Summary of the Day ✨ 26 September (26/09)
Hurricane Helene devastated Florida as a Category 4 storm while Typhoon Ketsana ravaged multiple Asian countries, together causing hundreds of deaths and billions in damages. Tragedy struck globally with a deadly school shooting in Russia, the kidnapping of 43 students in Mexico, and a bombing near a Philippine university, all occurring on the same fateful day.
Historical Events 📜
- 2024: Hurricane Helene makes landfall in Perry, Florida as a Category 4 hurricane, killing over 250 people, causing US$78.7 billion in damage and becoming the deadliest hurricane in the mainland United States since Katrina.
- 2022: A mass shooting occurs at a school in Izhevsk, Udmurtia, Russia, resulting in the deaths of 18 people, including 11 children.
- 2014: A mass kidnapping of 43 students from a teaching college occurs in Iguala, Mexico.
- 2010: The Philippine Bar exam bombing occurs near the De La Salle University in Taft Avenue, Manila injuring 47 people.
- 2009: Typhoon Ketsana hits the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand, causing 700 fatalities.
- 2002: The overcrowded Senegalese ferry, MV Le Joola, capsizes off the coast of the Gambia killing more than 1,000.
- 2000: Anti-globalization protests in Prague (some 20,000 protesters) turn violent during the IMF and World Bank summits.
- 2000: The MS Express Samina sinks off Paros in the Aegean Sea killing 80 passengers.
- 1997: A Garuda Indonesia Airbus A300 crashes near Medan airport, killing 234.
- 1997: An earthquake strikes the Italian regions of Umbria and the Marche, causing part of the Basilica of St. Francis at Assisi to collapse.
- 1994: A Yakovlev Yak-40 crashes into a river near Vanavara, Russia, killing 24.
- 1992: A Nigerian Air Force Lockheed C-130 Hercules crashes in Ejigbo, Lagos, killing 159.
- 1984: The United Kingdom and China agree to a transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong, to take place in 1997.
- 1983: Soviet Air Force officer Stanislav Petrov identifies a report of an incoming nuclear missile as a computer error and not an American first strike, thus preventing nuclear war.
- 1983: Soyuz 7K-ST No. 16L, intended to launch a crew to the Salyut 7 space station, explodes on the launch pad. The launch escape system is activated before the Soyuz-U rocket explodes, saving the crew.
Famous Births 👶
- 2003: Jane Remover, American musician
- 2001: Xinyu Wang, Chinese tennis player
- 2000: Frankie Amaya, American soccer player
- 2000: Princess Salma bint Abdullah, Jordanian princess
- 1995: Miloš Veljković, Serbian footballer
- 1994: Jack Conger, American swimmer
- 1993: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, American basketball player
- 1992: Yoo Ara, South Korean singer and actress
- 1991: Alma Jodorowsky, French actress, fashion model and singer
- 1991: Dan Preston, English footballer
- 1989: Jonny Bairstow, English cricketer
- 1988: Chris Archer, American baseball player
- 1988: James Blake, English singer-songwriter and producer
- 1988: Kiira Korpi, Finnish figure skater
- 1988: Buddy Matthews, Australian wrestler
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2024: John Ashton, American actor (born 1948)
- 2019: Jacques Chirac, French politician, President of France (born 1932)
- 2016: Toughie, last known Rabbs’ fringe-limbed treefrog (h. fl. 2005)
- 2015: Eudóxia Maria Froehlich, Brazilian zoologist (born 1928)
- 2015: Sidney Phillips, American soldier, physician, and author (born 1924)
- 2015: Ana Seneviratne, Sri Lankan police officer and diplomat (born 1927)
- 2014: Jim Boeke, American football player and coach (born 1938)
- 2014: Sam Hall, American screenwriter (born 1921)
- 2014: Gerald Neugebauer, American astronomer and physicist (born 1932)
- 2014: Tamir Sapir, Georgian-American businessman (born 1946)
- 2013: Azizan Abdul Razak, Malaysian politician, 10th Menteri Besar of Kedah (born 1944)
- 2013: Seánie Duggan, Irish hurler (born 1922)
- 2013: Mario Montez, Puerto Rican-American actor (born 1935)
- 2013: Sos Sargsyan, Armenian actor and director (born 1929)
- 2012: M’el Dowd, American actress and singer (born 1933)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- Christian feast days:
Canadian Martyrs (Catholic Church in Canada) - Christian feast days:
Cosmas and Damian - Christian feast days:
John of Meda - Christian feast days:
Nilus the Younger - Christian feast days:
Thérèse Couderc - Christian feast days:
Wilson Carlile (Anglican) - Christian feast days:
September 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) - Day of the National Flag (Ecuador)
- Dominion Day (New Zealand)
- European Day of Languages (European Union)
- International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons
- Petrov day
- Revolution Day (Yemen)