Berlin Children Cheering Airlift Plane

1948

U.S. begins Berlin Airlift

Born on This Day

World Series - Texas Rangers v Arizona Diamondbacks - Game Three

Derek Jeter

1974 -

New York Yankees shortstop named MLB All Star 15 times. Led his team to five World Series titles.

"Phantom Thread" New York Premiere

Paul Thomas Anderson

1970 -

Filmmaker known for his character-driven, emotionally intense dramas, including "Magnolia," "There Will Be Blood" and "Boogie Nights."

Babe Didrikson Smiling with Golf Club over her Shoulder

Babe Didrikson Zaharias

1911 - 1956

Athlete known for her multi-sport talents in track and field, basketball, baseball and golf, where she won 10 WLPG titles.

Derek Jeter

Getty Images

Paul Thomas Anderson

WireImage

Babe Didrikson Zaharias

Bettmann Archive

1997

JUN

26

"Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone" hits shelves in the U.K., bringing to life a bespectacled, orphaned wizard whose name, the author reports, was almost Harry Batt. The global blockbuster was rejected by 12 publishers.

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on June 26th

1541

Francisco Pizarro, conqueror of the Incas, assassinated

Francisco Pizarro, the governor of Peru and conqueror of the Inca civilization, is assassinated in Lima by Spanish rivals. The illegitimate son of a Spanish gentleman, Pizarro served under Spanish conquistador Alonso de Ojeda during his expedition to Colombia in 1510 and was with Vasco Nunez de Balboa when he encountered the Pacific Ocean in […]

1844

President John Tyler weds his second wife

Fifty-four year old widower President John Tyler marries 21-year-old Julia Gardiner on June 26, 1844. It was his second marriage. At the time, Julia was the youngest first lady in history. Tyler had wooed Julia from the time she was 19, but it took a tragedy and a narrow escape from death for her to […]

2:02m read read

1862

Rebels strike Union at the Battle of Mechanicsville

At the Battle of Mechanicsville, Virginia, Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia strikes Union General George B. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac, beginning the Seven Days’ Battles. Although the Confederates sustained heavy losses and did not succeed in decisively defeating the Yankees, the battle had unnerved McClellan. During the next week, Lee […]

1917

First U.S. troops arrive in France

During World War I, the first 14,000 U.S. infantry troops land in France at the port of Saint-Nazaire. The landing site had been kept secret because of the menace of German submarines, but by the time the Americans had lined up to take their first salute on French soil, an enthusiastic crowd had gathered to […]

1:34m read read

1945

United Nations Charter signed

In the Herbst Theater auditorium in San Francisco, delegates from 50 nations sign the United Nations Charter, establishing the world body as a means of saving “succeeding generations from the scourge of war.” The Charter was ratified on October 24, and the first U.N. General Assembly met in London on January 10, 1946. Despite the […]

2:58m read read

1956

Congress approves Federal-Aid Highway Act

On June 26, 1956, the U.S. Congress approves the Federal-Aid Highway Act, which allocates more than $30 billion for the construction of some 41,000 miles of interstate highways; it will be the largest public construction project in U.S. history to that date. Among the pressing questions involved in passing highway legislation were where exactly the […]

1959

St. Lawrence Seaway officially opened

In a ceremony presided over by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Queen Elizabeth II, the St. Lawrence Seaway is officially opened, creating a navigational channel from the Atlantic Ocean to all the Great Lakes. The seaway, made up of a system of canals, locks, and dredged waterways, extends a distance of nearly 2,500 miles, […]

1963

John F. Kennedy claims solidarity with the people of Berlin

President John F. Kennedy expresses solidarity with democratic German citizens in a speech on June 26, 1963. In front of the Berlin Wall that separated the city into democratic and communist sectors, he declared to the crowd, “Ich bin ein Berliner” or “I am also a citizen of Berlin.” In his speech, Kennedy assured West […]

1:16m read read

1974

Pack of chewing gum becomes first-ever item scanned with a UPC barcode

On the morning of June 26, 1974, at a supermarket in Troy, Ohio, a pack of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit chewing gum becomes the first grocery item scanned with a Universal Product Code, or UPC. The result of years of scientific experimentation and industry cooperation, the UPC barcode would go on to be used well beyond […]

3:10m read read

1975

Sonny and Cher’s divorce becomes final

After 13 years together as a couple and six years of marriage—the last three for the cameras—pop singers and TV entertainers Sonny and Cher are legally divorced on June 26, 1975. With a string of pop hits in the mid-1960s that began with the career-defining “I Got You Babe” (1965), Sonny and Cher Bono established […]

2:06m read read

1993

President Clinton punishes Iraq for plot to kill George H.W. Bush

In retaliation for an Iraqi plot to assassinate former U.S. President George H.W. Bush during his April visit to Kuwait, President Bill Clinton orders U.S. warships to fire Tomahawk cruise missiles at Iraqi intelligence headquarters in downtown Baghdad. On April 13, 1993, the day before George Bush was scheduled to visit Kuwait and be honored […]

0:58m read read

2003

Lawrence v. Texas is decided

On June 26, 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down Texas’ sodomy laws, along with similar laws in 13 other states. The decision in Lawrence v. Texas is a landmark one, reaffirming the existence of a “right to privacy” that is not enumerated in the Constitution and effectively legalizing same-sex sexual activity in the United States. […]

1:40m read read

2003

Former U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond dies

Strom Thurmond, who served in the United States Senate for a record 48 years, dies on June 26, 2003. Thurmond’s long and controversial political career had ended with his retirement one year earlier. Thurmond was born on December 5, 1902, in Edgefield, South Carolina, where he also died. He graduated from what is now Clemson […]

3:06m read read

2015

Same-sex marriage is made legal nationwide with Obergefell v. Hodges decision

June 26, 2015 marks a major milestone for civil rights in the United States, as the Supreme Court announces its decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. By one vote, the court rules that same-sex marriage cannot be banned in the United States and that all same-sex marriages must be recognized nationwide, finally granting same-sex couples equal […]

2:32m read read

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