April 26 in History

Paul von Hindenburg defeats Wilhelm Marx in the second round of the German presi

1925 — Paul von Hindenburg defeats Wilhelm Marx in the second round of the German presidential election to become the first directly elected head of state of the Weimar Republic

April 26 spans 54 recorded events across recorded history, from 1289 to 2025. Below is a curated digest of the most significant moments tied to this date.

By · — Wikipedia

Historical Events 54 events 1289 – 2025

More major events on April 26

The featured story and these ranked highlights form a quick summary. Every recorded event remains available in the chronology below.

  1. 1994 South Africa begins its first multiracial election, which is won by Nelson Mandela's African National Congress. Source
  2. 1962 The British space programme launches its first satellite, the Ariel 1. Source
  3. 1915 World War I: Italy secretly signs the Treaty of London pledging to join the Allied Powers. Source

Did you know

In 1925, Paul von Hindenburg defeats Wilhelm Marx in the second round of the German presidential election to become the first directly elected head of state of the Weimar Republic. This featured entry focuses on the immediate decision and its direct historical impact.

Did you know

A presidential election was held in Germany on 29 March 1925, with a runoff on 26 April. This helps explain why the event mattered beyond the initial announcement.

Did you know

It was the first direct election to the office of president of Germany, the head of state of the Weimar Republic, and followed the death in office of Friedrich Ebert. This clarifies the institutional and public response around the event.

Did you know

The first round of the election included seven candidates and resulted in no clear frontrunner. This shows how the event shaped policy and public communication in the same period.

Did you know

In the second round, the centrist parties united around Wilhelm Marx of the Catholic Centre Party, while the parties of the Right convinced former field marshal Paul von Hindenburg, who had not run in the first round, to enter the contest. This helps explain why the event mattered beyond the initial announcement.

