776). The date is Old Style. He was born on 7th of May under Gregorian Calender.
  • 1718
    Esek Hopkins, Commander of the US Navy during the Revolutionary War (d. 1802)
  • 1774
    Christian Leopold von Buch, German geologist (d. 1853)
  • 1782
    Maria Amalia of the Two Sicilies, Queen Consort of the French (d. 1866)
  • 1785
    John James Audubon, French-American naturalist and illustrator (d. 1851)
  • 1787
    Ludwig Uhland, German poet (d. 1862)
  • 1798
    Eugène Delacroix, French painter (d. 1863)
  • 1801
    Ambrose Dudley Mann, American diplomat (d. 1889)
  • 1804
    Charles Goodyear, American politician (d. 1876)
  • 1812
    Alfred Krupp, German industrialist (d. 1887)
  • 1822
    Frederick Law Olmsted, American landscape architect (d. 1903)
  • 1826
    Ambrose R. Wright, American Civil War General (d. 1872)
  • 1826
    George Hull Ward, American general (d. 1863)
  • 1856
    Sir Joseph Ward, 17th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1930)
  • 1878
    Saint Rafael Guízar Valencia, Mexican Catholic bishop (d. 1938)
  • 1879
    Owen Willans Richardson, British physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1959)
  • 1886
    Gabdulla Tuqay, Tatar poet (d. 1913)
  • 1886
    Ma Rainey, American singer (d. 1939)
  • 1888
    Anita Loos, American writer (d. 1981)
  • 1889
    Ludwig Wittgenstein, Austrian-born philosopher (d. 1951)
  • 1894
    Rudolf Hess, Nazi official (d. 1987)
  • 1896
    Ernst Udet, WWI pilot and film actor, Luftwaffe officer (d. 1941)
  • 1897
    Douglas Sirk, German-born film director (d. 1987)
  • 1897
    Eddie Eagan, American sportsman (d. 1967)
  • 1898
    John Grierson, British filmmaker (d. 1972)
  • 1898
    Vicente Aleixandre, Spanish writer, Nobel laureate (d. 1984)
  • 1900
    Charles Richter, American geophysicist (d. 1985)
  • 1900
    Hack Wilson, American baseball player (d. 1948)
  • 1904
    Paul-Émile Léger, Canadian cardinal and archbishop (d. 1991)
  • 1910
    Tomoyuki Tanaka, Japanese movie producer and creator of Godzilla (d. 1997)
  • 1911
    Marianne Hoppe, German actress (d. 2002)
  • 1912
    A. E. van Vogt, Canadian writer (d. 2000)
  • 1914
    Bernard Malamud, American author (d. 1986)
  • 1914
    Charlie Chester, British comedian (d. 1997)
  • 1914
    James W. Rouse, American investor (d. 1996)
  • 1916
    George Tuska, American comic book illustrator (d. 2009)
  • 1916
    Morris West, Australian writer (d. 1999)
  • 1916
    Vic Perrin, American actor (d. 1989)
  • 1917
    I.M. Pei, Chinese-born architect
  • 1917
    Sal Maglie, American baseball player (d. 1992)
  • 1918
    Fanny Blankers-Koen, Dutch athlete (d. 2004)
  • 1918
    Stafford Repp, American actor (d. 1974)
  • 1922
    Jeanne Sauvé, Canadian politician (d. 1993)
  • 1924
    Browning Ross, American long-distance running Olympian (d. 1998)
  • 1925
    Jørgen Ingmann, Danish musician
  • 1926
    David Coleman, British TV sports broadcaster
  • 1926
    Michael Mathias Prechtl, German illustrator (d. 2003)
  • 1927
    Jack Douglas, British actor (d. 2008)
  • 1929
    Richard Mitchell, American author and professor (d. 2002)
  • 1930
    Roger Moens, Belgian athlete
  • 1932
    Francis Lai, French film music composer
  • 1932
    Israr Ahmed, Pakistani Muslim religious scholar (d. 2010)
  • 1932
    Michael Smith, British-born chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 2000)
  • 1933
    Arno Allan Penzias, German-born physicist, Nobel laureate
  • 1933
    Carol Burnett, American comedian
  • 1933
    Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, Puerto Rican activist (d. 2005)
  • 1938
    Duane Eddy, American musician
  • 1938
    Wolf Kahler, German actor
  • 1940
    Cliff Watson, British rugby league footballer
  • 1940
    Giorgio Moroder, Italian composer
  • 1941
    Claudine Clark, American R&B singer-composer
  • 1941
    John Mitchell, American composer
  • 1942
    Bobby Rydell, American singer
  • 1942
    Claudine Auger, French actress
  • 1942
    Jadwiga Staniszkis, Polish sociologist
  • 1942
    Michael Kergin, Canadian diplomat
  • 1943
    Gary Wright, American singer
  • 1943
    Peter Zumthor, Swiss architect
  • 1944
