September 26: Day of the year

September 26 is the 269th day of the year (270th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 96 days remaining until the end of the year.

Up to 1900

• 1087 – William II of England is crowned king in Westminster Abbey.
• 1345 – Friso-Hollandic Wars: Frisians defeat Holland in the Battle of Warns.
• 1371 – Battle of Maritsa in the Serbian-Turkish War.
• 1580 – Francis Drake completes his circumnavigation (voyage around the world).
• 1687 – The Parthenon in Athens is partially destroyed by an explosion caused by the bombing from Venetian forces led by Francesco Morosini who are besieging the Ottoman Turks stationed in Athens.
• 1687 – The city council of Amsterdam votes to support William of Orange's invasion of England, later known as the Glorious Revolution.
• 1777 – British forces occupy Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the American Revolutionary War.
• 1786 – Protestors shut down the court in Springfield, Massachusetts in a military stand-off that begins the Shays' Rebellion.
• 1789 – Thomas Jefferson is appointed the first United States Secretary of State.
• 1792 – Marc-David Lasource accuses Maximilien Robespierre of wanting a dictatorship in France.
• 1810 – The Riksdag (Swedish parliament) passes the Act of Succession, allowing Jean Baptiste Bernadotte to become heir to the throne of Sweden.
• 1832 – The Göta Canal in central Sweden opens.
• 1860 – The current Flag of Ecuador is introduced.
• 1872 – The first Shriners Temple (called Mecca) is established in New York City.

1901 – 2000

• 1907 – New Zealand and Newfoundland are given Dominion status.
• 1908 – The Norwegian football club SK Brann is founded.
• 1914 – The US Federal Trade Commission is established.
• 1917 – World War I: The Battle of Polygon Wood begins.
• 1918 – World War I: The Meuse-Argonne Offensive begins.
• 1923 – Gustav Stresemann resumes (restarts) the Weimar Republic's payment of reparation money.
• 1933 – A hurricane in Tampico, Mexico kills 1,000 people.
• 1934 – The steamship RMS Queen Mary is launched.
• 1941 – Off the Azores, British passenger steamer Avoceta is torpedoed by a German U-boat. It sinks within two minutes, killing 123 people.
• 1944 – World War II: The Allies abandon Operation Market Garden.
• 1950 – Indonesia is admitted to the UN.
• 1950 – Korean War: UN forces re-capture Seoul from North Korean forces.
• 1954 – Japanese railway ferry Toya Maru sinks during a typhoon, killing 1,172 people.
• 1955 – The Flag and Coat of Arms of East Germany are introduced.
• 1959 – Typhoon Vera hits Japan, killing 4,580 people.
• 1960 – The first televised United States Presidential debate takes place, between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon.
• 1960 – Fidel Castro announces Cuba's support for the Soviet Union.
• 1962 – The Yemen Arab Republic is proclaimed.
• 1969 – Abbey Road, the last recorded album by The Beatles, is released.
• 1970 – The Laguna Fire starts in San Diego County, California, burning 175,425 acres (709.92 square kilometers) of land.
• 1973 – Concorde makes its first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in record-breaking time.
• 1980 – The Oktoberfest terror attack in Munich kills 13 people and injures 211.
• 1981 – The first flight of a Boeing 767 takes place.
• 1983 – Sailing: The Yacht Australia II wins the America's Cup, ending a 132-year US winning streak.
• 1984 – The United Kingdom agrees to the 1997 handover of Hong Kong.
• 1992 – A Nigerian troop transporter plane crashes shortly after take-off in Lagos, killing all 163 soldiers on board.
• 1997 – A plane crash in Medan, Sumatra, Indonesia, kills 234 people.
• 1997 – A major earthquake strikes central Italy.
• 2000 – The ship MS Samina sinks off Paros in the Aegean Sea, killing 80 people.

From 2001

• 2001 – The Polish Wiki is launched.
• 2002 – A Senegalese ferry capsizes near the Gambia, killing more than 1,000 people.
• 2006 – Shinzo Abe becomes Prime Minister of Japan for the first time.
• 2007 – Yasuo Fukuda becomes Prime Minister of Japan.
• 2008 – Swiss pilot and inventor Yves Rossy becomes the first person to fly a jet engine-powered wing across the English Channel.
• 2009 – Typhoon Ketsana strikes the Philippines, and several neighboring countries, killing over 700 people.
• 2014 – Several students are kidnapped from Iguala, Mexico.
• 2016 – The first 2016 US presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump takes place.
• 2017 – It is announced that the Republic of Ireland is to hold a referendum on the issue of abortion in 2018.
• 2017 – An end to the ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia is announced.
• 2019 – New South Wales becomes the last Australian state to allow abortion.

