June 26 facts for kids

June 26 is the 177th day of the year (178th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 188 days remain until the end of the year.

This article tells you about important events, famous people born, and notable people who passed away on June 26th throughout history. It's a day filled with many interesting moments, from ancient times to modern history, showing how much the world has changed and grown.

Events

Early History (Before 1600)

• 4 – Augustus, a powerful Roman leader, adopted Tiberius, who would later become an emperor himself.
• 221 – Roman Emperor Elagabalus adopted his cousin Alexander Severus as his future successor.
• 684 – Pope Benedict II became the last pope who needed approval from the Byzantine emperor before he could officially take office.
• 699 – En no Ozuno, a Japanese mystic known for founding the Shugendō religion, was sent away to Izu Ōshima.
• 1243 – The Mongols defeated the Seljuk Turks in the Battle of Köse Dağ.
• 1295 – Przemysł II was crowned king of Poland. The white eagle was added to the Polish coat of arms at this time.
• 1407 – Ulrich von Jungingen became the leader of the Teutonic Knights, a powerful religious military order.
• 1409 – The Catholic Church faced a big challenge called the Western Schism. A new pope, Pope Alexander V, was chosen at the Council of Pisa, meaning there were now three popes at once!
• 1460 – During the War of the Roses in England, Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, and Edward, Earl of March, landed in England with a rebel army and marched towards London.
• 1483 – Richard III of England became the King of England.
• 1522 – The Ottoman Empire began their second attack on Rhodes.
• 1541 – Francisco Pizarro, a Spanish explorer, was killed in Lima.
• 1579 – The Livonian campaign of Stephen Báthory began, a series of military actions in Eastern Europe.

Later History (1601–1900)

• 1718 – Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia, son of Peter the Great, died mysteriously after being accused of plotting against his father.
• 1723 – After a long attack, the city of Baku surrendered to the Russian forces during the Russo-Persian War.
• 1740 – A group of Spanish, free black, and Native American fighters defeated a British army at the Siege of Fort Mose near St. Augustine, Florida. This happened during the War of Jenkins' Ear.
• 1794 – During the French Revolutionary Wars, the Battle of Fleurus was the first time aircraft were successfully used in a military battle.
• 1830 – William IV of the United Kingdom became the King of Britain and Hanover.
• 1843 – The Treaty of Nanking officially started, giving Hong Kong Island to the British forever.
• 1848 – The June Days Uprising in Paris, a series of worker protests, came to an end.
• 1857 – The first Victoria Cross medals, which are very brave awards, were given out in Hyde Park, London.
• 1886 – Henri Moissan was the first person to successfully separate the element Fluorine.
• 1889 – Bangui, a city in what was then the French Congo, was founded by Albert Dolisie and Alfred Uzac.

Modern History (1901–Present)

