February 26

February 26 in recent years

2025 (Wednesday)

2024 (Monday)

2023 (Sunday)

2022 (Saturday)

2021 (Friday)

2020 (Wednesday)

2019 (Tuesday)

2018 (Monday)

2017 (Sunday)

2016 (Friday)

February 26 is the 57th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 308 days remaining until the end of the year (309 in leap years).

Up to 1900

• 420 – Porphyry of Gaza, Greek bishop and saint (b. 347)
• 1154 – King Roger II of Sicily (b. 1093)
• 1266 – King Manfred of Sicily (b. 1232)
• 1360 – Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March, English military leader (b. 1328)
• 1577 – King Eric XIV of Sweden (b. 1533)
• 1611 – Antonio Possevino, Italian Jesuit humanist, diplomat and bibliographer
• 1726 – Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria (b. 1662)
• 1770 – Giuseppe Tartini, Italian composer (b. 1692)
• 1813 – Robert Livingston, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1746)
• 1815 – Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg Saalfeld (b. 1737)
• 1864 – Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, Canadian politician (b. 1807)
• 1883 – Alexandros Koumoundouros, Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1817)
• 1889 – Karl Davydov, Russian cellist and composer (b. 1838)

1901 – 2000

• 1903 – Richard Jordan Gatling, American inventor (b. 1818)
• 1909 – Hermann Ebbinghaus, German philosopher (b. 1850)
• 1931 – Otto Wallach, German chemist (b. 1847)
• 1933 – Princess Thyra of Denmark (b. 1853)
• 1936 – Saito Makoto, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1858)
• 1936 – Takahashi Korekiyo, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1854)
• 1942 – Tommaso Pio Boggiani, Italian cardinal (b. 1863)
• 1950 – Harry Lauder, Scottish entertainer (b. 1870)
• 1952 – Theodoros Pangalos, Greek interim leader (b. 1878)
• 1961 – King Mohammed V of Morocco (b. 1909)
• 1964 – Homer Martin Atkins, American politician, 32nd Governor of Arkansas (b. 1890)
• 1966 – Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Indian freedom fighter and writer (b. 1883)
• 1969 – Karl Jaspers, German psychiatrist (b. 1883)
• 1969 – Levi Eshkol, Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1895)
• 1971 – Fernandel, French actor (b. 1903)
• 1981 – Howard Hanson, American composer (b. 1896)
• 1985 – Tjalling Koopmans, Dutch economist (b. 1910)
• 1989 – Roy Eldridge, American musician (b. 1911)
• 1994 – Bill Hicks, American comedian (b. 1961)
• 1995 – Jack Clayton, British movie director (b. 1921)
• 1998 – Theodore Schultz, American economist (b. 1902)
• 1998 – James Algar, American director, screenwriter and producer (b. 1912)

From 2001

• 2001 – Arturo Uslar Pietri, Venezuelan writer (b. 1906)
• 2002 – Lawrence Tierney, American actor (b. 1919)
• 2004 – Boris Trajkovski, President of Macedonia (b. 1956)
• 2004 – Shankarrao Chavan, Indian politician (b. 1929)
• 2009 – Ruth Drexel, German actress (b. 1930)
• 2009 – Wendy Richard, British actress (b. 1943)
• 2009 – Norm Van Lier, American basketball player (b. 1947)
• 2011 – Arnost Lustig, Czech writer (b. 1926)
• 2012 – Trayvon Martin, American teenager (shot) (b. 1995)
• 2013 – Marie-Claire Alain, French organist and teacher (b. 1926)
• 2013 – Stéphane Hessel, German–born French writer, diplomat and Resistance activist (b. 1917)
• 2014 – Sorel Etrog, Romanian–Canadian sculptor, painter and illustrator (b. 1935)
• 2014 – Gordon Nutt, English footballer (b. 1932)
• 2014 – Tim Wilson, American comedian and country music singer (b. 1961)
• 2015 – Theodore Hesburgh, American professor and Roman Catholic priest (b. 1917)
• 2015 – Martha Cohen, Canadian philanthropist (b. 1920)
• 2015 – Fritz J. Raddatz, German writer (b. 1931)
• 2015 – Avijit Roy, Bangladeshi/American blogger
• 2015 – Tom Schweich, American politician (b. 1961)
• 2015 – Earl Lloyd, American basketball player (b. 1925)
• 2016 – Andy Bathgate, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1932)
• 2016 – Don Getty, Canadian politician, Premier of Alberta (b. 1933)
• 2016 – Eri Klas, Estonian conductor (b. 1939)
• 2016 – Karl Dedecius, Polish–German translator (b. 1921)
• 2017 – Ludvig Faddeev, Russian physicist and mathematician (b. 1934)
• 2017 – Gerald Kaufman, English politician (b. 1930)
• 2017 – Joseph Wapner, American judge and television personality (b. 1913)
• 2017 – Eugene Garfield, American linguist (b. 1925)
• 2017 – Ned Garver, American baseball player (b. 1925)
• 2017 – Preben Hertoft, Danish sexologist (b. 1928)
• 2018 – Mies Bouwman, Dutch television presenter (b. 1929)
• 2018 – Giorgi Maisashvili, Georgian economist and politician (b. 1962)

