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On this day in History Archives
 
At PaulsQuiz.com we aim to provide you with as much information as we possibly can. That's why we have built our On This Day in History section, to do just that. Our database is forever growing, we're adding more and more events from history to help you write your quiz questions.

Simply enter a date using the drop-down boxes below and click the 'Go' button to display events from the past that ocurred on that day.
 

 
26 January, 2006
Western Union discontinues use of its telegram service.
26 January, 2005
Glendale train crash: Two trains derail killing 11 and injuring 200 in Glendale, California, near Los Angeles.
26 January, 2005
Condoleezza Rice is sworn in as U.S. Secretary of State, becoming the first African American woman to hold the post.
26 January, 2004
President Hamid Karzai signs the new constitution of Afghanistan.
26 January, 2004
A whale explodes in the town of Tainan, Taiwan. A build-up of gas in the decomposing Sperm whale is suspected of causing the explosion.
26 January, 2001
An earthquake hits Gujarat, India, causing more than 20,000 deaths.
26 January, 2000
Rap-metal band Rage Against the Machine plays in front of Wall Street, prompting an early closing of trading due to the crowds.
26 January, 1998
Lewinsky scandal: On American television, U.S. President Bill Clinton denies having had "sexual relations" with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
26 January, 1992
Boris Yeltsin announces that Russia is going to stop targeting United States cities with nuclear weapons.
26 January, 1991
Mohamed Siad Barre is removed in Somalia, ending centralized government
26 January, 1988
Andrew Lloyd Webbers The Phantom of the Opera has its first performance on Broadway at the Majestic Theatre in New York.
26 January, 1980
Israel and Egypt establish diplomatic relations.
26 January, 1966
The Beaumont Children go missing from Glenelg Beach near Adelaide, South Australia.
26 January, 1965
Hindi becomes the official language of India.
26 January, 1962
Ranger program: Ranger 3 is launched to study the moon. The space probe later missed the moon by 22,000 miles (35,400 km).
26 January, 1961
John F. Kennedy appoints Janet G. Travell to be his physician. This is the first time a woman holds this appointment.
26 January, 1958
Japanese ferry Nankai Maru capsized off southern Awaji Island, Japan, 167 killed.
26 January, 1952
Black Saturday in Egypt: riots burn Cairos central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses.
26 January, 1950
India promulgates its constitution forming a republic and Rajendra Prasad is sworn in as its first president Republic Day.
26 January, 1942
World War II: The first United States forces arrive in Europe landing in Northern Ireland.
26 January, 1939
Spanish Civil War: Troops loyal to nationalist General Francisco Franco and aided by Italy take Barcelona.
26 January, 1934
The Apollo Theater reopens in Harlem, New York City.
26 January, 1934
German-Polish Non-Aggression Pact is signed.
26 January, 1930
The Indian National Congress declares 26 January as Independence Day or as the day for Poorna Swaraj (Complete Independence) which occurred 20 years later.
26 January, 1920
Former Ford Motor Co. executive Henry Leland launches the Lincoln Motor Company which he later sold to his former employer.
26 January, 1911
Glenn H. Curtiss flies the first successful seaplane.
26 January, 1911
Richard Strauss opera Der Rosenkavalier receives its debut performance at the Dresden State Opera.
26 January, 1907
The Short Magazine Lee-Enfield Mk III is officially introduced into British Military Service, and remains the oldest military rifle still in official use.
26 January, 1905
The Cullinan Diamond is found near Pretoria, South Africa at the Premier Mine.
26 January, 1885
Troops loyal to The Mahdi conquer Khartoum.
26 January, 1870
American Civil War: Virginia rejoins the Union.
26 January, 1863
American Civil War: General Ambrose Burnside is relieved of command of the Army of the Potomac after the disastrous Fredericksburg campaign. He is replaced by Joseph Hooker.
26 January, 1863
American Civil War: Massachusetts Governor receives permission from Secretary of War to raise a militia organization for men of African descent.
26 January, 1861
American Civil War: The state of Louisiana secedes from the Union.
26 January, 1856
First Battle of Seattle (1856). Marines from the USS Decatur drive off American Indian attackers after all day battle with settlers.
26 January, 1855
Point No Point Treaty signed in Washington Territory.
26 January, 1841
The United Kingdom formally occupies Hong Kong, which China later formally ceded.
26 January, 1838
Tennessee enacts the first prohibition law in the United States
26 January, 1837
Michigan is admitted as the 26th U.S. state.
26 January, 1808
Rum Rebellion, the only successful (albeit short-lived) armed takeover of the government in Australia.
26 January, 1788
The British First Fleet, led by Arthur Phillip, sails into Sydney Harbour to establish Sydney, the first permanent European settlement on the continent. Commemorated as Australia Day
26 January, 1736
Stanislaus I of Poland abdicates his throne.
26 January, 1700
The magnitude 9 Cascadia Earthquake took place off the west coast of the North America, as evidenced by Japanese records.
26 January, 1699
Treaty of Carlowitz signed.
26 January, 1589
Job is elected as Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.
26 January, 1565
Battle of Talikota, fought between the Vijayanagara Empire and the Islamic sultanates of the Deccan, leads to the subjugation, and eventual destruction of the last Hindu kingdom in India, and the consolidation of Islamic rule over much of the Indian subcontinent.
26 January, 1564
The Council of Trent issued its conclusions in the Tridentinum, establishing a distinction between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.
26 January, 1531
Lisbon, Portugal hit by an earthquake--thousands die.
26 January, 1500
Vicente Yáńez Pinzón becomes the first European to set foot on Brazil.
26 January, 1340
King Edward III of England is declared King of France.

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January

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February

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March

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April

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May

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June

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16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30

July

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August

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September

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October

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November

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December

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