Discover what happened on April 26 with HISTORY's summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.

April 26

Discover what happened on April 26 with HISTORY&#8217;s summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.

What Happened on April 26 | History.com

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History

1954

2012

1986

1937

1984

1798

1977

1913

1865

1915

Nuclear Weapons

America’s Founding Fathers decided that one elected civilian - the U.S. president - would lead the executive branch of the federal government, a governmental structure that has remained in place for more than 200 years.

U.S. Presidents

World War I pitted Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire against Great Britain, the United States, France, Russia, Italy and Japan. New military technology resulted in unprecedented carnage. By the time the war was over and the Allied Powers claimed victory, more than 16 million people—soldiers and civilians alike—were dead.

World War I

Medicine

Crime

Lincoln Assassination

Africa

Film

Crime has been a dark and powerful undercurrent in human society throughout history. Uncover the facts behind some of the most daring robberies, brazen scams and brutal murders ever committed.&nbsp;

The Civil War was America's bloodiest and most divisive conflict, pitting the Union Army against the Confederate States of America. The war resulted in the deaths of more than 620,000 people, with millions more injured and the South left in ruins.

Civil War

Disasters

Kennedy Family

Art history tells the complex story of human civilization through art and design. It ranges from prehistoric art of the Neolithic period through Renaissance masterpieces, Impressionism, Modernism, the Bauhaus and contemporary art.

Art, Literature, and Film History

Scandals

Sierra Leone

<a href="http://history.com/">HISTORY.com</a> works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and informative content. All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the <a href="http://history.com/">HISTORY.com</a> team. Articles with the “<a href="http://history.com/">HISTORY.com</a> Editors” byline have been written or edited by the <a href="http://history.com/">HISTORY.com</a> editors, including Amanda Onion, Missy Sullivan and Matt Mullen.

History.com Editors

<a href="https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/world-war-ii-history">World War II</a> was the biggest and deadliest war in history, involving more than 30 countries. Sparked by the 1939 Nazi invasion of Poland, the war dragged on for six bloody years until the Allies defeated Nazi Germany and Japan in 1945.

World War II

Inventions from the telephone to the Model T and the computer have defined human history, and inventors like Leonardo da Vinci, Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, Eli Whitney and Alexander Graham Bell have transformed our society.

Inventions & Science

China

1950s

Westward expansion, the 19th-century movement of settlers into the American West, began with the Louisiana Purchase and was fueled by the Gold Rush, the Oregon Trail and a belief in "manifest destiny."

Westward Expansion

Cold War

Germany

Disease

Natural disasters and the environment, such as climate change, the San Francisco Earthquake, Hurricane Katrina, the Galveston Hurricane, the Krakatoa eruption and others, have profoundly shaped human history.

This Day In History: April 26

Polio vaccine trials begin

Also on This Day in History April | 26

Former Liberian president Charles Taylor found guilty of war crimes

Test triggers nuclear disaster at Chernobyl

Nazis test new air force, Luftwaffe, on Basque town of Guernica

President Reagan visits China

Mountain man James Beckwourth is born

Studio 54 opens in New York City

Maria Shriver marries Arnold Schwarzenegger

Thirteen‑year‑old girl murdered in Atlanta pencil factory

Geneva Conference to resolve problems in Asia begins

Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth dies

Allies sign Treaty of London

Also on This Day in History April | 26

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