1959 – British Motor Corporation introduces the Morris Mini-Minor, designed by Alec Issigonis, it was only 10 ft long but seated 4 passengers
55 B.C. – Britain was invaded by Roman forces under Julius Caesar.
1346 – Battle of Crécy, south of Calais in northern France; Edward III’s English longbows defeat Philip VI’s army, cannons used for first time in battle
1498 – Michelangelo was commissioned to make the “Pieta.”
1634 – Battle at Nordlingen Bavarian: Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II and Spanish forces defeat a force of Swedish and German protestants
1682 – English astronomer Edmond Halley first observes the comet named after him
1748 – The first Lutheran denomination in North America, the Pennsylvania Ministerium, is founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1789 – The National Constituent Assembly adopts the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen at the beginning of the French Revolution
1842 – The first fiscal year was established by the U.S. Congress to start on July 1st.
1847 – Liberia was proclaimed as an independent republic.
1873 – First free kindergarten in the U.S. started by Susan Blow in Carondelet, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri
1895 – Electric generator at Niagara Falls produces first power
1896 – Armenian Revolutionary Federation assaults the Ottoman Bank in Constantinople to draw attention to the mass-pogroms and massacres of Armenians instigated by the Ottoman Sultan Abdul-Hamid II
1896 – In the Philippines, and insurrection began against the Spanish government.
1907 – Harry Houdini escapes from chains underwater in 57 seconds, at Aquatic Park in San Francisco, California
1924 – The Catastrophe of Smyrna: known as the Asia Minor Catastrophe to Greeks. The Ottoman army expels Greeks and other non-Turks from Asia Minor.
1934 – Adolf Hitler demanded that France turn over their Saar region to Germany.
1937 – All Chinese shipping was blockaded by Japan.
1940 – Chad is the first French colony to join the Allies under the administration of Félix Éboué, France’s first black colonial governor
1942 – 7,000 Jews are rounded up in Vichy-France
1951 – Dutch professor Jacob Jongbloed demonstrates an artificial heart in Paris
1957 – It was announced that an intercontinental ballistic missile was successfully tested by the Soviet Union.
1957 – The first Edsel made by the Ford Motor Company rolled of the assembly line.
1959 – British Motor Corporation introduces the Morris Mini-Minor, designed by Alec Issigonis, it was only 10 ft long but seated 4 passengers
1966 – Namibian War of Independence Begins, The 24-year long rebellion against the South African government began with an attack by the South African Defence Force on the members of the South-West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO) at Omugulugwombashe. Namibia gained independence on 21 March 1990. Namibians observe Heroes Day annually on August 26.
1973 – A U.S. Presidential Proclamation was declared that made August 26th Women’s Equality Day.
1978 – Sigmund Jahn blasted off aboard the Russian Soyuz 31 and became the first German in space.
1981 – The U.S. claimed that North Korea fired an antiaircraft missile at a U.S. Surveillance plane while it was over South Korea.
1985 – French government denies knowledge of bombing of the Greenpeace flagship the Rainbow Warrior in Auckland New Zealand
1986 – Robert Chambers, the “Preppie Killer” murders Jennifer Levin in New York City’s Central Park, afterwards claimed “rough sex” as motive
1987 – The Fuller Brush Company announced plans to open two retail stores in Dallas, TX. The company that had sold its products door to door for 81 years.
1990 – The 55 Americans at the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait left Baghdad by car and headed for the Turkish border.
1991 – Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev promised that national elections would be held.
1992 – A “no-fly zone” was imposed on the southern 1/3 of Iraq. The move by the U.S., France and Britain was aimed at protecting Iraqi Shiite Muslims.
1997 – Beni-Ali massacre in Algeria; 60-100 people killed
1998 – The U.S. government announced that they were investigating Microsoft in an attempt to discover if they “bullied” Intel into delaying new technology.
2008 – Russia unilaterally recognizes the independence of the former Georgian breakaway republics Abkhazia and South Ossetia
2012 – 17 villagers in Afghanistan’s Kajaki district are beheaded by an unknown organization
2014 – Democratic Republic of Congo’s health ministry informs the WHO of an outbreak of Ebola; later confirmed as a different strain to that affecting west Africa
2014 – Burger King agrees to purchase Canadian donut chain Tim Hortons for $11.4 billion
2017 – Violent clashes after conviction of spiritual leader Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh kill 31 in Panchkula, 120 admitted to hospital
2018 – Gamer at a Madden NFL 19 gaming tournament in Jacksonville, Florida, loses then returns to shoot two dead and wound nine
2019 – Johnson & Johnson ordered to pay state of Oklahoma $572 million in 1st trial against opioid manufacturer
2021 – Two bomb blasts at Kabul Airport, Afghanistan, kill at least 60 people, including 12 US soldiers, amid international efforts to evacuate citizens out of the country
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
