What happened on January 26? There are more than 284 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 January 26
January 26 is the 26th day of the year 2024. There are 340 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Friday. This day falls under the 4th week of the year 2024.
On this day in Montgomery, West Virginia 25136 sunrise occured at 07:33 AM and sunset occured at 05:42 PM (local time).
The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Aquarius. The modern birthstone for this month is Garnet while the mystical birthstone is Emerald.
According to the Chinese calendar, there are 15 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (February 10, 2024).
Are you looking for a day of the week calculator? Try it on any date like anniversaries, birthday of someone you know, or any other date that is special to you. You can even try it on historical dates. For example: November 23
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Historical Events For January 26
- 1500Vicente Yáñez Pinzón becomes the first European to set foot on Brazil.
- 1531Lisbon, Portugal is hit by an earthquake--thousands die.
- 1564The Council of Trent issues its conclusions in the Tridentinum, establishing a distinction between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.
- 1564The Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Tsardom of Russia in the Battle of Ula during the Livonian War.
- 1565Battle of Talikota, fought between the Vijayanagara Empire and the Islamic sultanates of the Deccan, leads to the subjugation, and eventual destruction of the last Hindu kingdom in India, and the consolidation of Islamic rule over much of the Indian subcontinent.
- 1589Job is elected as Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.
- 1699Treaty of Carlowitz is signed.
- 1700The magnitude 9 Cascadia Earthquake takes place off the west coast of the North America, as evidenced by Japanese records.
- 1736Stanislaus I of Poland abdicates his throne.
- 1788The British First Fleet, led by Arthur Phillip, sails into Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) to establish Sydney, the first permanent European settlement on the continent. Commemorated as Australia Day
- 1808Rum Rebellion, the only successful (albeit short-lived) armed takeover of the government in Australia.
- 1837Michigan is admitted as the 26th U.S. state.
- 1838Tennessee enacts the first prohibition law in the United States
- 1841The United Kingdom formally occupies Hong Kong, which China later formally cedes.
- 1855Point No Point Treaty is signed in Washington Territory.
- 1856First Battle of Seattle. Marines from the USS Decatur drive off American Indian attackers after all day battle with settlers.
- 1861American Civil War: The state of Louisiana secedes from the Union.
- 1863American Civil War: General Ambrose Burnside is relieved of command of the Army of the Potomac after the disastrous Fredericksburg campaign. He is replaced by Joseph Hooker.
- 1863American Civil War: Governor of Massachusetts John Albion Andrew receives permission from Secretary of War to raise a militia organization for men of African descent.
- 1870American Civil War: Virginia rejoins the Union.
- 1885Troops loyal to The Mahdi conquer Khartoum.
- 1905The world’s largest diamond ever, the Cullinan weighing 3106.75 carat, is found at the Premier Mine near Pretoria in South Africa.
- 1907The Short Magazine Lee-Enfield Mk III is officially introduced into British Military Service, and remains the second oldest military rifle still in official use.
- 1911Glenn H. Curtiss flies the first successful American seaplane.
- 1911Richard Strauss’ opera Der Rosenkavalier receives its debut performance at the Dresden State Opera.
- 1918Finnish Civil War: A group of Red Guards hangs a red lantern atop the tower of Helsinki Workers’ Hall to symbolically mark the start of the war.
- 1920Former Ford Motor Company executive Henry Leland launches the Lincoln Motor Company which he later sold to his former employer.
- 1924Saint Petersburg, Russia, is renamed Leningrad.
- 1930The Indian National Congress declares 26 January as Independence Day or as the day for Poorna Swaraj (Complete Independence) which occurred 20 years later.
- 1934German-Polish Non-Aggression Pact is signed.
- 1934The Apollo Theater reopens in Harlem, New York City.
- 1939Spanish Civil War: Troops loyal to nationalist General Francisco Franco and aided by Italy take Barcelona.
- 1942World War II: The first United States forces arrive in Europe landing in Northern Ireland.
- 1945World War II: The Red Army begins encircling the German Fourth Army near Heiligenbeil in East Prussia, which will end in destruction of the 4th Army two months later.
- 1949The Hale telescope at Palomar Observatory sees first light under the direction of Edwin Hubble, becoming the largest aperture optical telescope (until BTA-6 is built in 1976).
