On this day in history

February 26

31 births · 15 deaths · 5 events

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Anniversary highlights

Event anniversary

84th Academy Awards

14 years ago

Born this day

1802

Victor Hugo

Died aged 83

Photo (modified): Étienne Carjat · Public domain

Oldest record

872nd

Roger II of Sicily

death anniversary

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Famous births31

1786 · 240 yrs

François Arago

Dominique François Jean Arago (Catalan: Domènec Francesc Joan Aragó), known simply as François Arago (French:; Catalan: Francesc Aragó, IPA:; 26 February 1786 – 2 October 1853), was a French mathematician, physicist, astronomer, freemason, supporter of the Carbonari revolutionaries, and politician.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 67

View profile Photo (modified): Ary Scheffer · Public domain

1802 · 224 yrs

Victor Hugo

Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (French:; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1831) and Les Misérables (1862).

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 83

View profile Photo (modified): Étienne Carjat · Public domain

1808 · 218 yrs

Honoré Daumier

Honoré-Victorin Daumier (French:; 26 February 1808 – 10 or 11 February 1879) was a French painter, sculptor, and printmaker, whose many works offer commentary on the social and political life in France, from the Revolution of 1830 to the fall of the Second French Empire in 1870.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ArtDied aged 70

View profile Photo (modified): Nadar · Public domain

1842 · 184 yrs

Camille Flammarion

Nicolas Camille Flammarion FRAS (French:; 26 February 1842 – 3 June 1925) was a French astronomer and author. He was a prolific author of more than fifty titles, including popular science works about astronomy, several notable early science fiction novels, and works on psychical research and related topics.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 83

View profile Photo (modified): Eugène Pirou · Public domain

1846 · 180 yrs

Buffalo Bill

William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846 – January 10, 1917), better known as Buffalo Bill, was an American soldier, bison hunter, and showman. One of the most famous figures of the American Old West, Cody began performing at the age of 23.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

FilmDied aged 70

View profile Photo (modified): Moffett, Chicago · Public domain

1861 · 165 yrs

Ferdinand I of Bulgaria

Ferdinand I (Ferdinand Maximilian Karl Leopold Maria; 26 February 1861 – 10 September 1948) was the monarch of Bulgaria from 1887 to 1918, reigning as Prince of Bulgaria from 1887 to 1908 and Tsar of Bulgaria from 1908 until his abdication in 1918.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MilitaryDied aged 87

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1903 · 123 yrs

Giulio Natta

Giulio Natta (Italian:; 26 February 1903 – 2 May 1979) was an Italian chemical engineer and Nobel laureate. Natta's work at Politecnico di Milano led to the improvement of earlier work by Karl Ziegler and to the development of the Ziegler–Natta catalyst.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 123

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1916 · 110 yrs

Jackie Gleason

Herbert John Gleason (born Herbert Walton Gleason Jr.; February 26, 1916 – June 24, 1987), known as Jackie Gleason, was an American comedian, actor, writer, and composer also known as "The Great One".

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

FilmWould be 110

View profile Photo (modified): General Amusement Corporation / James Koll, photographer · Public domain

1928 · 98 yrs

Fats Domino

Antoine Caliste "Fats" Domino Jr. (February 26, 1928 – October 24, 2017) was an American singer-songwriter and pianist.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicWould be 98

View profile Photo (modified): Heinrich Klaffs · CC BY-SA 2.0

1928 · 98 yrs

Ariel Sharon

Ariel "Arik" Sharon (Hebrew: אֲרִיאֵל "אָרִיק" שָׁרוֹן,; 26 February 1928 – 11 January 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the prime minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 98

View profile Photo (modified): Avi Ohayon · CC BY-SA 3.0

1932 · 94 yrs

Johnny Cash

John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicWould be 94

View profile Photo (modified): CBS Television · Public domain

1946 · 80 yrs

Ahmed Zewail

Ahmed Hassan Zewail (Arabic: أَحْمَد حَسَن زُوَيْل; February 26, 1946 – August 2, 2016) was an Egyptian-American chemist, known as the "father of femtochemistry".

