March 26

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.
• 1881 – Domnitor Carol I of the Principality of Romania is proclaimed the first King of Romania.
• 1913 – Balkan War: Bulgarian forces take Adrianople.
• 1917 – World War I: First Battle of Gaza – British troops are 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.
• 1973 – The soap opera The Young and the Restless debuts on CBS television.
• 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 groundbreaking 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 $10.2 billion loan for Russia.
• 1997 – Thirty-nine bodies found in the Heaven's Gate cult suicides.
• 1998 – Oued Bouaicha massacre in Algeria; 52 people killed with axes and knives, 32 of them babies under the age of 2.
• 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 are held in Russia, and 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, English poet (d. 1936)
• 1874 – Robert Frost, American poet (d. 1963)
• 1875 – Syngman Rhee, President of South Korea (d. 1965)
• 1879 – Othmar Ammann, bridge engineer (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, American author (d. 1987)
• 1905 – Viktor Frankl, Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist (d. 1997)
• 1911 – Tennessee Williams, dramatist (d. 1983)
• 1913 – Paul Erdös, mathematician (d. 1996)
• 1914 – General William Westmoreland, U.S. general
• 1916 – Sterling Hayden, American actor (d. 1986)
• 1917 – Rufus Thomas, musician (d. 2001)
• 1919 – Strother Martin, American actor (d. 1980)
• 1923 – Bob Elliott, comedian
• 1925 – Pierre Boulez, French composer and conductor
• 1930 – Sandra Day O'Connor, United States Supreme Court justice
• 1930 – Gregory Corso, American poet (d. 2001)
• 1931 – Leonard Nimoy, American actor and director
• 1934 – Alan Arkin, actor
• 1935 – Mahmoud Abbas, President of Palestine National Authority
• 1940 – James Caan, actor
• 1940 – Nancy Pelosi, American politician
• 1942 – Erica Jong, author
• 1943 – Bob Woodward, journalist
• 1944 – Diana Ross, singer (Supremes)
• 1946 – Johnny Crawford, American actor
• 1947 – Dar Robinson, stunt man (d. 1986)
• 1948 – Steven Tyler, musician (Aerosmith)
• 1949 – Patrick Süskind, writer
• 1949 – Vicki Lawrence, American actress and singer
• 1950 – Teddy Pendergrass, singer
• 1950 – Martin Short, comedian
• 1950 – Ernest Thomas, American actor
• 1953 – Elaine Chao, U.S. Secretary of Labor
• 1954 – Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels
• 1956 – Charly McClain, country music singer
• 1957 – Leeza Gibbons, television host
• 1960 – Jennifer Grey, actress
• 1960 – Marcus Allen, American football player
• 1961 – William Hague, British politician
• 1962 – John Stockton, basketball player
• 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, French inventor of the guillotine (b. 1738)
• 1827 – Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer (b. 1770)
• 1892 – Walt Whitman, American poet (b. 1819)
• 1902 – Cecil Rhodes, English explorer and entrepreneur (b. 1853)
• 1920 – William Chester Minor, contributor to the Oxford English Dictionary (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, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1863)
• 1958 – Phil Mead, English cricketer (b. 1887)
• 1959 – Raymond Chandler, novelist (b. 1888)
• 1969 – John Kennedy Toole, author (b. 1937)
• 1973 – Noel Coward, English composer and playwright (b. 1899)
• 1976 – Josef Albers, artist (b. 1888)
• 1983 – Anthony Blunt, British spy
• 1984 – Ahmed Sékou Touré, President of Guinea
• 1987 – Eugen Jochum, German conductor (b. 1902)
• 1990 – Halston, fashion designer (b. 1932)
• 1995 – Eazy-E, American rapper
• 1996:
  • David Packard, American engineer, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard (b. 1912)
  • Edmund Muskie, American politician
• 1997 – Marshall Applewhite, cult leader
• 2000 – Alex Comfort, author (b. 1920)
• 2003 – Daniel Patrick Moynihan, United States Senator (b. 1927)
• 2004:
  • Jan Berry, American musician (Jan and Dean)
  • Jan Sterling, American actress
• 2005:
  • James Callaghan, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1912)
  • Paul Hester, drummer (Split Enz and Crowded House) (b. 1959)
  • Marius Russo, Major League Baseball player (b. 1914)

Holidays and observances

• Zoroastrianism – Prophet Zarthushtra's (Zoroaster's) Birthday
• Holi in Hinduism (2005)

External links

• BBC: On This Day

March 25 – March 27 – February 26 – April 26 — listing of all days