May 26th in History

Photo: The British evacuation of Dunkirk begins, May 26, 1940.
Image from the film Divide and Conquer (Why We Fight #3), directed by Frank Capra.

Today in History

  • The first convicted witch is hanged in the British North American colonies (1647)
  • Kaspar Hauser, a mysterious feral child, is discovered wandering the streets of Nürnberg (1828)
  • The US Congress passes the Indian Removal Act, leading to the “Trail of Tears” (1830)
  • Dred Scott is freed by his original owners (1857)
  • Montana becomes a US territory (1864)
  • Nicholas II becomes the last Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias (1896 — O.S.* 14 May)
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average is first calculated (1896)
  • Bram Stoker’s Dracula is published (1897)
  • The first 24 Heures du Mans (Le Mans) race takes place (1923)
  • The US House Un-American Activities Committee has its first session (1938)
  • The evacuation of Dunkirk begins (1940)
  • Apollo 10 returns to Earth (1969)
  • The Supreme Court awards Ellis Island to New Jersey (1998)

Birthdays

  •  Al Jolson, entertainer (1886)
  • Norma Talmadge, actress (1893)
  • John Wayne, actor (1907)
  • Robert Morley, actor (1908)
  • Jay Silverheels, played Tonto (1912)
  • Peter Cushing, actor (1913)
  • Peggy Lee, singer (1920)
  • James Arness, Gunsmoke marshal (1923)
  • Miles Davis, musician (1926)
  • Jack Kevorkian, right-to-die facilitator (1928)
  • Brent Musburger, sportscasater (1939)
  • Levon Helm, Band leader (1940)
  • Aldrich Ames, CIA officer and Soviet spy (1941)
  • Stevie Nicks, singer-songwriter (1948)
  • Pam Grier, actress (1949)
  • Philip Michael Thomas, actor (1949)
  • Hank Williams, Jr., singer-songwriter (1949)
  • Sally Ride, astronaut (1951)
  • Kay Hagen, North Carolina senator (1953)
  • Bobcat Goldthwait, comedian (1962)
  • Lenny Kravitz, singer-songwriter (1964)
  • Helena Bonham Carter, actress (1966)
  • Matt Stone, co-creator of South Park (1971)
  • Lauryn Hill, singer-songwriter (1975)

Deaths

  • Venerable Bede, monk and historian (735)
  • Samuel Pepys, diarist (1703)
  • مرزا غلام احمد (Mirzā Ghulām Ahmad), founder of the احمدِیہ‎ (Ahmadiyya) movement (1906)
  • Victor Herbert, operetta composer (1924)
  • Jimmie Rodgers, singer-songwriter (1933)
  • Charles Mayo, clinic founder (1939)
  • Edsel Ford, car executive and namesake (1943)
  • Lincoln Ellsworth, explorer (1951)
  • Al Simmons, baseball player (1956)
  • Martin Heidegger, philosopher (1976)
  • Eddie Albert, actor (2005)
  • Sydney Pollack, actor and director (2008)
  • Art Linkletter, radio and TV host (2010)
  • Leo Dillon, science fiction artist (2012)
  • Jack Vance, science fiction writer (2013)

Holidays and Celebrations

  • Crown Prince’s Birthday (Denmark)
  • Independence Day (Georgia)
  • Independence Day (Guyana)
  • Mother’s Day (Poland)
  • National Heroes Day (Turks and Caicos Islands)
  • National Sorry Day (Australia)
  • Windmill Day (Netherlands)
Informal and made-up holidays include Death Busters Day, the Feast of Saint Augustine of Canterbury, Grey Day, National Blueberry Cheesecake Day, National Cherry Dessert Day, St. Leonard’s Day, and Senior Health and Fitness Day.
*O.S., or Old Style, refers to the fact that Russia did not convert from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar until 1918.