August 26

2025 Calendar

August 26 is the 238th day of the year (239th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 127 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

Up to 1900

303 – Alexander of Bergamo, Italian Catholic saint.
526 – Theodoric the Great, Ostrogoth King.
887 – Emperor Koko of Japan (b. 830).
1214 – Patriarch Michael IV of Constantinople
1278 – King Ottokar II of Bohemia
1346 – Killed in the Battle of Crécy:
- Charles II of Alençon (b. 1297)
- Louis I of Flanders (b. 1304)
- John I, Count of Luxemburg (b. 1296)
- Rudolph, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1320)
1349 – Thomas Bradwardine, Archbishop of Canterbury
1551 – Margareta Leijonhufvud, queen of Gustav I of Sweden (b. 1516)
1572 – Petrus Ramus, French philosopher (b. 1515)
1595 – Antonio, Prior of Crato, claimant to the throne of Portugal (b. 1531)
1607 – Giorgio Basta, Habsburg general (b. 1550).
1666 – Frans Hals, Dutch painter
1714 – Edward Fowler, English Bishop of Gloucester (b. 1632)
1723 – Anton van Leeuwenhoek, Dutch scientist (b. 1632)
1785 – George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville, British soldier and politician (b. 1716)
1795 – Alessandro Cagliostro, Italian alchemist and adventurer (b. 1743)
1810 – Santiago Liniers, Viceroy of Rio de la Plata (b. 1753)
1850 – Louis-Philippe I of France (b. 1773)
1865 – Johann Franz Encke, German astronomer (b. 1791)

1901 – 2000

1902 – George Hoadly, 36th Governor of Ohio (b. 1826).
1910 – William James, American psychologist and philosopher (b. 1842).
1915 – John Bunny American comedian (b. 1863)
1921 – Matthias Erzberger, German politician (b. 1875).
1921 – Ludwig Thoma, German writer (b. 1867).
1921 – Sandor Wekerle, Prime Minister of Hungary (b. 1848).
1930 – Lon Chaney, Sr., American actor (b. 1883)
1944 – Adam von Trott zu Solz, German diplomat opposing the Nazi regime (executed) (b. 1909)
1945 – Franz Werfel, Austrian writer (b. 1890)
1946 – Jeanie MacPherson, American actress and screenwriter (b. 1887)
1956 – Alfred Wagenknecht, German-born American activist (b. 1881).
1958 – Ralph Vaughan Williams, English composer (b. 1872)
1962 – Vilhjalmur Stefansson, Icelandic-Canadian explorer (b. 1879)
1968 – Kay Francis, American actress (b. 1899)
1972 – Francis Chichester, British sailor and adventurer (b. 1901).
1974 – Charles Lindbergh, American aviator (b. 1902)
1976 – Lotte Lehmann, German soprano (b. 1888)
1977 – H. A. Rey, German-American author and illustrator (b. 1898).
1978 – Charles Boyer, French actor (b. 1899)
1978 – José Manuel Moreno, Argentine footballer (b. 1916)
1979 – Mika Waltari, Finnish writer (b. 1908)
1980 – Rosa Albach-Retty, German actress (b. 1874)
1980 – Tex Avery, American cartoonist (b. 1908)
1981 – Roger Nash Baldwin, founder of the American Civil Liberties Union (b. 1884)
1986 – Ted Knight, American actor (b. 1923)
1987 – Georg Wittig, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)
1987 – John Goddard, Barbadian-English cricketer (b. 1919)
1988 – Carlos Paião, Portuguese singer (b. 1957)
1989 – Irving Stone, American writer (b. 1903)
1990 – Minoru Honda, Japanese astronomer (b. 1913)
1992 – Bob de Moor, Belgian comic artist (b. 1925)
1998 – Frederick Reines, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
2000 – Bunny Austin, British tennis player (b. 1906).