Up to 1900

• 1329 – Anna of Bavaria, Queen of the Romans (d. 1353)
• 1406 – Thomas de Ros, 9th Baron de Ros, English soldier and politician (d. 1430)
• 1698 – William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire (d. 1755)
• 1711 – Richard Grenville-Temple, 2nd Earl of Temple, English politician (d. 1779)
• 1774 – Johnny Appleseed, American folk hero (d. 1847)
• 1791 – Théodore Géricault, French painter and lithographer (d. 1824)
• 1793 – William Hobson, 1st Governor of New Zealand (d. 1842)
• 1820 – Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Bengali scholar (d. 1891)
• 1840 – Louis-Olivier Taillon, French-Canadian politician (d. 1923)
• 1843 – Joseph Furphy, Australian writer (d. 1912)
• 1849 – Ivan Pavlov, Russian scientist (d. 1936)
• 1856 – Leo Graetz, German physicist (d. 1941)
• 1865 – Mary Russell, Duchess of Bedford, English pilot and ornithologist (d. 1937)
• 1867 – Winsor McCay, American animator (d. 1934)
• 1869 – Komitas Vardapet, Armenian composer (d. 1935)
• 1870 – King Christian X of Denmark (d. 1947)
• 1872 – Max Ehrmann, American poet (d. 1945)
• 1873 – Alexey Shchusev, Russian architect (d. 1949)
• 1874 – Lewis Hine, American photographer and scientist (d. 1940)
• 1876 – Ghulam Bhik Nairang, Indian poet and Muslim nationalist (d. 1952)
• 1877 – Alfred Cortot, French pianist (d. 1962)
• 1877 – Ugo Cerletti, Italian neurologist (d. 1963)
• 1881 – Hiram Wesley Evans, American Ku Klux Klan leader (d. 1966)
• 1886 – Archibald Hill, English mathematician, won the 1922 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1977)
• 1887 – Antonio Moreno, Spanish actor (d. 1967)
• 1887 – Barnes Wallis, English scientist and inventor (d. 1979)
• 1888 – T. S. Eliot, American poet (d. 1965)
• 1889 – Martin Heidegger, German philosopher (d. 1976)
• 1891 – Hans Reichenbach, German philosopher (d. 1953)
• 1893 – Gladys Brockwell, American actress (d. 1929)
• 1895 – Jürgen Stroop, German SS officer (d. 1952)
• 1897 – Pope Paul VI (d. 1978)
• 1898 – George Gershwin, American composer (d. 1937)

1901 – 1925

• 1901 – George Raft, American actor (d. 1980)
• 1905 – Millito Navarro, Puerto Rican baseball player (d. 2011)
• 1907 – Anthony Blunt, British double-agent (d. 1983)
• 1909 – Bill France, Sr., American racing driver (d. 1992)
• 1910 – Delfin Benitez Caceres, Paraguayan footballer (d. 2004)
• 1913 – Berthold Beitz, German businessman (d. 2013)
• 1914 – Achille Compagnoni, Italian mountaineer (d. 2009)
• 1914 – Jack LaLanne, American fitness expert (d. 2011)
• 1917 – Tran Duc Thao, Vietnamese philosopher (d. 1993)
• 1918 – Olafur Johann Stefansson, Icelandic writer (d. 1988)
• 1918 – John Zacherle, American television host, voice actor and singer
• 1919 – Matilde Camus, Spanish poet (d. 2012)
• 1919 – Ezio Loik, Italian footballer (d. 1949)
• 1921 – Cyprian Ekwensi, Nigerian writer (d. 2007)
• 1922 – Nicholas Romanov, Prince of Russia, claimant to Russian throne (d. 2014)
• 1923 – Dev Anand, Indian actor and movie producer (d. 2011)
• 1923 – James Hennessy, British diplomat and public servant
• 1925 – Marty Robbins, American singer (d. 1982)