    Amien Rais, Indonesian politician
  • 1945
    Sylvain Simard, Canadian politician
  • 1947
    Warren Clarke, British actor
  • 1949
    Carlos Bianchi, Argentinian footballer
  • 1949
    Dominic Sena, American film director
  • 1949
    Jerry Blackwell, American wrestler (d. 1995)
  • 1952
    Spice Williams-Crosby, American actress and stunt performer
  • 1953
    Nancy Lenehan, American actress
  • 1954
    Alan Hinkes, British mountaineer
  • 1955
    Kurt Bodewig, German politician
  • 1955
    Mike Scott, American baseball player
  • 1956
    Koo Stark, American actress
  • 1958
    Georgios Kostikos, Greek footballer
  • 1958
    Giancarlo Esposito, American actor
  • 1958
    Jeffrey Guterman, American mental health counselor
  • 1958
    John Crichton-Stuart, 7th Marquess of Bute
  • 1959
    John Corabi, American musician
  • 1959
    Thanassis Papakonstantinou, Greek singer and songwriter
  • 1960
    Roger Taylor, British musician (Duran Duran)
  • 1960
    Steve Lombardozzi, American baseball player
  • 1961
    Anthony Cumia, American radio personality (The Opie and Anthony Show)
  • 1961
    Chris Mars, American rock drummer (The Replacements)
  • 1961
    Joan Chen, Chinese-born actress
  • 1962
    Colin Anderson, British footballer
  • 1962
    Debra Wilson, American actress and comedian
  • 1962
    Michael Damian, American actor, singer and producer
  • 1963
    Colin Scotts, Australian-born American football player
  • 1963
    Li Lianjie/Jet Li, Chinese martial artist and actor
  • 1965
    Kevin James, American comedian
  • 1966
    Yoshihiro Togashi, Manga artist who created YuYu Hakusho
  • 1967
    Glenn Jacobs, American professional wrestler
  • 1967
    Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Academy Award nominated British actress
  • 1969
    Teresa Lewis, American murderer (d. 2010)
  • 1970
    Melania Trump, Slovenian model
  • 1970
    Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, American singer (TLC)
  • 1971
    Jay DeMarcus, American bassist (Rascal Flatts)
  • 1971
    Shondrella Avery, American actress
  • 1972
    Avi Nimni, Israeli Footballer
  • 1972
    Jason Bargwanna, Australian racing driver
  • 1972
    Kiko Narváez, Spanish footballer
  • 1973
    Chris Perry, British footballer
  • 1974
    Adil Ray, British radio presenter (BBC Asian Network)
  • 1974
    Ivana Milicevic, Croatian-American actress
  • 1975
    Nathan “Joey” Jordison, American musician (Slipknot)
  • 1975
    Nerina Pallot, British singer
  • 1976
    Luigi Panarelli, Italian footballer
  • 1976
    Václav Varada, Czech ice hockey player
  • 1977
    Chris Johnston, Irish rugby player
  • 1977
    Jason Earles, American actor
  • 1977
    Kosuke Fukudome, Japanese baseball player
  • 1977
    Tom Welling, American actor
  • 1978
    Avant, American singer
  • 1978
    Joe Crede, American baseball player
  • 1978
    Peter Madsen, Danish footballer
  • 1978
    Stana Katic, Canadian actress
  • 1978
    Tyler Labine, Canadian actor
  • 1979
    Ariane Moffatt, Canadian singer and songwriter
  • 1979
    Janne Wirman, Finnish musician (Children of Bodom)
  • 1980
    Anna Mucha, Polish actress
  • 1980
    Channing Tatum, American actor
  • 1980
    Jordana Brewster, American actress
  • 1980
    Marlon King, Jamaican footballer
  • 1980
    Marnette Patterson, American actress
  • 1981
    Matthieu Delpierre, French footballer
  • 1981
    Ms. Dynamite, British musician
  • 1982
    Brock Gillespie, American basketball player
  • 1982
    Cooper Wallace, American football player
  • 1982
    Joanne Gobure, Nauruan poet
  • 1982
    Jon Lee, British singer (S Club)
  • 1983
    Jessica Lynch, American P.O.W.
  • 1983
    José María López, Argentine racing driver
  • 1985
    John Isner, American tennis player
  • 1985
    Nam Gyu-Ri, Korean singer (See Ya)
  • 1987
    Jarmila Gajdošová, Slovakian/Australian tennis player
  • 1987
    Jessica Lee Rose, American/New Zealand actress
  • 1988
    Kimber James, American pornographic actress
  • 1989
    Daesung, Korean singer (Big Bang)
  • 1991
    Ignacio Lores Varela, Uruguayan footballer
  • 1992
    Danielle Hope, English actress and singer

Who Died On April 26?