• 1906 – The first ever Grand Prix motor race was held at Le Mans, France.
• 1909 – The Science Museum, London officially opened as its own museum.
• 1917 – During World War I, the first American Expeditionary Forces arrived in France.
• 1918 – In World War I, Allied forces defeated German forces in the Battle of Belleau Wood.
• 1924 – The American occupation of the Dominican Republic ended after eight years.
• 1927 – The famous Cyclone roller coaster opened on Coney Island.
• 1934 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Federal Credit Union Act, which created credit unions to help people save money.
• 1936 – The Focke-Wulf Fw 61, the first practical helicopter, made its first flight.
• 1940 – In World War II, the Soviet Union demanded that Romania give up Bessarabia and northern Bukovina.
• 1941 – During World War II, Soviet planes bombed Kassa, Hungary (now Košice, Slovakia), which led Hungary to declare war the next day.
• 1942 – The Grumman F6F Hellcat airplane made its first flight.
• 1944 – In World War II, San Marino, a neutral country, was accidentally bombed by the RAF, causing 35 civilian deaths.
• 1944 – The Battle of Osuchy in Poland, one of the biggest battles between Nazi Germany and Polish resistance fighters, ended with the Polish forces being defeated.
• 1945 – The United Nations Charter, a very important document for world peace, was signed by 50 countries in San Francisco, California.
• 1948 – During the Cold War, the first supply flights began in response to the Berlin Blockade, bringing food and supplies to West Berlin.
• 1948 – William Shockley filed the original patent for the grown-junction transistor, an important invention in electronics.
• 1948 – Shirley Jackson's famous short story The Lottery was published in The New Yorker magazine.
• 1953 – Lavrentiy Beria, the head of the Soviet secret police, was arrested.
• 1955 – The South African Congress Alliance adopted the Freedom Charter, a document outlining their vision for a non-racial South Africa.
• 1959 – Swedish boxer Ingemar Johansson became the world heavyweight boxing champion by defeating American Floyd Patterson.
• 1960 – The former British area of British Somaliland became independent as Somaliland.
• 1960 – Madagascar gained its independence from France.
• 1963 – During the Cold War, U.S. President John F. Kennedy gave his famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech in West Berlin, showing America's support for the city after the Berlin Wall was built.
• 1967 – Karol Wojtyła (who later became Pope John Paul II) was made a cardinal by Pope Paul VI.
• 1974 – The first Universal Product Code was scanned to sell a package of chewing gum in Troy, Ohio.
• 1977 – Elvis Presley held his very last concert in Indianapolis, Indiana.
• 1978 – Air Canada Flight 189 crashed after overrunning the runway in Toronto, leading to two deaths.
• 1981 – Dan-Air Flight 240 crashed in Nailstone, Leicestershire, and all three crew members died.
• 1988 – The first crash of an Airbus A320 happened in France during an air show, killing three people.
• 1991 – The Yugoslav People's Army began the Ten-Day War in Slovenia.
• 1995 – Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani took over as the leader of Qatar from his father in a peaceful change of power.
• 1997 – The U.S. Supreme Court decided that the Communications Decency Act went against the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which protects free speech.
• 1997 – J. K. Rowling published the first book in her famous Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, in the United Kingdom.
• 2000 – The Human Genome Project announced that they had completed a "rough draft" of the human genetic code.
• 2006 – Mari Alkatiri, the first Prime Minister of East Timor, resigned after political problems.
• 2007 – Pope Benedict XVI brought back the old rules for choosing a new pope, where a candidate needs two-thirds of the votes.
• 2012 – The Waldo Canyon fire spread into a neighborhood in Colorado Springs, Colorado, burning 347 homes and killing two people.
• 2013 – Riots in China's Xinjiang region resulted in at least 36 deaths and 21 injuries.
• 2013 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that part of the Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional, meaning the U.S. government had to recognize legal same-sex marriages.
• 2015 – Five different terrorist attacks happened in France, Tunisia, Somalia, Kuwait, and Syria on a day called Bloody Friday by the media.
• 2015 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marriage across the United States.

Births

Born Before 1900

• 12 BC – Agrippa Postumus, a Roman noble.
• 1399 – John, Count of Angoulême.
• 1467 – Ferdinand II of Naples, a king.
• 1581 – San Pedro Claver, a Spanish Jesuit saint.
• 1694 – Georg Brandt, a Swedish chemist who discovered cobalt.
• 1730 – Charles Messier, a French astronomer famous for his catalog of deep-sky objects.
• 1786 – Sunthorn Phu, a famous Thai poet.
• 1817 – Branwell Brontë, an English painter and poet, brother of the famous Brontë writers.
• 1819 – Abner Doubleday, an American general.
• 1824 – William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, an Irish-Scottish physicist and engineer who made many scientific discoveries.
• 1854 – Robert Laird Borden, the 8th Prime Minister of Canada.
• 1866 – George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, an English archaeologist who helped discover Tutankhamun's tomb.
• 1892 – Pearl S. Buck, an American novelist and Nobel Prize winner.
• 1898 – Willy Messerschmitt, a German engineer who designed airplanes.

