August 26
1847
Liberia was proclaimed an independent republic.
1883
A massive volcanic eruption on the island of Krakatoa blew up most of the island and resulted in tsunamis that killed over 36,000 people.
1920
The 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote went into effect.
1939
The first televised major league baseball game was televised: a double-header between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Cincinnati Reds.
1974
Aviator Charles Lindbergh, the first man to fly solo, nonstop across the Atlantic, died.
1978
John Paul I became Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. He died one month later.
Birthdays
Robert Walpole
1676–1745, English statesman.
Julio Cort
chemist (1743)
Peggy Guggenheim
art patron and collector (1898)
Albert Sabin
physician and microbiologist (1906)
Mother Teresa
Roman Catholic missionary (1910)
Macaulay Culkin
actor (1980)