Events on May 26 55
Year 451
Battle of Avarayr between Armenian rebels and the Sasanian Empire takes place. The Sasanids defeat the Armenians militarily but guaranty them freedom to openly practice Christianity.
Year 946
King Edmund I of England is murdered by a thief whom he personally attacks while celebrating St Augustine's Mass Day.
Year 961
King Otto I elects his 6-year-old son Otto II as heir apparent and co-ruler of the East Frankish Kingdom. He is crowned at Aachen, and placed under the tutelage of his grandmother Matilda.
Year 1135
Alfonso VII of León and Castile is crowned in León Cathedral as Imperator totius Hispaniae (Emperor of all of Spain).
Year 1328
William of Ockham, the Franciscan Minister-General Michael of Cesena and two other Franciscan leaders secretly leave Avignon, fearing a death sentence from Pope John XXII.
Year 1538
Geneva expels John Calvin and his followers from the city. Calvin lives in exile in Strasbourg for the next three years.
Year 1573
The Battle of Haarlemmermeer, a naval engagement in the Dutch War of Independence.
Year 1637
Pequot War: A combined English and Mohegan force under John Mason attacks a village in Connecticut, massacring approximately 500 Pequots.
Year 1644
Portuguese Restoration War: Portuguese and Spanish forces both claim victory in the Battle of Montijo.
Year 1736
The Battle of Ackia was fought near the present site of Tupelo, Mississippi. British and Chickasaw soldiers repelled a French and Choctaw attack on the then-Chickasaw village of Ackia.
Year 1770
The Orlov Revolt, an attempt to revolt against the Ottoman Empire before the Greek War of Independence, ends in disaster for the Greeks.
Year 1783
A Great Jubilee Day held at North Stratford, Connecticut, celebrated the end of fighting in American Revolution.
Year 1805
Napoléon Bonaparte assumes the title of King of Italy and is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy in Milan Cathedral, the gothic cathedral in Milan.
Year 1822
One hundred sixteen people die in the Grue Church fire, the biggest fire disaster in Norway's history.
Year 1830
The Indian Removal Act is passed by the U.S. Congress; it is signed into law by President Andrew Jackson two days later.
Year 1865
American Civil War: The Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith, commander of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi division, is the last full general of the Confederate Army to surrender, at Galveston, Texas.
Year 1879
Russia and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Gandamak establishing an Afghan state.
Year 1897
The original manuscript of William Bradford's history, "Of Plymouth Plantation" is returned to the Governor of Massachusetts by the Bishop of London after being taken during the American Revolutionary War.
Year 1900
Thousand Days' War: The Colombian Conservative Party turns the tide of war in their favor with victory against the Colombian Liberal Party in the Battle of Palonegro.
Year 1908
At Masjed Soleyman in southwest Persia, the first major commercial oil strike in the Middle East is made. The rights to the resource are quickly acquired by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company.
Year 1917
Several powerful tornadoes rip through Illinois, including the city of Mattoon, killing 101 people and injuring 689.
Year 1936
In the House of Commons of Northern Ireland, Tommy Henderson begins speaking on the Appropriation Bill. By the time he sits down in the early hours of the following morning, he had spoken for ten hours.
Year 1938
In the United States, the House Un-American Activities Committee begins its first session.
Year 1940
World War II: Operation Dynamo: In northern France, Allied forces begin a massive evacuation from Dunkirk, France.
Year 1940
World War II: The Siege of Calais ends with the surrender of the British and French garrison.
Year 1948
The U.S. Congress passes Public Law 80-557, which permanently establishes the Civil Air Patrol as an auxiliary of the United States Air Force.
Year 1969
Apollo program: Apollo 10 returns to Earth after a successful eight-day test of all the components needed for the forthcoming first manned moon landing.
Year 1970
The Soviet Tupolev Tu-144 becomes the first commercial transport to exceed Mach 2.
Year 1971
Bangladesh Liberation War: The Pakistan Army slaughters at least 71 Hindus in Burunga, Sylhet, Bangladesh.
Year 1981
Italian Prime Minister Arnaldo Forlani and his coalition cabinet resign following a scandal over membership of the pseudo-masonic lodge P2 (Propaganda Due).
Year 1981
An EA-6B Prowler crashes on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, killing 14 crewmen and injuring 45 others.
Year 1983
The 7.8 Mw Sea of Japan earthquake shakes northern Honshu with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). A destructive tsunami is generated that leaves about 100 people dead.
Year 1991
Zviad Gamsakhurdia becomes the first elected President of the Republic of Georgia in the post-Soviet era.
Year 1998
The Supreme Court of the United States rules that Ellis Island, the historic gateway for millions of immigrants, is mainly in the state of New Jersey, not New York.
Year 1998
The first "National Sorry Day" was held in Australia, and reconciliation events were held nationally, and attended by over a million people.
Year 2002
The tugboat Robert Y. Love collides with a support pier of Interstate 40 on the Arkansas River near Webbers Falls, Oklahoma, resulting in 14 deaths and 11 others injured.
Year 2004
United States Army veteran Terry Nichols is found guilty of 161 state murder charges for helping carry out the Oklahoma City bombing.
Year 2008
Severe flooding begins in eastern and southern China that will ultimately cause 148 deaths and force the evacuation of 1.3 million.
Year ?
Julius Caesar visits Tarsus on his way to Pontus, where he meets enthusiastic support, but where, according to Cicero, Cassius is planning to kill him at this point.
Year ?
Germanicus returns to Rome as a conquering hero; he celebrates a triumph for his victories over the Cherusci, Chatti and other German tribes west of the Elbe.