Born After 1900

• 1904 – Peter Lorre, a Slovak-American actor.
• 1908 – Salvador Allende, the 29th President of Chile.
• 1909 – Wolfgang Reitherman, a German-American animator and director for Disney.
• 1911 – Babe Didrikson Zaharias, an amazing American athlete who excelled in golf and basketball.
• 1913 – Maurice Wilkes, an English computer scientist who helped build early computers.
• 1921 – Violette Szabo, a brave French-British secret agent during World War II.
• 1922 – Eleanor Parker, an American actress.
• 1925 – Pavel Belyayev, a Soviet cosmonaut.
• 1928 – Yoshiro Nakamatsu, a Japanese inventor with many patents.
• 1929 – Milton Glaser, an American graphic designer, famous for the "I ♥ NY" logo.
• 1933 – Claudio Abbado, a famous Italian conductor.
• 1937 – Robert Coleman Richardson, an American physicist and Nobel Prize winner.
• 1942 – Gilberto Gil, a Brazilian singer-songwriter and politician.
• 1955 – Mick Jones, an English singer and guitarist from the band The Clash.
• 1956 – Chris Isaak, an American singer-songwriter.
• 1956 – Catherine Samba-Panza, a politician who served as interim president of the Central African Republic.
• 1961 – Greg LeMond, a famous American cyclist.
• 1968 – Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, the 6th President of Iceland.
• 1968 – Paolo Maldini, a legendary Italian footballer.
• 1969 – Colin Greenwood, the bass player for the band Radiohead.
• 1970 – Paul Thomas Anderson, an American film director.
• 1970 – Chris O'Donnell, an American actor.
• 1970 – Nick Offerman, an American actor.
• 1974 – Derek Jeter, a famous American baseball player.
• 1980 – Michael Vick, an American football player.
• 1984 – Aubrey Plaza, an American actress.
• 1993 – Ariana Grande, a popular American singer-songwriter and actress.
• 2005 – Princess Alexia of the Netherlands.

Deaths

Died Before 1900

• 116 BC – Ptolemy VIII, a king of Egypt.
• 363 – Julian the Apostate, a Roman emperor.
• 822 – Saichō, a Japanese Buddhist monk.
• 1274 – Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, a Persian scientist and writer.
• 1541 – Francisco Pizarro, a Spanish explorer and governor.
• 1793 – Gilbert White, an English naturalist and ecologist.
• 1810 – Joseph-Michel Montgolfier, a French inventor who helped create the hot air balloon.
• 1830 – George IV of the United Kingdom, a British king.
• 1836 – Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, a French soldier and composer who wrote "La Marseillaise."
• 1856 – Max Stirner, a German philosopher.

Died After 1900

• 1918 – Peter Rosegger, an Austrian poet and author.
• 1922 – Albert I, Prince of Monaco.
• 1938 – James Weldon Johnson, an American poet, lawyer, and civil rights activist.
• 1943 – Karl Landsteiner, an Austrian biologist and Nobel Prize winner who discovered blood groups.
• 1945 – Emil Hácha, the 3rd President of Czechoslovakia.
• 1947 – R. B. Bennett, the 11th Prime Minister of Canada.
• 1949 – Kim Koo, a Korean independence leader.
• 1957 – Alfred Döblin, a Polish-German physician and author.
• 1967 – Françoise Dorléac, a French actress.
• 1975 – Josemaría Escrivá, a Spanish priest and saint.
• 1993 – Roy Campanella, a famous American baseball player.
• 1996 – Veronica Guerin, an Irish journalist.
• 1997 – Don Hutson, an American football player.
• 2003 – Marc-Vivien Foé, a Cameroonian footballer.
• 2003 – Strom Thurmond, a long-serving American politician.
• 2004 – Naomi Shemer, a famous Israeli singer-songwriter.
• 2007 – Liz Claiborne, a Belgian-American fashion designer.
• 2010 – Algirdas Brazauskas, the 4th President of Lithuania.
• 2012 – Nora Ephron, an American director, producer, and screenwriter.
• 2014 – Howard Baker, an American politician and diplomat.
• 2015 – Yevgeny Primakov, a Russian politician and former Prime Minister of Russia.
• 2020 – Milton Glaser, an American graphic designer.
• 2022 – Margaret Keane, an American artist known for her "big-eyed" paintings.

Holidays and Observances

• Day of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan
• Christian feast day:
  • Anthelm of Belley
  • David the Dendrite
  • Hermogius
  • Isabel Florence Hapgood (Episcopal Church)
  • Jeremiah (Lutheran)
  • John and Paul
  • José María Robles Hurtado (one of Saints of the Cristero War)
  • Josemaría Escrivá
  • Mar Abhai (Syriac Orthodox Church)
  • Pelagius of Córdoba
  • Vigilius of Trent
  • June 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Flag Day (Romania)
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Madagascar from France in 1960. (Madagascar)
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Somaliland from United Kingdom in 1960. (Somaliland)
• Ratcatcher's Day (Hamelin, Germany)
• Sunthorn Phu Day (Thailand)
• World Refrigeration Day (International)

See also

In Spanish: 26 de junio para niños