26 February 2023 (MIA)

747 BC – Epoch (origin) of Ptolemy’s Nabonassar Era.

364 – Valentinian I is proclaimed Roman emperor.

1233 – Mongol–Jin War: The Mongols capture Kaifeng, the capital of the Jin dynasty, after besieging it for months.

1266 – Battle of Benevento: An army led by Charles, Count of Anjou, defeats a combined German and Sicilian force led by Manfred, King of Sicily. Manfred is killed in the battle and Pope Clement IV invests Charles as king of Sicily and Naples.

1616 – Galileo Galilei is formally banned by the Roman Catholic Church from teaching or defending the view that the earth orbits the sun.

1794 – The first Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen burns down.

1815 – Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from Elba.

1876 – Japan and Korea sign a treaty granting Japanese citizens extraterritoriality rights, opening three ports to Japanese trade, and ending Korea’s status as a tributary state of Qing dynasty China.

1909 – Kinemacolor, the first successful color motion picture process, is first shown to the general public at the Palace Theatre in London.

1914 – HMHS Britannic, sister to the RMS Titanic, is launched at Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast.

1919 – President Woodrow Wilson signs an act of Congress establishing the Grand Canyon National Park.

1929 – President Calvin Coolidge signs an executive order establishing the 96,000 acre Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

1935 – Adolf Hitler orders the Luftwaffe to be re-formed, violating the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles.

1935 – Robert Watson-Watt carries out a demonstration near Daventry which leads 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 – Vincent Massey is sworn in as the first Canadian-born Governor General of Canada.

1960 – A New York-bound Alitalia airliner crashes into a cemetery in Shannon, Ireland, shortly after takeoff, killing 34 of the 52 persons on board.

1966 – Apollo program: Launch of AS-201, the first flight of the Saturn IB rocket

1971 – U.N. Secretary-General U Thant signs United Nations proclamation of the vernal equinox as Earth Day.

1979 – The Superliner railcar enters revenue service with Amtrak.

1980 – Egypt and Israel establish full diplomatic relations.

1987 – Iran–Contra affair: The Tower Commission rebukes President Ronald Reagan for not controlling his national security staff.

1992 – Bosnia and Herzegovina recognizes the Republic of Macedonia.

1992 – Nagorno-Karabakh War: Khojaly Massacre: Armenian armed forces open fire on Azeri civilians at a military post outside the town of Khojaly leaving hundreds dead.

1993 – World Trade Center bombing: In New York City, a truck bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center explodes, killing six and injuring over a thousand.

1995 – The UK’s oldest investment banking institute, Barings Bank, collapses after a rogue securities broker Nick Leeson loses $1.4 billion by speculating on the Singapore International Monetary Exchange using futures contracts.

2004 – Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski and eight of his associates and crew members were killed in a plane crash 15 kilometers south of Mostar, in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

2008 – The New York Philharmonic performs in Pyongyang, North Korea; this is the first event of its kind to take place in North Korea.

2012 – A train derails in Burlington, Ontario, Canada killing at least three people and injuring 45.

2013 – A hot air balloon crashes near Luxor, Egypt, killing 19 people.

2016 – Niko Nestor, the first Macedonian to swim Lake Ohrid and the English Channel (La Manche) passed away at the age of 81.