March 26: Day of the year

March 26 is the 85th day of the year (86th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 280 days remaining until the end of the year.

Up to 1900

• 590 - Maurice proclaims his son Theodosius co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
• 1027 - Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor is crowned.
• 1169 - Saladin becomes Emir of Egypt.
• 1344 - The Siege of Algeciras, one of the first European military engagements where gunpowder was used, comes to an end.
• 1351 - Combat of the Thirty: 30 Breton knights call out and defeat 30 English knights
• 1511 - An earthquake on the Balkan peninsula and Italy kills 6,000 people.
• 1552 – Guru Amar Das becomes the third Sikh Guru.
• 1636 – Utrecht University is founded in the Netherlands.
• 1808 – Charles IV of Spain abdicates in favour of his son, Ferdinand VII.
• 1812 – Caracas, Venezuela, is destroyed in an earthquake, killing 12,000 people.
• 1830 – The Book of Mormon is published in Palmyra, New York.
• 1839 – The first Henley Royal Regatta is held.
• 1866 - Carol I becomes Prince of Romania.
• 1872 – An earthquake kills 27 people in Lone Pine, California.
• 1881 – The Principality of Romania declares itself a Kingdom.
• 1885 - The Metis people of the District of Saskatchewan under Louis Riel begin the North-West Rebellion against Canada.
• 1898 – Kruger National Park is founded in South Africa.

1901 – 2000

• 1913 - Gas explosions occur after the floods in Dayton, Ohio.
• 1917 - World War I: The Battle of Gaza takes place.
• 1931 – SwissAir is founded.
• 1934 – The Driving Test is introduced in the United Kingdom.
• 1939 - Spanish Civil War: Nationalists under Francisco Franco begin their final offensive of the war.
• 1942 – The first female prisoners arrive at Auschwitz.
• 1945 – The US declares Iwo Jima secure.
• 1958 - The United States Army launches Explorer 3.
• 1971 – East Pakistan declares independence under the name of Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Liberation War begins.
• 1973 – The Young and The Restless airs for the first time.
• 1974 - In Caracas, Venezuela, George Foreman wins the Heavyweight Boxing title against Ken Norton.
• 1975 - The Biological Weapons Convention comes into force.
• 1976 – Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom sends the first royal email.
• 1979 – Anwar Sadat, Menachem Begin, and Jimmy Carter sign the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty in Washington, DC.
• 1980 - Arianespace, European space organization, is founded.
• 1982 - The foundation stone is laid for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC.
• 1991 – The Mercosur Common Market is founded by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
• 1995 – The Schengen Treaty comes into effect.
• 1997 – Members of the Heaven's Gate cult commit suicide.
• 1998 - Oued Bouaicha massacre in Algeria: 52 people, including 32 children under the age of two, are murdered with knives and axes.
• 1999 – The Melissa worm infects Microsoft Word Processing and email systems.
• 1999 – A jury in Michigan finds Jack Kevorkian guilty of second-degree murder for administering a lethal injection to a terminally ill man.
• 2000 – Vladimir Putin is elected President of Russia.
• 2000 - Greece joins the Schengen Treaty.

From 2001

• 2006 – Burma's military junta moves its seat, capital city, from Rangoon to Naypyidaw in the Mandalay Division.
• 2006 – Smoking is banned in all public places in Scotland.
• 2009 - In New York City, the Freedom Tower, still under construction, is renamed One World Trade Center.
• 2010 – The South Korean warship ROKS Cheonan sinks, killing 46 seamen. It is believed that a North Korean torpedo was responsible.
• 2015 - King Richard III of England is reburied at Leicester Cathedral. His remains had been found in a car park in the city in 2012.
• 2015 - Germanwings Flight 9525: It is revealed that the plane's co-pilot Andreas Lubitz deliberately crashed it two days earlier, in the French Alps.

Up to 1800

• 603 – Pacal II, Mayan ruler (d. 683)
• 1031 - King Malcolm III of Scotland (d. 1093)
• 1516 – Conrad Gessner, Swiss naturalist (d. 1565)
• 1554 - Charles of Lorraine, Duke of Mayenne, French military leader (d. 1611)
• 1634 - Domenico Freschi, Italian composer (d. 1710)
• 1687 - Sophia Dorothea of Hanover (d. 1757)
• 1698 - Prokop Divis, Czech theologian and natural scientist (d. 1765)
• 1740 - Jonathan Trumbull, Jr., Governor of Connecticut (d. 1809)
• 1749 - William Blount, American politician (d. 1800)
• 1753 - Benjamin Thompson, American physicist and inventor (d. 1814)
• 1773 - Nathaniel Bowditch, American mathematician and navigator (d. 1838)
• 1784 - John W. Taylor, American politician (d. 1854)