1926 – 1950

• 1926 – Julie London, American singer and actress (d. 2000)
• 1927 – Patrick O'Neal, American actor
• 1927 – Robert Cade, American physician (d. 2007)
• 1927 – Romano Mussolini, Italian jazz musician (d. 2006)
• 1927 – Enzo Bearzot, Italian footballer (d. 2010)
• 1930 – Fritz Wunderlich, German tenor (d. 1966)
• 1932 – Donna Douglas, American actress (d. 2015)
• 1932 – Manmohan Singh, former Prime Minister of India
• 1932 – Vladimir Voinovich, Russian writer and dissident (d. 2018)
• 1932 – Richard Herd, American actor
• 1934 – Dick Heckstall-Smith, English musician (d. 2004)
• 1935 – Lou Myers, American actor (d. 2013)
• 1936 – Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, South African activist (d. 2018)
• 1937 – Valentin Pavlov, Russian politician (d. 2003)
• 1937 – Jerry Weintraub, American movie producer (d. 2015)
• 1938 – Raoul Cauvin, Belgian comic writer
• 1939 – Ricky Tomlinson, English actor
• 1939 – George McWhirter, Northern Irish-Canadian writer
• 1941 – Salvatore Accardo, Italian violinist and composer
• 1941 – Martine Beswick, English model and actress
• 1941 – Vadim Glowna, German actor (d. 2012)
• 1942 – Kent McCord, American actor
• 1942 – Ingrid Becker, German athlete
• 1943 – Ian Chappell, Australian cricketer
• 1944 – Jan Brewer, American politician, 22nd Governor of Arizona
• 1944 – Anne Robinson, English television presenter
• 1944 – Jean-Pierre Ricard, French cardinal, Archbishop of Bordeaux
• 1945 – Bobby Clark, Scottish footballer
• 1945 – Gal Costa, Brazilian singer
• 1945 – Bryan Ferry, English singer
• 1946 – Radhna Krishna Mainali, Nepalese politician
• 1946 – Andrea Dworkin, American activist and writer (d. 2005)
• 1946 – Christine Todd Whitman, 50th Governor of New Jersey
• 1946 – Homa Rousta, Iranian actress (d. 2015)
• 1947 – Lynn Anderson, American singer (d. 2015)
• 1948 – Olivia Newton-John, Australian-British singer and actress (d. 2022)
• 1948 – Stuart Tosh, Scottish singer-songwriter and producer
• 1949 – Clodoaldo, Brazilian footballer
• 1949 – Minette Walters, English novelist

1951 – 1975

• 1952 – George Wood, Scottish footballer
• 1954 – Alice, Italian singer-songwriter
• 1954 – Kevin Kennedy, American baseball player and manager
• 1956 – Linda Hamilton, American actress
• 1957 – Roger MacBride Allen, American science fiction writer
• 1957 – Luigi De Canio, Italian footballer
• 1957 – Klaus Augenthaler, German footballer
• 1958 – Rudi Cerne, German ice skater and TV presenter
• 1958 – Robert Kagan, American historian and writer
• 1959 – Andrew Bolt, Australian journalist and political commentator
• 1960 – Uwe Bein, German footballer
• 1960 – Jouke de Vries, Frisian politician and professor
• 1961 – Will Self, British writer
• 1962 – Mark Haddon, British writer
• 1962 – Melissa Sue Anderson, American actress
• 1962 – Al Pitrelli, American guitarist (Megadeth)
• 1962 – Jacky Wu, Taiwanese singer, actor and television host
• 1963 – Lysette Anthony, English actress and model
• 1964 – Nicki French, English singer and actress
• 1965 – Petro Poroshenko, Ukrainian businessman and politician, former President of Ukraine
• 1968 – James Caviezel, American actor
• 1969 – Holger Stanislawski, German football manager
• 1969 – Anthony Cavanagh, French-Canadian comedian, actor and singer
• 1969 – David Slade, English director
• 1972 – Beto O'Rourke, American politician
• 1973 – Chris Small, Scottish snooker player
• 1973 – Julienne Davis, American actress, producer and screenwriter
• 1975 – Jake Paltrow, American director

From 1976

• 1976 – Michael Ballack, German footballer
• 1976 – Dean Butterworth, English-American drummer (Good Charlotte)
• 1976 – Tyler Denk, American model
• 1978 – Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot, Kenyan runner
• 1979 – Naomichi Marufuji, Japanese professional wrestler
• 1979 – Jaycie Phelps, American gymnast
• 1979 – Taavi Roivas, former Prime Minister of Estonia
• 1980 – Daniel Sedin, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1980 – Henrik Sedin, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1980 – Kazuki Ganaha, Japanese footballer
• 1981 – Christina Milian, American singer
• 1981 – Serena Williams, American tennis player
• 1981 – Yao Beina, Chinese singer (d. 2015)
• 1983 – Ricardo Quaresma, Portuguese footballer
• 1985 – Lenna Kuurmaa, Estonian singer
• 1985 – M. Pokora, French singer and songwriter
• 1986 – Ashley Leggat, Canadian actress, singer and dancer
• 1987 – Rosanna Munter, Swedish singer
• 1988 – James Blake, English singer-songwriter
• 1988 – Marina Kuroki, Japanese actress and singer
• 1988 – Kiira Korpi, Finnish figure skater
• 1989 – Ciaran Clark, Irish footballer
• 1989 – Emma Rigby, English actress
• 1990 – Pavel Avdeyev, Russian footballer
• 1991 – Alma Jodorowsky, French actress, fashion model and singer
• 1993 – Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, American basketball player
• 2000 – Princess Salma bint Al Abdullah II of Jordan

