July 26

Friday 26, 1968:

Vietnam War: South Vietnamese opposition leader Truong Dinh Dzu is sentenced to five years hard labor for advocating the formation of a coalition government as a way to move toward an end to the war.

Saturday 26, 1947:

Cold War: U.S. President Harry S. Truman signs the National Security Act into United States law creating the Central Intelligence Agency, Department of Defense, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the National Security Council.

Thursday 26, 1945:

The Potsdam Declaration is signed in Potsdam, Germany.

Sunday 26, 1908:

United States Attorney General Charles Joseph Bonaparte issues an order to immediately staff the Office of the Chief Examiner (later renamed the Federal Bureau of Investigation).

Tuesday 26, 1803:

the Surrey Iron Railway, arguably the world's first public railway, opens in south London.