1289 Fall_of_Tripoli_(1289)
Following weeks of bombardment, the city of Tripoli falls to the Mamluks under Qalawun.
The Mamluks massacre all men they find and enslave the women and children.
The Fall of Tripoli was the capture and destruction of the Crusader state of the County of Tripoli by the Mamluk Sultanate based in Cairo.
Wikipedia source
1326 Kingdom_of_France
The kingdom of France and the kingdom of Scotland agree on a treaty of mutual aid at Corbeil.
Country in Western Europe (843–1792; 1815–1848)
The Kingdom of France is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the medieval and early modern period.
Wikipedia source
1336 Petrarch
Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) ascends Mont Ventoux.
Italian scholar and poet (1304–1374)
Francis Petrarch was an Italian scholar and poet of the early Italian Renaissance, as well as one of the earliest Renaissance humanists.
Wikipedia source
1478 Pazzi
The Pazzi family attack on Lorenzo de' Medici in order to displace the ruling Medici family kills his brother Giuliano during High Mass in Florence Cathedral.
Italian noble family in the Middle Ages
The Pazzi were a powerful family in the Republic of Florence. Their main trade during the fifteenth century was banking.
Wikipedia source
1564 William_Shakespeare
Playwright William Shakespeare is baptized in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England (date of birth is unknown).
English playwright and poet (1564–1616)
William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist.
Wikipedia source
1607 Virginia_Company
The Virginia Company colonists make landfall at Cape Henry.
English trading company
The Virginia Company was an English trading company chartered by King James I on 10 April 1606 with the objective of colonizing the eastern coast of America.
Wikipedia source
1721
A massive earthquake devastates the Iranian city of Tabriz.
Catastrophic earthquake in Iran
The 1721 Tabriz earthquake occurred on April 26, with an epicenter near the city of Tabriz, Iran.
Wikipedia source
1777 Sybil_Ludington
Sybil Ludington, aged 16, allegedly rides 40 miles (64 km) to alert American colonial forces to the approach of British regular forces.
American woman (1761–1839)
Sybil Ludington was an alleged heroine of the American Revolution and daughter of Patriot colonel Henry Ludington.
Wikipedia source
1794 Battle_of_Beaumont_(1794)
Battle of Beaumont during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition.
Battle of the War of the First Coalition
The Battle of Beaumont-en-Cambrésis 26 April 1794 was an action forming part of a multi-pronged attempt to relieve the besieged fortress of Landrecies, during the Flanders Campaign of the French Revolutionary War.
Wikipedia source
1802 Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte signs a general amnesty to allow all but about one thousand of the most notorious émigrés of the French Revolution to return to France.
French general and emperor (1769–1821)
Napoleon Bonaparte, later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was Emperor of the French from 18 May 1804 until his first abdication in 1814, with a brief restoration during the Hundred Days in 1815.
Wikipedia source
1803 L'Aigle_(meteorite)
Thousands of meteor fragments fall from the skies of L'Aigle, France; the event convinces European scientists that meteors exist.
Meteorite that fell in Normandy, France in April 1803
L'Aigle is a meteorite that fell on 26 April 1803 over L'Aigle, Lower Normandy, France, during a meteor shower.
Wikipedia source
1805 First_Barbary_War
First Barbary War: United States Marines capture Derne under the command of First Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon.
War between United States and the Barbary states, 1801–1805
The First Barbary War (1801–1805), also known as the Tripolitan War and the Barbary Coast War, was a conflict during the 1801–1815 Barbary Wars, in which the United States fought against Ottoman Tripolitania.
Wikipedia source
1865 Union_(American_Civil_War)
Union cavalry troopers corner and shoot dead John Wilkes Booth, assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, in Virginia.
US federal government from 1861 to 1865
The Union is a term used to refer to the federal government and loyal states of the United States during the American Civil War.
Wikipedia source
1900
Fires destroy Canadian cities Ottawa and Hull, reducing them to ashes in 12 hours.
Twelve thousand people are left without a home.
The Hull-Ottawa fire of 1900 was a devastating fire in 1900 that destroyed much of Hull, Quebec, and large portions of Ottawa, Ontario.
Wikipedia source
1903 Atlético_Madrid
Atlético Madrid Association football club is founded.
Association football club in Spain
Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D., commonly referred to in English as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético and colloquially as Atleti, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga.
Wikipedia source
1915 World_War_I
World War I: Italy secretly signs the Treaty of London pledging to join the Allied Powers.
Global conflict from 1914 to 1918
World War I, or the First World War, also known as the Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Central Powers.
Wikipedia source
1916 Easter_Rising
Easter Rising: Battle of Mount Street Bridge.
1916 armed insurrection in Ireland
The Easter Rising, also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916.
Wikipedia source
1920 Ice_hockey
Ice hockey makes its Olympic debut at the Antwerp Games with center Frank Fredrickson scoring seven goals in Canada's 12–1 drubbing of Sweden in the gold medal match.
Team winter sport
