January 26 is the 26th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 339 days remaining (340 in leap years).
- 1340 - King Edward III of England is declared King of France
- 1500 - Vicente Yáñez Pinzón[?] become the first European to discover Brazil.
- 1531 - Lisbon, Portugal is hit by an earthquake-- thousands die
- 1699 - Treaty of Carlowitz signed
- 1736 - Stanislaus I of Poland abdicates his throne.
- 1788 - Australia Day: First Fleet from Botany Bay[?] led by Arthur Phillip land in what would become Sydney, Australia. They would establish the first permanent European settlement on the continent.
- 1837 - Michigan is admitted as the 26th U.S. state.
- 1841 - The United Kingdom occupies Hong Kong.
- 1861 - American Civil War: Louisiana secedes from the Union.
- 1870 - American Civil War: Virginia rejoins the Union.
- 1885 - Troops loyal to the Mahdi conquer Khartoum
- 1887 - Battle of Dogali[?]: Abyssinian troops defeat Italians
- 1905 - The Cullinan diamond[?] is found near Pretoria, South Africa at the Premier Mine[?].
- 1911 - Glenn H. Curtiss[?] flies the first successful seaplane[?].
- 1934 - The Apollo Theatre[?] opens in Harlem, New York City.
- 1939 - Spanish Civil War: Troops loyal to Francisco Franco and aided by Italy take Barcelona.
- 1942 - World War II: The first American forces arrive in Europe landing in Northern Ireland.
- 1948 - President Harry S Truman signs Executive Order 9981[?], ending segregation in the United States Armed Forces
- 1950 - India promulgates its constitution forming a republic and Rajendra Prasad[?] is sworn in as its first president.
- 1956 - 1956 Winter Olympic Games[?] open in Cortina d'Ampezzo[?], Italy
- 1961 - John F. Kennedy appoints Janet G. Travell[?] to be his physician. This is the first time a women held this appointment.
- 1962 - Ranger 3 is launched to study the moon. The space probe later missed the moon by 22,000 miles.
- 1965 - Hindi becomes the official language of India.
- 1980 - Israel and Egypt establish diplomatic relations[?]
- 1983 - Lotus 1-2-3 is released
- 1992 - Boris Yeltsin announces that Russia is going to stop targeting United States cities with nuclear weapons.
- 1993 - Vaclav Havel elected President of the Czech Republic
- 1994 - A man fires two blank shots at Charles, Prince of Wales in Sydney, Australia.
- 1996 - Whitewater scandal: Hillary Rodham Clinton testifies before a grand jury.
- 1998 - Lewinsky scandal: On American television, Bill Clinton denies he had "sexual relations" with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
- 1998 - Compaq buys Digital Equipment Corporation
- 2001 - A 50-year-old Douglas DC-3 crashes near Ciudad Bolivar[?], Venezuela killing 24.
- 2001 - An earthquake hits Gujarat, India. More than 20,000 deaths.
- 1781 - Achim von Arnim[?], poet (+ 1831)
- 1826 - Louis Favre[?], engineer Gotthard tunnel[?] (+ 1879)
- 1826 - Julia Dent Grant[?], First Lady
- 1831 - Mary Mapes Dodged[?], writer (+ 1907)
- 1880 - Douglas MacArthur, general (+ 1964)
- 1901 - Stuart Symington[?], politician (+ 1988)
- 1904 - Ancel Keys, scientist
- 1905 - Bernhard Minetti[?], actor
- 1905 - Maria von Trapp[?], singer (+ 1987)
- 1908 - Stéphane Grappelli, musician, composer (+ 1997)
- 1918 - Nicolae Ceauşescu, Romanian dictator (+ 1989)
- 1918 - Philip Jose Farmer, science fiction writer
- 1923 - Anne Jeffreys[?], actress
- 1925 - Paul Newman, actor
- 1926 - Ralph Brance[?], baseball star
- 1928 - Eartha Kitt[?], singer and actress
- 1928 - Roger Vadim, French film director and actor (+ 2000)
- 1929 - Jules Feiffer[?], cartoonist, writer
- 1941 - Henry Jaglom[?], director
- 1941 - Scott Glenn[?], actor
- 1944 - Angela Davis, feminist and activist
- 1945 - Jacqueline du Pré, cello player (+ 1987)
- 1946 - Gene Siskel[?], film critic (+ 1999)
- 1955 - Eddie Van Halen, musician
- 1958 - Ellen DeGeneres, actress, comedienne
- 1961 - Wayne Gretzky, ice hockey player
- 1963 - Andrew Ridgeley[?], musician
See Also:
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
January 25 - January 27 - December 26 - February 26 - Historical anniversaries