April 26
1607 - Colonists land at Cape Henry, Virginia; the following month they would found the Jamestown settlement.
1865 - John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, is surrounded by federal troops in a barn in Virginia where he was shot and killed.
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 - The African nations of Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged to form the nation of Tanzania.
1968 - The United States exploded beneath the Nevada desert a 1.3 megaton nuclear device called “Boxcar.”
1977 - The legendary nightclub Studio 54 had its opening night in New York.
1986 - An explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine caused radioactive fallout to begin spewing into the atmosphere. (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 sports matches to churches in an effort to stem the spread of the virus.
2012 - Former Liberian President Charles Taylor became the first head of state since World War II to be convicted by an international war crimes court as he was found guilty of arming Sierra Leone rebels in exchange for “blood diamonds” mined by slave laborers and smuggled across the border. (Taylor was sentenced to 50 years in prison.)
2013 - Singer George Jones, believed by many to be the greatest country crooner of all time, died in Nashville at age 81.
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 to 10 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.)
Birthdays
22 - Hannah Strumner (singer)
32 - Aaron Judge (baseball player)
34 - Riley Voelkel (actress)
38 - Aaron Meeks (actor)
40 - Emily Wickersham (actress)
40 - Lilly Hiatt (singer)
44 - Channing Tatum (actor)
44 - Marnette Patterson (actress)
44 - Stana Katic (actress)
44 - Jordana Brewster (actress)
46 - Pablo Schreiber (actor)
47 - Tom Welling (actor)
47 - Amin Joseph (actor)
47 - Leonard Earl Howze (actor)
47 - Jason Earles (actor)
53 - Shondrella Avery (actress)
54 - Melania Trump (wife of President Donald Trump)
57 - Marianne Jean-Baptiste (actress)
57 - Glen "Kane" Jacobs (professional wrestler)
59 - Kevin James (actor/comedian)
63 - Joan Chen (actress)
71 - Nancy Lenehan (actress)
86 - Maurice Williams (singer)
91 - Carol Burnett (actress/comedian)
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Today in Sports History - April 26
1941 - An organ was played at a baseball stadium for the first time in Chicago, IL.
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, CA.
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 is then immediately traded to the Denver Broncos.
1988 - The NBA approved the addition of a third official for the 1988-89 season.
1992 - The Indianapolis Colts select Washington defensive end Steve Emtman with the first pick in the NFL Draft.
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 - The Cleveland Browns select Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield with the first pick in the NFL Draft.
1607 - Colonists land at Cape Henry, Virginia; the following month they would found the Jamestown settlement.
1865 - John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, is surrounded by federal troops in a barn in Virginia where he was shot and killed.
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 - The African nations of Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged to form the nation of Tanzania.
1968 - The United States exploded beneath the Nevada desert a 1.3 megaton nuclear device called “Boxcar.”
1977 - The legendary nightclub Studio 54 had its opening night in New York.
1986 - An explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine caused radioactive fallout to begin spewing into the atmosphere. (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 sports matches to churches in an effort to stem the spread of the virus.
2012 - Former Liberian President Charles Taylor became the first head of state since World War II to be convicted by an international war crimes court as he was found guilty of arming Sierra Leone rebels in exchange for “blood diamonds” mined by slave laborers and smuggled across the border. (Taylor was sentenced to 50 years in prison.)
2013 - Singer George Jones, believed by many to be the greatest country crooner of all time, died in Nashville at age 81.
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 to 10 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.)
Birthdays
22 - Hannah Strumner (singer)
32 - Aaron Judge (baseball player)
34 - Riley Voelkel (actress)
38 - Aaron Meeks (actor)
40 - Emily Wickersham (actress)
40 - Lilly Hiatt (singer)
44 - Channing Tatum (actor)
44 - Marnette Patterson (actress)
44 - Stana Katic (actress)
44 - Jordana Brewster (actress)
46 - Pablo Schreiber (actor)
47 - Tom Welling (actor)
47 - Amin Joseph (actor)
47 - Leonard Earl Howze (actor)
47 - Jason Earles (actor)
53 - Shondrella Avery (actress)
54 - Melania Trump (wife of President Donald Trump)
57 - Marianne Jean-Baptiste (actress)
57 - Glen "Kane" Jacobs (professional wrestler)
59 - Kevin James (actor/comedian)
63 - Joan Chen (actress)
71 - Nancy Lenehan (actress)
86 - Maurice Williams (singer)
91 - 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, IL.
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, CA.
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 is then immediately traded to the Denver Broncos.
1988 - The NBA approved the addition of a third official for the 1988-89 season.
1992 - The Indianapolis Colts select Washington defensive end Steve Emtman with the first pick in the NFL Draft.
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 - The Cleveland Browns select Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield with the first pick in the NFL Draft.