26 April

April 26 is the 116th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 249 days remain until the end of the year.

We have some interesting facts & historic events all about April 26^th, including areas in religion, crime, health and more.

Keep reading for more interesting facts about April 26^th in history!

Table of Contents

1. Global Celebrations
2. Historic Events
3. Famous Birthdays
4. Heartbreaking Deaths

Global Celebrations

• World Intellectual Property Day.
• Alien Day.
• Get Organized Day
• National Richter Scale Day
• National Pretzel Day
• National Help a Horse Day
• National Hug an Australian Day

Historic Events

What Happened On This Day – April 26

2005: Syria ends its military occupation of Lebanon after 29 years

Syria buckled to domestic and international pressure following the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on February 14 of the same year.

1994: Germany makes Holocaust denial illegal

1994: Nelson Mandela wins the presidency in South Africa’s first multiracial elections in 1994.

The far-right party NPD had sought legitimation by Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court for expressing the view that the Nazis’ genocide of six million Jews never occurred. The court ruled against them.

1989: The deadliest tornado in history kills about 1300 people

The Daulatpur–Saturia Tornado devastated everything in its 50-mile long path across central Bangladesh.

1986: The worst nuclear disaster in history occurs in Chernobyl

Large parts of Europe were contaminated when reactor 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded. Although the number of deaths attributable to the disaster is difficult to determine, experts anticipate tens of thousands of deaths across Europe in the coming decades due to cancer caused by the radioactive fallout.

1925: Franz Kafka publishes his landmark novel The Trial

The text, which was initially published as Der Process, is a nightmarish account of a man being arrested and prosecuted by a faceless authority for an unknown crime.

1986: On April 26, 1986, during a testing operation, one of the four reactors at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, located 100km from Kiev in Ukraine, went out of control and exploded.

1956: Survivors of the Andrea Doria on the deck of the SS Ile De France. 1956. Ile De France arrived at the wreck site by emerging through dense fog, with all her lights ablaze. An old liner resembling Titanic, the survivors recalled it was like being rescued by a benevolent ghost ship.

1938: Tourists sunbathing and drinking tea on top of the Great Pyramid of Giza, 1938

1929: The first non-stop flight from England to India is completed in 1929.

1918: Australian Light Horse Regiment marching in East Jerusalem, 1918.

1514: Copernicus makes his 1st observations of Saturn in 1514.

Famous Birthdays

Births On This Day, April 26

1932: Israr Ahmed, Indian/Pakistani theologian, philosopher, scholar

1917: I. M. Pei, Chinese/American architect, designed the National Gallery of Art, Bank of China Tower

1889: Ludwig Wittgenstein, Austrian/English philosopher

1822: Frederick Law Olmsted, American journalist, landscape designer, co-designed Central Park

121: Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor

Marcus Aurelius was born.

Kane was born.

Jet Li was born.

Heartbreaking Deaths

Deaths On This Day, April 26

1999: Adrian Borland, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer

1989: Lucille Ball, American actress

1984: Count Basie, American pianist, bandleader, composer

1951: Arnold Sommerfeld, German physicist

1920: Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician

Srinivasa Ramanujan died.

Lucille Ball died.

Arnold Somerfield died.