Up to 1800

• 1361 – Wenceslaus, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia (d. 1419)
• 1416 – Christopher of Bavaria, King of Denmark (d. 1448)
• 1564 – Christopher Marlowe, English dramatist (d. 1593)
• 1584 – Albert VI of Bavaria (d. 1666)
• 1587 – Stefano Landi, Italian composer (d. 1639)
• 1671 – Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, English politician and philosopher (d. 1713)
• 1672 – Antoine Augustine Calmet, French theologian (d. 1757)
• 1677 – Nicolas Fago, Italian composer and teacher (d. 1745)
• 1718 – Johan Ernst Gunnerus, Norwegian bishop, botanist and zoologist (d. 1773)
• 1720 – Gian Francesco Albani, Italian cardinal (d. 1803)
• 1724 – Gottfried Heinrich Bach, son of Johann Sebastian Bach (d. 1763)
• 1732 – Francis Marion, American Revolutionary officer (d. 1795)
• 1746 – Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria (d. 1806)
• 1770 – Anton Reicha, Bohemian composer and flautist (d. 1836)
• 1777 – Matija Nenadovic, Serbian uprising leader (d. 1854)
• 1786 – François Arago, Catalan–French physicist and politician (d. 1853)

1801 – 1900

• 1802 – Victor Hugo, French writer (d. 1885)
• 1808 – Honoré Daumier, French painter, illustrator and sculptor (d. 1879)
• 1814 – Charles-Joseph Sainte-Claire Deville, French geologist (d. 1876)
• 1829 – Levi Strauss, German–born clothing designer (d. 1902)
• 1838 – Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, Romanian writer and philologist (d. 1907)
• 1842 – Camille Flammarion, French astronomer and writer (d. 1952)
• 1846 – Buffalo Bill, American bison hunter and showman (d. 1917)
• 1852 – John Harvey Kellogg, American physician (d. 1943)
• 1861 – King Ferdinand of Bulgaria (d. 1939)
• 1866 – Herbert Henry Dow, American chemical industrialist (d. 1930)
• 1869 – Nadezhda Krupskaya, Russian revolutionary, wife of Vladimir Lenin (d. 1939)
• 1875 – Richard Wetz, German composer and conductor (d. 1935)
• 1877 – Henry Barwell, Australian politician, 28th Premier of South Australia (d. 1959)
• 1877 – Rudolph Dirks, German–American illustrator (d. 1968)
• 1879 – Frank Bridge, English composer (d. 1941)
• 1880 – Kenneth Edgeworth, Irish astronomer (d. 1972)
• 1881 – Janus Djurhuus, Faroese poet (d. 1948)
• 1882 – Husband E. Kimmel, American admiral (d. 1968)
• 1884 – Francesco Borgongini Duca, Italian cardinal (d. 1954)
• 1885 – Aleksandras Stulginskis, President of Lithuania (d. 1969)
• 1887 – Stefan Grabinski, Polish writer (d. 1936)
• 1887 – Grover Cleveland Alexander, American baseball player (d. 1950)
• 1891 – Carlo Carcano, Italian footballer and coach (d. 1965)
• 1893 – Wallace Fard Muhammad, American religious leader (d. 1934)
• 1896 – Andrei Alexandrovich Zhdanov, Soviet politician and ideologist (d. 1948)
• 1899 – Max Petitpierre, Swiss politician (d. 1994)
• 1900 – Halina Konopacka, Polish athlete (d. 1989)

