July 26 is the 207th day of the year (208th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 158 days remaining until the end of the year.
Up to 1900
- 615 – K'inich Janaab' Pakal I, aged 12, is crowned ruler of the Mayan city of Palenque.
- 1309 – Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor is recognised as King of the Romans by Pope Clement V.
- 1469 – Wars of the Roses: Forces of Edward IV of England defeat those of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick in the Battle of Edgecote Moor.
- 1533 – Atahualpa dies at the hands of Francisco Pizarro's Conquistadors, marking the end of the Inca Empire.
- 1581 – The northern Low Countries declare independence from King Philip II of Spain.
- 1745 – The first recorded women's cricket match takes place in Guildford, Surrey, England.
- 1758 – French and Indian War: The Siege of Louisbourg ends with British forces defeating the French and taking control of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.
- 1775 – Benjamin Franklin is named Postmaster-General by the United States Congress.
- 1788 – New York ratifies the United States Constitution, becoming the 11th State.
- 1803 – The Surrey Iron Railway opens in South London.
- 1805 – An earthquake in central Italy kills an estimated 26,000 people.
- 1822 – José de San Martín arrives in Guayaquil, present-day Ecuador, to meet with Simon Bolivar.
- 1822 – First day of the three-day Battle of Dervenakia between the Ottoman Empire, led by Mahmud Dramali Pasha, and a Greek Revolutionary force led by Theodoros Kolokotronis.
- 1847 – Liberia becomes independent, with Joseph Jenkins Roberts being its first President.
- 1861 – American Civil War: George B. McClellan assumes control of the Army of the Potomac, following a disastrous Union defeat at the First Bull Run.
- 1882 – Boer settlers found the Republic of Stellaland in present-day South Africa.
- 1882 – Richard Wagner's opera Parsifal is first performed in Bayreuth, Bavaria.
- 1887 – Unua Libro, the 'First book of Esperanto', is published.
- 1891 – France takes control of Tahiti.
1901 – 1950
- 1908 – The FBI is founded.
- 1910 – The Rail Tunnel under the Detroit River linking Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan is opened.
- 1914 – Serbia and Bulgaria interrupt their diplomatic relationship.
- 1936 – The Axis Powers decide to intervene in the Spanish Civil War.
- 1936 – Edward VIII of the United Kingdom unveils the Canadian Vimy Memorial.
- 1937 – Spanish Civil War: End of the Battle of Brunete.
- 1944 – World War II: The Soviet army enters German-occupied Lviv, in present-day Ukraine.
- 1944 – The first German V-2 rocket hits the United Kingdom.
- 1945 – The British Conservative Party under Winston Churchill loses the General Election to the Labour Party, led by Clement Attlee.
- 1945 – The Potsdam Declaration is signed.
- 1946 – Aloha Airlines begins service.
- 1947 – The National Security Act of 1947 is signed by US President Harry S. Truman.
- 1948 – Harry S. Truman signs Executive Order 9981, desegregating the United States Military.
1951 – 2000
- 1951 – Walt Disney movie Alice in Wonderland has its first showing in London.
- 1952 – Argentina's First Lady Eva Perón dies aged 33.
- 1953 – Begin of the Cuban Revolution: Fidel Castro later helps to found the 26th July Movement.
- 1956 – The Suez Crisis begins, after Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalises the Suez Canal.
- 1957 – President Carlos Castillo Armas of Guatemala is assassinated.
- 1958 – The Explorer 4 space probe is launched.
- 1963 – A earthquake strikes Skopje in the present-day Republic of Macedonia, killing around 1,100 people.
- 1965 – The Maldives gain full independence from the United Kingdom.
- 1971 – Apollo 15 launches from the Kennedy Space Center, with David Scott, James Irwin and Alfred Worden on board, to the Moon.
- 1974 – Konstantinos Karamanlis forms the Greek Government.
- 1977 – The National Assembly of Quebec imposes the use of French as an official language of the Provincial Government.
- 1990 – The Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 is signed into law by US President George H. W. Bush.
- 1994 – Boris Yeltsin orders the removal of Russian troops from Estonia.
- 1994 – A bomb explodes outside the Israeli Embassy in London.
- 1998 – Cambodia holds its first election since regaining full independence.
From 2001
- 2005 – Space Shuttle Discovery launches from Cape Canaveral, Florida. It is the first Space Shuttle mission since the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster of February 1, 2003.
