November 26 Historical Events

The following events took place on November 26. The list is arranged in chronological order.

Found 39 events. Showing 1 - 30.

• 783
  The Asturian queen Adosinda is put up in a monastery to prevent her kin from retaking the throne from Mauregatus.
• 1161
  Battle of Caishi: A Song dynasty fleet fights a naval engagement with Jin dynasty ships on the Yangtze river during the Jin–Song Wars.
• 1476
  Vlad the Impaler (Dracula) defeats Basarab Laiota with the help of Stephen the Great and Stephen V Báthory and becomes the ruler of Wallachia for the third time.
• 1778
  In the Hawaiian Islands, Captain James Cook becomes the first European to visit Maui.
• 1784
  The Catholic Apostolic Prefecture of the United States established.
• 1789
  A national Thanksgiving Day is observed in the United States as proclaimed by President George Washington at the request of Congress.
• 1805
  Official opening of Thomas Telford’s Pontcysyllte Aqueduct.
• 1825
  At Union College in Schenectady, New York, a group of college students form the Kappa Alpha Society, the first college social fraternity.
• 1842
  The University of Notre Dame is founded.
• 1863
  United States President Abraham Lincoln proclaims November 26 as a national Thanksgiving Day, to be celebrated annually on the final Thursday of November. (Since 1941, it has been on the fourth Thursday.)
• 1865
  Battle of Papudo: A Spanish navy schooner is defeated by a Chilean corvette north of Valparaíso, Chile.
• 1917
  The National Hockey League is formed, with the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, Quebec Bulldogs, and Toronto Arenas as its first teams.
• 1918
  The Montenegran Podgorica Assembly votes for a “union of the people”, declaring assimilation into the Kingdom of Serbia.
• 1922
  Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon become the first people to enter the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun in over 3000 years.
• 1922
  The Toll of the Sea debuts as the first general release film to use two-tone Technicolor. (The Gulf Between was the first film to do so, but it was not widely distributed.)

• 1939
  Shelling of Mainila: The Soviet Army orchestrates an incident which is used to justify the start of the Winter War with Finland four days later.
• 1942
  World War II: Yugoslav Partisans convene the first meeting of the Anti-Fascist Council of National Liberation of Yugoslavia at Bihać in northwestern Bosnia.
• 1943
  World War II: HMT Rohna is sunk by the Luftwaffe in an air attack in the Mediterranean north of Béjaïa, Algeria.
• 1944
  World War II: A German V-2 rocket hits a Woolworth’s shop in London, United Kingdom, killing 168 people.
• 1944
  World War II: Germany begins V-1 and V-2 attacks on Antwerp, Belgium.
• 1949
  The Constituent Assembly of India adopts the constitution presented by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar.
• 1950
  Korean War: Troops from the People’s Republic of China launch a massive counterattack in North Korea against South Korean and United Nations forces (Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River and Battle of Chosin Reservoir), ending any hopes of a quick end to the conflict.
• 1965
  In the Hammaguir launch facility in the Sahara Desert, France launches a Diamant-A rocket with its first satellite, Asterix-1, on board.
• 1968
  Vietnam War: United States Air Force helicopter pilot James P. Fleming rescues an Army Special Forces unit pinned down by Viet Cong fire. He is later awarded the Medal of Honor.
• 1970
  In Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe, 1.5 inches (38.1 mm) of rain fall in a minute, the heaviest rainfall ever recorded.
• 1977
  An unidentified hijacker named Vrillon, claiming to be the representative of the “Ashtar Galactic Command”, takes over Britain’s Southern Television for six minutes, starting at 5:12 pm.
• 1983
  Brink’s-MAT robbery: In London, 6,800 gold bars worth nearly £26 million are stolen from the Brink’s-MAT vault at Heathrow Airport.
• 1986
  Iran–Contra affair: U.S. President Ronald Reagan announces the members of what will become known as the Tower Commission.
• 1990
  The Delta II rocket makes its maiden flight.
• 1991
  National Assembly of Azerbaijan abolishes the autonomous status of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast of Azerbaijan and renames several cities back to their original names.