- 1950The Constitution of India comes into force, forming a republic. Rajendra Prasad is sworn in as its first President of India. Observed as Republic Day in India.
- 1952Black Saturday in Egypt: rioters burn Cairo’s central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses.
- 1958Japanese ferry Nankai Maru capsizes off southern Awaji Island, Japan, 167 killed.
- 1960Danny Heater sets a worldwide high school basketball scoring record when he records 135 points for Burnsville High School (West Virginia)
- 1961John F. Kennedy appoints Janet G. Travell to be his physician. This is the first time a woman holds this appointment.
- 1962Ranger program: Ranger 3 is launched to study the moon. The space probe later misses the moon by 22,000 miles (35,400 km).
- 1965Hindi becomes the official language of India.
- 1966The Beaumont Children go missing from Glenelg Beach near Adelaide, South Australia.
- 1978The Great Blizzard of 1978, a rare severe blizzard with the lowest non-tropical atmospheric pressure ever recorded in the US, strikes the Ohio – Great Lakes region with heavy snow and winds up to 100 mph (161 km/h).
- 1980Israel and Egypt establish diplomatic relations.
- 1991Mohamed Siad Barre is removed from power in Somalia, ending centralized government, and is succeeded by Ali Mahdi.
- 1992Boris Yeltsin announces that Russia will stop targeting United States cities with nuclear weapons.
- 1998Lewinsky scandal: On American television, U.S. President Bill Clinton denies having had “sexual relations” with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
- 2001An earthquake hits Gujarat, India, causing more than 20,000 deaths.
- 2004A whale explodes in the town of Tainan, Taiwan. A build-up of gas in the decomposing sperm whale is suspected of causing the explosion.
- 2004President Hamid Karzai signs the new constitution of Afghanistan.
- 2005Glendale train crash: Two trains derail killing 11 and injuring 200 in Glendale, California, near Los Angeles.
- 2009New Year’s Day in Chinese calendar. Start of the year of the Earth Ox in Chinese astrology.
- 2009Rioting breaks out in Antananarivo, Madagascar, sparking a political crisis that will result in the replacement of President Marc Ravalomanana with Andry Rajoelina.
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Who Were Born On January 26?
- 1497Emperor Go-Nara of Japan (d. 1557)
- 1541Florent Chrestien, French writer (d. 1596)
- 1714Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, French sculptor (d. 1785)
- 1716George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville, British soldier and politician (d. 1785)
- 1722Alexander Carlyle, Scottish church leader (d. 1805)
- 1763Charles XIV John of Sweden, Napoleonic general (d. 1844)
- 1781Ludwig Achim von Arnim, German poet (d. 1831)
- 1813Juan Pablo Duarte, Dominican founding father (d. 1876)
- 1826Julia Dent-Grant, First Lady of the United States (d. 1902)
- 1832George Shiras Jr., U.S. Supreme Court justice (d. 1924)
- 1842François Coppée, French poet and novelist (d. 1908)
- 1852Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza (Pietro Paolo Savorgnan di Brazzà), explorer (d. 1905)
- 1864József Pusztai, Slovene writer, poet and journalist in Hungary (d. 1934)
- 1878Dave Nourse, South African cricketer (d. 1948)
- 1880Douglas MacArthur, American general and Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1964)
- 1885Michael Considine, Australian politician (d. 1959)
- 1887François Faber, Luxembourgian cyclist (d. 1915)
- 1887Marc Mitscher, American admiral (d. 1947)
