October 26 in History

2002

Russian Spetsnaz storm the Moscow Theatre, where Chechen terrorists had taken the audience and performers hostage three days earlier; 50 terrorists and 150 hostages die in the assault.

2001

The USA PATRIOT Act is signed into law by Pres. George W. Bush, greatly expanding intelligence and legal agencies’ ability to utilize wiretaps, records searches and surveillance.

1994

Israel and Jordan sign a peace treaty.

1979

The President of South Korea, Park Chung-hee, is asssasinated by Kim Jae-kyu, head of the country’s Central intelligence Agency; Choi Kyu-ha is named acting president.

1970

Garry Trudeau’s comic strip Doonesbury first appears.

1967

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi crowns himself Emperor of Iran and his wife Farah as empress.

1958

The first New York – Paris transatlantic jet passenger service is inaugurated by Pan Am, while the first New York – London transatlantic jet passenger service is inaugurated by BOAC.

1957

The Russian government announces that Marshal Georgy Zhukov, the nation’s most prominent military hero, has been relieved of his duties as Minister of Defense. Khrushchev accuses Zhukov as promoting his own “cult of personality” and sees him as a threat to his own popularity.

1955

The Village Voice is first published, backed in part by Norman Mailer.

1955

Ngo Dinh Diem declares himself Premier of South Vietnam.

1950

A reconnaissance platoon for a South Korean division reaches the Yalu River. They are the only elements of the U.N. force to reach the river before the Chinese offensive pushes the whole army down into South Korea.

1942

Japanese attack Guadalcanal, sinking two U.S. carriers.

1942

The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier Hornet is sunk in the Battle of Santa Cruz Island, in the South Pacific.

1918

Germany’s supreme commander, General Erich Ludendorff, resigns, protesting the terms to which the German Government has agreed in negotiating the armistice. This sets the stage for his later support for Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, who claim that Germany did not lose the war on the battlefield but were “stabbed in the back” by politicians.

1905

Norway signs a treaty of separation with Sweden. Norway chooses Prince Charles of Denmark as the new king; he becomes King Haakon VII.

1881

Three Earp brothers and Doc Holliday have a shootout with the Clantons and McLaurys at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona Territory.

1825

The first boat on the Erie Canal leaves Buffalo, N.Y.

1795

General Paul Barras resigns his commission as head of France’s Army of the Interior to become head of the Directory; his second-in-command becomes the army’s commander—Napoleon Bonaparte.

1774

The first Continental Congress, which protested British measures and called for civil disobedience, concludes in Philadelphia.