February 26

Events747 BC - Epoch (origin) of Ptolemy's Nabonassar Era.364 - Valentinian I is proclaimed Roman Emperor.1266 - Battle of Benevento: An army led by Charles, Count of Anjou, defeats a combined German and Sicilian force led by King Manfred of Sicily. Manfred is killed in the battle and Pope Clement IV invests Charles as king of Sicily and Naples.1794 - Christiansborg Castle, Copenhagen burns down.1797 - The Bank of England issues the first one-pound and two-pound notes.1815 - Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from Elba.1848 - The second French Republic is proclaimed.1863 - U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the National Banking Act into law. 1870 - In New York City, the first pneumatic-subway opens.1885 - The Berlin Act, which resulted from the Berlin Conference regulating European colonization and trade in Africa, was signed1887 - At the SCG, George Lohmann becomes the first bowler to take eight wickets in a Test innings.1897 - Sigma Pi Fraternity, International was founded at Vincennes University.1917 - The Original Dixieland Jass Band records the first ever Jazzrecord for the Victor Talking Machine Company in New York. 1919 - An act of the U.S. Congress establishes most of the Grand Canyon as a United States National Park (see Grand Canyon National Park). 1929 - The Grand Teton National Park is created. 1935 - The Luftwaffe is reformed.1935 - The Daventry Experiment, Robert Watson-Watt carried out a demonstration near Daventry which led directly to the development of RADAR in the United Kingdom.1936 - In the February 26 Incident, young Japanese military officers attempt to stage a coup against the government.1952 - United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston Churchill announces that his nation has an atomic bomb.1966 - Apollo Program: Launch of AS-201, the first flight of the Saturn IB rocket1970 - National Public Radio incorporates as a non-profit corporation.1971 - Secretary-General U Thant signs United Nations proclamation of the vernal equinox as Earth Day.1972 - Buffalo Creek Flood caused by a burst dam kills 125 in West Virginia.1984 - US troops withdraw from Beirut. President Ronald Reagan had sent the troops as a peacekeeping force in August 1982.1986 - People Power Revolution in the Philippines.1987 - Iran-Contra affair: The Tower Commission rebukes American President Ronald Reagan for not controlling his national security staff. 1990 - The Sandinistas are defeated in Nicaraguan elections.1991 - Tim Berners-Lee introduces WorldWideWeb, the first web browser.1991 - Gulf War: On Baghdad Radio Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein announces the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait. 1993 - World Trade Center bombing: In New York City, a truck bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center goes off, killing 6 and injuring over a thousand. 1995 - The United Kingdom's oldest investment banking firm, Barings Bank collapses after a securities broker, Nick Leeson, loses $1.4 billion by speculating on the Singapore International Monetary Exchange using futures contracts.2001 - The Taliban destroy two giant Buddha statues in Bamyan, Afghanistan.2004 - The United States lifts a ban on travel to Libya, ending travel restrictions to the nation that had lasted for 23 years.2004 - Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski is killed in a plane crash near Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina.2005 - Hosni Mubarak the president of Egypt orders the constitution changed to allow multi-candidate presidential elections before September 2005 by asking Egyptian parliament to amend Article 76 of the constitution.
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