1926

1845–1958	Germany [earth sciences]	German naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt lays the basis of modern geography with the publication of Kosmos/Cosmos, in which he arranges geographic knowledge in a systematic fashion.
1926	[fiction]	The US writer Ernest Hemingway publishes his novel The Sun Also Rises, which is published as Fiesta in Britain. He also publishes his novel The Torrents of Spring.
1926	[fiction]	The novel Das Schloss/The Castle by the Bohemian-born German writer Franz Kafka is published posthumously.
1926	[fiction]	The English writer A A Milne publishes his children's story book Winnie-the-Pooh.
1926	[fiction]	The Russian writer Isaak Babel publishes his story collection Konarmiya/Red Cavalry.
1926	Germany [chemistry]	German chemist Hermann Staudinger proves that polymers are formed by chemical interaction between small monomer units.
1926	United Kingdom [radio]	Over 2 million people in Britain hold radio licences.
1926	Italy [administration]	The fascist government in Italy undertakes (in theory at least) a ‘corporatist’ reorganization of industry with the declaration of 13 state-controlled corporations and the establishment of the National Council of Corporations. Workers are to be represented by fascist labour syndicates.
1926	United Kingdom [astronomy]	English astrophysicist Arthur Eddington publishes Internal Constitution of the Stars, in which he shows that the luminosity of a star is a function of its mass.
1926	Italy [opera]	The opera Turandot by the Italian composer Giacomo Puccini is first performed, in Milan, Italy. Puccini died during its composition, and it was completed by Franco Alfano.
1926	[orchestral music]	The Czech composer Leoš Janácek completes his M'sa glagolskaja/Glagolitic Mass.
1926	[painting]	The English artist Stanley Spencer paints The Resurrection, Cookham.
1926	[painting]	The German artist George Grosz paints Pillars of Society.
1926	[painting]	The US artist Georgia O'Keeffe paints Black Iris.
1926	[painting]	The US artist Edward Hopper paints Sunday.
1926	USA [physics]	German-born US physicist Albert Michelson uses an eight-sided rotating prism to determine the speed of light. The value determined by Michelson is 2.99774 × 10⁸ m s^-1.
1926	[poetry]	The US writer E E Cummings publishes his poetry collection is 5.
1926	[sculpture]	The Spanish artist Salvador Dalí creates his Lobster Telephone sculpture.
1926	United Kingdom [technology]	The Scottish electrical engineer John Logie Baird transmits pictures of moving objects over telephone lines between London, England, and Glasgow, Scotland. The first demonstration of true television, the images are 30-line silhouettes.
16 March 1926	USA [transport]	US inventor Robert Hutchings Goddard achieves the first flight of a liquid-propelled rocket, at Auburn, Michigan. It reaches an altitude of 12 m/41 ft.
April 1926	USA [literature and language]	US advertising executive Harry Scherman founds the first bookclub in the world, the Book-of-the-Month Club, in the USA.
21 April 1926	[births and deaths]	Elizabeth II, Queen of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from 1952, born in London, England.
3 May - 12 May 1926	United Kingdom [work and unemployment]	A general strike in Britain in support of the striking coal miners paralyses the country.
16 May 1926	[births and deaths]	Mehmed VI, last sultan of the Ottoman Empire 1918–22, dies in San Remo, Italy (65).
16 May 1926	Ireland [political events]	The Irish nationalist Eamon de Valera founds the Fianna Fáil (‘Soldiers of Destiny’) party in the Irish Free State (now the Republic of Ireland) to put up republican candidates for election to the Dáil (parliament).
23 May 1926	Lebanon, France [political events]	France proclaims the Lebanon (part of the territory mandated to it by the League of Nations) a republic.
26 May 1926	Morocco, France, Spain [political events]	The Riff revolt against the French and Spanish invaders in Morocco ends with the Berber leader Abd-al-Karim's surrender to France.
1 June 1926	[births and deaths]	Marilyn Monroe, US actor and sex symbol, born in Los Angeles, California (–1962).
July 1926	United Kingdom [radio]	Following concern about the control of radio in Britain, the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) is incorporated by royal charter (effective from 1 January 1927). As a public body, it is run by a crown-appointed chairman and governors and financed by a licence fee.
28 July 1926	Belgium [political events]	Following a Belgian financial crisis the Belgian franc is devalued and King Albert I is given dictatorial powers for six months.
8 August 1926	UK, France, USA [sports]	Gertrude Ederle of the USA becomes the first woman to swim the English Channel, completing the 56 km/35 mi crossing from Cape Nez, France, to Dover, England, in 14 hrs, 31 min, a new world record for a man or a woman.
13 August 1926	[births and deaths]	Fidel Castro, Cuban communist revolutionary and leader of Cuba from 1959, born near Birán, Cuba.
8 September 1926	Germany [League of Nations]	Germany is admitted to the League of Nations.
18 October 1926	[births and deaths]	Chuck Berry, US singer and guitarist and one of the first rock and roll stars, born in St Louis, Missouri.
19 October - 18 November 1926	UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa [political events]	An Imperial Conference in London, England, decides that Britain and the Dominions (Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and South Africa) are autonomous communities, equal in status.
19 October 1926	USSR [political events]	Leon Trotsky and Grigory Zinovyev are expelled from the Politburo of the Communist Party in the USSR, having been defeated by Joseph Stalin on the question of whether to continue Vladimir Ilyich Lenin's New Economic Policy.
November 1926 - July 1927	Indonesia [political events]	An unsuccessful communist revolt takes place in Java, Dutch East Indies (later Indonesia).
11 November 1926	Italy [political events]	The Italian Socialist, Republican, and Communist parties are dissolved and the abstaining antifascist deputies are declared to have forfeited their parliamentary seats.
27 November 1926	Italy, Albania [treaties]	The Treaty of Tirana is agreed between Italy and Albania; Italy recognizes the status quo, but rapidly turns Albania into a virtual protectorate.
5 December 1926	[births and deaths]	Claude Monet, French Impressionist painter, dies in Giverny, France (87).
25 December 1926	Japan [political events]	Emperor Yoshihito of Japan dies and is succeeded by his son Hirohito.