January 26

Wednesday 26, 2005:

A helicopter crash in eastern Iraq kills 31 United States soldiers.

Sunday 26, 2003:

Super Bowl XXXVII: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeat the Oakland Raiders, 48-21, earning the Buccaneers their first Vince Lombardi Trophy.

Friday 26, 2001:

An earthquake hits Gujarat, India, causing more than 20,000 deaths.

Wednesday 26, 2000:

XHTML 1.0 becomes a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Recommendation.

Monday 26, 1998:

Compaq buys Digital Equipment Corporation.

Sunday 26, 1997:

Super Bowl XXXI: The Green Bay Packers defeat the New England Patriots, 35-21.

Friday 26, 1996:

Whitewater scandal: Hillary Rodham Clinton testifies before a grand jury.

Wednesday 26, 1994:

A man fires two blank shots at Charles, Prince of Wales in Sydney, Australia.

Tuesday 26, 1993:

Václav Havel elected President of the Czech Republic.

Sunday 26, 1992:

Super Bowl XXVI: The Washington Redskins defeat the Buffalo Bills, 37-24.

Sunday 26, 1986:

Super Bowl XX: The Chicago Bears defeat the New England Patriots, 46-10.

Wednesday 26, 1983:

Lotus 1-2-3 is released.

Saturday 26, 1980:

Israel and Egypt establish diplomatic relations.

Monday 26, 1970:

Folk rock duo Simon and Garfunkel release classic album Bridge Over Troubled Water.

Wednesday 26, 1966:

The Beaumont Children go missing from Glenelg Beach in Adelaide, South Australia.

Tuesday 26, 1965:

Hindi becomes the official language of India.

Friday 26, 1962:

Ranger 3 is launched to study the moon. The space probe later missed the moon by 22,000 miles (35,400 km).

Thursday 26, 1961:

John F. Kennedy appoints Janet G. Travell to be his physician. This is the first time a woman holds this appointment.

Thursday 26, 1956:

1956 Winter Olympic Games open in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.

Thursday 26, 1950:

India promulgates its constitution forming a republic and Rajendra Prasad is sworn in as its first president.

Saturday 26, 1946:

Félix Gouin becomes Prime Minister of France.

Monday 26, 1942:

World War II: The first American forces arrive in Europe landing in Northern Ireland.

Thursday 26, 1939:

Spanish Civil War: Troops loyal to Francisco Franco and aided by Italy take Barcelona.

Friday 26, 1934:

The Apollo Theater opens in Harlem, New York City.

Thursday 26, 1911:

Glenn H. Curtiss flies the first successful seaplane.

Thursday 26, 1905:

The Cullinan Diamond is found near Pretoria, South Africa at the Premier Mine.

Wednesday 26, 1887:

Battle of Dogali: Abyssinian troops defeat Italians.

Monday 26, 1885:

Troops loyal to the Mahdi conquer Khartoum.

Wednesday 26, 1870:

American Civil War: Virginia rejoins the Union.

Monday 26, 1863:

American Civil War: Massachusetts Governor receives permission from Secretary of War to raise a militia organization for men of African descent.

Saturday 26, 1861:

The state of Louisiana secedes from the Union.

Tuesday 26, 1841:

The United Kingdom formally occupies Hong Kong, which China had ceded.

Friday 26, 1838:

Tennessee enacts the first prohibition law in the United States

Thursday 26, 1837:

Michigan is admitted as the 26th U.S. state.

Tuesday 26, 1808:

Rum Rebellion, the only successful (but temporary) armed takeover of the government in Australia.

Tuesday 26, 1802:

The U.S. Congress passes an act calling for a library to be established within the U.S. Capitol; eventually this becomes the Library of Congress.

Saturday 26, 1788:

The British First Fleet, led by Arthur Phillip, sail into Sydney Harbour to establish the first permanent European settlement on the continent. Celebrated as Australia Day.

Wednesday 26, 1785:

Benjamin Franklin writes a letter to his daughter expressing disappointment over the selection of the eagle as the symbol of the United States; he wanted the turkey.

Thursday 26, 1736:

Stanislaus I of Poland abdicates his throne.

Tuesday 26, 1700:

The magnitude 9 Cascadia Earthquake took place off the coast of the American Northwest, as evidenced by Japanese records.

Monday 26, 1699:

Treaty of Carlowitz signed.

Monday 26, 1531:

Lisbon, Portugal is hit by an earthquake--thousands die.

Friday 26, 1500:

Vicente Yáñez Pinzón becomes the first European to discover Brazil.

Tuesday 26, 1340:

King Edward III of England is declared King of France.

More on January, 26

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