Summary of the Day ✨ 26 October (26/10)
A devastating 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck the Hindu Kush mountains in South Asia, killing 399 people while Microsoft released Windows 8 and Rockstar Games launched Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for PlayStation 2. Meanwhile, Russian special forces ended a Moscow theater hostage crisis with deadly force as California battled the third-largest wildfire in its history, which destroyed over 2,000 homes.
Historical Events 📜
- 2015: A 7.5 magnitude earthquake strikes in the Hindu Kush mountain range in South Asia, killing 399 people and leaving 2,536 people injured.
- 2012: Microsoft made a public release of Windows 8 and made it available on new PCs.
- 2004: Rockstar Games releases Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for the PlayStation 2 in North America, which sold 12 million units for the PS2, becoming the console’s best-selling video game.
- 2003: The Cedar Fire, the third-largest wildfire in California history, kills 15 people, consumes 250,000 acres (1,000 km2), and destroys 2,200 homes around San Diego.
- 2002: Approximately 50 Chechen terrorists and 150 hostages die when Russian special forces troops storm a theater building in Moscow, which had been occupied by the terrorists during a musical performance three days before.
- 2001: The United States passes the USA PATRIOT Act into law.
- 2000: A wave of protests forces Robert Guéï to step down as president after the Ivorian presidential election.
- 1999: The United Kingdom’s House of Lords votes to end the right of most hereditary peers to vote in Britain’s upper chamber of Parliament.
- 1995: Mossad agents assassinate Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Fathi Shaqaqi in his hotel in Malta.
- 1995: An avalanche hits the Icelandic village of Flateyri, destroying 29 homes and burying 45 people, and killing 20.
- 1994: Jordan and Israel sign a peace treaty.
- 1991: Three months after the end of the Ten-Day War, the last soldier of the Yugoslav People’s Army leaves the territory of the Republic of Slovenia.
- 1989: China Airlines Flight 204 crashes after takeoff from Hualien Airport in Taiwan, killing all 54 people on board.
- 1985: The Australian government returns ownership of Uluru to the local Pitjantjatjara Aboriginals.
- 1979: Park Chung Hee, President of South Korea, is assassinated by Korean CIA head Kim Jae-gyu.
Famous Births 👶
- 2002: Lee Eunsang, South Korean singer
- 1997: Rhenzy Feliz, American actor and singer
- 1996: Rebecca Tunney, English gymnast
- 1995: Yuta, Japanese singer
- 1994: Waqa Blake, Fijian rugby league player
- 1994: Allie DeBerry, American model and actress
- 1993: Sergey Karasev, Russian basketball player
- 1992: Joseph Cramarossa, Canadian hockey player
- 1991: Riho Iida, Japanese model and actress
- 1990: Mark Swanepoel, South African rugby player
- 1989: Dre Kirkpatrick, American football player
- 1989: Emil Sayfutdinov, Russian motorcycle racer
- 1988: Nosliw Rodríguez, Venezuelan politician
- 1988: Greg Zuerlein, American figure skater
- 1987: Abudramae Bamba, Ivorian footballer
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2025: Bjorn Andresen, Swedish actor and musician (born 1955)
- 2021: Roh Tae-woo, South Korean general and politician, 6th President of South Korea (born 1932)
- 2017: Ali Ashraf Darvishian, Iranian novelist, short story writer and academic. (born 1941)
- 2015: Willis Carto, American activist and theorist (born 1926)
- 2015: Leo Kadanoff, American physicist and academic (born 1937)
- 2015: Giuseppe Nazzaro, Italian-Syrian bishop and theologian (born 1937)
- 2014: Vic Allen, English sociologist, economist, and historian (born 1923)
- 2014: Mo Collins, American football player and coach (born 1976)
- 2014: Germain Gagnon, Canadian ice hockey player (born 1942)
- 2014: Senzo Meyiwa, South African footballer (born 1987)
- 2014: Brian Moore, Australian rugby league player (born 1944)
- 2014: Jeff Robinson, American baseball player (born 1961)
- 2014: Gordy Soltau, American football player and sportscaster (born 1925)
- 2014: Oscar Taveras, Dominican baseball player (born 1992)
- 2013: Ritva Arvelo, Finnish actress, director, and screenwriter (born 1921)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- Accession Day (Jammu and Kashmir, India)
- Angam Day (Nauru)
- Armed Forces Day (Benin)
- Christian feast day:
Alfred the Great (Catholic Church, Anglican Church, Eastern Orthodox Church) - Christian feast day:
Amandus of Strasbourg - Christian feast day:
Beóán (Bean) of Mortlach - Christian feast day:
Blessed Celine Borzecka - Christian feast day:
Cedd - Christian feast day:
Cuthbert of Canterbury - Christian feast day:
Demetrius of Thessaloniki - Christian feast day:
Eadfrith of Leominster - Christian feast day:
Eata of Hexham - Christian feast day:
Pope Evaristus (Aristus) - Christian feast day:
Fulk of Pavia (Roman Catholic Church) - Christian feast day:
Philipp Nicolai, Johann Heermann and Paul Gerhardt (Lutheran Church)