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 80

View profile Photo (modified): Douglas A. Lockard · CC BY-SA 3.0

Showing 12 of 31

Famous deaths15

1154 · 872 yrs

Roger II of Sicily

Roger II or Roger the Great (Italian: Ruggero II, Sicilian: Ruggeru II, Greek: Ρογέριος; 22 December 1095 - 26 February 1154) was King of Sicily and Africa, son of Roger I of Sicily and successor to his brother Simon.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 58

View profile Photo (modified): Matthias Süßen · CC BY-SA 2.5

1572 · 454 yrs

Eric XIV of Sweden

Erik XIV or Eric XIV (13 December 1533 – 26 February 1577) became King of Sweden following the death of his father, Gustav I, on 29 September 1560.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 38

View profile Photo (modified): Attributed to Domenicus Verwilt · Public domain

1722 · 304 yrs

Christopher Wren

Sir Christopher Wren (30 October 1632 – 8 March 1723) was an English architect, astronomer, mathematician and physicist who is one of the most highly acclaimed architects in the history of England.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ArtDied aged 89

View profile Photo (modified): Godfrey Kneller · Public domain

1770 · 256 yrs

Giuseppe Tartini

Giuseppe Tartini (8 April 1692 – 26 February 1770) was an Italian composer and violinist of the Baroque era born in Pirano in the Republic of Venice (now Piran, Slovenia). Tartini was a prolific composer, composing over a hundred pieces for the violin, the majority of them violin concertos.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicDied aged 77

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1821 · 205 yrs

Joseph de Maistre

Joseph Marie, comte de Maistre (1 April 1753 – 26 February 1821), was a Savoyard lawyer, diplomat, and political philosopher. He is chiefly remembered as one of the intellectual forefathers of modern conservatism.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PhilosophyDied aged 67

View profile Photo (modified): Carl Christian Vogel von Vogelstein · Public domain

1861 · 165 yrs

Taras Shevchenko

Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko (Ukrainian: Тарас Григорович Шевченко, Ukrainian pronunciation:; Russian: Тарас Григорьевич Шевченко, romanized: Taras Grigoryevich Shevchenko; 9 March 1814 – 10 March 1861) was a Ukrainian poet, writer, artist, public and political figure, folklorist and ethnographer.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 46

View profile Photo (modified): Andrey Denyer · Public domain

1921 · 105 yrs

Carl Menger

Carl Menger von Wolfensgrün ( MENG-ghər; German:; 28 February 1840 – 26 February 1921) was an Austrian economist who contributed to the marginal theory of value. Menger is considered the founder of the Austrian school of economics.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 81

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1931 · 95 yrs

Otto Wallach

Otto Wallach (German pronunciation:; 27 March 1847 – 26 February 1931) was a German chemist and recipient of the 1910 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on alicyclic compounds.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 83

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1961 · 65 yrs

Mohammed V of Morocco

Muhammad V (Muhammad al-Khamis bin Yusef bin Hassan al-Alawi; 10 August 1909 – 26 February 1961) was the ruler of Morocco from 1927 to 1961, except for a two-year period in exile during the 1950s. He reigned as sultan until 1957, and afterwards as the first king of Morocco.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyWould be 117

View profile Photo (modified): Agence Rol · Public domain

1969 · 57 yrs

Karl Jaspers

Karl Theodor Jaspers (German:; 23 February 1883 – 26 February 1969) was a German-Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher who had a strong influence on modern theology, psychiatry, and philosophy.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PhilosophyWould be 143

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown (Mondadori Publishers) · Public domain

1969 · 57 yrs

Levi Eshkol

Levi Eshkol (Hebrew: לֵוִי אֶשְׁכּוֹל;‎ 25 October 1895 – 26 February 1969), born Levi Yitzhak Shkolnik (Hebrew: לֵוִי יִצְחָק שְׁקוֹלְנִיק), was the prime minister of Israel from 1963 until his death from a heart attack in 1969.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 131

View profile Photo (modified): David Eldan · CC BY-SA 4.0

1971 · 55 yrs

Fernandel

Fernand Joseph Désiré Contandin (French pronunciation:; 8 May 1903 – 26 February 1971), better known as Fernandel, was a French comic actor.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

FilmWould be 123

View profile Photo (modified): André Cros · CC BY-SA 4.0

Showing 12 of 15

Events5

2001 · 25 yrs

Treaty of Nice

The Treaty of Nice reformed the institutional structure of the European Union to withstand eastward expansion, a task which was originally intended to have been done by the Amsterdam Treaty, but failed to be addressed at the time.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Politics

2003 · 23 yrs

War in Darfur

The War in Darfur, also nicknamed the Land Cruiser War, was a major armed conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan that began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebel groups began fighting against the government of Sudan, which they accused of oppressing…

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

2012 · 14 yrs

84th Academy Awards

The 84th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2011 in the United States and took place on February 26, 2012, at the Hollywood and Highland Center Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST / 8:30 p.m.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Culture

2017 · 9 yrs

89th Academy Awards

The 89th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2016, and took place on February 26, 2017, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, at 5:30 p.m. PST.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Culture

2020 · 6 yrs

COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil

The COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil has resulted in 38,050,567 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 704,066 deaths. The virus was confirmed to have spread to Brazil on 25 February 2020, when a man from São Paulo who had traveled to Italy tested positive for the virus.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Disaster

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