1801 – 1900

• 1814 - Charles Mackay, Scottish poet, journalist and writer (d. 1889)
• 1819 - Louise Otto-Peters, German writer and social activist (d. 1895)
• 1819 - Prince George, Duke of Cambridge (d. 1904)
• 1849 – Armand Peugeot, French businessman (d. 1915)
• 1854 - Maurice Lecoq, French target shooter (d. 1925)
• 1856 - William Massey, 19th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1925)
• 1858 - Luis Barros Borgono, President of Chile (d. 1943)
• 1859 - Alfred Edward Housman, English poet (d. 1936)
• 1859 – Adolf Hurwitz, German mathematician (d. 1919)
• 1860 - André Prévost, French tennis player (d. 1919)
• 1866 - Fred Karno, English theatre producer (d. 1941)
• 1868 – King Fuad I of Egypt (d. 1936)
• 1871 – Jonah Kuhio Kalaniana'ole, Hawaiian prince and politician (d. 1922)
• 1873 - Dorothea Bleek, South African-German anthropologist and philologist (d. 1948)
• 1874 – Robert Frost, American poet (d. 1963)
• 1874 – Oskar Nedbal, Bohemian composer and conductor (d. 1930)
• 1875 – Max Abraham, German physicist (d. 1922)
• 1875 – Rhee Syng-man, President of South Korea (d. 1965)
• 1876 – William, Prince of Albania (d. 1945)
• 1879 - Othmar Ammann, Swiss-American engineer (d. 1965)
• 1879 - Waldemar Tietgens, German rower (d. 1917)
• 1881 - Guccio Gucci, Italian businessman and fashion designer (d. 1953)
• 1882 – Hermann Obrecht, Swiss jurist (d. 1940)
• 1884 – Wilhelm Backhaus, German pianist (d. 1969)
• 1893 – Palmiro Togliatti, Italian Communist leader (d. 1964)
• 1893 - James Bryant Conant, American chemist, academic and diplomat (d. 1978)
• 1894 - Viorica Ursuleac, Romanian operatic soprano (d. 1985)
• 1896 – Rudolf Dassler, German sportswear executive (d. 1974)
• 1900 - Giovanni Urbani, Archbishop of Venice (d. 1969)

1901 – 1950

• 1904 – Xenophon Zolotas, Greek economist and politician (d. 2004)
• 1904 – Attilio Ferraris, Italian footballer (d. 1947)
• 1904 - Joseph Campbell, American professor and writer (d. 1987)
• 1905 - Viktor Frankl, Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist (d. 1997)
• 1907 - Leigh Harline, American movie score composer (d. 1969)
• 1908 – Franz Stangl, Nazi Concentration Camp commandant (d. 1971)
• 1911 – Bernard Katz, German biophysicist (d. 2003)
• 1911 - J. L. Austin, British philosopher (d. 1960)
• 1911 - Robert B. Crosby, Governor of Nebraska (d. 2000)
• 1911 – Tennessee Williams, American writer and playwright (d. 1983)
• 1913 – Paul Erdős, Hungarian mathematician (d. 1996)
• 1913 - Jacqueline de Romilly, French philologist, classical scholar and fiction writer (d. 2010)
• 1914 - William Westmoreland, American military commander (d. 2005)
• 1915 - Hwang Sunwon, Korean writer (d. 2000)
• 1916 – Christian B. Anfinsen, American chemist (d. 1995)
• 1916 - Harry Rabinowitz, South African-American composer and conductor (d. 2016)
• 1917 - Rufus Thomas, American blues musician (d. 2001)
• 1920 - Sergio Livingstone, Chilean footballer (d. 2012)
• 1922 - William Milliken, American politician, former Governor of Michigan (d. 2019)
• 1923 – Gert Bastian, German politician (d. 1992)
• 1923 - Bob Elliott, American actor and comedian (d. 2016)
• 1923 - Elizabeth Jane Howard, British writer (d. 2014)
• 1925 – Pierre Boulez, French composer and conductor (d. 2016)
• 1925 – James Moody, American jazz musician (d. 2010)
• 1925 - Vesta Roy, Governor of New Hampshire (d. 2002)
• 1929 - Tom Foley, American politician (d. 2013)
• 1930 - Gregory Corso, American poet (d. 2001)
• 1930 – Sandra Day O'Connor, U.S. Supreme Court Justice
• 1931 – Leonard Nimoy, American actor (d. 2015)
• 1933 - Tinto Brass, Italian movie director and screenwriter
• 1934 – Alan Arkin, American actor
• 1935 – Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian politician
• 1936 - Giora Feidman, Israeli clarinetist
• 1937 - Ahmed Qurei, Palestinian politician
• 1937 - James Lee, 26th Premier of Prince Edward Island
• 1937 - Wayne Embry, American basketball player and manager
• 1938 – Anthony James Leggett, British-American physicist
• 1940 – James Caan, American actor
• 1940 – Nancy Pelosi, American politician
• 1941 – Richard Dawkins, British evolutionary biologist
• 1942 - Erica Jong, American novelist and poet
• 1943 - Bob Woodward, American journalist
• 1943 - Mustafa Kalemli, Turkish physician and politician
• 1944 – Diana Ross, American singer (The Supremes)
• 1944 - Igor Mitoraj, Polish sculptor (d. 2014)
• 1945 – Mikhail Voronin, Soviet gymnast (d. 2004)
• 1945 - Paul Bérenger, former Prime Minister of Mauritius
• 1946 - Alain Madelin, French politician
• 1946 - Johnny Crawford, American actor, singer and musician
• 1948 – Richard Tandy, British musician
• 1948 – Steven Tyler, American singer (Aerosmith)
• 1948 - Nash the Slash, Canadian musician (d. 2014)
• 1948 - Kyung-wha Chung, South Korean violinist
• 1949 - Jon English, English-Australian singer-songwriter, musician and actor (d. 2016)
• 1949 – Patrick Süskind, German writer
• 1949 - Vicki Lawrence, American actress, comedienne and singer
• 1950 – Teddy Pendergrass, American singer-songwriter (d. 2010)
• 1950 – Martin Short, Canadian actor and screenwriter
• 1950 - Alan Silvestri, American composer