Ice hockey, known simply as hockey in North America and parts of Europe, is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport.
Wikipedia source
1923 George_VI
The Duke of York (the future King George VI) weds Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon at Westminster Abbey.
King of the United Kingdom from 1936 to 1952
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952.
Wikipedia source
1933 Gestapo
The Gestapo, the official secret police force of Nazi Germany, is established by Hermann Göring.
Secret police of Nazi Germany
The Geheime Staatspolizei, was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
Wikipedia source
1937 Spanish_Civil_War
Spanish Civil War: Guernica, Spain, is bombed by the German Condor Legion and the Italian Aviazione Legionaria.
1936–1939 civil war in Spain
The Spanish Civil War was fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republicans and the Nationalist rebels.
Wikipedia source
1942 Benxihu_Colliery
Benxihu Colliery accident in Manchukuo leaves 1,549 Chinese miners dead.
Historic mine in Benxi, Liaoning, China
Benxihu (Honkeiko) Colliery was a coal mine in Benxi, Liaoning, China, first mined in 1905.
Wikipedia source
1943 Easter_Riots
The Easter Riots break out in Uppsala, Sweden.
1943 clashes between Nazis and anti-fascists in Sweden
The Easter Riots is the name given to a period of unrest in Uppsala, Sweden, during the Easter of 1943.
Wikipedia source
1944 Georgios_Papandreou
Georgios Papandreou becomes head of the Greek government-in-exile based in Egypt.
Prime minister of Greece (1888–1968)
Georgios Papandreou was a Greek politician, the founder of the Papandreou political dynasty. He served three terms as the prime minister of Greece.
Wikipedia source
1944 World_War_II
World War II: Heinrich Kreipe is captured by Allied commandos in occupied Crete.
Global conflict (1939–1945)
World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers.
Wikipedia source
1945 Battle_of_Bautzen_(1945)
World War II: Battle of Bautzen: Last successful German tank-offensive of the war and last noteworthy victory of the Wehrmacht.
Battle in the Eastern Front of World War II
The Battle of Bautzen was one of the last battles of the Eastern Front during World War II in Europe.
Wikipedia source
1945 Baguio
World War II: Filipino troops of the 66th Infantry Regiment, Philippine Commonwealth Army, USAFIP-NL and the American troops of the 33rd and 37th Infantry Division, United States Army liberate Baguio as they fight against the Japanese forces under General Tomoyuki Yamashita.
Highly-urbanized city in Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines
Baguio, officially the City of Baguio, is a highly urbanized city in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 368,426 people.
Wikipedia source
1954 1954_Geneva_Conference
The Geneva Conference, an effort to restore peace in Indochina and Korea, begins.
International conference on dismantling French Indochina
The Geneva Conference was intended to settle outstanding issues resulting from the Korean War and the First Indochina War and involved several nations.
Wikipedia source
1954 Jonas_Salk
The first clinical trials of Jonas Salk's polio vaccine begin in Fairfax County, Virginia.
American inventor of the polio vaccine (1914–1995)
Jonas Edward Salk was an American virologist and medical researcher who developed one of the first successful polio vaccines.
Wikipedia source
1956 SS_Ideal_X
SS Ideal X, the world's first successful container ship, leaves Port Newark, New Jersey, for Houston, Texas.
First container ship
SS Ideal X, a converted World War II T-2 oil tanker, was the first commercially successful container ship.
Wikipedia source
1958 Baltimore_and_Ohio_Railroad
Final run of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's Royal Blue from Washington, D.C., to New York City after 68 years, the first U.S.
passenger train to use electric locomotives.
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the oldest railroad in the United States and the first steam-operated common carrier.
Wikipedia source
1960 April_Revolution
Forced out by the April Revolution, President of South Korea Syngman Rhee resigns after 12 years of dictatorial rule.
1960 South Korean protests
The April Revolution, also called the April 19 Revolution or April 19 Movement, were mass protests in South Korea against President Syngman Rhee and the First Republic from April 11 to 26, 1960, which led to Rhee's…
Wikipedia source
1962 NASA
NASA's Ranger 4 spacecraft crashes into the Moon.
American space and aeronautics agency
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government responsible for the United States' civil space program, as well as research in aeronautics and space.
Wikipedia source
1962
The British space programme launches its first satellite, the Ariel 1.
Official efforts to develop space capabilities
The British space programme is the British government's work to develop British space capabilities.
Wikipedia source
1963 Libya
In Libya, amendments to the constitution transform Libya (United Kingdom of Libya) into one national unity (Kingdom of Libya) and allow for female participation in elections.
Country in North Africa
Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa.
Wikipedia source
1964 Tanganyika_(1961–1964)
Tanganyika and Zanzibar merge to form the United Republic of Tanzania.
Country in East Africa from 1961 to 1964
Tanganyika was a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania, that existed from 1961 until 1964.
Wikipedia source
1966 1966_Tashkent_earthquake
The magnitude 5.1 Tashkent earthquake affects the largest city in Soviet Central Asia with a maximum MSK intensity of VII (Very strong).
Tashkent is mostly destroyed and 15–200 are killed.
