April 26
1607 - English colonists land at Cape Henry, Virginia. (The would found the Jamestown colony the following month.)
1865 - John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, was surrounded by federal troops in a barn in Port Royal, Virginia. He was shot and killed, though undetermined if by soldiers or by his own hand.
1913 - Mary Phagan, a 13-year-old worker at a Georgia pencil factory, was strangled; Leo Frank, the factory superintendent, was convicted of her murder and sentenced to death. (Frank’s death sentence was commuted, but he was lynched by an anti-Semitic mob in 1915.)
1933 - Nazi Germany's infamous secret police, the Gestapo, was created.
1937 - The German Luftwaffe (air force) destroyed the Spanish town of Guernica.
1964 - Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged to form the nation of Tanzania.
1968 - The United States detonated a 1.3 megaton nuclear device beneath the Nevada desert codenamed "Boxcar".
1977 - The legendary nightclub Studio 54 had its opening night in New York City.
1986 - The world's worst nuclear accident occurred at Chernobyl near Kiev, Ukraine in the Soviet Union. (Dozens of people were killed in the immediate aftermath of the disaster while the long-term death toll from radiation poisoning is believed to number in the thousands.)
1994 - The first multi-racial elections were held in South Africa.
2000 - Vermont Gov. Howard Dean signed the nation's first bill allowing same-sex couples to form civil unions.
2009 - The United States declared a public health emergency as more possible cases of swine flu surfaced from Canada to New Zealand; officials in Mexico City closed everything from concerts to sporting events to churches in an effort to stem the spread of the virus.
2013 - Unable to ignore air travelers’ anger, Congress overwhelmingly approved legislation to allow the Federal Aviation Administration to withdraw furloughs of air traffic controllers caused by budget-wide cuts known as the sequester, ending a week of coast-to-coast flight delays.
2018 - Comedian Bill Cosby was convicted of drugging and molesting Temple University employee Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia mansion in 2004. (Cosby was later sentenced to three years in prison, but Pennsylvania's highest court threw out the conviction and released him from prison in June 2021, ruling that the prosecutor in the case was bound by his predecessor's agreement not to charge Cosby.)
2022 - Harvard University vowed to spend $100 million to research and atone for its “extensive” ties with slavery.
Birthdays
21 - Hannah Strumner (singer)
24 - Keara Graves (actress)
31 - Aaron Judge (baseball player)
33 - Riley Voelkel (actress)
37 - Aaron Meeks (actor)
39 - Emily Wickersham (actress)
39 - Lilly Hiatt (singer)
43 - Channing Tatum (actor)
43 - Marnette Patterson (actress)
43 - Stana Katic (actress)
43 - Jordana Brewster (actress)
44 - Nyambi Nyambi (actress)
45 - Pablo Schreiber (actor)
46 - Tom Welling (actor)
46 - Jason Earles (actor)
52 - Shondrella Avery (actress)
53 - Melania Trump (wife of President Donald Trump)
56 - Marianne Jean-Baptiste (actress)
56 - Glenn "Kane" Jacobs (professional wrestler)
58 - Kevin James (actor/comedian)
60 - Jet Li (actor)
61 - Michael Damian (actor)
62 - Joan Chen (actress)
70 - Nancy Lenehan (actress)
85 - Maurice Williams (singer)
90 - Carol Burnett (actress/comedian)
============================
Today in Sports History - April 26
1941 - An organ was played at a baseball stadium for the first time in Chicago at Wrigley Field.
1952 - Patty Berg set a new record for major women's golf competition when she shot a 64 over 18 holes in a tournament in Richmond, California.
1964 - The Boston Celtics won their sixth consecutive NBA championship, defeating the San Francisco Warriors in five games.
1966 - Red Auerbach announced his retirement as head coach of the Boston Celtics.
1983 - The Baltimore Colts select Stanford quarterback John Elway with the first pick in the NFL Draft; Elway then is immediately traded to the Denver Broncos.
1988 - The NBA approved the addition of a third referee, beginning with the 1988-89 season.
1990 - Nolan Ryan ties Bob Feller's major league record with his 12th career one-hitter.
1992 - The Indianapolis Colts select Washington defensive end Steve Emtman with the first pick in the NFL Draft.
1995 - The Major League Baseball season begins after having overcome the longest player-strike in the sport's history.
1997 - Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins) played what was billed as his last NHL game. He later came out of retirement to play for the Penguins as an owner/player.
2003 - The Cincinnati Bengals select USC quarterback Carson Palmer with the first pick in the NFL Draft.
2008 - The Miami Dolphins select Michigan offensive tackle Jake Long with the first pick in the NFL Draft.
2012 - The Indianapolis Colts select Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck with the first pick in the NFL Draft.
2018 - Four quarterbacks were taken in the first 10 selections in the NFL Draft, with the Cleveland Browns grabbing Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield of Oklahoma with the first pick.
