Subj : This Day in History To : All From : Northern Realms Date : Thu Feb 26 2026 08:09:08 This Day in History ------------------- 2021 - A total of 279 female students aged between 10 and 17 are kidnapped by bandits in the Zamfara kidnapping in Zamfara State, Nigeria. 2019 - Indian Air Force fighter-jets targeted Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camps in Balakot, Pakistan. 2013 - A hot air balloon crashes near Luxor, Egypt, killing 19 people. 2012 - Seventeen-year-old African-American student Trayvon Martin is shot to death by neighborhood watch coordinator George Zimmerman in an altercation in Sanford, Florida. 2012 - A train derails in Burlington, Ontario, Canada killing at least three people and injuring 45. 2008 - The New York Philharmonic performs in Pyongyang, North Korea; this is the first event of its kind to take place in North Korea. 1995 - The UK's oldest investment banking institute, Barings Bank, collapses after a rogue securities broker Nick Leeson loses $1.4 billion by speculating on the Singapore International Monetary Exchange using futures contracts. 1993 - World Trade Center bombing: In New York City, a truck bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center explodes, killing six and injuring over a thousand people. 1992 - First Nagorno-Karabakh War: Khojaly Massacre: Armenian armed forces open fire on Azeri civilians at a military post outside the town of Khojaly leaving hundreds dead. 1987 - Iran-Contra affair: The Tower Commission rebukes President Ronald Reagan for not controlling his national security staff. 1980 - Egypt and Israel establish full diplomatic relations. 1979 - The Superliner railcar enters revenue service with Amtrak. 1971 - U.N. Secretary-General U Thant signs United Nations proclamation of the vernal equinox as Earth Day. 1966 - Apollo program: Launch of AS-201, the first flight of the Saturn IB rocket. 1960 - A Kyiv-bound Aeroflot airliner crashes on approach to Snilow Airport in Lviv, killing 32 of the 33 people on board. 1960 - A New York-bound Alitalia airliner crashes into a cemetery in Shannon, Ireland, shortly after takeoff, killing 34 of the 52 persons on board. 1952 - Vincent Massey is sworn in as the first Canadian-born Governor General of Canada. 1945 - World War II: US troops reclaim the Philippine island of Corregidor from the Japanese. 1936 - In the February 26 Incident, young nationalist Japanese military officers assassinate multiple cabinet statesmen and start a rebellion in downtown Tokyo, which is ended 3 days later. 1935 - Robert Watson-Watt carries out a demonstration near Daventry which leads directly to the development of radar in the United Kingdom. 1935 - Adolf Hitler orders the Luftwaffe to be re-formed, violating the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles. 1929 - President Calvin Coolidge signs legislation establishing the 96,000 acres (390 km2) Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. 1919 - President Woodrow Wilson signs an act of Congress establishing the Grand Canyon National Park. 1914 - HMHS Britannic, sister to the RMS Titanic, is launched at Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast. 1909 - Kinemacolor, the first successful color motion picture process, is first shown to the general public at the Palace Theatre in London. 1876 - Japan and Korea sign the Treaty of Kangwha, which grants Japanese citizens extraterritoriality rights in Korea, opens three Korean ports to Japanese trade, and ends Korea's status as a tributary state of Qing dynasty China. 1870 - The Beach Pneumatic Transit in New York City, intended as a demonstration for a subway line, opens. 1815 - Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from exile on the island of Elba. 1794 - The first Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen burns down. 1775 - The British East India Company factory on Balambangan Island is destroyed by Moro pirates. 1616 - Galileo Galilei is formally banned by the Roman Catholic Church from teaching or defending the view that the earth orbits the sun. 1606 - The Janszoon voyage of 1605-06 becomes the first European expedition to set foot on Australia, although it is mistaken as a part of New Guinea. 1365 - The Ava Kingdom and the royal city of Ava (Inwa) founded by King Thado Minbya. 1266 - Battle of Benevento: An army led by Charles, Count of Anjou, defeats a combined German and Sicilian force led by Manfred, King of Sicily. Manfred is killed in the battle and Pope Clement IV invests Charles as king of Sicily and Naples. 1074 - Battle of Kemej: The royal army of Solomon, King of Hungary defeats the force of his rebellious cousin Duke Geza. 364 - Valentinian I is proclaimed Roman Emperor. 320 - Chandragupta I is officially crowned as the first Gupta Emperor. 747 BC - According to Ptolemy, the epoch (origin) of the Nabonassar Era began at noon on this date. Historians use this to establish the modern BC chronology for dating historic events. --- up 2 days, 20 hours, 49 minutes * Origin: Northern Realms (618:400/23) .