| 26 September 1143 | Italy [administration] | Pope Celestine II is elected following the death of Pope Innocent II. |
| 26 September 1371 | Serbia, Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria, Byzantine Empire [wars] | Murad, leader of the Ottoman Turks, defeats and kills King Vukašin of Serbia at Crnomen, on the Marica. He conquers Macedonia, while the Byzantine Empire and Bulgaria become Turkish tributaries. |
| 26 September 1653 | UK [legislation] | The Act of Satisfaction is passed by the English Parliament, distributing large tracts of forfeited land in Ireland in order to settle the claims of those who had advanced money to meet army pay arrears, to discharge other military pay demands, and to encourage Protestants to settle in Ireland. |
| 26 September 1655 | North America [wars] | The Dutch governor of New Amsterdam (modern New York City), Peter Stuyvesant, captures Fort Casimir (later Newcastle) in Delaware, thereby ending Swedish rule in North America. |
| 26 September 1679 | Sweden, Denmark-Norway [treaties] | The Treaty of Lund concludes the war between Denmark and Sweden. Its terms reiterate an earlier peace imposed on the Danes by King Louis XIV of France at Fontainebleau, France, on 29 June, by which all conquered territories are returned to their original owners. The treaty also contains secret articles in which both partners promise not to make any alliances without the other's knowledge. |
| 26 September 1702 | UK, France, United Netherlands, Spanish Netherlands [War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714)] | Allied forces under the English general John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, take the town of Roermond in the Spanish Netherlands from the occupying French forces. |
| 26 September 1865 | New Zealand, UK [legislation] | A Native Rights Act in New Zealand recognizes the Maori people as natural-born subjects of Queen Victoria of Great Britain, and institutes a land court to hear their grievances against colonial settlers who have dispossessd them of their lands. |
| 26 September 1888 | USA, UK [births and deaths] | T(homas) S(tearns) Eliot, US-born British modernist poet and playwright who has a strong influence on 20th-century poetry, born in St Louis, Missouri (–1965). |
| 26 September 1898 | USA [births and deaths] | George Gershwin, US composer and songwriter of Broadway musicals, born in Brooklyn, New York (–1937). |
| 26 September 1907 | New Zealand [political events] | New Zealand becomes known as the Dominion of New Zealand, reflecting its autonomous status within the British Empire. |
| 26 September 1923 | Germany, France, Belgium [political events] | The German chancellor Gustav Stresemann calls for an end to passive resistance to the French and Belgian occupation of the Ruhr (France is making the region work with imported labour while Germany's economy disintegrates). |
| 26 September 1938 | UK [wars] | Gas-masks are issued to civilians in Britain. |
| 26 September 1957 | USA [musicals] | The musical West Side Story, with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and music by Leonard Bernstein, is first performed, at the Winter Garden Theater, New York City. It features the songs ‘Tonight’ and ‘Maria’. |
| 26 September 1960 | USA [elections] | US presidential candidates John F Kennedy and Richard M Nixon debate on television, establishing a precedent for several subsequent elections. Viewers consider the outcome to be a draw, but radio listeners believe Nixon to be the winner, indicating that style and appearance are as much a part of Kennedy's campaign as substance. |
| 26 September 1984 | Hong Kong [diplomacy] | A draft agreement for the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997 is signed by British and Chinese representatives at a ceremony in Beijing. |
| 26 September 2003 | Japan [natural disasters] | The island of Hokkaido in northern Japan is struck by powerful earthquakes measuring up to 8.0 on the Richter scale, some of the strongest tremors in the world during 2003. Nearly 600 people are injured. |