- 1891August Froehlich, German Roman Catholic priest, member of the resistance against Nazism and martyr (d.1942)
- 1891Frank Costello, Italian-born American gangster (d. 1973)
- 1891Wilder Penfield, American-born Canadian neurosurgeon (d. 1976)
- 1892Bessie Coleman, American pioneer aviator (d. 1926)
- 1892Zara Cully, American actress (d. 1978)
- 1893Giuseppe Genco Russo, Sicilian mafioso (d. 1976)
- 1900Karl Ristenpart, German conductor (d. 1967)
- 1902Menno ter Braak, Dutch author and polemicist (d. 1940)
- 1904Ancel Keys, American scientist (d. 2004)
- 1904Seán MacBride, Irish statesman, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1988)
- 1905Charles Lane, American actor (d. 2007)
- 1905Maria von Trapp, Austrian-born singer (d. 1987)
- 1908Jill Esmond, English actress (d. 1990)
- 1908Rupprecht Geiger, German painter (d. 2009)
- 1908Stéphane Grappelli, French jazz violinist (d. 1997)
- 1910Jean Image, Hungarian-born French animator (d. 1989)
- 1911Norbert Schultze, German composer and songwriter (d. 2002)
- 1911Polykarp Kusch, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1993)
- 1913Jimmy Van Heusen, American songwriter (d. 1990)
- 1914Princess Hadice Hayriye Ayshe Dürrühsehvar (d. 2006)
- 1915William Hopper, American actor (d. 1970)
- 1918Nicolae Ceauşescu, Romanian dictator (d. 1989)
- 1918Philip José Farmer, American writer (d. 2009)
- 1919Bill Nicholson, English footballer and manager for Tottenham Hotspur. (d. 2004)
- 1919Valentino Mazzola, Italian footballer (d. 1949)
- 1920Hans Holzer, American paranormal researcher (d. 2009)
- 1921Akio Morita, Japanese businessman (d. 1999)
- 1921Eddie Barclay, French producer (Barclay Records) (d. 2005)
- 1922Michael Bentine, British comedian (d. 1996)
- 1922Seán Flanagan, Irish Gaelic footballer and politician (d. 1993)
- 1923Anne Jeffreys, American actress
- 1924Alice Babs, Swedish singer
- 1924Annette Strauss, American philanthropist and politician (d. 1998)
- 1924Rauf Denktaş, Cypriot politician
- 1925Claude Ryan, Canadian newspaper editor (d. 2004)
- 1925Joan Leslie, American actress
- 1925Paul Newman, American actor, philanthropist, race car driver and race team owner (d. 2008)
- 1926Farman Fatehpuri, Pakistani scholar
- 1927Bob Nieman, American baseball player (d. 1985)
- 1927José Azcona del Hoyo, President of Honduras (d. 2005)
- 1928Roger Vadim, French film director and actor (d. 2000)
- 1929Gordon Solie, American wrestling commentator (d. 2000)
- 1929Jules Feiffer, American cartoonist and writer
- 1930Napoleón Abueva, Filipino sculptor
- 1931Mary Murphy, American film actress
- 1932Coxsone Dodd, Jamaican record producer
- 1932George Clements, American civil rights activist and Roman Catholic priest
- 1933Ercole Baldini, Italian cyclist
- 1934Roger Landry, Canadian businessman and newspaper publisher
- 1935Bob Uecker, American baseball player and broadcaster
- 1935Corrado Augias, Italian journalist, writer and TV personality
- 1936Sal Buscema, American comic book artist
- 1937Joseph Saidu Momoh, Sierra Leone political leader (d. 2003)
- 1941Henry Jaglom, English director
- 1941Scott Glenn, American actor
- 1942Souad Hosni, Egyptian actress (d. 2001)
- 1943Austin “Jack” Warner, Trinidadian FIFA Vice-President and CONCACAF President
- 1943César Gutiérrez, Venezuelan baseball player (d. 2005)
- 1943Jean Knight, American singer
- 1944Angela Davis, American feminist and activist
- 1945Jacqueline du Pré, English cellist (d. 1987)
- 1946Gene Siskel, American film critic (d. 1999)
- 1947Michel Sardou, French singer