1951 – 1975

• 1951 – Carl Wieman, American physicist
• 1952 – Didier Pironi, French racing driver (d. 1987)
• 1953 – Lincoln Chafee, American politician, former Governor of Rhode Island
• 1953 - Elaine Chao, American politician
• 1953 - Tatyana Providokhina, Russian middle-distance runner
• 1956 - Charly McClain, American singer
• 1956 - Park Won-soon, South Korean lawyer and politician
• 1957 - Fiona Bruce, British politician
• 1958 - Elio de Angelis, Italian racing driver (d. 1986)
• 1960 – Jennifer Grey, American actress
• 1961 – William Hague, British politician
• 1962 - Kevin Seitzer, American baseball player
• 1962 - Yuri Gidzenko, Russian cosmonaut
• 1963 - Rich Voisine, Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist and actor
• 1964 – Ulf Samuelsson, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1964 - Todd Barry, American comedian
• 1964 - Maria Miller, British politician
• 1965 - Violeta Szekely, Romanian runner
• 1968 – Kenny Chesney, American singer
• 1968 – James Iha, American musician
• 1969 - Alessandro Moscardi, Italian rugby player
• 1971 - Martyn Day, Scottish politician
• 1972 - Leslie Mann, American actress
• 1973 - Kyung-wha Chung, South Korean violinist
• 1973 – Larry Page, American co-founder of Google
• 1974 - Christina Surer, Swiss racing driver
• 1975 - Juvenile, American rapper

From 1976

• 1976 – Amy Smart, American actress
• 1976 - Alex Varas, Chilean footballer
• 1977 – Kevin Davies, English footballer
• 1977 - Bianca Kajlich, American actress
• 1979 – Nacho Novo, Spanish footballer
• 1979 - Roisin Conaty, English comedienne
• 1981 – Massimo Donati, Italian footballer
• 1982 – Mikel Arteta, Spanish footballer
• 1982 – Andreas Hinkel, German footballer
• 1983 – Roman Bednar, Czech footballer
• 1984 - Felix Neureuther, German skier
• 1985 – Keira Knightley, British actress
• 1985 - Jonathan Groff, American actor
• 1987 – Steven Fletcher, Scottish footballer
• 1987 - Yui, Japanese singer, musician and actress
• 1989 – Simon Kjaer, Danish footballer
• 1990 - Takaki Yuya, Japanese singer and actor
• 1990 - Matteo Guidicelli, Filipino actor, singer and racing driver
• 1992 - Haley Ramm, American actress
• 1992 - Nina Agdal, Danish model
• 1994 – Mayu Watanabe, Japanese actress and singer (AKB48)
• 1996 - Kathryn Bernardo, Filipina actress

