On this day in history

March 26

28 births · 17 deaths · 5 events

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Anniversary highlights

Event anniversary

Bangladesh Liberation War

55 years ago

Born this day

1941

Richard Dawkins

Turns 85

Oldest record

676th

Alfonso XI of Castile and Leon

death anniversary

Famous births28

1516 · 510 yrs

Conrad Gessner

Conrad Gessner (Latin: Conradus Gesnerus; 26 March 1516 – 13 December 1565) was a Swiss physician, naturalist, bibliographer, and philologist.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 510

Photo: Tobias Stimmer · Public domain

1874 · 152 yrs

Robert Frost

Robert Lee Frost (March 26, 1874 – January 29, 1963) was an American poet.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 152

Photo: Fred Palumbo, World Telegram staff photographer · Public domain

1875 · 151 yrs

Syngman Rhee

Syngman Rhee (Korean: 이승만; Hanja: 李承晚; pronounced; 26 March 1875 – 19 July 1965) (also known by his art name Unam (우남; 雩南)) was a South Korean politician who served as the first president of South Korea from 1948 until his resignation in 1960.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 151

Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

1904 · 122 yrs

Joseph Campbell

Joseph John Campbell (March 26, 1904 – October 30, 1987) was an American writer. He was a professor of literature at Sarah Lawrence College who worked in comparative mythology and comparative religion.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 122

Photo: Joan Halifax · CC BY 2.0

1905 · 121 yrs

Viktor Frankl

Viktor Emil Frankl (Austrian German:; 26 March 1905 – 2 September 1997) was an Austrian neurologist, psychiatrist, philosopher, and Holocaust survivor, who founded logotherapy, a school of psychotherapy that describes a search for a life's meaning as the central human motivational force.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 121

Photo: Prof. Dr. Franz Vesely · CC BY-SA 3.0 de

1911 · 115 yrs

Bernard Katz

Sir Bernard Katz, FRS (German pronunciation:; 26 March 1911 – 20 April 2003) was a German-born British physician and biophysicist, noted for his work on nerve physiology; specifically, for his work on synaptic transmission at the nerve-muscle junction.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 115

Photo: Willy Pragher · CC BY 3.0 de

1911 · 115 yrs

Tennessee Williams

Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983) was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the three foremost playwrights of 20th-century American drama.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 115

Photo: Orlando Fernandez, World Telegram staff photographer · Public domain

1913 · 113 yrs

Paul Erdős

Paul Erdős (Hungarian: Erdős Pál; 26 March 1913 – 20 September 1996) was a Hungarian mathematician. He was one of the most prolific mathematicians and producers of mathematical conjectures of the 20th century.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 113

Photo: Topsy Kretts · CC BY 3.0

1916 · 110 yrs

Christian B. Anfinsen

Christian Boehmer Anfinsen Jr. (March 26, 1916 – May 14, 1995) was an American biochemist.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 110

Photo: Hubbard, Edward A.; National Institutes of Health · Public domain

1925 · 101 yrs

Pierre Boulez

Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (French:; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war contemporary classical music.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicWould be 101

Photo: Joost Evers / Anefo · CC BY-SA 3.0 nl

1931 · 95 yrs

Leonard Nimoy

Leonard Simon Nimoy ( NEE-moy; March 26, 1931 – February 27, 2015) was an American actor and director, famous for playing Spock in the Star Trek franchise for over 40 years.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

FilmWould be 95

Photo: CBS Television · Public domain

1934 · 92 yrs

Alan Arkin

Alan Wolf Arkin (March 26, 1934 – June 29, 2023) was an American actor, filmmaker and musician. In a career spanning seven decades, he received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Tony Award as well as nominations for six Emmy Awards.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

FilmWould be 92

Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

Showing 12 of 28

Famous deaths17

1350 · 676 yrs

Alfonso XI of Castile and Leon

Alfonso XI (11 August 1311 – 26 March 1350), called the Avenger (el Justiciero), was King of Castile and León. He was the son of Ferdinand IV of Castile and Constance of Portugal.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyWould be 715

