Did you know
For her role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind (1939), she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, becoming the first African American to win an Oscar.
Notable Deaths on October 26
1952 — Hattie McDaniel
American actress and singer (born 1895)
October 26 has 120 recorded notable deaths across history, from 664 to 2025. This focused page highlights 20 people with the strongest available profile context.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Notable Deaths
120 source records
664 – 2025
Today in history
Major events on October 26
See what else happened on this day in history.
- 1918 World War I: Erich Ludendorff, quartermaster-general of the Imperial German Army, is dismissed by Kaiser Wilhelm II for refusing to cooperate in peace negotiations. Source
- 2000 A wave of protests forces Robert Guéï to step down as president after the Ivorian presidential election. Source
- 1892 Ida B. Wells publishes Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases. Source
- 1890 Malleco Viaduct in Chile, at the time "the highest railroad bridge in the world", is inaugurated by President José Manuel Balmaceda. Source
Did you know
Igor Sikorsky's first success came with the Sikorsky S-2, the second aircraft of his design and construction.
Did you know
Elizabeth Cady Stanton was the main force behind the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, the first convention to be called for the sole purpose of discussing women's rights, and was the primary author of its Declaration of Sentiments.
Did you know
Prince Itō Hirobumi was a Japanese statesman who served as the first prime minister of Japan from 1885 to 1888.
Did you know
Charles Albert Comiskey, nicknamed "Commy" or "the Old Roman", was an American professional baseball first baseman, manager, and team owner.
More major people who died on October 26
Notable people are ranked by substantive profile depth and public notability.
1972
Igor Sikorsky
Ukrainian-American engineer and academic, founded Sikorsky Aircraft (born 1889)
Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky was a Russian-American aviation pioneer in both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. His first success came with the Sikorsky S-2, the second aircraft of his design and construction.
1902
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
American activist (born 1815)
Elizabeth Cady Stanton was an American writer and activist who was a leader of the women's rights movement in the U.S. during the mid- to late-19th century.
1909
Itō Hirobumi
Japanese samurai and politician, Prime Minister of Japan (born 1841)
Prince Itō Hirobumi was a Japanese statesman who served as the first prime minister of Japan from 1885 to 1888. Itō held office again as prime minister three times between 1892 and 1901.
1931
Charles Comiskey
American baseball player and manager (born 1859)
Charles Albert Comiskey, nicknamed "Commy" or "the Old Roman", was an American professional baseball first baseman, manager, and team owner. He played 13 seasons in the American Association (AA) for the St.
1871
Robert Anderson (Union officer)
American general (born 1805)
Robert Anderson was a United States Army officer during the American Civil War.
2015
Willis Carto
American activist and theorist (born 1926)
Willis Allison Carto was an American far-right political activist.
1944
Hiroyoshi Nishizawa
Japanese lieutenant and pilot (born 1920)
Lieutenant Junior Grade Hiroyoshi Nishizawa was a Japanese naval aviator and an ace of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service during World War II.
2007
Arthur Kornberg
American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize (born 1918)
Arthur Kornberg was an American biochemist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1959 for the discovery of "the mechanisms in the biological synthesis of ribonucleic acid and deoxyribonucleic acid"…
1989
Charles J. Pedersen
American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1904)
Charles John Pedersen was an American organic chemist best known for discovering crown ethers and describing methods of synthesizing them during his entire 42-year career as a chemist for DuPont at DuPont Experimental…
2013
Doug Ireland
American journalist and activist (born 1946)
William Douglas Ireland was an American journalist and blogger who wrote about politics, power, media, and LGBT issues. He was the U.S.
2002
Sally Hoyt Spofford
American ornithologist (born 1914)
Sally Hoyt Spofford was an American ornithologist who was long associated with the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology.
2014
Oscar Taveras
Dominican baseball player (born 1992)
Oscar Francisco Taveras was a Dominican professional baseball outfielder who played one season for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB).
2014
Germain Gagnon
Canadian ice hockey player (born 1942)
Joseph Adrien Germain Gagnon was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played 259 games in the National Hockey League.
2006
Pontus Hultén
Swedish art collector and curator (born 1924)
Karl Gunnar Vougt Pontus Hultén was a Swedish art collector and museum director. Pontus Hultén is regarded as one of the most distinguished museum professionals of the twentieth century.
1440
Gilles de Rais
French lord (born c. 1405)
Gilles de Rais, Baron de Rais was a French knight and lord who possessed extensive estates in Brittany, Anjou and Poitou.
2014
Vic Allen
English sociologist, economist, and historian (born 1923)
Vic Allen was a British communist, human rights activist, political prisoner, sociologist, historian, economist and emeritus professor at the University of Leeds who worked closely with British trade unions, and was…
899
Alfred the Great
English king (born 849)
Alfred the Great was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899.
1817
Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin
Dutch-Austrian chemist and botanist (born 1727)
Nikolaus Joseph Freiherr von Jacquin was a scientist who studied medicine, chemistry and botany.
1979
Park Chung Hee
South Korean general and politician, 3rd President of South Korea (born 1917)
Park Chung Hee was a South Korean politician and army officer who served as the third president of South Korea from 1962 after he seized power in the May 16 coup of 1961 until his assassination in 1979.