Up to 1900

• 304 – Saint Emmanuel, Christian martyr
• 752 - Pope-elect Stephen
• 922 - Al-Hallaj, Persian Sufi teacher and writer
• 1130 – King Sigurd I of Norway (b. 1090)
• 1212 – King Sancho I of Portugal (b. 1154)
• 1535 - Georg Tannstetter, Austrian mathematician, astronomer and cartographer (b. 1482)
• 1649 - John Winthrop, English lawyer and politician
• 1685 - Emperor Go-Sai of Japan (b. 1638)
• 1726 - Johan Vanbrugh, English playwright and architect (b. 1664)
• 1793 - John Mudge, English physician (b. 1721)
• 1797 – James Hutton, Scottish geologist (b. 1726)
• 1814 – Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, French physician (b. 1738)
• 1827 – Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer (b. 1770)
• 1881 - Roman Sanguszko, Polish aristocrat (b. 1800)
• 1888 – Barghash bin Said, Sultan of Zanzibar (b. 1837)
• 1892 – Walt Whitman, American poet (b. 1819)

1901 – 2000

• 1902 – Cecil Rhodes, English explorer and colonial politician (b. 1853)
• 1905 - Maurice Barrymore, American actor (b. 1849)
• 1910 - An Jung-geun, Korean general (b. 1879)
• 1910 - Auguste Charlois, French astronomer (b. 1864)
• 1923 – Sarah Bernhardt, French actress (b. 1844)
• 1926 – Konstantin Fehrenbach, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1852)
• 1929 - Katharine Lee Bates, American poet (b. 1859)
• 1933 - Eddie Lang, American jazz musician (b. 1902)
• 1940 – Spyridon Louis, Greek marathon runner (b. 1873)
• 1945 – David Lloyd George, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1863)
• 1951 - James F. Hinkle, Governor of New Mexico (b. 1864)
• 1954 - Charles Perrin, French rower (b. 1875)
• 1957 - Edouard Herriot, Prime Minister of France (b. 1872)
• 1959 – Raymond Chandler, American-born novelist (b. 1888)
• 1969 - John Kennedy Toole, American writer (b. 1937)
• 1973 – Noël Coward, British composer and playwright (b. 1899)
• 1973 – George Sisler, American baseball player (b. 1893)
• 1976 – Josef Albers, German artist (b. 1888)
• 1980 - Roland Barthes, French linguist and critic (b. 1915)
• 1983 - Anthony Blunt, English historian and spy (b. 1907)
• 1984 – Ahmed Sékou Touré, President of Guinea (b. 1922)
• 1987 – Eugen Jochum, German conductor (b. 1902)
• 1987 - Walter Abel, American poet (b. 1898)
• 1989 - Hai Zi, Chinese poet (b. 1964)
• 1993 - J. Caleb Boggs, American politician, 62nd Governor of Delaware (b. 1909)
• 1995 – Eazy-E, American rapper (b. 1963)
• 1996 - Edmund Muskie, American politician (b. 1914)
• 1996 - David Packard, American engineer and businessman (b. 1912)
• 1997 – Marshall Applewhite, American, leader of the Heaven's Gate cult (b. 1931)

From 2001

• 2003 - Daniel Patrick Moynihan, American politician (b. 1927)
• 2005 – James Callaghan, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1912)
• 2006 - Nikki Sudden, British singer-songwriter (b. 1956)
• 2008 – Manuel Marulanda, Colombian guerrilla (b. 1930)
• 2011 – Paul Baran, American computer programmer (b. 1926)
• 2011 – Geraldine Ferraro, American lawyer and politician (b. 1935)
• 2011 – Diana Wynne Jones, British writer (b. 1934)
• 2013 - Jerzy Nowak, Polish actor (b. 1923)
• 2013 - Don Payne, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1964)
• 2014 - George Bookasta, American actor and director (b. 1917)
• 2014 - Dick Guidry, American businessman and politician (b. 1929)
• 2015 - Karl Moik, Austrian television presenter and singer (b. 1938)
• 2015 - John Renbourn, English guitarist (b. 1944)
• 2015 - Dinkha IV, Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East (b. 1935)
• 2015 - Tomas Tranströmer, Swedish poet (b. 1931)
• 2015 - Friedrich L. Bauer, German computer scientist (b. 1924)
• 2015 - Fred Robsahm, Norwegian actor (b. 1943)
• 2016 - David Baker, American jazz musician (b. 1931)
• 2016 - Norm Hadley, Canadian rugby player (b. 1964)
• 2016 - Jim Harrison, American writer and screenwriter (b. 1937)
• 2016 - Igor Pashkevich, Soviet-Russian figure skater (b. 1971)
• 2017 - Mai Dantsig, Belarusian artist (b. 1930)
• 2017 - Vladimir Kazachyonok, Russian footballer and manager (b. 1952)
• 2017 - Roger Wilkins, American civil rights activist and journalist (b. 1932)

• Independence Day in Bangladesh
• Prince Kuhio Day (Hawaii)
• Prophet Zoroaster's Birthday (Zoroastrianism)
• Day of Democracy (Mali)