- 1947Patrick Dewaere, French actor (d. 1982)
- 1949David Strathairn, American actor
- 1949Jonathan Carroll, American author
- 1950Jörg Haider, Austrian far-right politician (d. 2008)
- 1950Janet Lupo, American model
- 1951Walt Willey, American actor
- 1953Alik L. Alik, vice-president of the Federate States of Micronesie
- 1953Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Secretary General of NATO
- 1953Lucinda Williams, American singer
- 1954Kim Hughes, Australian cricketer
- 1955Eddie Van Halen, Dutch-American musician (Van Halen)
- 1958Anita Baker, American singer
- 1958Ellen DeGeneres, American actress and comedian
- 1958Salvador Sánchez, Mexican boxer
- 1960Charlie Gillingham, American musician (Counting Crows)
- 1960Road Warrior Animal, American professional wrestler
- 1961Li Cunxin, Chinese-Australian ballet dancer
- 1961Tom Keifer, American musician (Cinderella)
- 1961Wayne Gretzky, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1962Oscar Ruggeri, Argentine footballer
- 1963Andrew Ridgeley, English musician
- 1963Gisela Valcarcel, Peruvian Hostess
- 1963José Mourinho, Portuguese football manager
- 1963Riddell Akua, Nauruan politician
- 1964Paul Johansson, American actor
- 1964Peter Braunstein, American journalist, writer, playwright, and rapist
- 1965Natalia Yurchenko, Soviet gymnast
- 1965Thomas Östros, Swedish politician
- 1967Pradip Somasundaran, Indian playback singer
- 1968Ravi Teja, Tollywood film actor
- 1969Michael O'Hearn, American bodybuilder
- 1970Kirk Franklin, American gospel singer
- 1970Tracy Middendorf, American actress
- 1971Bryan Callen, American actor
- 1971Dorian Gregory, American actor
- 1973Mayu Shinjo, Japanese manga artist
- 1973Melvil Poupaud, French actor
- 1974Shannon Hale, American author
- 1975Frankie Rayder, American model
- 1976Hitomi, Japanese singer and songwriter
- 1976Willie Adler, American guitar player
- 1977Justin Gimelstob, American tennis player
- 1977Tye Tribbett, American Singer
- 1977Vince Carter, American basketball player
- 1978Corina Morariu, American tennis player
- 1978Estéban Germán, Dominican baseball player
- 1978Kelly Stables, American actress
- 1979Sara Rue, American actress
- 1980Brian Fallon, American musician (The Gaslight Anthem)
- 1980Sanae Kobayashi, Japanese voice actress
- 1981Gustavo Dudamel, Venezuelan Composer/Conductor
- 1981Juan Jose Haedo, Argentinian Cyclist
- 1982Brahim Takioullah, Moroccan Guiness World Records holder for the “World’s largest feet”
- 1982Reggie Hodges, American football player
- 1983Petri Oravainen, Finnish footballer
- 1983Su Hwan Lee, South Korean footballer
- 1984Iain Turner, Scottish footballer
- 1984Layla Kayleigh, British television personality
- 1984Luo Xuejuan, Chinese swimmer
- 1984Wu Qian, Chinese classical pianist
- 1986Gerald Green, American basketball player
- 1986Hero, South Korean singer (TVXQ)
- 1986Matt Heafy, American musician (Trivium)
- 1986Shantelle Malawski, Canadian professional wrestler
- 1986Thiago Pereira, Brazilian swimmer
- 1987Marlon Mario Brandao da Silveira, Brazilian footballer
- 1987Mia Rose, English/Portuguese singer
- 1987Vladimir Garin, Russian actor (d. 2003)
- 1988Yukiyo Mine, Japanese footballer
- 1989Emily Hughes, American figure skater
- 1989Marshon Brooks, American basketball player
- 1990Christopher Massey, American actor
- 1990Sergio Pérez, Mexican racing driver
- 1993Cameron Bright, Canadian actor
- 1993Peter Čerešňák, Slovak ice hockey player
- 1996Tyger Drew-Honey, British actor
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Who Died On January 26?
