February 26

2024 Calendar

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).

Events

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)

Births

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 author (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

Deaths

Observances

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