  • 1192
    Emperor Go-Shirakawa of Japan (b. 1127)
  • 1444
    Robert Campin, Flemish painter (b. 1378)
  • 1476
    Simonetta Vespucci, inspiration of Botticelli (b. 1453)
  • 1478
    Giuliano di Piero de' Medici, ruler of Florence (assassinated) (b. 1453)
  • 1489
    Ashikaga Yoshihisa, Japanese shogun (b. 1465)
  • 1716
    John Somers, 1st Baron Somers, Lord Chancellor of England (b. 1651)
  • 1784
    Nano Nagle, Irish convent founder (b. 1718)
  • 1789
    Count Petr Ivanovich Panin, Russian soldier (b. 1721)
  • 1852
    Charles Athanase Walckenaer, French naturalist (b. 25 December 1771)
  • 1865
    John Wilkes Booth, American assassin (b. 1838)
  • 1881
    Ludwig Freiherr von und zu der Tann-Rathsamhausen, German general (b. 1815)
  • 1892
    Sir Provo Wallis, British Admiral and naval hero (b. 1791)
  • 1910
    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Norwegian author, Nobel laureate (b. 1832)
  • 1915
    John Bunny, silent film comedian (b. 1863)
  • 1920
    Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician (b. 1887)
  • 1932
    William Lockwood, British cricketer (b. 1868)
  • 1936
    Tammany Young, American actor (b. 1886)
  • 1938
    Edmund Husserl, Austrian philosopher (b. 1859)
  • 1940
    Carl Bosch, German chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1874)
  • 1944
    Violette Morris, French athlete (b. 1893)
  • 1945
    Pavlo Skoropadsky, Ukrainian politician and general (b. 1871)
  • 1945
    Sigmund Rascher, Nazi doctor (b. 1909)
  • 1946
    Jim White, discoverer of Carlsbad Caverns (b. 1882)
  • 1950
    G. Murray Hulbert, American politician (b. 1881)
  • 1951
    Arnold Sommerfeld, German physicist (b. 1868)
  • 1956
    Edward Arnold, American actor (b. 1890)
  • 1957
    Gichin Funakoshi, Father of Japanese Shotokan Karatedo (b. 1868)
  • 1964
    E. J. Pratt, Canadian poet born Newfoundland (b. 1882)
  • 1968
    John Heartfield, German artist (b. 1891)
  • 1969
    Morihei Ueshiba, Japanese martial artist and founder of aikido (b. 1883)
  • 1970
    Erik Bergman, Lutheran pastor (b. 1886)
  • 1970
    Gypsy Rose Lee, American actress (b. 1911)
  • 1972
    Fernando Amorsolo, Filipino painter (b. 1892)
  • 1973
    Irene Ryan, American actress (b. 1902)
  • 1976
    Sid James, South African–born British comedian (b. 1913)
  • 1980
    Cicely Courtneidge, British actress and comedian (b. 1893)
  • 1981
    Jim Davis, American actor (b. 1909)
  • 1984
    William “Count” Basie, American musician and composer (b. 1904)
  • 1986
    Bessie Love, American actress (b. 1898)
  • 1986
    Broderick Crawford, American actor (b. 1911)
  • 1986
    Dechko Uzunov, Bulgarian painter (b. 1899)
  • 1987
    John Ernest Silkin, British politician (b. 1923)
  • 1987
    Shankar, Of Noted Bollywood Music Director Duo Shankar-Jaikishan (b. 1922)
  • 1989
    Lucille Ball, American actress and comedian (b. 1911)
  • 1991
    Carmine Coppola, American composer and conductor, father of Francis Ford Coppola(b. 1910)
  • 1991
    Emily McLaughlin, American actress (b. 1928)
  • 1991
    Leo Arnaud, French-American composer (b. 1904)
  • 1991
    Richard Hatfield, Canadian politician (b. 1931)
  • 1994
    Masutatsu Oyama, Founder of Japanese Kyokushin Karate (b. 1927)
  • 1996
    Stirling Silliphant, American writer and producer (b. 1918)
  • 1999
    Adrian Borland, British musician (The Sound) (b. 1957)
  • 1999
    Jill Dando, British television presenter (b. 1961)
  • 2002
    Robert Steinhäuser German spree killer (b. 1983)
  • 2003
    Max Nicholson, Irish environmentalist (b. 1904)
  • 2003
    Peter Stone, American writer (b. 1930)
  • 2003
    Rosemary Brown, Canadian politician (b. 1930)
  • 2004
    Hubert Selby Jr., American author (b. 1928)
  • 2005
    Augusto Roa Bastos, Paraguayan author (b. 1917)
  • 2005
    Maria Schell, Swiss-Austrian actress (b. 1926)
  • 2005
    Mason Adams, American actor (b. 1919)
  • 2007
    Jack Valenti, American political advisor and film executive (b. 1921)
  • 2009
    Hans Holzer, American paranormal researcher (b. 1920)
  • 2010
    Urs Felber, Swiss industrialist (b. 1942)

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