1901 – 1925

• 1902 – Jean Bruller, French writer, caricaturist and resistance activist (d. 1991)
• 1903 – Giulio Natta, Italian chemist (d. 1979)
• 1906 – Madeleine Carroll, English actress (d. 1987)
• 1906 – Egidio Vagnozzi, Italian cardinal (d. 1980)
• 1908 – Tex Avery, American cartoonist (d. 1980)
• 1909 – Gunnar Andersen, Norwegian ski jumper (d. 1988)
• 1909 – King Talal of Jordan (d. 1972)
• 1909 – Fanny Cradock, British cookery writer and television presenter (d. 1994)
• 1911 – Taro Okamoto, Japanese avant–garde artist (d. 1996)
• 1912 – Dane Clark, American actor and director (d. 1998)
• 1914 – Robert Alda, American actor (d. 1986)
• 1916 – Jackie Gleason, American actor and producer (d. 1987)
• 1917 – Robert Taft, Jr., American politician (d. 1993)
• 1918 – Pyotr Masherov, Soviet–Belarussian politician (d. 1980)
• 1918 – Otis R. Bowen, 44th Governor of Indiana and United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (d. 2013)
• 1918 – Theodore Sturgeon, American writer (d. 1985)
• 1920 – Lucjan Woldanowski, Polish journalist, writer and traveler (d. 2006)
• 1920 – Tony Randall, American actor (d. 2004)
• 1921 – Betty Hutton, American actress (d. 2007)
• 1922 – Karl Aage Praest, Danish footballer (d. 2011)
• 1922 – William Baumol, American economist (d. 2017)
• 1924 – Noboru Takeshita, Japanese politician (d. 2000)
• 1924 – Marc Bucci, American composer, lyricist and dramatist (d. 2002)
• 1925 – Everton Weekes, Barbadian cricketer

1926 – 1950

• 1926 – Verne Gagne, American wrestler and football player (d. 2015)
• 1926 – Henry Molaison, American memory disorder patient (d. 2008)
• 1928 – Anatoly Filipchenko, Soviet cosmonaut
• 1928 – Fats Domino, American musician (d. 2017)
• 1928 – Odo Marquard, German philosopher (d. 2015)
• 1928 – Ariel Sharon, Prime Minister of Israel (d. 2014)
• 1930 – Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina, Algerian movie director and screenwriter
• 1931 – Ally MacLeod, Scottish footballer (d. 2004)
• 1931 – Robert Novak, American journalist and writer (d. 2009)
• 1932 – Johnny Cash, American singer (d. 2003)
• 1934 – Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina, Algerian director, producer and screenwriter
• 1936 – José Policarpo, Roman Catholic Patriarch of Lisbon (d. 2014)
• 1937 – Cliff Osmond, American actor (d. 2012)
• 1939 – Josephine Tewson, English actress
• 1940 – Whitney Smith, American vexillologist (someone who studies flags) (d. 2016)
• 1942 – Jozef Adamec, Slovakian footballer
• 1943 – Bill Duke, American actor and director
• 1943 – Darcus Howe, Trinidad–born British broadcaster, writer and activist (d. 2017)
• 1943 – Charles P. Thacker, American computer designer (d. 2017)
• 1944 – Ronald Lauder, President of the World Jewish Congress
• 1945 – Tony deBrum, Marshallese politician (d. 2017)
• 1945 – Mitch Ryder, American rock musician
• 1946 – Ahmed Zewail, Egyptian chemist (d. 2016)
• 1946 – Bobby "Bingo" Smith, American basketball player
• 1947 – Sandie Shaw, British singer
• 1948 – David Edgar, British playwright
• 1949 – Elizabeth George, American writer
• 1949 – Emma Kirkby, British singer
• 1949 – Lynda Clark, Baroness Clark of Calton, British politician
• 1950 – Helen Clark, 37th Prime Minister of New Zealand
• 1950 – Jonathan Cain, American musician
• 1950 – Don Shanks, American actor and stuntman

