|
26 April| 26 April 1320 | Scotland [Anglo–Scottish Wars 1296–1371)] | The Declaration of Arbroath is signed, in which the earls and barons of Scotland announce to Pope John XXII their rejection of English rule and their loyalty to Robert I the Bruce, King of Scotland, stating that ‘it is not for glory, riches nor honours that we fight, but for freedom alone’. | | 26 April 1478 | Florence, Papal States, Italy [revolution] | Pope Sixtus IV, resentful of Medici intervention against papal authority in the Romagna region of the Papal States, encourages the ‘Pazzi Conspiracy’, an attempted coup in Florence, Italy. Giuliano de' Medici is murdered while at Mass, but his brother and co-ruler Lorenzo survives, and the conspirators are hunted and killed by the populace. | | 26 April 1564 | England [births and deaths] | William Shakespeare, English dramatist and poet, often considered the greatest playwright in history, baptized in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England (–1616). | | 26 April 1731 | England [births and deaths] | Daniel Defoe, English novelist and journalist, author of Robinson Crusoe (1719–22) and Moll Flanders (1722), dies in London, England (70). | | 26 April 1872 | Spain [wars] | The proclamation of Don Carlos, Duke of Madrid, as Charles VII of Spain leads to the Second Carlist War as his followers dispute the authority of the ruling king Amadeo I. | | 26 April 1889 | Austria, UK [births and deaths] | Ludwig Wittgenstein, Austrian-born British philosopher, one of the most influential in the 20th century, born in Vienna, Austria (–1951). | | 26 April 1894 | Egypt, Germany [births and deaths] | Rudolf Hess, German Nazi leader and deputy of Adolf Hitler, born in Alexandria, Egypt (–1987). | | 26 April 1915 | United Kingdom, France, Italy [World War I (1914–18)] | Britain, France, and Italy make the secret Treaty of London, under which Italy will join the war in return for land and reparations from Germany and Austria-Hungary when the war ends. | | 26 April 1937 | Spain [Spanish Civil War (1936–39)] | Guernica, the historic Basque capital in northern Spain, is heavily bombed by aircraft of the German Condor Legion supporting the Spanish Nationalist rebels. | | 26 April 1982 | UK [television] | The first satellite television service is launched by Satellite Television in London, England, with broadcasts to Malta, Norway, and Finland. | | 26 April 1986 | USSR [ecology] | A reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in the Ukraine explodes, releasing radioactive material into the surrounding area and causing a radioactive cloud to cross Europe. This is the world's worst nuclear accident. |
How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
?Sign in  |
|---|
|
|
|