On This Day: January 26

Vicente Yáñez Pinzón becomes the first European to set foot on Brazil.

The Lisbon earthquake kills about thirty thousand people.

The Council of Trent establishes an official distinction between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Tsardom of Russia in the Battle of Ula during the Livonian War.

Battle of Talikota, fought between the Vijayanagara Empire and the Deccan sultanates, leads to the subjugation, and eventual destruction of the last Hindu kingdom in India, and the consolidation of Islamic rule over much of the Indian subcontinent.

For the first time, the Ottoman Empire permanently cedes territory to the Christian powers.

The Cascadia earthquake takes place off the west coast of North America, as evidenced by Japanese records.

Stanislaus I of Poland abdicates his throne.

The British First Fleet, led by Arthur Phillip, sails into Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) to establish Sydney, the first permanent European settlement on the continent. Commemorated as Australia Day.

The Rum Rebellion is the only successful (albeit short-lived) armed takeover of the government in Australia.