Calendar date · July

What happened on July 26

On July 26, 657: First Fitna: In the Battle of Siffin, troops led by Ali ibn Abu Talib clash with those led by Muawiyah I.

Events

73

across history

Notable births

50

Notable deaths

50

Zodiac

Leo

Featured moment · 657

First Fitna: In the Battle of Siffin, troops led by Ali ibn Abu Talib clash with those led by Muawiyah I.

The First Fitna was the first civil war in the Islamic community. It led to the end of the Rashidun Caliphate and the establishment of the Umayyad Caliphate. The civil war involved three main factions; the supporters of the fourth Rashidun caliph Ali, the Uthmaniyya, and the Kharijites, a faction of radical secessionists who broke away from Ali's camp following the arbitration at Siffin.

People

Born on July 26

Thomasin McKenzie 2000– New Zealand actress (born 2000)
Achraf El Yakhloufi 1998– Belgian politician (born 1998)
Olivia Breen 1996– Welsh Paralympic athlete
Ella Leivo 1994– Finnish tennis player
Raymond Faitala-Mariner 1993– NZ & Samoa international rugby league footballer
Taylor Momsen 1993– American musician and actress (born 1993)
Marika Koroibete 1992– Australia international rugby union & Fiji international rugby league footballer
Tyson Barrie 1991– Canadian ice hockey player (born 1991)
Chinami Yoshida 1991– Japanese curler
Show 9 more — notable births on July 26
Jeon Yeo-been 1989– South Korean actress (born 1989)
Yurie Omi 1988– Japanese former announcer and news anchor
Sayaka Akimoto 1988– Japanese actress and singer (born 1988)
Anthony Smith 1988– American mixed martial arts fighter
Panagiotis Kone 1987– Greek footballer (born 1987)
Jordie Benn 1987– Canadian ice hockey player (born 1987)
Fredy Montero 1987– Colombian footballer (born 1987)
Monica Raymund 1986– American actress (born 1986)
Leonardo Ulloa 1986– Argentine footballer

People

Died on July 26

Tom Lehrer American musician and mathematician (1928–2025)
Sinéad O'Connor Irish singer (1966–2023)
Joey Jordison American musician (1975–2021)
Olivia de Havilland British actress (1916–2020)
Russi Taylor American voice actress (1944–2019)
Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino Cuban prelate (1936–2019)
Adem Demaçi Kosovar politician and human rights defender (1936–2018)
John Kline American basketball player (1931–2018)
June Foray American voice actress (1917–2017)
Show 9 more — notable deaths on July 26
Patti Deutsch American actress (1943–2017)
Ronald Phillips American executed criminal (1973–2017)
Solomon Feferman American philosopher and mathematician
Bijoy Krishna Handique Indian politician (1934–2015)
Flora MacDonald Canadian politician (1926–2015)
Leo Reise Canadian ice hockey player
Ann Rule American true crime author (1931–2015)
Oleh Babayev Ukrainian politician and businessman (1965–2014)
Charles R. Larson American United States Navy admiral

Timeline

Every July 26 on record

  1. 657 First Fitna: In the Battle of Siffin, troops led by Ali ibn Abu Talib clash with those led by Muawiyah I.

    Rashidun-era Muslim civil war (656 to 661)

    The First Fitna was the first civil war in the Islamic community. It led to the end of the Rashidun Caliphate and the establishment of the Umayyad Caliphate. The civil war involved three main factions; the supporters of the fourth Rashidun caliph Ali, the Uthmaniyya, and the Kharijites, a faction of radical secessionists who broke away from Ali's camp following the arbitration at Siffin.

  2. 811 Battle of Pliska: Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros I is killed and his heir Staurakios is seriously wounded.

    Battle between the Bulgarian Empire and the Byzantine Empire in 811

    The Battle of Pliska or Battle of Vărbitsa Pass was a series of battles between troops, gathered from all parts of the Byzantine Empire, led by the Emperor Nicephorus I, and the First Bulgarian Empire, governed by Khan Krum. The Byzantines plundered and burned the Bulgar capital Pliska which gave time for the Bulgarians to block passes in the Balkan Mountains that served as exits out of Bulgaria. The final battle took place on 26 July 811, in some of the passes in the eastern part of the Balkans, most probably the Vărbitsa Pass.

  3. 920 Rout of an alliance of Christian troops from Navarre and Léon against the Muslims at the Battle of Valdejunquera.

    Autonomous community and province of Spain

    Navarre, officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Nouvelle-Aquitaine in France. The capital city is Pamplona. The present-day province makes up the majority of the territory of the medieval Kingdom of Navarre, a long-standing Pyrenean kingdom that occupied lands on both sides of the western Pyrenees, with its northernmost part, Lower Navarre, located in the southwest corner of France.

