Today In History. What Happened This Day In History

A chronological timetable of historical events that occurred on this day in history. Historical facts of the day in the areas of military, politics, science, music, sports, arts, entertainment and more. Discover what happened today in history.

February 26

364		On the death of Jovian, a conference at Nicaea chooses Valentinan, an army officer who was born in the central European region of Pannania, to succeed him in Asia Minor.
1154		William the Bad succeeds his father, Roger the II, in Sicily.
1790		As a result of the Revolution, France is divided into 83 departments.
1815		Napoleon and 1,200 of his men leave Elba to start the 100-day re-conquest of France.
1848		Karl Marx and Frederick Engels publish The Communist Manifesto in London.
1871		France and Prussia sign a preliminary peace treaty at Versailles.
1901		Boxer Rebellion leaders Chi-Hsin and Hsu-Cheng-Yu are publicly executed in Peking.
1914		Russian aviator Igor Sikorsky carries 17 passengers in a twin engine plane in St. Petersburg.
1916		General Henri Philippe Petain takes command of the French forces at Verdun.
1917		President Wilson publicly asks congress for the power to arm merchant ships.
1924		U.S. steel industry finds claims an eight-hour day increases efficiency and employee relations.
1933		Ground is broken for the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
1936		Japanese military troops march into Tokyo to conduct a coup and assassinate political leaders.
1941		British take the Somali capital in East Africa.
1943		U.S. Flying Fortresses and Liberators pound German docks and U-boat lairs at Wilhelmshaven.
1945		Syria declares war on Germany and Japan.
1951		The 22nd Amendment is added to the Constitution limiting the Presidency to two terms.
1964		Lyndon B. Johnson signs a tax bill with $11.5 billion in cuts.
1965		Norman Butler is arrested for the murder of Malcom X.
1968		Thirty-two African nations agree to boycott the Olympics because of the presence of South Africa.
1970		Five Marines are arrested on charges of murdering 11 South Vietnamese women and children.
1972		Soviets recover Luna 20 with a cargo of moon rocks.
1973		A publisher and 10 reporters are subpoenaed to testify on Watergate.
1990		Daniel Ortega, communist president of Nicaragua, suffers a shocking election defeat at the hands of Violeta Chamorro.
1993		A bomb rocks the World Trade Center in New York City. Five people are killed and hundreds suffer from smoke inhalation.
Born on February 26
1802		Victor Hugo, French novelist and poet (Les Misérables).
1829		Levi Strauss, creator of blue jeans.
1832		John George Nicolay, private secretary to Abraham Lincoln
1846		William Frederick Cody, aka "Buffalo Bill".
1877		Rudolph Dirks, cartoonist, creator of the "Katzenjammer Kids."
1879		Mabel Dodge Luhan, American biographer.
1893		I(vor) A(rmstrong) Richards, writer, critic and teacher.
1928		Antoine "Fats" Domino, American singer.