From 2001

2001 – Marita Petersen, 8th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (b. 1940).
2003 – Jim Wacker, American football coach (b. 1937)
2004 – Laura Branigan, American singer (b. 1952)
2005 – Robert Denning, Interior designer (b. 1927)
2006 – Rainer Barzel, German politician (b. 1924)
2007 – Gaston Thorn, Luxembourg politician (b. 1928)
2010 – Raimon Panikkar, Spanish theologian (b. 1918)
2010 – William B. Lenoir, American astronaut (b. 1939)
2011 – George Band, British mountaineer (b. 1929)
2011 – Aloysius Ambrozic, Slovenian-born Canadian Roman Catholic Archbishop of Toronto (b. 1930)
2013 – John J. Gilligan, 62nd Governor of Ohio (b. 1921)
2014 – Christian Bourquin, French politician (b. 1954)
2014 – Simon Featherstone, British diplomat (b. 1958)
2014 – Peter Bacon Hales, American historian and photographer (b. 1950)
2014 – Samuel Sadela, Nigerian pastor, claimant to world's oldest man title (b. either in or after 1900)
2014 – Lars Mortimer, Swedish comic artist (b. 1946)
2015 – Peter Kern, Austrian actor and filmmaker (b. 1949)
2015 – Amelia Boynton Robinson, American civil rights activist (b. 1911)
2015 – Alison Parker, American journalist (b. 1991)
2015 – Adam Ward, American cameraman (b. 1988)
2015 – Vester Flanagan, American gunman (b. 1973)
2017 – Tobe Hooper, American film director and novelist (b. 1943)
2017 – Grzegorz Miecugow, Polish television news presenter and columnist (b. 1955)
2017 – Josef Musil, Czech volleyball player (b. 1932)
2017 – Wilson das Neves, Brazilian percussionist and singer (b. 1936)
2017 – Horacio White, Argentine swimmer (b. 1927)
2018 – Rosa Bouglione, French circus performer (b. 1910)
2018 – Kerry Hill, Australian architect (b. 1943)
2018 – Tony Hiller, British songwriter (b. 1927)
2018 – Neil Simon, American playwright (b. 1927)

Births

1901 – 1950

1901 – Chen Yi, Chinese Communist military commander and politician (d. 1972).
1901 – Maxwell D. Taylor, American army officer (d. 1987).
1901 – Eleanor Dark, Australian writer (d. 1985).
1903 – Jimmy Rushing, American singer and pianist (d. 1972).
1904 – Christopher Isherwood, English writer (d. 1986).
1906 – Albert Sabin, Polish-American polio researcher (d. 1993).
1906 – Bunny Austin, British tennis player (d. 2000).
1908 – Jacques-Paul Martin, French cardinal (d. 1992).
1909 – Jim Davis, American actor (d. 1981).
1910 – Mother Theresa, Catholic nun and missionary, Nobel Prize winner (d. 1997).
1913 – Boris Pahor, Slovenian writer.
1914 – Julio Cortazar, Argentine author (d. 1984).
1918 – Katherine Johnson, American physicist, mathematician and space scientist
1920 – Prem Tinsulanonda, 16th Prime Minister of Thailand.
1921 – Benjamin C. Bradlee, American journalist (d. 2014).
1923 – Wolfgang Sawallisch, German conductor and pianist (d. 2013).
1924 – Jacques Villiers, French aerospace engineer (d. 2012).
1925 – Alain Peyrefitte, French politician (d. 1999).
1925 – Pyotr Todorovsky, Ukrainian-Russian director and screenwriter (d. 2013).
1926 – Anahit Tsitsikian, Armenian violinist (d. 2007).
1928 – Santiago Vernazza, Argentine footballer (d. 2017).
1929 – Reuben Kamanga, 1st Vice president of Zambia (d. 1996).
1929 – Yoga Bhajan, Indian yoga teacher (d. 2004).
1932 – Lygia Bojunga Nunes, Brazilian writer.
1933 – Robert Chartoff, American movie producer (d. 2015).
1935 – Karen Sparck Jones, British computer scientist (d. 2007).
1935 – Geraldine Ferraro, American lawyer and politician (d. 2011).
1936 – Benedict Anderson, American political scientist (d. 2015).
1936 – Francine York, American actress (d. 2017).
1937 – Nina Companeez, French screenwriter and movie director (d. 2015).
1937 – Gennady Yanayev, Soviet politician (d. 2010).
1938 – Jet Black, English musician (The Stranglers).
1939 – Todor Kolev, Bulgarian actor and singer (d. 2013).
1940 – Don LaFontaine, American voice actor (d. 2008).
1941 – Akiko Wakabayashi, Japanese actress.
1941 – Barbet Schroeder, French director, actor and producer.
1941 – Chris Curtis, British musician.
1942 – Vic Dana, American singer and dancer.
1944 – Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, member of the extended British royal family.
1944 – Maurice Tucker, American singer-songwriter and drummer.
1945 – Tom Ridge, American politician.
1946 – Alison Steadman, English actress.
1946 – Valerie Simpson, American singer.
1946 – Zhou Ji, Chinese politician.
1946 – Chantal Renaud, Canadian actress, singer and scriptwriter.
1947 – Nicolae Dobrin, Romanian footballer (d. 2007).
1949 – Leon Redbone, Canadian singer and guitarist.

