November 26th in History

Michael Dobson | November 26

On This Day in History

  • Wallachian prince Vlad III Țepeș (Dracula) retakes the throne by defeating Dominator Basarab Laiotă cel Bătrân (1476)
  • The first US official Thanksgiving Day is observed (1789)
  • The first college social fraternity, Kappa Alpha, is founded (1825)
  • The University of Notre Dame is founded (1842)
  • The tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun is entered for the first time in 3,000 years (1922)
  • Casablanca premiers (1942)
  • Germany begins V-1 and V-2 attacks on Antwerp, Belgium (1944)
  • The longest-running TV game show, The Price Is Right, debuts (1956)
  • France launches its first satellite, Asterix-1 (1965)
  • George W. Bush is certified winner of Florida’s electoral votes (although later recounts demonstrated that he did not carry a majority of Florida votes) and thus wins the US Presidential election (2000)
  • The Concorde makes its final flight (2003)

Births

  • William Cowper, poet (1731)
  • Mary Edwards Walker, first female US Army surgeon, abolitionist, alleged spy, only female winner of the Medal of Honor (1832)
  • Bat Masterson, sheriff (1853)
  • Katharine Drexel, saint and nun (1858)
  • Willis Carrier, inventor of air conditioning (1876)
  • عبد العزيز آل سعود‎ (Ibn Saud), first monarch of Saudi Arabia (1876)
  • Norbert Wiener, mathematician (1894)
  • Bill W., co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (1895)
  • Richard Hauptmann, convicted kidnapper and killer of Charles Lindbergh’s infant son (1899)
  • Maurice McDonald, co-founder of McDonald’s Restaurants (1902)
  • Lefty Gomez, baseball player (1908)
  • Eugène Ionesco, playwright (1909)
  • Eric Sevareid, TV journalist (1912)
  • Frederik Pohl, science fiction writer (1919)
  • Charles M. Schultz, creator of Peanuts (1922)
  • Robert Goulet, singer (1933)
  • Rich Little, impressionist (1938)
  • Wayland Flowers, puppeteer (1939)
  • Tina Turner, singer (1939)
  • Bruce Paltrow, director and producer (1943)
  • John McVie, Fleetwood Mac bassist (1945)
  • Art Shell, football coach (1946)
  • Cicciolina (Ilona Staller), porn star and politician (1951)
  • Roz Chast, cartoonist (1954)
  • Chuck Finley, baseball player and Burn Notice alias (1962)
  • Natasha Bedingfield, singer-songwriter (1981)

Deaths

  • John McAdam, road-builder, inventor of “tar macadam,” or “tarmac” (1836)
  • John Browning, firearms designer (1926)
  • Edward “Butch” O’Hare, first US Navy ace, Chicago airport namesake (1943)
  • “Spittin'” Bill Doak, baseball player (1954)
  • Tommy Dorsey, bandleader (1956)
  • Max Euwe, chess grandmaster (1981)
  • Vivien Thomas, African-American cardiac surgery pioneer (1985)
  • Marguerite Henry, children’s book author (1997)
  • Stan Berenstain, children’s book author (2005)
  • Dave Cockrum, comic book artist (2006)

Holidays

  • Constitution Day (India)
  • Day of the Covenant (Bahá’í)
  • Independence Day (Mongolia)
  • John Harvard Day (Harvard University)
  • National Cake Day (US food holidays)

November 26 is the 330th day of the year (331st in leap years), with 35 days remaining until year’s end.