Photo: Unknown source · Public domain

1609 · 417 yrs

John Dee

John Dee (13 July 1527 – December 1608 or March 1609) was an English mathematician, astronomer, teacher, astrologer, occultist, and alchemist. He was the court astronomer for, and advisor to, Elizabeth I, and spent much of his time on alchemy, divination, and Hermetic philosophy.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 499

Photo: Unidentified painter · Public domain

1797 · 229 yrs

James Hutton

James Hutton (3 June O.S. 1726 – 26 March 1797) was a Scottish geologist, agriculturalist, chemical manufacturer, naturalist and physician. Often referred to as the "Father of Modern Geology," he played a key role in establishing geology as a modern science.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 300

Photo: Henry Raeburn · Public domain

1827 · 199 yrs

Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 1770 – 26 March 1827) was a German composer, conductor, and pianist.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicWould be 255

Photo: Joseph Karl Stieler · Public domain

1892 · 134 yrs

Walt Whitman

Walter Whitman Jr. (May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, and journalist; he also wrote two novels.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 207

Photo: George Collins Cox / Adam Cuerden · Public domain

1902 · 124 yrs

Cecil John Rhodes

Cecil John Rhodes ( SES-əl ROHDZ; 5 July 1853 – 26 March 1902) was a British mining magnate and politician in southern Africa who served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

BusinessWould be 173

Photo: unattributed · Public domain

1926 · 100 yrs

Constantin Fehrenbach

Constantin Fehrenbach, sometimes erroneously Konstantin Fehrenbach, (11 January 1852 – 26 March 1926), was a German politician who was one of the major leaders of the Catholic Centre Party. He served as president of the Reichstag in 1918 and then as president of the Weimar National Assembly from 1919 to 1920.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 174

Photo: Unknown · CC BY-SA 3.0 de

1945 · 81 yrs

David Lloyd George

David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945), was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 163

Photo: Harris & Ewing · Public domain

1959 · 67 yrs

Raymond Chandler

Raymond Thornton Chandler (July 23, 1888 – March 26, 1959) was an American-British novelist and screenwriter. In 1932, at age 44, Chandler became a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive during the Great Depression.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 138

Photo: Photographer uncredited. Published by Alfred A. Knopf . · Public domain

1973 · 53 yrs

Noël Coward

Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 1899 – 26 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicWould be 126

Photo: Allan Warren · CC BY-SA 3.0

1980 · 46 yrs

Roland Barthes

Roland Gérard Barthes (French:; 12 November 1915 – 26 March 1980) was a French literary theorist, essayist, philosopher, critic, and semiotician. His work engaged in the analysis of a variety of sign systems, mainly derived from Western popular culture.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PhilosophyWould be 110

Photo: Unknown · Public domain

1984 · 42 yrs

Ahmed Sékou Touré

Ahmed Sékou Touré (var. Sheku Turay or Ture; N'Ko: ߛߋߞߎ߬ ߕߎ߬ߙߋ; 9 January 1922 – 26 March 1984) was a Guinean political leader and African statesman who was the first president of Guinea from 1958 until his death in 1984.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 104

Photo: Robert Knudsen. White House Photographs. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston · Public domain

Showing 12 of 17

Events5

1958 · 68 yrs

30th Academy Awards

The 30th Academy Awards ceremony was held on March 26, 1958, to honor the best films of 1957. Two violent deaths surrounded the Oscars during this ceremony.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Culture

1971 · 55 yrs

Bangladesh Liberation War

The Bangladesh Liberation War (Bengali: মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, pronounced), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, was an armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which resulted in the independence of Bangladesh with the help of India.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

1979 · 47 yrs

Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty

The Egypt–Israel peace treaty was signed in Washington, D.C., United States, on 26 March 1979, following the 1978 Camp David Accords. The treaty was signed by Anwar Sadat, President of Egypt, and Menachem Begin, Prime Minister of Israel, and witnessed by Jimmy Carter, President of the United States.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Politics

1990 · 36 yrs

62nd Academy Awards

The 62nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 1989 and took place on March 26, 1990, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p.m. PST / 9:00 p.m.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Culture

2000 · 26 yrs

72nd Academy Awards

The 72nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released in 1999 and took place on March 26, 2000, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST / 8:30 p.m.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Culture

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