Up to 1960

• 1290 – Margaret, Maid of Norway, Queen of Scotland (b. 1283)
• 1417 – Francesco Zabarella, Italian jurist (b. 1360)
• 1425 – Sophia of Bavaria, Queen of Bohemia (b. 1376)
• 1468 – Juan de Torquemada, Spanish cardinal (b. 1388)
• 1620 – Taicheng, Chinese Emperor (b. 1582)
• 1626 – Wakisaka Yasuharu, Japanese daimyo (b. 1554)
• 1716 – Antoine Parent, French mathematician (b. 1666)
• 1763 – John Byron, English poet (b. 1692)
• 1802 – Jurij Vega, Slovenian mathematician and military officer (b. 1754)
• 1820 – Daniel Boone, American frontiersman (b. 1734)
• 1867 – James Ferguson, Scottish-American astronomer (b. 1797)
• 1877 – Hermann Grossmann, German polymath (b. 1809)
• 1902 – Levi Strauss, German-born clothing manufacturer (b. 1829)
• 1904 – Lafcadio Hearn, Irish-Greek writer (b. 1850)
• 1904 – John F. Stairs, Canadian businessman and statesman (b. 1848)
• 1937 – Bessie Smith, American blues singer (b. 1894)
• 1945 – Béla Bartók, Hungarian composer (b. 1881)
• 1945 – Kiyoshi Miki, Japanese philosopher (b. 1897)
• 1947 – Hugh Lofting, English writer (b. 1886)
• 1952 – George Santayana, Spanish philosopher (b. 1863)
• 1953 – Xu Beihong, Chinese painter (b. 1895)
• 1954 – Ellen Roosevelt, American tennis player (b. 1868)
• 1959 – Solomon Bandaranaike, Prime Minister of present-day Sri Lanka (b. 1899)

1961 – 2015

• 1968 – Daniel Johnson, Sr., 20th Premier of Quebec (b. 1915)
• 1973 – Anna Magnani, Italian actress (b. 1908)
• 1976 – Lavoslav Ruzicka, Croatian chemist (b. 1887)
• 1978 – Manne Siegbahn, Swedish physicist (b. 1886)
• 1983 – Tino Rossi, French singer and actor (b. 1907)
• 1984 – Paquirri, Spanish bullfighter (b. 1948)
• 1987 – Ramang, Indonesian footballer and manager (b. 1928)
• 1987 – Herbert Tichy, Austrian mountaineer (b. 1912)
• 1990 – Alberto Moravia, Italian writer (b. 1907)
• 1996 – Geoffrey Wilkinson, British chemist (b. 1921)
• 1998 – Betty Carter, American singer (b. 1929)
• 2000 – Baden Powell de Aquino, Brazilian guitarist (b. 1937)
• 2000 – Richard Mulligan, American actor (b. 1932)
• 2003 – Shawn Lane, American guitarist (b. 1963)
• 2003 – Robert Palmer, British singer (b. 1949)
• 2006 – Iva Toguri D'Aquino, alleged Tokyo Rose (b. 1916)
• 2006 – Byron Nelson, American golfer (b. 1912)
• 2008 – Paul Newman, American actor and director (b. 1925)
• 2010 – Gloria Stuart, American actress (b. 1910)
• 2012 – Johnny Lewis, American actor (b. 1983)
• 2013 – Sos Sargsyan, Armenian actor (b. 1929)
• 2014 – Michael McCarty, American stage actor (b. 1946)
• 2014 – Sam Hall, American television writer (b. 1921)
• 2015 – Homa Rousta, Iranian actress (b. 1946)

From 2016

• 2016 – Herschell Gordon Lewis, American movie director (b. 1929)
• 2016 – Ioan Gyuri Pascu, Romanian singer, actor and comedian (b. 1961)
• 2017 – Robert Delpire, French photographer and filmmaker (b. 1926)
• 2017 – Barry Dennen, American actor (b. 1938)
• 2017 – Günter Halm, German World War II lieutenant (b. 1922)
• 2017 – Rinse Zijlstra, Dutch politician (b. 1927)
• 2018 – Joe Carolan, Irish footballer (b. 1937)
• 2018 – Ignaz Kirchner, Austrian actor (b. 1946)
• 2019 – Giovanni Bramucci, Italian cyclist (b. 1946)
• 2019 – Jacques Chirac, President of France (b. 1932)
• 2019 – William Levada, American cardinal (b. 1936)
• 2019 – Gennadi Manakov, Russian cosmonaut (b. 1950)
• 2019 – Ronald L. Schlicher, American politician (b. 1956)

• European Day of Languages (Council of Europe and EU)
• Day of the National Flag (Ecuador)
• Dominion Day (New Zealand)
• Republic Day (Yemen)