- 2005 – Nearly a meter of rain falls in one day in Mumbai, causing flooding.
- 2006 – A conference begins in Rome, Italy to discuss a solution to the Israel-Lebanon War, though without the participation of Israel, Hezbollah, Hamas and Syria.
- 2008 – 56 people are killed in a bombing in Ahmedabad, India.
- 2013 – 2013 Cleveland, Ohio, missing trio: Ariel Castro pleads guilty to all charges in order to avoid the death penalty. He commits suicide in prison on September 3.
- 2016 – Mass murder with knife is carried out in an institution of Sagamihara in Japan for persons with disabilities out of disability hate crime; 19 people are killed.
- 2016 – Solar Impulse 2 becomes the first solar-powered aircraft to complete a flight around the world.
- 2016 – Roman Catholic priest Jacques Hamel is murdered at his church in Normandy, France, by an attacker linked to the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
- 2016 – Hillary Clinton is officially nominated by the Democratic Party for President of the United States, becoming the first woman to be nominated for this position by a major US political party.
- 2017 – US President Donald Trump announces via Twitter that he intends to ban Transgender people from serving in the United States Military.
- 2019 – The 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, begin.
Up to 1900
- 1030 – Stanislaus of Szczepanow, Polish bishop and martyr (d. 1074)
- 1575 – Anne Catherine of Brandenburg, Queen of Denmark and Norway (d. 1612)
- 1678 – Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1711)
- 1721 – Samuel von Brukenthal, Governor of Transylvania (d. 1803)
- 1739 – George Clinton, 4th Vice President of the United States and 1st State Governor of New York (d. 1812)
- 1756 – Maria Fitzherbert, first wife of King George IV of the United Kingdom (d. 1837)
- 1782 – John Field, Irish composer (d. 1837)
- 1787 – Theodor Friedrich Ludwig Nees von Esenbeck, German botanist and pharmacologist (d. 1837)
- 1791 – Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart, Austrian composer (d. 1844)
- 1796 – George Catlin, American painter (d. 1872)
- 1801 – Maria Röhl, Swedish artist (d. 1875)
- 1802 – Mariano Arista, President of Mexico (d. 1855)
- 1829 – Auguste Beernaert, Belgian statesman and 14th Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 1912)
- 1842 – Alfred Marshall, British economist (d. 1924)
- 1844 – Stefan Drzewiecki, Polish scientist and inventor (d. 1938)
- 1846 – Texas Jack Omohundro, American scout, cowboy and actor (d. 1880)
- 1855 – Ferdinand Tönnies, German sociologist and philosopher (d. 1936)
- 1856 – George Bernard Shaw, Irish writer (d. 1950)
- 1858 – Tom Garrett, Australian cricketer (d. 1943)
- 1862 – George P. Cortelyou, American politician (d. 1940)
- 1865 – Philipp Scheidemann, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1939)
- 1866 – Princess Milica of Montenegro (d. 1951)
- 1874 – Serge Koussevitzky, Russian conductor (d. 1961)
- 1875 – Carl Jung, Swiss psychiatrist (d. 1961)
- 1875 – Antonio Machado, Spanish poet (d. 1939)
- 1878 – Ernst Hoppenberg, German swimmer and water polo player (d. 1937)
- 1880 – Volodymyr Vynnychenko, Ukrainian statesman (d. 1951)
- 1882 – Dixie Bibb Graves, American politician and United States Senator for Alabama (d. 1965)
- 1893 – E. R. Dodds, Irish classical scholar (d. 1979)
- 1893 – George Grosz, German painter (d. 1959)
- 1894 – Aldous Huxley, British writer (d. 1963)
- 1895 – Jane Bunford, UK's tallest woman (d. 1922)
- 1895 – Gracie Allen, American actress and comedienne (d. 1964)
- 1896 – Tom Birkin, English racing driver (d. 1933)
- 1897 – Paul Gallico, American novelist (d. 1976)
1901 – 1950
- 1901 – Umberto Caligaris, Italian footballer (d. 1940)
