26 March - Definition and Overview

March 26 is the 85th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (86th in leap years). There are 280 days remaining.

Events

• 1026 - Pope John XIX crowns Conrad II as Holy Roman Emperor.
• 1552 - Guru Amar Das becomes the Third Sikh Guru
• 1636 - Utrecht University is founded in The Netherlands
• 1707 - The Act of Union becomes law, making England and Scotland one country.
• 1808 - Charles IV of Spain abdicates in favor of his son, Ferdinand VII.
• 1812 - An earthquake destroys Caracas, Venezuela.
• 1839 - The first Henley Royal Regatta is held.
• 1871 - The Paris Commune is formally established in Paris.
• 1913 - Balkan War: Bulgarian forces take Adrianople.
• 1917 - World War I: First Battle of Gaza - British troops halted after 17,000 Turks block their advance.
• 1937 - In Crystal City, Texas, spinach growers erect a statue of the cartoon character Popeye.
• 1942 - World War II: In Poland, Auschwitz receives its first female prisoners.
• 1943 - World War II: Battle of Komandorski Islands - In the Aleutian Islands the battle begins when United States Navy forces intercept Japanese attempting to reinforce a garrison at Kiska.
• 1953 - Jonas Salk announces his polio vaccine.
• 1958 - The United States Army launches Explorer III.
• 1971 - East Pakistan declares its independence from Pakistan to form People's Republic of Bangladesh and Bangladesh Liberation War begins.
• 1975 - The Biological Weapons Convention enters into force.
• 1979 - Anwar al-Sadat, Menachem Begin and Jimmy Carter sign the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty in Washington, DC
• 1982 - A ground breaking ceremony for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is held in Washington, DC.
• 1995 - The Schengen Treaty goes into effect.
• 1996 - The International Monetary Fund approves a USD $10.2 billion loan for Russia.
• 1997 - Thirty-nine bodies found in the Heaven's Gate cult suicides.
• 1999 - The "Melissa worm" infects e-mail systems around the world.
• 1999 - A jury in Michigan finds Dr. Jack Kevorkian guilty of second-degree murder for administering a lethal injection to a terminally ill man.
• 2000 - The Seattle Kingdome is imploded to make room for a new stadium.
• 2000 - Presidential elections in Russia: Vladimir Putin is elected President.
• 2003 - The Supreme Court of the United States hears oral arguments in Lawrence v. Texas.

Births

• 1859 - Alfred Edward Housman, poet (d. 1936)
• 1874 - Robert Frost, poet (d. 1963)
• 1875 - Syngman Rhee, President of South Korea (d. 1965)
• 1879 - Othmar Ammann, engineer, Verrazano Narrows Bridge (d. 1965)
• 1884 - Wilhelm Backhaus, pianist (d. 1969)
• 1888 - Elsa Brändström, "The Angel of Siberia" (d. 1948)
• 1893 - James Bryan Conant, chemist and politician (d. 1978)
• 1904 - Joseph Campbell, author, mythologist (d. 1987)
• 1911 - Tennessee Williams, dramatist (d. 1983)
• 1914 - General William Westmoreland, United States commander during the Vietnam War
• 1917 - Rufus Thomas, musician (d. 2001)
• 1923 - Bob Elliott, comedian
• 1925 - Pierre Boulez, French composer and conductor
• 1930 - Sandra Day O'Connor, United States Supreme Court Justice
• 1931 - Leonard Nimoy, actor, director
• 1934 - Alan Arkin, actor
• 1935 - Mahmoud Abbas, President of Palestine National Authority
• 1939 - James Caan, actor
• 1942 - Erica Jong, author
• 1943 - Bob Woodward, journalist
• 1944 - Diana Ross, singer, lead singer of the Supremes
• 1948 - Steven Tyler, musician ("Aerosmith")
• 1949 - Patrick Süskind, writer (The Perfume)
• 1950 - Teddy Pendergrass, singer
• 1953 - Elaine Chao, U.S. Secretary of Labor
• 1960 - Jennifer Grey, actress
• 1960 - Marcus Allen, American football star
• 1961 - William Hague, British Politician
• 1962 - John Stockton, basketball star, NBA career leader in assists and steals
• 1968 - James Iha, musician ("Smashing Pumpkins")
• 1985 - Keira Knightley, actress

Deaths

• 922 - Al-Hallaj, Sufi teacher and writer (b. ca. 858)
• 1212 - King Sancho I of Portugal (b. 1154)
• 1517 - Heinrich Isaac, composer (b. c. 1450)
• 1726 - Sir John Vanbrugh, dramatist and architect (b. 1664)
• 1814 - Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, inventor of the guillotine (b. 1738)
• 1827 - Ludwig van Beethoven, composer (b. 1770)
• 1892 - Walt Whitman, poet (b. 1819)
• 1902 - Cecil Rhodes, explorer and entrepreneur (b. 1853)
• 1920 - William Chester Minor, one of the Oxford English Dictionary's most famous contributors (b. 1834)
• 1923 - Sarah Bernhardt, French actress (b. 1844)
• 1929 - Katharine Lee Bates, poet
• 1933 - Eddie Lang, jazz musician (b. 1902)
• 1940 - Spiridon Louis, Greek marathon runner
• 1945 - David Lloyd George, ex-Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1863)
• 1959 - Raymond Chandler, novelist (b. 1888)
• 1969 - John Kennedy Toole, author (b. 1937)
• 1973 - Noel Coward, composer, playwright (b. 1899)
• 1976 - Josef Albers, artist (b. 1888)
• 1987 - Eugen Jochum, German conductor (b. 1902)
• 1990 - Halston, fashion designer (b. 1932)
• 1996 - David Packard, engineer, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard (b. 1912)
• 2000 - Alex Comfort, author (b. 1920)
• 2003 - Daniel Patrick Moynihan, four-term United States Senator (b. 1927)

Holidays and observances

• Zoroastrianism - Prophet Zarthushtra's (Zoroaster's) Birthday

March 25 - March 27 - February 26 - April 26 -- listing of all days