1607 - English colonists land at Cape Henry, Virginia. (The would found the Jamestown colony the following month.)
1865 - John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, was surrounded by federal troops in a barn in Port Royal, Virginia. He was shot and killed, though undetermined if by soldiers or by his own hand.
1913 - Mary Phagan, a 13-year-old worker at a Georgia pencil factory, was strangled; Leo Frank, the factory superintendent, was convicted of her murder and sentenced to death. (Frank’s death sentence was commuted, but he was lynched by an anti-Semitic mob in 1915.)
1933 - Nazi Germany's infamous secret police, the Gestapo, was created.
1937 - The German Luftwaffe (air force) destroyed the Spanish town of Guernica.
1964 - Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged to form the nation of Tanzania.
1968 - The United States detonated a 1.3 megaton nuclear device beneath the Nevada desert codenamed "Boxcar".
1977 - The legendary nightclub Studio 54 had its opening night in New York City.
1986 - The world's worst nuclear accident occurred at Chernobyl near Kiev, Ukraine in the Soviet Union. (Dozens of people were killed in the immediate aftermath of the disaster while the long-term death toll from radiation poisoning is believed to number in the thousands.)
1994 - The first multi-racial elections were held in South Africa.
2000 - Vermont Gov. Howard Dean signed the nation's first bill allowing same-sex couples to form civil unions.
2009 - The United States declared a public health emergency as more possible cases of swine flu surfaced from Canada to New Zealand; officials in Mexico City closed everything from concerts to sporting events to churches in an effort to stem the spread of the virus.
2013 - Unable to ignore air travelers’ anger, Congress overwhelmingly approved legislation to allow the Federal Aviation Administration to withdraw furloughs of air traffic controllers caused by budget-wide cuts known as the sequester, ending a week of coast-to-coast flight delays.
2018 - Comedian Bill Cosby was convicted of drugging and molesting Temple University employee Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia mansion in 2004. (Cosby was later sentenced to three years in prison, but Pennsylvania's highest court threw out the conviction and released him from prison in June 2021, ruling that the prosecutor in the case was bound by his predecessor's agreement not to charge Cosby.)
2022 - Harvard University vowed to spend $100 million to research and atone for its “extensive” ties with slavery.
Birthdays
21 - Hannah Strumner (singer)
24 - Keara Graves (actress)
31 - Aaron Judge (baseball player)
33 - Riley Voelkel (actress)
37 - Aaron Meeks (actor)
39 - Emily Wickersham (actress)
39 - Lilly Hiatt (singer)
43 - Channing Tatum (actor)
43 - Marnette Patterson (actress)
43 - Stana Katic (actress)
43 - Jordana Brewster (actress)
44 - Nyambi Nyambi (actress)
45 - Pablo Schreiber (actor)
46 - Tom Welling (actor)
46 - Jason Earles (actor)
52 - Shondrella Avery (actress)
53 - Melania Trump (wife of President Donald Trump)
56 - Marianne Jean-Baptiste (actress)
56 - Glenn "Kane" Jacobs (professional wrestler)
58 - Kevin James (actor/comedian)
60 - Jet Li (actor)
61 - Michael Damian (actor)
62 - Joan Chen (actress)
70 - Nancy Lenehan (actress)
85 - Maurice Williams (singer)
90 - Carol Burnett (actress/comedian)
============================
Today in Sports History - April 26
1941 - An organ was played at a baseball stadium for the first time in Chicago at Wrigley Field.
1952 - Patty Berg set a new record for major women's golf competition when she shot a 64 over 18 holes in a tournament in Richmond, California.
1964 - The Boston Celtics won their sixth consecutive NBA championship, defeating the San Francisco Warriors in five games.
1966 - Red Auerbach announced his retirement as head coach of the Boston Celtics.
1983 - The Baltimore Colts select Stanford quarterback John Elway with the first pick in the NFL Draft; Elway then is immediately traded to the Denver Broncos.
1988 - The NBA approved the addition of a third referee, beginning with the 1988-89 season.
1990 - Nolan Ryan ties Bob Feller's major league record with his 12th career one-hitter.
1992 - The Indianapolis Colts select Washington defensive end Steve Emtman with the first pick in the NFL Draft.
1995 - The Major League Baseball season begins after having overcome the longest player-strike in the sport's history.
1997 - Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins) played what was billed as his last NHL game. He later came out of retirement to play for the Penguins as an owner/player.
2003 - The Cincinnati Bengals select USC quarterback Carson Palmer with the first pick in the NFL Draft.
2008 - The Miami Dolphins select Michigan offensive tackle Jake Long with the first pick in the NFL Draft.
2012 - The Indianapolis Colts select Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck with the first pick in the NFL Draft.
2018 - Four quarterbacks were taken in the first 10 selections in the NFL Draft, with the Cleveland Browns grabbing Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield of Oklahoma with the first pick.