- 1903 – Estes Kefauver, American politician (d. 1963)
- 1904 – Edwin Albert Link, American inventor of the flight simulator (d. 1981)
- 1906 – Irena Illakowicz, Polish intelligence agent (d. 1943)
- 1907 – Donal McLaughlin, American architect and graphic artist (d. 2009)
- 1908 – Lucien Wercollier, Luxembourg sculptor (d. 2000)
- 1909 – Peter Thorneycroft, Baron Thorneycroft, British politician (d. 1994)
- 1909 – Vivian Vance, American actress (d. 1979)
- 1910 – Yann Fouéré, Breton political activist (d. 2011)
- 1914 – Erskine Hawkins, American trumpeter and bandleader (d. 1993)
- 1914 – C. Farris Bryant, 34th Governor of Florida (d. 2002)
- 1916 – Dean Brooks, American physician and actor (d. 2013)
- 1917 – Alberta Adams, American singer (d. 2014)
- 1917 – Bertil Nordahl, Swedish footballer (d. 1998)
- 1918 – Marjorie Lord, American actress (d. 2015)
- 1919 – James Lovelock, British scientist
- 1919 – Angelo Felici, Italian cardinal (d. 2007)
- 1920 – Mario Fasino, Italian politician, President of Sicily (d. 2017)
- 1921 – Amedeo Amadei, Italian footballer (d. 2013)
- 1922 – Gilberto Agustoni, Swiss cardinal (d. 2017)
- 1922 – Blake Edwards, American movie director (d. 2010)
- 1922 – Jason Robards, American actor (d. 2000)
- 1923 – Jan Berenstain, American writer (d. 2012)
- 1923 – Biff Elliot, American actor (d. 2012)
- 1925 – Jerzy Einhorn, Polish-born Swedish doctor and politician (d. 2000)
- 1925 – Joseph Engelberger, American physicist, engineer and entrepreneur (d. 2015)
- 1925 – Gene Gutowski, Polish-American movie producer (d. 2016)
- 1925 – Ana María Matute, Spanish writer (d. 2014)
- 1926 – James Best, American actor (d. 2015)
- 1928 – Joe Jackson, patriarch of the Jackson musical family (d. 2018)
- 1928 – Stanley Kubrick, American movie director (d. 1999)
- 1928 – Francesco Cossiga, 8th President of Italy (d. 2010)
- 1928 – Peter Lougheed, Canadian politician (d. 2012)
- 1928 – Bernice Rubens, Welsh writer (d. 2004)
- 1928 – Ibn-e-Safi, Pakistani poet (d. 1980)
- 1929 – Alexis Weissenberg, Bulgarian pianist (d. 2012)
- 1930 – Barbara Jefford, English actress
- 1932 – James Stafford, American cardinal
- 1932 – Robert Timlin, American judge (d. 2017)
- 1933 – Edmund Phelps, American economist
- 1933 – Lance Percival, English actor, comedian and singer (d. 2015)
- 1936 – Mary Millar, English actress (d. 1998)
- 1936 – Lawrie McMenemy, English footballer and coach
- 1939 – John Howard, 25th Prime Minister of Australia
- 1940 – Brigitte Hamann, German-Austrian writer and historian (d. 2016)
- 1940 – Mary Jo Kopechne, American aide to Robert F. Kennedy (d. 1969)
- 1940 – Jürgen Kurbjuhn, German footballer (d. 2014)
- 1942 – Hannelore Elsner, German actress (d. 2019)
- 1942 – Vladimir Meciar, former Prime Minister of Slovakia
- 1943 – Peter Hyams, American director
- 1943 – Mick Jagger, British musician
- 1945 – Helen Mirren, British actress
- 1945 – Panagiotis Pikrammenos, Greek jurist
- 1946 – Erwin Huber, German politician
- 1947 – Alejandra Da Passano, Argentine actress (d. 2014)
- 1947 – Emilio de Villota, Spanish racing driver
- 1949 – Sharron Angle, American politician
- 1949 – Thaksin Shinawatra, Thai politician
- 1949 – Roger Taylor, British musician (Queen)
- 1950 – Nelinho, Brazilian footballer
- 1950 – Susan George, English actress
1951 – 1975
- 1951 – Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, German politician
- 1952 – Heiner Brand, German handball player and coach
- 1953 – Felix Magath, German footballer
- 1954 – Mareike Carrière, German actress (d. 2014)
- 1954 – Vitas Gerulaitis, American tennis player (d. 1994)
- 1955 – Asif Ali Zardari, former President of Pakistan
- 1955 – Aleksandrs Starkovs, Latvian footballer
- 1956 – Dorothy Hamill, American figure skater