1951 – 1975

• 1951 – Steve Bell, English cartoonist
• 1951 – Wayne Goss, Australian politician, 34th Premier of Queensland (d. 2014)
• 1952 – Jaan Arder, Estonian singer (d. 2014)
• 1953 – Michael Bolton, American singer
• 1954 – Leon de Winter, Dutch writer
• 1954 – Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkey
• 1954 – Ernst August, Prince of Hanover, German aristocrat, married into the Monegasque royal family
• 1955 – Andreas Maislinger, Austrian historian
• 1956 – Kevin Dunn, American actor
• 1956 – Michel Houellebecq, French writer
• 1957 – Joe Mullen, American ice hockey player
• 1957 – David Muldrow, American politician, 113th Governor of South Carolina
• 1958 – Tim Kaine, American politician, former Governor of Virginia
• 1958 – Susan Helms, American astronaut
• 1958 – Greg Germann, American actor
• 1959 – Rolando Blackman, Panamanian basketball player
• 1959 – Ahmet Davutoglu, former Prime Minister of Turkey
• 1962 – Ahn Cheol-soo, South Korean politician, businessman and software entrepreneur
• 1963 – Chase Masterson, American actress and singer
• 1964 – Mark Dacascos, American actor and martial artist
• 1966 – Marc Fortier, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1966 – Garry Conille, 14th Prime Minister of Haiti
• 1966 – Najwa Karam, Lebanese singer-songwriter and producer
• 1967 – Kazuyoshi Miura, Japanese footballer
• 1968 – Robin Ammerlaan, Dutch wheelchair tennis player
• 1969 – Hitoshi Sakimoto, Japanese composer
• 1969 – Steve Agee, American actor and comedian
• 1970 – Mark Harper, English politician
• 1971 – Erykah Badu, American singer
• 1972 – Jonny Quinn, Northern Irish musician (Snow Patrol)
• 1973 – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Norwegian footballer and coach
• 1973 – Marshall Faulk, American football player
• 1973 – Jenny Thompson, American swimmer
• 1974 – Sébastien Loeb, French World–Champion rally driver

From 1976

• 1977 – Shane Williams, Welsh rugby player
• 1977 – Tim Thomas, American basketball player
• 1978 – Abdoulaye Diagne-Faye, Senegalese footballer
• 1979 – Corinne Bailey Rae, British singer
• 1979 – Pedro Mendes, Portuguese footballer
• 1980 – Steve Blake, American basketball player
• 1981 – Chris Thile, American musician
• 1982 – Li Na, Chinese tennis player
• 1982 – Matt Prior, English cricketer
• 1983 – Pepe, Brazilian–Portuguese footballer
• 1984 – Emmanuel Adebayor, Togolese footballer
• 1984 – Alex de Angelis, Sammarinese motorcycle racer
• 1984 – Natalia Lafourcade, Mexican singer-songwriter
• 1985 – Gee Atherton, English mountain biker
• 1985 – Miki Fujimoto, Japanese singer (Morning Musume)
• 1985 – Fernando Llorente, Spanish footballer
• 1986 – Hannah Kearney, American skier
• 1986 – Leila Lopes, Angolan model
• 1986 – Teresa Palmer, Australian model and actress
• 1989 – Gabriel Obertan, French footballer
• 1991 – CL, South Korean singer-songwriter and dancer
• 1991 – Kevin Plawecki, American baseball player
• 1992 – Mikael Granlund, Finnish ice hockey player
• 1993 – Taylor Dooley, American actress

Observances

• Liberation Day in Kuwait
• Savior's Day (Nation of Islam)