February 26 in History

Historical Events on February 26

1616 Galileo Galilei is formally banned by the Roman Catholic Church from teaching or defending the view that the earth orbits the sun.

1815 Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from Elba.

1876 Japan and Korea sign a treaty granting Japanese citizens extraterritoriality rights, opening three ports to Japanese trade, and ending Korea's status as a tributary state of Qing dynasty China.

1919 President Woodrow Wilson signs an act of Congress establishing the Grand Canyon National Park.

1929 President Calvin Coolidge signs an executive order establishing the 96,000 acre Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

1935 Adolf Hitler orders the Luftwaffe to be re-formed, violating the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles.

1952 Vincent Massey is sworn in as the first Canadian-born Governor General of Canada.

1966 Apollo program: Launch of AS-201, the first flight of the Saturn IB rocket

1987 Iran-Contra affair: The Tower Commission rebukes President Ronald Reagan for not controlling his national security staff.

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Famous Birthdays on February 26

1954 Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

1958 Tim Kaine

1959 Ahmet Davutoğlu

1974 Sébastien Loeb

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Famous Deaths on February 26

1936 February 26 Incident

1966 Vinayak Damodar Savarkar

2015 Theodore Hesburgh

2016 Don Getty

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