Today in History (26 February 2008)

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EVENTS

• 747 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.
• 1658 - Treaty of Roskilde: After a devastating defeat in the Northern Wars (1655-1661), the King of Denmark-Norway was forced to give up nearly half his territory to Sweden to save the rest.
• 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 signed
• 1887 - 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 jazz record 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 rocket
• 1970 - 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.
• 2006 - The world's estimated population reaches 6.5 billion

BIRTHS

1976 - Nikolaos Siranidis, Greek diver
1977 - Marty Reasoner, American ice hockey player
1977 - Shane Williams, Welsh International Rugby Player
1977 - Josh Towers, Major League Baseball player
1978 - Abdoulaye Diagne-Faye, Senegalese footballer
1978 - Marc Hynes, British racing driver
1978 - John Tartaglia, Broadway performer and "Muppeteer"
1979 - Corinne Bailey Rae, English singer
1979 - Mariano Bainotti, Argentine racing driver
1979 - Pedro Mendes, Portuguese footballer
1980 - Alex Fong, Hong Kong singer
1980 - Gary Majewski, Major League Baseball player
1981 - Kertus Davis, American NASCAR driver
1981 - Johnathan Wendel, American professional video gamer
1982 - Song Hye Kyo, South Korean model and actress
1983 - Kara Monaco, American model
1983 - Varick Pyr, Hip-Hop artist
1984 - Emmanuel Adebayor, Togolese footballer
1984 - Natalia Lafourcade, Mexican singer
1985 - Alexandria Hilfiger, American actress, daughter of Tommy Hilfiger
1986 - Crystal Kay, Japanese singer
1987 - Julia Bond, American porn star
1992 - Amanda Platt, American guitarist
1993 - Taylor Dooley, American actress

DEATHS

1969 - Karl Jaspers, German psychiatrist (b. 1883)
1971 - Fernandel, French actor (b. 1903)
1981 - Howard Hanson, American composer (b. 1896)
1981 - Robert Aickman, English writer and conservationist (b. 1914)
1985 - Tjalling Koopmans, Dutch economist, Nobel laureate (b. 1910)
1989 - Roy Eldridge, American musician (b. 1911)
1990 - Cornell Gunter, American singer (The Coasters) (b. 1938)
1993 - Constance Ford, American actress (b. 1923)
1994 - Bill Hicks, American comedian (b. 1961)
1995 - Jack Clayton, British film director (b. 1921)
1997 - David Doyle, American actor (b. 1929)
1998 - Theodore Schultz, American economist, Nobel laureate (b. 1902)
2000 - George L. Street III American Navy Submariner (b. 1913)
2001 - Arturo Uslar Pietri, Venezuelan writer (b. 1906)
2002 - Lawrence Tierney, American actor (b. 1919)
2003 - Christian Goethals, Belgian racing driver (b. 1928)
2004 - Shankarrao Chavan, Indian politician (b. 1920)
2004 - Adolf Ehrnrooth, Finnish general (b. 1905)
2004 - Boris Trajkovski, President of the Republic of Macedonia (b. 1956)
2005 - Jef Raskin, American computer scientist (b. 1943)