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Events on August 26 34

Year 683

Yazid I's army kills 11,000 people of Medina including notable Sahabas in Battle of al-Harrah.

Year 1071

The Seljuq Turks defeat the Byzantine army at the Battle of Manzikert, and soon gain control of most of Anatolia.

Year 1278

Ladislaus IV of Hungary and Rudolf I of Germany defeat Ottokar II of Bohemia in the Battle on the Marchfeld near Dürnkrut in (then) Moravia.

Year 1303

Alauddin Khalji captures Chittorgarh.

Year 1346

Hundred Years' War: The military supremacy of the English longbow over the French combination of crossbow and armoured knights is established at the Battle of Crécy.

Year 1444

Battle of St. Jakob an der Birs: A vastly outnumbered force of Swiss Confederates is defeated by the Dauphin Louis (future Louis XI of France) and his army of 'Armagnacs' near Basel.

Year 1498

Michelangelo is commissioned to carve the Pietà.

Year 1542

Francisco de Orellana navigated the Amazon River, reaching the Atlantic Ocean.

Year 1748

The first Lutheran denomination in North America, the Pennsylvania Ministerium, is founded in Philadelphia.

Year 1768

Captain James Cook sets sail from England on board HMS Endeavour.

Year 1778

The first recorded ascent of Triglav, the highest mountain in Slovenia.

Year 1789

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen is approved by the National Constituent Assembly of France.

Year 1791

John Fitch is granted a United States patent for the steamboat.

Year 1810

The former viceroy Santiago de Liniers of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata is executed after the defeat of his counter-revolution.

Year 1813

War of the Sixth Coalition: An impromptu battle takes place when French and Prussian-Russian forces accidentally run into each other near Liegnitz, Prussia (now Legnica, Poland).

Year 1814

Chilean War of Independence: Infighting between the rebel forces of José Miguel Carrera and Bernardo O'Higgins erupts in the Battle of Las Tres Acequias.

Year 1883

The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa begins its final, paroxysmal, stage.

Year 1914

World War I: The German colony of Togoland surrenders to French and British forces after a 20-day campaign.

Year 1914

World War I: During the retreat from Mons, the British II Corps commanded by General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien fought a vigorous and successful defensive action at Le Cateau.

Year 1920

The 19th amendment to United States Constitution takes effect, giving women the right to vote.

Year 1922

Greco-Turkish War (1919-22): Turkish army launched what has come to be known to the Turks as the "Great Offensive" (Büyük Taarruz). The major Greek defense positions were overrun.

Year 1940

Chad becomes the first French colony to join the Allies under the administration of Félix Éboué, France's first black colonial governor.

Year 1942

At Chortkiv, the Ukrainian police and German Schutzpolizei deport two thousand Jews to Bełżec extermination camp. Five hundred of the sick and children are murdered on the spot. This continued until the next day.

Year 1944

World War II: Charles de Gaulle enters Paris.

Year 1966

The South African Border War starts with the battle at Omugulugwombashe.

Year 1970

A new feminist movement leads a nationwide Women's Strike for Equality.

Year 1977

The Charter of the French Language is adopted by the National Assembly of Quebec

Year 1978

Papal conclave: Albino Luciani is elected as Pope John Paul I.

Year 1980

After John Birges plants a bomb at Harvey's Resort Hotel in Stateline, Nevada, in the United States, the FBI inadvertently detonates the bomb during its disarming.

Year 1997

Beni Ali massacre occurs in Algeria, leaving 60 to 100 people dead.

Year 1999

Russia begins the Second Chechen War in response to the Invasion of Dagestan by the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade.

Year 2009

Kidnapping victim Jaycee Dugard is discovered alive in California after being missing for over 18 years.

Year 2011

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Boeing's all-new composite airliner, receives certification from the EASA and the FAA.

Year 2015

Two U.S. journalists are shot and killed by a disgruntled former coworker while conducting a live report in Moneta, Virginia.

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