What are the important events that happened on May 26? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

May 26: Facts & Myths About This Day

May 26 is the 147^th day of the year 2024 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 219 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Sunday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is May 13, 2024 – a Sunday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 28,611,360 minutes has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.

Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘hectatetracontaheptagon’ day.

Gemini is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Emerald is the modern birthstone for this month. Sapphire is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 248 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.

The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,174 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

May 26 Historical Events

• 1647 –
  Alse Young, hanged in Hartford, Connecticut, becomes the first person executed as a witch in the British American colonies.
• 1770 –
  The Orlov Revolt, an attempt to revolt against the Ottoman Empire before the Greek War of Independence, ends in disaster for the Greeks.
• 1805 –
  Napoléon Bonaparte assumes the title of King of Italy and is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy in the Duomo di Milano, the gothic cathedral in Milan.
• 1869 –
  Boston University is chartered by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
• 1906 –
  Vauxhall Bridge is opened in London.
• 1908 –
  At Masjed Soleyman (مسجد سليمان) in southwest Persia, the first major commercial oil strike in the Middle East is made. The rights to the resource are quickly acquired by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company.
• 1948 –
  The U.S. Congress passes Public Law 557, which permanently establishes the Civil Air Patrol as an auxiliary of the United States Air Force.
• 1977 –
  George Willig climbs the South Tower of New York City’s World Trade Center.
• 1991 –
  Lauda Air Flight 004 crashes in rural Thailand, killing 223.
• 1998 –
  The Supreme Court of the United States rules that Ellis Island, the historic gateway for millions of immigrants, is mainly in the state of New Jersey, not New York.

Who were born on May 26?

• 1264 –
  Prince Koreyasu, Japanese shogun (d. 1326)
• 1912 –
  Jay Silverheels, Canadian actor (d. 1980)
• 1913 –
  Peter Cushing, English actor (d. 1994)
• 1938 –
  Lyudmila Petrushevskaya, Russian playwright and novelist
• 1941 –
  Cliff Drysdale, South African tennis player
• 1945 –
  Vilasrao Deshmukh, Indian politician
• 1953 –
  Michael Portillo, British politician
• 1955 –
  Wesley Walker, American football player
• 1957 –
  Roberto Ravaglia, Italian racing driver
• 1982 –
  Yoko Matsugane, Japanese model

Who died on May 26?

• 946 –
  King Edmund I of England (b. 921)
• 1799 –
  James Burnett, Lord Monboddo, Scottish judge (b. 1714)
• 1824 –
  Capel Lofft, English writer (b. 1751)
• 1914 –
  Jacob August Riis, Danish-American journalist, photographer, and social reformer (b. 1849)
• 1933 –
  Horatio Bottomley, British financier and politician (b. 1860)
• 1944 –
  Christian Wirth, commandant of Belzec extermination camp (b. 1885)
• 2001 –
  Vittorio Brambilla, Italian racing driver (b. 1937)
• 2004 –
  Dullah Omar, South African lawyer (b. 1934)
• 2005 –
  Chico Carrasquel, Venezuelan baseball player (b. 1928)
• 2006 –
  Kevin O'Flanagan, Irish athlete and physician (b. 1919)