- 946Eadgyth, German Queen (b. 910)
- 1567Nicholas Wotton, English diplomat
- 1630Henry Briggs, English mathematician (b. 1556)
- 1636Jean Hotman, Marquis de Villers-St-Paul, French diplomat (b. 1552)
- 1697Georg Mohr, Danish mathematician (b. 1640)
- 1744Ludwig Andreas Graf Khevenhüller, Austrian field marshal (b. 1683)
- 1750Albert Schultens, Dutch philologist (b. 1686)
- 1795Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach, German composer (b. 1732)
- 1799Gabriel Christie, British general (b. 1722)
- 1823Edward Jenner, English physician (b. 1749)
- 1824Théodore Géricault, French painter (b. 1791)
- 1831Sangolli Rayanna, freedom fighter from Karnataka, India (b. 1798)
- 1855Gérard de Nerval, French writer (b. 1808)
- 1869Duncan Gordon Boyes, English recipient of the Victoria Cross (b. 1846)
- 1870Victor de Broglie, French statesman and diplomat (b. 1785)
- 1885Charles George ‘Chinese’Gordon, British general (b. 1833)
- 1885Edward Davy, English inventor (b. 1806)
- 1886David Rice Atchison, American politician (b. 1807)
- 1891Nikolaus August Otto, German inventor (b. 1833)
- 1893Abner Doubleday, American military figure, and credited inventor of baseball (b. 1819)
- 1904Whitaker Wright, English mining tycoon (b. 1846)
- 1926John Flannagan, American educator
- 1932William Wrigley Jr., American industrialist (b. 1861)
- 1933Alva Belmont, American socialite (b. 1853)
- 1942Felix Hausdorff, German mathematician (b. 1868)
- 1943Harry H. Laughlin, American eugenicist (b. 1880)
- 1943Nikolai Vavilov, Russian botanist (b. 1887)
- 1946Adriaan van Maanen, Dutch-American astronomer (b. 1884)
- 1947Grace Moore, American soprano (b. 1898)
- 1947Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten, (b. 1906)
- 1948John Lomax, American musicologist and folklorist (b. 1867)
- 1952Khorloogiin Choibalsan, leader of Mongolia (b. 1895)
- 1953Athanase David, Canadian politician and businessman (b. 1882)
- 1961Stan Nichols, English cricketer (b. 1900)
- 1962Lucky Luciano, American mobster (b. 1897)
- 1963H. S. Lloyd, British dog breeder (b. 1887)
- 1968Merrill C. Meigs, American newspaper publisher (b. 1883)
- 1968Yvor Winters, American poet (b. 1900)
- 1973Edward G. Robinson, American actor (b. 1893)
- 1973Jay C. Higginbotham, American musician (b. 1906)
- 1976João Branco Núncio, Portuguese Bullfighter (b. 1901)
- 1979Nelson Rockefeller, American politician - 41st Vice President of the United States (b. 1908)
- 1983Paul “Bear” Bryant, American football coach (b. 1913)
- 1990Bob Gerard, British racing driver (b. 1914)
- 1990Lewis Mumford, American historian (b. 1895)
- 1992José Ferrer, Puerto Rican actor (b. 1912)
- 1993Jan Gies, Dutch resistance leader (b. 1905)
- 1993Jeanne Sauvé, Canadian politician (b. 1922)
- 1993Robert Jacobsen, Danish artist (b. 1912)
- 1996Dave Schultz, American wrestler (b. 1959)
- 1996Frank Howard, American college football player and coach (b. 1909)
- 1996Georg Alexander, Duke of Mecklenburg, (b. 1921)
- 1996Harold Brodkey, American author (b. 1930)
- 1996Henry Lewis, American musician and conductor (b. 1932)
- 1996Stevie Plunder, Australian musician (b. 1963)
- 1997Jeane Dixon, American astrologer (b. 1904)
- 1998Shinichi Suzuki, Japanese music teacher (b. 1898)
- 2000A. E. van Vogt, Canadian-born author (b. 1912)
- 2000Don Budge, American tennis player (b. 1915)
- 2000Kathleen Hale, British author (b. 1898)
- 2001Al McGuire, American basketball coach (b. 1928)
- 2003George Younger, 4th Viscount Younger of Leckie, British politician (b. 1931)
- 2003Hugh Trevor-Roper, Baron Dacre of Glanton, English historian (b. 1917)
- 2003Valeriy Brumel, Soviet track-and-field athlete (b. 1942)
- 2004Fred Haas, American golfer (b. 1916)
- 2006Carol Lambrino, son of Carol II of Romania and Zizi Lambrino (b. 1920)
- 2006Khan Abdul Wali Khan, Pakistani politician and statesman (b. 1917)
- 2006Len Carlson, Canadian actor (b. 1937)
- 2007Gump Worsley, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1929)
- 2007Hans J. Wegner, Danish furniture designer (b. 1914)
- 2008Christian Brando, American actor; son of Marlon Brando (b. 1958)
- 2008Viktor Schreckengost, American industrial designer (b. 1906)
- 2011Charlie Louvin, American musician (b. 1927)
- 2011Gladys Horton, American musician and singer, member of the group The Marvelettes (b. 1944)
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