- 1957 – Yuen Biao, Chinese actor
- 1957 – Nana Visitor, American actress
- 1959 – Kevin Spacey, American actor
- 1961 – Gary Cherone, American singer-songwriter
- 1962 – Sigga, Icelandic singer
- 1964 – Sandra Bullock, American actress
- 1965 – Jimmy Dore, American comedian
- 1965 – Jeremy Piven, American actor
- 1966 – Angelo Di Livio, Italian footballer
- 1967 – Anthony Durante, American wrestler (d. 2003)
- 1967 – Jason Statham, English actor and producer
- 1968 – Olivia Williams, English actress
- 1969 – Tanni Grey-Thompson, British wheelchair athlete
- 1971 – Khaled Mahmud, Bangladeshi cricketer
- 1971 – Andrea Fortunato, Italian footballer (d. 1995)
- 1971 – Kendall Francois, American murderer (d. 2014)
- 1973 – Kate Beckinsale, British actress
- 1975 – Elizabeth Truss, British politician
From 1976
- 1976 – Pavel Pardo, Mexican footballer
- 1977 – Martin Laursen, Danish footballer
- 1977 – Emma Barton, English actress
- 1979 – Peter Sarno, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1980 – Jacinda Ardern, 40th Prime Minister of New Zealand
- 1980 – Madeleine West, Australian actress
- 1980 – Dave Baksh, Canadian guitarist (Sum 41)
- 1980 – Sonali Shah, English television presenter
- 1981 – Maicon Douglas Sisenando, Brazilian footballer
- 1983 – Kelly Clark, American snowboarder
- 1983 – Stephen Makinwa, Nigerian footballer
- 1983 – Delonte West, American basketball player
- 1985 – Zhou Bichang, Chinese singer-songwriter and actress
- 1985 – Brice Feillu, French road racing cyclist
- 1985 – Gaël Clichy, French footballer
- 1985 – Leonardo Ulloa, Argentine footballer
- 1987 – Fredy Montero, Colombian footballer
- 1988 – Sayaka Akimoto, Japanese actress and singer (AKB48)
- 1988 – Francia Raisa, American actress
- 1988 – Diego Perotti, Argentine footballer
- 1989 – Ivian Sarcos, Venezuelan model
- 1990 – Jesus Herrada, Spanish motorcycle racer
- 1990 – Bianca Santos, American actress
- 1993 – Elizabeth Gillies, American actress and singer
- 1993 – Taylor Momsen, American actress and singer
- 1993 – Caleb Stanko, American soccer player
- 1993 – Stormzy, English rapper
- 1996 – Tatiana Vorobjova, Estonian tennis player
- 1998 – Maya Sakura, Japanese singer and actress
Up to 1900
- 342 – Jin Chengdi, Emperor of China (b. 321)
- 432 – Pope Celestine I
- 796 – Offa, King of Mercia
- 811 – Nicephorus I, Byzantine Emperor (killed in battle)
- 1380 – Emperor Komyo of Japan (b. 1322)
- 1471 – Pope Paul II (b. 1417)
- 1506 – Anne of Foix-Candale, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia (b. 1478)
- 1533 – Atahualpa, Inca ruler (b. 1502)
- 1592 – Armand de Gontaut, baron de Biron, French soldier (b. 1524)
- 1605 – Miguel de Benavides, Spanish clergyman and Sinologist (b. 1552)
- 1611 – Horio Yoshiharu, Japanese warlord (b. 1542)
- 1630 – Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy (b. 1562)
- 1680 – John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, English writer (b. 1647)
- 1684 – Elena Cornaro Piscopia, Italian mathematician (b. 1646)
- 1712 – Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds, English statesman (b. 1631)
- 1723 – Robert Bertie, 1st Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven, English statesman (b. 1660)
- 1726 – Nicolaus II Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (b. 1695)
- 1801 – Archduke Maximilian Francis of Austria (b. 1756)
- 1863 – John J. Crittenden, Governor of Kentucky (b. 1786)
- 1863 – Sam Houston, President of the Republic of Texas (b. 1793)
- 1867 – King Otto of Greece (b. 1815)
1901 – 1950
- 1915 – James Murray, English philologist (b. 1837)
- 1919 – Sir Edward Poynter, British painter (b. 1836)
- 1922 – Ciro Luis Urriola, 8th President of Panama (b. 1863)
