On this day: 26 January
Events, births and deaths on 26 January. Every date is checked against Wikidata.
Years ago today
1 year ago2025
Nothing recorded for that year.
10 years ago2016
- Deaths · Abe Vigoda
- Deaths · Sahabzada Yaqub Khan
100 years ago1926
- Births · Farman Fatehpuri
1000 years ago1026
Nothing recorded for that year.
Events · 27
- 661(Julian date)assassination of Ali — Fourth Rashidun and first Shia Imam caliph was assassinated by a Kharijite called Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Amr ibn Muljam al-Muradi on 26 January 661, at the Great Mosque of Kufah in present-day Iraq
- 1531(Julian date)1531 Lisbon earthquake — Earthquake which occurred in Portugal on 26 January 1531
- 1564(Julian date)Battle of Ula — 1564 battle of the Livonian War
- 1641Battle of Montjuïc — 1641 battle in the Reapers' War
- 1699treaty of Karlowitz — peace treaty
- 17001700 Cascadia earthquake — January 1700 megathrust earthquake affecting the North American Pacific North West coast
- 1788Sydney — capital city of New South Wales, Australia
- 1808Rum Rebellion — rebellion in British penal colony of New South Wales (1808)
- 1837Michigan — state of the United States of America
- 1841Hong Kong — city and special administrative region of China
- 1841British Hong Kong — British colony and dependent territory from 1841 to 1997
- 1871Rugby Football Union — rugby union governing body of England, Guernsey and the Isle of Man
- 1934German–Polish declaration of non-aggression — 1934 peace treaty
- 19471947 KLM Douglas DC-3 crash — aviation accident
- 1950President of India — Head of state of India
- 1950Constitution of India — Supreme law of India (1950-present)
- 1952Cairo Fire — riots in Cairo, Egypt in 1952
- 19561956 Winter Olympics — 7th edition of Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy
- 1966Beaumont children disappearance — Disappearance of three children in 1966
- 1972JAT Flight 367 — 1972 airliner bombing
- 1974Turkish Airlines Flight 301 — aviation accident in Turkey
- 1983Lotus 1-2-3 — software
- 20012001 Gujarat earthquake — earthquake in India
- 2001
- 20092009 Malagasy political crisis — 2009 political crisis in Madagascar
- 20152015 Hellenic Air Force F-16 Los Llanos Air Base crash — 2015 aerial accident in Spain
- 20202020 Calabasas helicopter crash — January 2020 helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, USA
Births · 60
- 1497(Julian date)Go-Nara — emperor of Japan
- 1715Claude Adrien Helvétius — French philosopher; (1715-1771)
- 1763Charles XIV John of Sweden — King of Sweden and Norway between 1818–1844. Prince of Ponte Corvo 1806–1810 and French field marshal (1763–1844)
- 1781Ludwig Achim von Arnim — German poet and novelist
- 1842François Coppée — French poet and novelist (1842–1908)
- 1852Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza — Italian explorer
- 1877Kees van Dongen — Dutch painter (1877-1968)
- 1880Douglas MacArthur — United States Army general in WWI, WWII and Korea (1880–1964)
- 1884Roy Chapman Andrews — American explorer, naturalist, and writer (1884–1960)
- 1891Frank Costello — Italian-American mobster (1891–1973)
- 1892Bessie Coleman — American aviator (1892–1926)
- 1904Seán MacBride — Irish politician and human rights activist (1904-1988)
- 1908Stéphane Grappelli — French jazz violinist (1908–1997)
- 1911Polykarp Kusch — German-American physicist (1911-1993)
- 1918Nicolae Ceaușescu — dictator of Romania from 1965 to 1989
- 1918Philip José Farmer — American writer (1918–2009)
- 1919Valentino Mazzola — Italian footballer (1919–1949)
- 1921Akio Morita — Japanese businessman (1921-1999)
- 1924Alice Babs — Swedish singer and actor (1924-2014)
- 1925Paul Newman — American actor (1925–2008)
- 1925Joan Leslie — American actress (1925-2015)
- 1928Roger Vadim — French filmmaker (1928–2000)
- 1935Paula Rego — Portuguese-British visual artist (1935-2022)
- 1944Angela Davis — American political activist, scholar, and author (born 1944)
- 1945Jacqueline du Pré — British cellist (1945–1987)
Deaths · 60
- 1390(Julian date)Adolph IX, Count of Holstein-Kiel — Count of Holstein-Kiel and Holstein-Plön
- 1620Amar Singh I — Maharana of Mewar from 1597 to 1620
- 1630Henry Briggs — British mathematician
- 1697Georg Mohr — Danish mathematician
- 1744Ludwig Andreas von Khevenhüller — Austrian marshall and warrior
- 1750Albert Schultens — Dutch philologist (1686-1750)
- 1795Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach — German musician and composer (1732–1795)
- 1823Edward Jenner — English physician, scientist and pioneer of vaccination (1749–1823)
- 1824Théodore Géricault — French painter (1791–1824)
- 1849Thomas Lovell Beddoes — English poet, dramatist and physician (1803–1849)
- 1855
- 1860Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient — German opera soprano (1804–1860)
- 1873Amélie of Leuchtenberg — Empress consort of Brasil (1812–1873)
- 1885Charles George Gordon — British army officer and administrator
- 1886David Rice Atchison — United States Senator from Missouri (1807–1886)
- 1891Nicolaus Otto — German inventor (1832–1891)
- 1893Abner Doubleday — Union Army general
- 1895Arthur Cayley — English mathematician (1821-1895)
- 1920Jeanne Hébuterne — French painter (1898–1920)
- 1932William Wrigley — American businessman (1861-1932)
- 1942Felix Hausdorff — German mathematician (*1868 – †1942)
- 1943Nikolai Vavilov — Russian (Soviet) agronomist, botanist and geneticist (1887-1943)
- 1946Adriaan van Maanen — Dutch astronomer (1884–1946)
- 1947Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten — Swedish prince, heir apparent until his death (1906–1947); father of Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
- 1947Grace Moore — American operatic soprano and actress in musical theatre and film (1898-1947)
Dates verified against Wikidata (CC0). Titles and descriptions come from Wikidata.