Major Events
- 1896 Dow Jones index begins with an average of 12 industrial stocks (closing is 40.94)
- 1908 At Masjed Soleyman (مسجد سليمان) in southwest Persia, the first major commercial oil strike in the Middle East is made, rights acquired by the United Kingdom
- 1927 Henry Ford and the Ford Motor Company produce the last (and 15th million) Model T Ford / Tin Lizzie
- 1948 South Africa elects a nationalist government under D. F. Malan with an apartheid policy
- 2004 The United States Army veteran Terry Nichols is found guilty of 161 state murder charges for helping carry out the Oklahoma City bombing.
- More May 26 Events
May 26 in Film & TV
- 1913 US Actors' Equity Association forms (NYC)
May 26 in Music
- 1967 EMI rush releases The Beatles' album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" in London and select markets in the UK, prior to nation-wide release; it would go to number one for 15 weeks in the US and 22 weeks in the UK
May 26 in Sport
- 1923 Inaugural 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race for cars starts through public roads around Le Mans, France; inaugural winners: André Lagache and René Léonard (France) for Chenard & Walcker
Did You Know?
"Dracula" by Irish author Bram Stoker is published by Archibald Constable and Company in London
Clement VII
John Churchill
Henri Farman
Pieter Menten
Jack Kevorkian
Sally Ride
Al Jolson
Paul Lukas
John Wayne
Peter Cushing
Peggy Lee
Helena Bonham Carter
Isadora Duncan
Miles Davis
Stevie Nicks
Lenny Kravitz
Lauryn Hill
Bob Fitzsimmons
Mauri Rose
Fun Fact About May 26
George Willig climbs the South Tower of NYC's World Trade Center, famously fined 1 cent for each of 110 stories he climbed
Famous Weddings
- 1910 US General George S. Patton (24) weds Frederick Ayer's daughter Beatrice Ayer at Beverly Farms Episcopal Church near Boston, Massachusetts
- 1973 Prime Minister of Canada Brian Mulroney (34) weds Mila Pivnicki (19)
- 1984 Actress Annette Bening (25) weds J. Steven White
More May 26 Weddings
Samuel Pepys
Louis Mandrin
Jimmie Rodgers
Alberto Ascari
Eddie Albert
Ray LiottaArticles, Photos and Quiz
Louis Mandrin, The French Robin Hood
Louis Mandrin, an outlaw known as the French Robin Hood or the Prince of Smugglers, was executed on this day after his band of men waged war on tax collectors.
May 26, 1755
Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
One of the most famous album covers in music history, The Beatles' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band, designed by artists Peter Blake and Jann Haworth
May 26, 1967
