History of 26 June
- 1996 – The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the Virginia Military Institute to admit women or forgo state support.
- 1997 – The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Communications Decency Act of 1996 that made it illegal to distribute indecent material on the Internet.
- 1997 – J.K. Rowlings book “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” was published in the U.K. The book was later released in the U.S. under the name “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.” This was the first book in the Harry Potter series.
- 1997 – The U.S. Supreme Court upheld state laws that allow for a ban on doctor-assisted suicides.
- 1998 – The U.S. and Peru open school to train commandos to patrol Peru’s rivers for drug traffickers.
- 1998 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that employers are always potentially liable for supervisor’s sexual misconduct toward an employee.
- 2000 – The Human Genome Project and Celera Genomics Corp. jointly announced that they had created a working draft of the human genome.
- 2000 – Indonesia’s President Abdurrahman Wahid declared a state of emergency in the Moluccas due to the escalation of fighting between Christians and Muslims.
- 2001 – Ray Bourque (Colorado Avalanche) announced his retirement just 17 days after winning his first Stanley Cup. Bouque retired after 22 years and held the NHL record for highest-scoring defenseman and playing in 19 consecutive All-Star games.
- 2002 – David Hasseloff checked into The Betty Ford Center for treatment of alcoholism.
- 2002 – WorldCom Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
- 2003 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Lawrence v. Texas that gender-based sodomy laws are unconstitutional.
- 2006 – Mari Alkatiri, the first Prime Minister of East Timor, resigns after weeks of political unrest.
- 2007 – Pope Benedict XVI reinstates the traditional laws of papal election in which a successful candidate must receive two-thirds of the votes.
- 2008 – A suicide bomber dressed as an Iraqi policeman detonates an explosive vest, killing 25 people.
- 2012 – The Waldo Canyon fire descends into the Mountain Shadows neighborhood in Colorado Springs burning 347 homes in a matter of hours and killing two people.
- 2013 – Riots in China’s Xinjiang region kill at least 36 people and injure 21 others.
- 2013 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled, 5–4, that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional and in violation of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
- 2015 – Five different terrorist attacks in France, Tunisia, Somalia, Kuwait, and Syria occurred on what was dubbed Bloody Friday by international media. Upwards of 750 people were either killed or injured in these uncoordinated attacks.
- 2015 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled, 5–4, that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marriage under the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1981 – Natalya Antyukh, Russian sprinter and hurdler
- 1981 – Paolo Cannavaro, Italian footballer
- 1981 – Kanako Kondō, Japanese voice actress and singer
- 1981 – Takashi Toritani, Japanese baseball player
- 1982 – Zuzana Kučová, Slovak tennis player
- 1983 – Vinícius Rodrigues Almeida, Brazilian footballer
- 1983 – Nick Compton, South African-English cricketer
- 1983 – Toyonoshima Daiki, Japanese sumo wrestler
- 1983 – Felipe Melo, Brazilian footballer
- 1983 – Antonio Rosati, Italian footballer
- 1984 – Indila, French singer
- 1984 – José Juan Barea, Puerto Rican-American basketball player
- 1984 – Yankuba Ceesay, Gambian footballer
- 1984 – Elijah Dukes, American baseball player
- 1984 – Raymond Felton, American basketball player
- 1984 – Priscah Jeptoo, Kenyan runner
- 1984 – Jūlija Tepliha, Latvian figure skater
- 1984 – Deron Williams, American basketball player
- 1984 – Preslava, Bulgarian singer
- 1985 – Ogyen Trinley Dorje, Tibetan spiritual leader, 17th Karmapa Lama
- 1986 – Duvier Riascos, Colombian footballer
- 1987 – Carlos Iaconelli, Brazilian race car driver
- 1987 – Samir Nasri, French footballer
- 1988 – Oliver Stang, German footballer
- 1990 – Belaynesh Oljira, Ethiopian runner
- 1990 – Igor Subbotin, Estonian footballer
- 1991 – Houssem Chemali, French footballer
- 1991 – Diego Falcinelli, Italian footballer
- 1991 – Dustin Martin, Australian rules footballer
- 1992 – Joel Campbell, Costa Rican footballer
- 1992 – Rudy Gobert, French basketball player
- 1992 – Jennette McCurdy, American actress and singer-songwriter
- 1993 – Ariana Grande, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress
- 1994 – Hollie Arnold, English javelin thrower
- 1994 – Leonard Carow, German actor
- 1997 – Baek Ye-rin, South Korean singer
- 1997 – Callum Taylor, English cricketer
- 2002 – Chandler Smith, American racing driver
- 2009 – Yesha Camile, Filipino child actress