History of the Day for:
August 26
- 55 BC: Rome under Julius Caesar invaded Britain.
- 580 AD: The Chinese invented toilet paper.
- 1791: John Fitch patented the steamboat.
- 1843: Charles Thurber patented a typewriter.
- 1873: The first kindergarten public school opened in St. Louis.
- 1883: A massive volcano erupted on the island of Krakatoa between Java and Sumatra. The two-day eruption and tidal waves killed an estimated 36,000 people and destroyed two-thirds of the island.
- 1907: Magician Harry Houdini escaped from a 75-pound ball-and-chain in 57 seconds while underwater in San Francisco's Aquatic Park.
- 1914: In World War I, the Russians under Renenkampf and Samsonov were heavily out-maneuvered by the Germans under Hindenburg and Ludendorff at the battle of Tannenberg. Over 30,000 Russians were killed.
- 1920: The 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote.
- 1929: The first U.S. roller coaster was built.
- 1944: In World War II, Bulgaria announced it had withdrawn and German troops were to be disarmed.
- 1945: Japanese diplomats boarded the Missouri to receive instructions on Japan's surrender at the end of World War II.
- 1946: George Orwell published "Animal Farm."
- 1978: Cardinal Albino Luciani of Venice was elected as Pope John Paul I. He served only 33 days before dying of a heart attack.
- 1987: President Ronald Reagan proclaims September 11, 1987 as 9-1-1 Emergency Number Day.
- 1988: Mehran Karimi Nasseri arrives at Charles de Gaulle International Airport.
- 1996: Bill Clinton signs welfare reform into law, representing major shift in US welfare policy.
- 1997: Beni-Ali massacre in Algeria; 60-100 people killed.
- 1999: Michael Johnson breaks the 400 metres world record with a time of 43.18 seconds.
- 1999: Second Chechen War begins.
- 2003: The Columbia Accident Investigation Board releases its final reports on Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.
- 2008: Russia unilaterally recognizes the independence of the former Georgian breakaway republics Abkhazia and South Ossetia.