The 1966 Tashkent earthquake occurred on 26 April in the Uzbek SSR. It had a moment magnitude of 5.2 with an epicenter in central Tashkent at a depth of 3–8 kilometers (1.9–5.0 mi).
Wikipedia source
1966 Republic_of_the_Congo
A new government is formed in the Republic of the Congo, led by Ambroise Noumazalaye.
Country in Central Africa
The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply Congo, is a country located on the western coast of Central Africa to the west of the Congo River.
Wikipedia source
1970
The Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization enters into force.
1967 multilateral treaty establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
The WIPO Convention is a multilateral treaty that established the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
Wikipedia source
1981
Dr.
Michael R. Harrison of the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center performs the world's first human open fetal surgery.
Michael R. Harrison served as division chief in pediatric surgery at the Children's Hospital at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) for over 20 years, where he established the first fetal treatment center…
Wikipedia source
1986 Chernobyl_disaster
The Chernobyl disaster occurs in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.
1986 nuclear accident in the Soviet Union
On 26 April 1986, reactor 4 of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, located near Pripyat, Ukraine, exploded.
Wikipedia source
1989 Daulatpur–Saturia_tornado
The deadliest known tornado strikes Central Bangladesh, killing upwards of 1,300, injuring 12,000, and leaving as many as 80,000 homeless.
1989 tornado in Bangladesh
The Daulatpur–Saturia tornado was a violent tornado that occurred in Manikganj District, Bangladesh on April 26, 1989. While it was destructive and extremely deadly, there is great uncertainty about the death toll.
Wikipedia source
1989 People's_Daily
People's Daily publishes the April 26 Editorial which inflames the nascent Tiananmen Square protests.
Chinese Communist Party newspaper
The People's Daily is the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Wikipedia source
1991 1991_Great_Plains_tornado_outbreak
Fifty-five tornadoes break out in the central United States.
Before the outbreak's end, Andover, Kansas, would record the year's only F5 tornado.
From April 26 to 27, 1991, multiple supercells across Oklahoma and Kansas led to a regional tornado outbreak.
Wikipedia source
1993 Space_Shuttle_Columbia
The Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on mission STS-55 to conduct experiments aboard the Spacelab module.
Space Shuttle orbiter (1981–2003)
Space Shuttle Columbia (OV-102) was a Space Shuttle orbiter manufactured by Rockwell International and operated by NASA.
Wikipedia source
1994 China_Airlines_Flight_140
China Airlines Flight 140 crashes at Nagoya Airport in Japan, killing 264 of the 271 people on board.
1994 aviation accident in Nagoya, Japan
China Airlines Flight 140 was a regularly scheduled international passenger flight from Chiang Kai-shek International Airport in Taipei, Taiwan, to Nagoya Airport in Nagoya, Japan.
Wikipedia source
1994 South_Africa
South Africa begins its first multiracial election, which is won by Nelson Mandela's African National Congress.
Country in Southern Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa.
Wikipedia source
1999 CIH_(computer_virus)
Outbreak of CIH computer virus.
Windows 9x computer virus
CIH, also known as the Chernobyl virus, is a computer virus that targets computers running the Windows 9x family of operating systems.
Wikipedia source
2002 Erfurt_school_massacre
Robert Steinhäuser kills 16 at Gutenberg-Gymnasium in Erfurt, Germany, before committing suicide.
2002 mass shooting in Germany
The Erfurt school massacre was a mass shooting that occurred on 26 April 2002 at the Gutenberg-Gymnasium, a secondary school in Erfurt, Thuringia, Germany.
Wikipedia source
2005 Cedar_Revolution
Cedar Revolution: Under international pressure, Syria withdraws the last of its 14,000 troop military garrison in Lebanon, ending its 29-year military domination of that country (Syrian occupation of Lebanon).
2005 anti-Syrian protest movement in Lebanon
The Cedar Revolution, known in Lebanon as the Independence intifada, was a chain of demonstrations in Lebanon triggered by the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri.
Wikipedia source
2015 Nursultan_Nazarbayev
Nursultan Nazarbayev is re-elected President of Kazakhstan with 97.7% of the vote, one of the biggest vote shares in Kazakhstan's history.
President of Kazakhstan from 1991 to 2019
Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev is a Kazakh politician who served as the first president of Kazakhstan from 1991 to 2019.
Wikipedia source
2015 Anti-monuments_in_Mexico
Peaceful protesters install the first anti-monument in Mexico, Antimonumento +43, as a call for justice and remembrance to commemorate the 2014 Iguala mass kidnapping, later inspiring similar memorials elsewhere in the country and Latin America.
Politically motivated art movement
In Mexico, an antimonumento is a structure that is traditionally installed during popular protests.
Wikipedia source
2025 2025_Vancouver_car_attack
A car ramming attack at a Lapu-Lapu Day festival kills 11 people and injures at least 30 in Vancouver, Canada.
Vehicle ramming attack in British Columbia, Canada
On April 26, 2025, a vehicle-ramming attack took place shortly after the Lapu-Lapu Day festival, a public celebration of Filipino heritage in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Wikipedia source

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