June 26

From the Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can change

2008 Calendar

[change] Events

684 - Benedict II becomes Pope.
1409 - Western Schism: The Catholic church is led into a double schism as Petros Philargos is crowned Pope Alexander V after the Council of Pisa, joining Pope Gregory XII in Rome and Pope Benedict XII in Avignon.
1483 - Richard III becomes king of England.
1819 - The bicycle is patented.
1924 - American occupying forces leave the Dominican Republic.
1934 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Federal Credit Union Act, which establishes credit unions.
1934 - Initial flight of the Focke-Wulf Fw 61, the first practical helicopter.
1940 - World War II: Under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the Soviet Union presents an ultimatum to Romania requiring it to cede Bessarabia and northern part of Bukovina.
1945 - The United Nations Charter is signed.
1948 - The Western allies start an airlift to Berlin after the Soviet Union has blockaded West Berlin.
1959 - The Saint Lawrence Seaway opens, opening North America's Great Lakes to ocean-going ships.
1960 - Former British Protectorate of Somaliland British Somaliland gains its independence
1963 - John F. Kennedy speaks the famous words "Ich bin ein Berliner".
1964 - The Beatles release the album A Hard Day's Night.
1973 - On Plesetsk Cosmodrome 9 persons were killed at an explosion of a Cosmos 3-M rocket.
1974 - The first retail product (a pack of chewing gum) was sold using a barcode reader.
1975 - Indira Gandhi establishes authoritarian rule in India.
1977 - Last concert of Elvis Presley.
1979 - Muhammad Ali retires.
1997 - The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the Communications Decency Act violates the First Amendment.
1997 - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the U.S.), the first book in J.K. Rowling's hugely popular Harry Potter series, is published.
2003 - The U.S. Supreme Court rules that sodomy laws are unconstitutional in Lawrence v. Texas.
2007 - Lina Hahne a 23 year old medical student was crowned Miss Sweden after the original winner was dethroned.

[change] Births

1653 - Cardinal André-Hercule de Fleury, Bishop of Fréjus, chief minister of France under Louis XV
1824 - Lord Kelvin, physicist (died 1907)
1854 - Robert Laird Borden, eighth Prime Minister of Canada
1865 - Bernard Berenson, art connoisseur (died 1959)
1892 - Pearl S. Buck, American writer, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature (died 1973)
1898 - Willy Messerschmitt, aircraft designer (died 1978)
1899 - Maria Nikolaevna Romanova, daughter of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and Alexandra of Hesse (died 1918)
1904 - Peter Lorre, actor (died 1964)
1906 - Alberto Rabagliati, Italian singer and actor
1909 - Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis Presley's manager (died 1997)
1911 - Babe Didrikson Zaharias, American athlete and golfer (died 1956)
1912 - Jay Silverheels, actor (died 1980)
1919 - Richard Neustadt, political historian
1925 - Pavel Belyayev, cosmonaut (died 1970)
1933 - Claudio Abbado, conductor
1934 - Jeremy Wolfenden, British journalist (died 1965)
1936 - Robert Maclennan, British politician
1942 - Gilberto Gil, first Minister of Culture of Brazil, singer, songwriter, musician
1945 - Dwight York, musician, fashion consultant, cult leader, child molester
1954 - Steve Barton, actor, singer, dancer
1955 - Mick Jones, British musician, guitarist with The Clash, Big Audio Dynamite
1956 - Chris Isaak, pop singer
1961 - Greg Lemond, cyclist
1963 - Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky, Russian CEO of YUKOS Oil Company
1968 - Rich Eisen, ESPN SportsCenter anchor
1968 - Shannon Sharpe, American football player, commentator
1968 - Paolo Maldini, Italian footballer
1969 - Colin Greenwood, musician, Radiohead
1970 - Chris O'Donnell, actor
1973 - Gretchen Wilson, country music singer
1974 - Derek Jeter, baseball player
1977 - Kubo Tite, cartoonist
1980 - Jason Schwartzman, actor
1980 - Michael Vick, American football player
1985 - Urgyen Trinley Dorje, Tibetan spiritual leader