History Of 26 February
1815 – Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from the Island of Elba. He then began his second conquest of France.
1848 – The second French Republic was proclaimed.
1863 – U.S. President Lincoln signed the National Currency Act.
1870 – In New York City, the first pneumatic-powered subway line was opened to the public. (Beach Pneumatic Transit)
1881 – S.S. Ceylon began his world-wide cruise, beginning in Liverpool, England.
1907 – The U.S. Congress raised their own pay to $7500.
1916 – Mutual signed Charlie Chaplin to a film contract.
1919 – In Arizona, the Grand Canyon was established as a National Park with an act of the U.S. Congress.
1929 – U.S. President Coolidge signed a bill creating the Grand Teton National Park.
1930 – New York City installed traffic lights.
1933 – A ground-breaking ceremony was held at Crissy Field for the Golden Gate Bridge.
1945 – In the U.S., a nationwide midnight curfew went into effect.
1952 – British Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced that Britain had developed an atomic bomb.
1957 – The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award was established by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
1979 – “Flatbush” debuted on CBS-TV.
1986 – Corazon Aquino was inaugurated president of the Philippines. Longtime President Ferdinand Marcos went into exile.
1987 – The Tower Commission rebuked U.S. President Reagan for failing to control his national security staff in the wake of the Iran-Contra affair.
1987 – The U.S.S.R. conducted its first nuclear weapons test after a 19-month moratorium period.
1991 – Iraqi President Saddam Hussein announced on Baghdad Radio that Iraqi troops were being withdrawn from Kuwait.
1993 – Six people were killed and more than a thousand injured when a van exploded in the parking garage beneath the World Trade Center in New York City. The bomb had been built by Islamic extremists.
1995 – Barings PLC collapsed after a securities dealer lost more than $1.4 billion by gambling on Tokyo stock prices. The company was Britain’s oldest investment banking firm.
1998 – A Texas jury rejected an $11 million lawsuit by Texas cattlemen who blamed Oprah Winfrey for the price drop after an on-air comment about mad-cow disease.
1998 – In Oregon, a health panel rules that taxpayers must help to pay for doctor-assisted suicides.
2001 – A U.N. tribunal convicted Bosnian Croat political leader Dario Kordic and military commander Mario Cerkez of war crimes. They had ordered the systematic murder and persecution of Muslim civilians during the Bosnian war.
2002 – In Rome, Italy, a bomb exploded near the Interior Ministry. No injuries were reported.
2009 – Former Serbian president Milan Milutinovic was acquitted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia regarding war crimes during the Kosovo War.
2009 – The Pentagon reversed its 18-year policy of not allowing media to cover returning war dead. The reversal allowed some media coverage with family approval.
2012 – Trayvon Martin was shot and killed at the age of 17 in Sanford, Florida.
2012 – A train derails in Burlington, Ontario, Canada killing at least three people and injuring 45.
2013 – A hot air balloon crashes near Luxor, Egypt, killing 19 people.
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1981 – Kertus Davis, American race car driver
- 1981 – Oh Seung-bum, South Korean footballer
- 1982 – Li Na, a Chinese tennis player
- 1982 – Matt Prior, South African-English cricketer
- 1982 – Nate Ruess, American singer-songwriter
- 1983 – Jerome Harrison, American football player
- 1983 – Pepe, Brazilian-Portuguese footballer
- 1984 – Emmanuel Adebayor, Togolese footballer
- 1984 – Natalia Lafourcade, Mexican singer-songwriter
- 1984 – Beren Saat, Turkish actress
- 1985 – Fernando Llorente, Spanish footballer
- 1986 – Hannah Kearney, American skier
- 1989 – Gabriel Obertan, French footballer
- 1990 – Kateřina Cachová, Czech heptathlete
- 1990 – Takanoiwa Yoshimori, Mongolian sumo wrestler
- 1991 – Lee Chae-rin, South Korean singer
- 1992 – Mikael Granlund, Finnish professional hockey player
- 1992 – Michael Chee Kam, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1997 – Reghan Tumilty, Scottish footballer