May 26 in History

Historical Events on May 26

1538 Geneva expels John Calvin and his followers from the city. Calvin lives in exile in Strasbourg for the next three years.

1805 Napoléon Bonaparte assumes the title of King of Italy and is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy in Milan Cathedral, the gothic cathedral in Milan.

1864 Montana is organized as a United States territory.

1865 American Civil War: The Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith, commander of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi division, is the last full general of the Confederate Army to surrender, at Galveston, Texas.

1869 Boston University is chartered by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

1896 Nicholas II becomes the last Tsar of Imperial Russia.

1940 World War II: Operation Dynamo: In northern France, Allied forces begin a massive evacuation from Dunkirk, France.

1970 The Soviet Tupolev Tu-144 becomes the first commercial transport to exceed Mach 2.

1998 The Supreme Court of the United States rules that Ellis Island, the historic gateway for millions of immigrants, is mainly in the state of New Jersey, not New York.

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Famous Birthdays on May 26

1948 Stevie Nicks

1949 Jeremy Corbyn

1975 Lauryn Hill

1983 Demy de Zeeuw

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Famous Deaths on May 26

946 Edmund I

1703 Samuel Pepys

1976 Martin Heidegger

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