- 1925 – Antonio Ascari, Italian racing driver (b. 1888)
- 1925 – Gottlob Frege, German mathematician and logician (b. 1848)
- 1925 – William Jennings Bryan, American politician (b. 1860)
- 1926 – Robert Todd Lincoln, American lawyer and politician (b. 1843)
- 1935 – Winsor McCay, American cartoonist (b. 1871)
- 1937 – Gerda Taro, German photographer (b. 1910)
- 1941 – Henri Lebesgue, French mathematician (b. 1875)
- 1942 – Roberto Arlt, Argentinian writer (b. 1900)
- 1943 – Ruth M. Gardiner, American nurse (b. 1914)
- 1944 – Reza Shah, ruler of Iran (b. 1878)
1951 – 2000
- 1952 – Eva Perón, wife of Argentine President Juan Perón (b. 1919)
- 1953 – Nikolaos Plastiras, Greek general and politician (b. 1883)
- 1957 – Carlos Castillo Armas, President of Guatemala (b. 1914)
- 1969 – Frank Loesser, American composer (b. 1910)
- 1970 – Robert Taschereau, Canadian jurist (b. 1896)
- 1971 – Diane Arbus, American photographer (suicide) (b. 1923)
- 1976 – Stefanos Natsinas, Greek politician (b. 1910)
- 1980 – Ibn-e-Safi, Pakistani poet (b. 1928)
- 1984 – George Gallup, American statistician (b. 1901)
- 1984 – Ed Gein, American serial killer (b. 1906)
- 1986 – Averell Harriman, American diplomat (b. 1891)
- 1988 – Fazlur Rahman, Pakistani scholar (b. 1919)
- 1990 – Brent Mydland, American musician (b. 1952)
- 1992 – Mary Wells, American singer (b. 1943)
- 1995 – George Romney, Governor of Michigan and father of Mitt Romney (b. 1907)
- 1999 – Phaedon Gizikis, President of Greece (b. 1917)
From 2001
- 2001 – Peter von Zahn, German journalist (b. 1913)
- 2002 – Tony Anholt, English actor (b. 1941)
- 2005 – Mario David, Italian footballer (b. 1934)
- 2009 – Merce Cunningham, American choreographer (b. 1919)
- 2011 – Margaret Olley, Australian artist (b. 1923)
- 2011 – Sakyo Komatsu, Japanese science fiction writer (b. 1931)
- 2012 – Lupe Ontiveros, American actress (b. 1942)
- 2012 – Mary Tamm, English actress (b. 1950)
- 2013 – Sung Jae-ki, South Korean activist (b. 1967)
- 2013 – JJ Cale, American singer-songwriter and musician (b. 1938)
- 2014 – Oleh Babayev, Ukrainian politician (b. 1965)
- 2014 – Charles R. Larson, American admiral (b. 1936)
- 2014 – Majid Nizami, Pakistani journalist (b. 1928)
- 2014 – Roland Verhavert, Belgian movie director (b. 1927)
- 2015 – Bobbi Kristina Brown, American media personality and singer (b. 1993)
- 2015 – Leo Reise, Jr., Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1922)
- 2015 – Ann Rule, American true crime writer (b. 1931)
- 2015 – Vic Firth, American musician and instruments manufacturer (b. 1930)
- 2016 – Jacques Hamel, French priest (b. 1930)
- 2016 – David A. Katz, American judge (b. 1933)
- 2016 – Mohamed Khan, Egyptian film director (b. 1942)
- 2017 – Patti Deutsch, American actress (b. 1943)
- 2017 – June Foray, American voice actress (b. 1917)
- 2017 – Giovanni Battista Pichierri, Italian Roman Catholic prelate (b. 1943)
- 2017 – Lawrence Pezzulo, American diplomat (b. 1926)
- 2017 – Maxlei dos Santos Luzia, Brazilian footballer (b. 1975)
- 2017 – Joachim Vobbe, German Roman Catholic prelate (b. 1947)
- 2017 – Leo Kinnunen, Finnish racing driver (b. 1943)
- 2018 – Adem Demaçi, Albanian politician (b. 1936)
- 2018 – Aloyzas Kveinys, Lithuanian chess player (b. 1962)
- 2018 – María Concepción César, Argentine actress and singer (b. 1926)
- 2018 – Anne Vermeer, Dutch politician (b. 1916)
- 2019 – Graham Freudenberg, Australian political speechwriter (b. 1934)
- 2019 – Jaime Lucas y Alamino, Cuban cardinal (b. 1936)
- 2019 – Kevin Roster, American poker player (b. 1983)
- 2019 – Russi Taylor, American voice actress (b. 1944)
- 2023 – Sinéad O'Connor, Irish singer-songwriter (b. 1966)
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