26 August 2024 (MIA)

1071 – Battle of Manzikert: The Seljuq Turks defeat the Byzantine army at Manzikert.

1278 – Ladislaus IV of Hungary and Rudolf I of Germany defeat Ottokar II of Bohemia in the Battle on the Marchfeld near Dürnkrut in (then) Moravia.

1303 – Alauddin Khilji captures Chittorgarh.

1346 – Hundred Years’ War: The military supremacy of the English longbow over the French combination of crossbow and armored knights is established at the Battle of Crecy.

1444 – Battle of St. Jakob an der Birs: A vastly outnumbered force of Swiss Confederates is defeated by the Dauphin Louis (future Louis XI of France) and his army of ‘Armagnacs’ near Basel.

1466 – A conspiracy against Piero di Cosimo de’ Medici in Florence, led by Luca Pitti, is discovered.

1498 – Michelangelo is commissioned to carve the Pietà.

1748 – The first Lutheran denomination in North America, the Pennsylvania Ministerium, is founded in Philadelphia.

1768 – Captain James Cook sets sail from England on board HMS Endeavour.

1778 – The first recorded ascent of Triglav, the highest mountain in Slovenia.

1789 – The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen is approved by the National Constituent Assembly of France.

1791 – John Fitch is granted a United States patent for the steamboat.

1810 – The former viceroy Santiago de Liniers of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata is executed after the defeat of his counter-revolution.

1813 – War of the Sixth Coalition: An impromptu battle takes place when French and Prussian-Russian forces accidentally run into each other near Liegnitz, Prussia (now Legnica, Poland).

1814 – Chilean War of Independence: Infighting between the rebel forces of José Miguel Carrera and Bernardo O’Higgins erupts in the Battle of Las Tres Acequias.

1821 – The University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, is officially opened.

1883 – The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa begins its final, paroxysmal, stage.

1910 – Mother Teresa born as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Skopje, Macedonia, on Aug. 26. Mother Teresa was the founder of the Order of the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic congregation of women dedicated to helping the poor. Considered one of the 20th Century’s greatest humanitarians, she was canonized as Saint Teresa of Calcutta in 2016.

1914 – World War I: The German colony of Togoland surrenders to French and British forces after a 20-day campaign.

1914 – In Brazil, Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras is founded.

1914 – World War I: During the retreat from Mons, the British II Corps commanded by General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien fought a vigorous and successful defensive action at Le Cateau.

1920 – The 19th amendment to United States Constitution takes effect, giving women the right to vote.

1922 – Greco-Turkish War (1919-22): Turkish army launched what has come to be known to the Turks as the “Great Offensive” (Büyük Taarruz). The major Greek defense positions were overrun.

1940 – Chad becomes the first French colony to join the Allies under the administration of Félix Éboué, France’s first black colonial governor.

1942 – The Holocaust in Chortkiav, western Ukraine: At 2.30 am the German Schutzpolizei starts driving Jews out of their houses, divides them into groups of 120, packs them in freight cars and deports 2000 to Bełżec extermination camp. Five hundred of the sick and children are murdered on the spot.

1944 – World War II: Charles de Gaulle enters Paris.

1945 – Refugees from Aegean Macedonia protest against the terror and exile of the Macedonians by the Greek authorities in Bitola.

1966 – The Namibian War of Independence starts with the battle at Omugulugwombashe.

1970 – The then-new feminist movement, led by Betty Friedan, leads a nationwide Women’s Strike for Equality.

1977 – The Charter of the French Language is adopted by the National Assembly of Quebec.

1978 – Papal conclave: Albino Luciani is elected as Pope John Paul I.

1980 – John Birges plants a bomb at Harvey’s Resort Hotel in Stateline, Nevada, United States, FBI inadvertently detonated the bomb during disarming

1997 – Beni Ali massacre in Algeria where 60 to 100 people were killed.

1999 – Russia begins the Second Chechen War in response to the Invasion of Dagestan by the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade.

2011 – The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Boeing’s all-new composite airliner, receives certification from the EASA and the FAA.

2013 – Nationwide protests are held across the Philippines over the Priority Development Assistance Fund scam.

2015 – Two U.S. journalists are shot and killed by a disgruntled former coworker while conducting a live report in Moneta, Virginia.