  4. 1184 Erfurt latrine disaster: At a Hoftag, a meeting with local notables, organized by Henry VI, the building collapses and many of the nobles in attendance drown in the sewage pits below.

    12th-century accident in the Holy Roman Empire

    On 26 July 1184, in the German city of Erfurt, approximately sixty local nobles died when the floor of a building collapsed through the ground floor and into the latrine cesspit below. They were attending a Hoftag conducted by King Henry VI when their combined weight caused the floor of the building to collapse. Some of the attendees drowned in human waste after falling into the cesspit.

  5. 1309 Henry VII is recognized King of the Romans (Holy Roman Emperor) by Pope Clement V.

    Holy Roman Emperor from 1312 to 1313

    Henry VII, also known as Henry of Luxembourg, King of Germany and King of Italy numbering is Heinrich VIII, was Count of Luxembourg, King of Germany from 1308 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1312. He was the first emperor of the House of Luxembourg. During his brief career he reinvigorated the imperial cause in Italy, which was racked with the partisan struggles between the divided Guelph and Ghibelline factions, and inspired the praise of Dino Compagni and Dante Alighieri.

  6. 1509 Krishnadevaraya ascends to the throne as Emperor of Vijayanagara, marking the beginning of the regeneration of the Vijayanagara Empire.
  7. 1529 Francisco Pizarro González, Spanish conquistador, is appointed governor of Peru.
  8. 1579 Francis Drake, the English explorer, discovers a "fair and good" bay on the coast of the Pacific Northwest (probably Oregon or Washington).
  9. 1581 Plakkaat van Verlatinghe (Act of Abjuration): The northern Low Countries declare their independence from the Spanish king, Philip II.
  10. 1703 During the Bavarian Rummel the rural population of Tyrol drove the Bavarian Prince-Elector Maximilian II Emanuel out of North Tyrol with a victory at the Pontlatzer Bridge and thus prevented the Bavarian Army, which was allied with France, from marching as planned on Vienna during the War of the Spanish Succession.
  11. 1745 The first recorded women's cricket match takes place near Guildford, England.
  12. 1758 French and Indian War: The Siege of Louisbourg ends with British forces defeating the French and taking control of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.
  13. 1775 The office that would later become the United States Post Office Department is established by the Second Continental Congress. Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania takes office as Postmaster General.
  14. 1778 The Emigration of Christians from the Crimea in 1778 begins.
  15. 1788 New York ratifies the United States Constitution and becomes the 11th state of the United States.
Show 15 earlier entries from July 26
  1. 1803 The Surrey Iron Railway, arguably the world's first public railway, opens in south London, United Kingdom.
  2. 1814 The Swedish–Norwegian War begins.
  3. 1822 José de San Martín arrives in Guayaquil, Ecuador, to meet with Simón Bolívar.
  4. 1822 First day of the three-day Battle of Dervenakia, between the Ottoman Empire force led by Mahmud Dramali Pasha and the Greek Revolutionary force led by Theodoros Kolokotronis.
  5. 1847 Liberia declares its independence from the United States. France and the United Kingdom are the first to recognize the new nation.
  6. 1848 The University of Wisconsin–Madison is established by Nelson Dewey, first Governor of Wisconsin.
  7. 1861 American Civil War: George B. McClellan assumes command of the Army of the Potomac following a disastrous Union defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run.
  8. 1863 American Civil War: Morgan's Raid ends; At Salineville, Ohio, Confederate cavalry leader John Hunt Morgan and 360 of his volunteers are captured by Union forces.
  9. 1882 Premiere of Richard Wagner's opera Parsifal at Bayreuth.
  10. 1882 The Republic of Stellaland is founded in Southern Africa.
  11. 1887 Publication of the Unua Libro, founding the Esperanto movement.
  12. 1890 In Buenos Aires, Argentina the Revolución del Parque takes place, forcing President Miguel Ángel Juárez Celman's resignation.
  13. 1891 France annexes Tahiti.
  14. 1892 Dadabhai Naoroji is elected as the first Indian Member of Parliament in Britain.
  15. 1897 Anglo-Afghan War: The Pashtun fakir Saidullah leads an army of more than 10,000 to begin a siege of the British garrison in the Malakand Agency of the North West Frontier Province of India.

Around the world

Holidays on July 26

Keep going

More to explore

The zodiac sign covering July 26 Leo Browse the calendar Every day in July Browse the calendar Every day in July