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There are many events that happened on this date in history. Here are just a few of them!

February 26 is the 57th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 308 days remain until the end of the year (309 in leap years).

EVENTS

747 BC – According to Ptolemy, the epoch (origin) of the Nabonassar Era began at noon on this date. Historians use this to establish the modern BC chronology for dating historic events.

1616 – Galileo Galilei is formally banned by the Roman Catholic Church from teaching or defending the view that the earth orbits the sun.

1815 – Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from exile on the island of Elba.

1870 – The Beach Pneumatic Transit in New York City, intending as a demonstration for a subway line opens.

1919 – President Woodrow Wilson signs an act of Congress establishing the Grand Canyon National Park.

1929 – President Calvin Coolidge signs legislation establishing the 96,000 acres (390 km2) Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

1966 – Apollo program: Launch of AS-201, the first flight of the Saturn IB rocket.

1993 – World Trade Center bombing: In New York City, a truck bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center explodes, killing six and injuring over a thousand people.

BIRTHS

1564 – Christopher Marlowe, English playwright, poet and translator (d. 1593)

1587 – Stefano Landi, Italian composer and educator (d. 1639)

1802 – Victor Hugo, French author, poet, and playwright (d. 1885)

1808 – Nathan Kelley, American architect, designed the Ohio Statehouse (d. 1871)

1829 – Levi Strauss, German-American fashion designer, founded Levi Strauss & Co. (d. 1902)

1846 – Buffalo Bill, American soldier and hunter (d. 1917)

1852 – John Harvey Kellogg, American surgeon, co-created Corn flakes (d. 1943)

1866 – Herbert Henry Dow, Canadian-American businessman, founded the Dow Chemical Company (d. 1930)

1887 – William Frawley, American actor and vaudevillian (d. 1966)

1906 – Madeleine Carroll, English actress (d. 1987)

1908 – Tex Avery, American animator, producer, and voice actor (d. 1980)

1914 – Robert Alda, American actor, singer, and director (d. 1986)

1916 – Jackie Gleason, American actor and singer (d. 1987)

1919 – Mason Adams, American actor (d. 2005)

1920 – Tony Randall, American actor, director, and producer (d. 2004)

1921 – Betty Hutton, American actress and singer (d. 2007)

1922 – Bill Johnston, Australian cricketer and businessman (d. 2007)

1927 – Tom Kennedy, American game show host and actor (d. 2020)

1928 – Fats Domino, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2017)

1928 – Ariel Sharon, Israeli general and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Israel (d. 2014)[46]

1931 – Robert Novak, American journalist and author (d. 2009)

1932 – Johnny Cash, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 2003)

1944 – Ronald Lauder, American businessman and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Austria

1945 – Marta Kristen, Norwegian-American actress

1953 – Michael Bolton, American singer-songwriter and actor

1953 – Barbara Niven, American actress and writer

1966 – Jennifer Grant, American actress

DEATHS

1813 – Robert R. Livingston, American lawyer and politician, 1st United States Secretary of Foreign Affairs (b. 1746)

1903 – Richard Jordan Gatling, American engineer, invented the Gatling gun (b. 1818)

1981 – Robert Aickman, English author and activist (b. 1914)

1993 – Constance Ford, American model and actress (b. 1923)

1994 – Bill Hicks, American comedian (b. 1961)

1995 – Jack Clayton, English director and producer (b. 1921)

1997 – David Doyle, American actor (b. 1929)

2009 – Johnny Kerr, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1932)

2009 – Wendy Richard, English actress (b. 1943)

2015 – Theodore Hesburgh, American priest, theologian, educator, and academic (b. 1917)

2015 – Earl Lloyd, American basketball player and coach (b. 1928)

2017 – Joseph Wapner, American judge and TV personality (b. 1919)

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