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What happened in history on this day: October 26?
On October 26 in ...
- 1825 - Formal opening of the Erie Canal, 364 miles long from the Hudson River, New York City to Lake Erie, Buffalo.
- 1861 - Last ride of the Pony Express, between Missouri and California.
- 1868 - B F Randolph, South Carolina state senator, is assassinated.
- 1868 - White terrorists kill several blacks in Saint Bernard Parish, Louisiana.
- 1876 - US President sends federal troops to South Carolina.
- 1881 - In Tombstone, Arizona, USA, the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday face off against the Clanton-McLaury gang in a shootout at the OK Corral. The Earp brothers consist of bank security guard Wyatt, town marshal Virgil, and Morgan. The Clantons (Ike, Billy) and McLaurys (Tom, Frank) and Billy Claiborne are cowboys, cattle rustlers, thieves, and murderers. The 30-second shootout ends with Billy Clanton and the McLaury brothers dead, and Virgil and Morgan Earp and Doc Holliday wounded.
- 1893 - Battleship USS Oregon is christened at a launching ceremony in San Francisco Bay, California.
- 1903 - Yerba Buena is first Key System ferry to cross San Francisco Bay, California.
- 1916 - Margaret Sanger is arrested for obscenity (advocating birth control).
- 1921 - US President Warren Harding appoints Solomon Porter Hood US Minister to Liberia.
- 1936 - The first electric generator at Boulder Dam goes into full operation.
- 1940 - The US P-51 Mustang makes its maiden flight.
- 1941 - U.S. Savings Bonds go on sale to the public.
- 1942 - US ship Hornet sunk in Battle of Santa Cruz Islands.
- 1944 - The Battle of Leyte Gulf ends, as the Japanese fleet withdraws from the victorious American fleet. The Japanese lost 34 ships, including four carriers, three battleships, and forty cruisers.
- 1949 - US President Harry Truman increases minimum wage from 40 cents to 75 cents.
- 1958 - Pan American Airways makes the first commercial flight of the Boeing 707, from New York to Paris.
- 1962 - The Soviet Union transmits a proposal for ending the Cuban Missile Crisis: The missile bases would be removed in exchange for a U.S. pledge not to invade Cuba.
- 1966 - First Pacific communications satellite launched, Intelsat 2.
- 1970 - Doonesbury comic strip debuts in 28 newspapers.
- 1972 - Guided tours of Alcatraz (by US Park Service) begin.
- 1972 - Henry Kissinger declares "Peace is at hand" in Vietnam.
- 1975 - Anwar Sadat becomes first Egyptian president to officially visit the US.
- 1977 - President Jimmy Carter submits his appointment of Stella Hackell to the position of US Mint Director.
- 1977 - Dr Clifford R Wharton Junior named chancellor of State University of New York.
- 1984 - "Baby Fae" gets baboon heart transplant, lives 21 days.
- 1988 - The Callaway Sledgehammer Corvette reaches a top speed of 254.76 MPH at the Transportation Research Center in Ohio. making it the fastest street car.
- 1994 - Walt Disney Home Video releases the animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs on videotape in the USA.
- 2000 - Sony Computer Entertainment introduces the Sony PlayStation 2 in the USA. The system can also play PlayStation games, and supports DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, CD-ROM, and Dolby Digital media. Price is about US$300. Sales during the first week: 681,855.
- 2001 - US President George W. Bush signs into law the USA PATRIOT Act.
- 2005 - The American death toll in the Iraq war reaches 2,000.
- 2008 - American commandos make a raid on a farm in Syria, across from Iraq. The Syrian government claims eight civilians killed.
- 2020 - The US Senate confirms Amy Coney Barrett to join the US Supreme Court.
Births on October 26
- 1791 - Birth of Charles Sprague in Boston, Massachusetts, USA; banker/poet (Curiosity).
- 1861 - Birth of Richard D Sears in Boston, Massachusetts, USA; first to win US amateur national tennis match.
- 1894 - Birth of John S Knight in West Virginia, USA; publisher (Knight-Ridder).
- 1911 - Birth of Mahalia Jackson in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; gospel singer ("Whole World in his Hands", Ed Sullivan Show).
- 1913 - Birth of Charlie Barnet in New York City, New York, USA; big band leader, saxophonist ("Cherokee").
- 1914 - Birth of Jackie Coogan in Los Angeles, California, USA; actor (Uncle Fester - The Addams Family).
- 1931 - Birth of Hank Garrett in Monticello, New York, USA; actor (Car 54 Where Are You, Generations, Max Headroom).
- 1933 - Birth of Suzy Parker in San Antonio, Texas, USA; model/actress (Chamber of Horrors).
- 1936 - Birth of Bruce Belland in Chicago, Illinois, USA; singer (Tim Conway Hour).
- 1945 - Birth of Jaclyn Smith in Houston, Texas, USA; actress (Charlie's Angels, Nightkill, The District).
- 1946 - Birth of Pat Sajak in Chicago, Illinois, USA; TV host (Wheel of Fortune, Pat Sajak Show).
- 1948 - Birth of Marshall Colt in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; actor (Eric - Lottery).
- 1951 - Birth of Bootsy Collins in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; rocker (Parliaments - "We Got the Funk").
- 1954 - Birth of Lauren Tewes in Braddock, Pennsylvania, USA; actress (The Love Boat, Eyes of a Stranger).
- 1963 - Birth of Kerri Lynne Rosenberg in Burlington, Iowa, USA; Miss Iowa-America (1991-top 10).
Deaths on October 26
- 1868 - B F Randolph, South Carolina state senator, is assassinated.
- 1881 - In Tombstone, Arizona, USA, the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday face off against the Clanton-McLaury gang in a shootout at the OK Corral. The Earp brothers consist of bank security guard Wyatt, town marshal Virgil, and Morgan. The Clantons (Ike, Billy) and McLaurys (Tom, Frank) and Billy Claiborne are cowboys, cattle rustlers, thieves, and murderers. The 30-second shootout ends with Billy Clanton and the McLaury brothers dead, and Virgil and Morgan Earp and Doc Holliday wounded.
- 1990 - Death of William S. Paley at age 89 from a heart attack; CBS founder and CEO.
- 1990 - William Anthony Odom, North Carolina 15-year-old, accidentally hangs himself staging a gallows scene at a Halloween party.
- 1994 - Death of Wilbert Harrison at age 65 of a stroke in a nursing home in Spencer, North Carolina, USA; singer ("Kansas City" (1959), "Let's Work Together" (1969)).
- 1995 - Death of Margaret Gorman, first Miss America (born 1905).
- 2007 - Death of Friedman Paul Erhardt, German American pioneering television chef (born 1943).
- 2015 - Death of Leo Kadanoff, American physicist (born 1937).
- 2022 - Death of Julie Powell at age 49 of cardiac arrest at home in Olivebridge, New York, USA; writer (Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen book (2005)).
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