Did you know
A member of the House of Lords since 2025, he previously held senior Cabinet positions in Conservative governments between 2010 and 2024.
Famous Birthdays on August 26
1967 — Michael Gove
Scottish journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Education
August 26 has 221 recorded notable births across history, from 1548 to 2002. This focused page highlights 20 people with the strongest available profile context.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Famous Birthdays
221 source records
1548 – 2002
Virgo
Today in history
Major events on August 26
See what else happened on this day in history.
- 1849 President Faustin Soulouque of the First Republic of Haiti has the Senate and Chamber of Deputies proclaim him the Emperor of Haiti, abolishing the Republic and inaugurating the Second Empire of Haiti. Source
- 1748 The first Lutheran denomination in North America, the Pennsylvania Ministerium, is founded in Philadelphia. Source
- 1914 World War I: The German colony of Togoland surrenders to French and British forces after a 20-day campaign. Togoland is the first German colony to fall to Allied hands in World War I. Source
- 2014 The Jay Report into the Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal is published. Source
Did you know
The Peggy Guggenheim Collection is a modern art museum on the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy, and is one of the most visited attractions in the city.
Did you know
Edward Witten is an American theoretical physicist known for his contributions to string theory, topological quantum field theory, and various areas of mathematics.
Did you know
Prior to TNT, he was most recently the head coach for the New Orleans Pelicans of the NBA.
Did you know
Tom Heinsohn is regarded as one of the most iconic Celtics figures in the franchise's history, known during his lifetime for his charisma and loyalty to the team and its traditions.
More major people born on August 26
Notable people are ranked by substantive profile depth and public notability.
1898
Peggy Guggenheim
American-Italian art collector and philanthropist (died 1979)
Marguerite "Peggy" Guggenheim was an American art collector, bohemian, and socialite.
1951
Edward Witten
American physicist and academic
Edward Witten is an American theoretical physicist known for his contributions to string theory, topological quantum field theory, and various areas of mathematics.
1959
Stan Van Gundy
American basketball player and coach
Stanley Alan Van Gundy is an American former basketball coach who is a television commentator for College Basketball on CBS for CBS Sports and NBA on Prime for Sports on Amazon Prime Video.
1934
Tom Heinsohn
American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster (died 2020)
Thomas William Heinsohn was an American professional basketball player, coach, and broadcaster.
1994
Austin Gunn
American professional wrestler
Austin Sopp, better known by the ring name Austin Gunn, is an American professional wrestler and reality television personality.
1936
Benedict Anderson
American political scientist and academic (died 2015)
Benedict Richard O'Gorman Anderson was an Anglo-Irish political scientist and historian who lived and taught in the United States.
1983
Nicol David
Malaysian squash player
Nicol Ann David is a Malaysian retired professional squash player. She was the world number one for a record-breaking 108 consecutive months, ceding the ranking in September 2015 to Raneem El Weleily.
1956
Mark Mangino
American football player and coach
Mark Thomas Mangino is a former American college football coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Kansas from 2002 to 2009.
1903
Caroline Pafford Miller
American author (died 1992)
Caroline Pafford Miller was an American novelist. She gathered the folktales, stories, and archaic dialects of the rural communities she visited in her home state of Georgia in the late 1920s and early 1930s, and wove…
1935
Karen Spärck Jones
English computer scientist and academic (died 2007)
Karen Ida Boalth Spärck Jones was a self-taught programmer and a pioneering British computer and information scientist responsible for the concept of inverse document frequency (IDF), a technology that underlies most…
1981
Tino Best
Barbadian cricketer
Tino la Bertram Best is a West Indian former cricketer. Since 2002, he has played domestic cricket for his native Barbados, with a season at English club Yorkshire in 2010.
1957
Nikky Finney
American poet and academic
Nikky Finney is an American poet. She was the Guy Davenport Endowed Professor of English at the University of Kentucky for twenty years.
1989
James Harden
American basketball player
James Edward Harden Jr. is an American professional basketball player who most recently played for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
1944
Prince Richard
Duke of Gloucester
Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, is a member of the British royal family.
1926
Anahit Tsitsikian
Armenian violinist and educator (died 1999)
Anahit Tsitsikian was an Armenian female violinist. She toured around the world through more than 100 cities during the Soviet times; she taught at the State Conservatory for approximately 40 years and wrote more than…
1918
Katherine Johnson
American physicist and mathematician (died 2020)
Creola Katherine Johnson was an American mathematician and human computer whose calculations of orbital mechanics as a NASA employee were critical to the success of the first and subsequent U.S. crewed spaceflights.
1970
Melissa McCarthy
American actress, comedian, producer, and screenwriter
Melissa Ann McCarthy is an American actress, comedian, and producer. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Awards, and nominations for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards.
1906
Bunny Austin
English tennis player (died 2000)
Henry Wilfred "Bunny" Austin was an English tennis player. For 74 years he was the last Briton to reach the final of the men's singles at the Wimbledon Championships, until Andy Murray did so in 2012.
1921
Benjamin C. Bradlee
American journalist and author (died 2014)
Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee was an American journalist who served as managing editor and later as executive editor of The Washington Post, from 1965 to 1991.