Wikipedia defines history as the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. It came from the Greek word ‘historia’ – which means ‘inquiry, knowledge acquired by investigation’.
Did you know? There are many who claim Herodotus, a fifth century BC Greek historian, as the “father of history”.
This website utilizes pages from Wikipedia to extract historical events from 3761 BC up to the present. There are 105,060 records in the database that include events, births and deaths of popular individuals. The present day Gregorian calendar was adopted to show dates of interest.
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What are the important events that happened on April 26? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
April 26: Facts & Myths About This Day
April 26 is the 117th day of the year 2024 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 249 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Friday.
Under the Julian calendar, this day is April 13, 2024 – a Friday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?
When this day started, 476,136 hours has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.
Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘hectadecaheptagon’ day.
Taurus is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Diamond is the modern birthstone for this month. Opal is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.
According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 278 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.
The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,144 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.
Are you not curious to find out some fun facts about your birthday? Find out ‘who shares my birthday’ and what was the number one song on your day of birth. (Sponsored link)
April 26 Historical Events
- 1933 –The Gestapo, the official secret police force of Nazi Germany, is established.
- 1945 –World War II: Battle of Bautzen – last successful German tank-offensive of the war and last noteworthy victory of the Wehrmacht.
- 1963 –In Libya, amendments to the constitution transform Libya (United Kingdom of Libya) into one national unity (Kingdom of Libya) and allows for female participation in elections.
- 1994 –China Airlines flight 140 crashes at Nagoya Airport in Japan, killing 264 of the 271 people on board.
- 2002 –Robert Steinhäuser infiltrates and kills 17 at Gutenberg-Gymnasium in Erfurt, Germany before dying of a self-inflicted gunshot.
Who were born on April 26?
- 1774 –Christian Leopold von Buch, German geologist (d. 1853)
- 1804 –Charles Goodyear, American politician (d. 1876)
- 1962 –Colin Anderson, British footballer
- 1974 –Ivana Milicevic, Croatian-American actress
- 1991 –Ignacio Lores Varela, Uruguayan footballer
Who died on April 26?
- 1444 –Robert Campin, Flemish painter (b. 1378)
- 1852 –Charles Athanase Walckenaer, French naturalist (b. 25 December 1771)
- 1981 –Jim Davis, American actor (b. 1909)
- 2003 –Peter Stone, American writer (b. 1930)
- 2007 –Jack Valenti, American political advisor and film executive (b. 1921)
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