1939

First televised Major League baseball game

Born on This Day

Katherine Johnson

Katherine Johnson

1918 - 2020

African American mathematician whose work with the NASA space program played a critical role in the Apollo 11 moon landing.

Vice Presidential Hopeful Geraldine Ferraro

Geraldine Ferraro

1935 - 2011

Politician and the first woman to run for vice president on a major party ticket in 1984 alongside Walter Mondale.

Premiere Of Warner Bros Pictures' "The Kitchen" - Arrivals

Melissa McCarthy

1970 -

Actress and comedian known for versatile work in "Bridesmaids," "The Heat" and "Can You Ever Forgive Me?"

1936

AUG

26

Suffragist Susan B. Anthony appears on a US postage stamp that soon becomes controversial. Some critics call it an election-year ploy for women’s votes while others claim it shows a cigarette in her lips.

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on August 26th

1346

Battle of Crecy

The Battle of Crécy, falling early in the Hundred Years’ War, brought a decisive victory for the longbow-wielding English army over French forces in Normandy.

1794

President George Washington expresses his determination to subdue the Whiskey Rebellion

On August 26, 1794, President George Washington writes to Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee, Virginia’s governor and a former general, regarding the Whiskey Rebellion, an insurrection that was the first great test of Washington’s authority as president of the United States. In the letter, Washington declared that he had no choice but to act to […]

1914

Battle of Tannenberg begins

On August 26, 1914, the German 8th Army, under the leadership of Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff, strikes with lethal force against the advancing Russian 2nd Army, led by General Aleksandr Samsonov, in East Prussia during the opening weeks of the First World War. In the middle of August 1914, much sooner than had […]

1920

19th Amendment adopted

The 19th Amendment, guaranteeing women the right to vote, is formally adopted into the U.S. Constitution by proclamation of Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby. The amendment was the culmination of more than 70 years of struggle by woman suffragists. Its two sections read simply: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall […]

19th Amendment

1957

Russia tests an intercontinental ballistic missile

The Soviet Union announces that it has successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of being fired “into any part of the world.” The announcement caused great concern in the United States, and started a national debate over the “missile gap” between America and Russia. For years after World War II, both the United […]

1964

Lyndon B. Johnson receives Democratic nomination for president

Lyndon B. Johnson is nominated to run for the presidency at the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey. His running mate would be Hubert H. Humphrey. Former Vice President Johnson had assumed the reigns of government in November 1963 when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Upon assuming office, he inherited a commitment […]

1968

Democratic convention besieged by protesters

As the Democratic National Convention gets underway in Chicago, thousands of antiwar demonstrators take to Chicago’s streets to protest the Vietnam War and its support by the top Democratic presidential candidate, Vice President Hubert Humphrey. During the four-day convention, the most violent in U.S. history, police and National Guardsmen clashed with protesters outside the International […]

1978

“Grease” movie soundtrack earns its second #1 hit

On August 26, 1978, Frankie Valli’s “Grease”—reached the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100. the second chart-topping hit from the album of the same name. The 1960s was the final decade in which the musical hits of Broadway were routinely and successfully adapted by Hollywood into big-budget screen versions. West Side Story (1961), My […]

1986

“Preppy Murder” stuns New York

On August 26, 1986, 18-year-old Jennifer Levin is found dead in New York City’s Central Park less than two hours after she was seen leaving a bar on the city’s Upper East Side with 19-year-old Robert Chambers. The tall, handsome Chambers was soon arrested and charged with murder. The tabloid media dubbed Chambers, who had […]

2016

Quarterback Colin Kaepernick sits during national anthem

At an NFL preseason game on August 26, 2016, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick remains seated as other players stand to observe the national anthem. This simple action, which Kaepernick makes no attempt to broadcast to the public, gives rise to a controversy that will bring to light the racial tensions within American sports, […]

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