1951 – 1975

1951 – Edward Witten, American physicist.
1952 – Michael Jeter, American actor (d. 2003).
1954 – Steve Wright, British DJ.
1956 – Brett Cullen, American actor.
1957 – Rick Hansen, Canadian athlete.
1957 – Dr. Alban, Nigerian-born Swedish singer and musician.
1958 – Nichi Vendola, Italian politician.
1959 – Oliver Colvile, English politician.
1960 – Branford Marsalis, American musician.
1962 – Roger Kingdom, American athlete.
1962 – Tariq Ramadan, Swiss academic, philosopher and writer.
1963 – Ludger Beerbaum, German equestrian showjumper.
1963 – Stephen J. Dubner, American journalist.
1964 – Daphne Caruana Galizia, Maltese blogger and journalist (d. 2017).
1964 – Allegra Huston, English-American writer and editor.
1965 – Chris Burke, American actor.
1965 – Marcus du Sautoy, British mathematics professor.
1966 – Shirley Manson, British singer.
1966 – Jacques Brinkman, Dutch field hockey player.
1967 – Michael Gove, British politician.
1968 – Chris Boardman, British racing cyclist.
1969 – Adrian Young, American rock musician.
1970 – Melissa McCarthy, American actress.
1970 – Brett Schultz, South African cricketer.
1971 – Thalia, Mexican singer.
1974 – Kelvin Cato, American basketball player.

From 1976

1976 – Amaia Montero, Spanish singer-songwriter.
1977 – Morris Peterson, American basketball player.
1979 – Cristian Mora, Ecuadorean footballer.
1980 – Macaulay Culkin, American actor.
1980 – Chris Pine, American actor.
1981 – Vangelis Moras, Greek footballer.
1982 – Noah Welch, American ice hockey player.
1983 – Mattia Cassani, Italian footballer.
1983 – Nicol David, Malaysian squash player.
1985 – Brandon McDonald, American football player.
1986 – Cassie, American singer.
1986 – Colin Kazim-Richards, Turkish footballer.
1987 – Greg Halman, Dutch baseball player (d. 2011).
1988 – Princess Maria Laura of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este.
1988 – Lars Stindl, German footballer.
1988 – Wayne Simmonds, Canadian ice hockey player.
1989 – James Harden, American basketball player.
1989 – Héloïse Guérin, French model.
1990 – Lil' Chris, English singer (d. 2015).
1991 – Tommy Bastow, English actor and singer.
1991 – Jessica Diggins, American cross-country skier.
1992 – Yang Yilin, Chinese gymnast.
1992 – Hayley Hasselhoff, American actress.
1993 – Keke Palmer, American actress.
1994 – Taylor Bright, American singer and actress.

Deaths

Observances

Saint Alexander of Bergamo, martyr
Heroes Day (Namibia)
Women's Equality Day (United States)
Repentance Day (Papua New Guinea)