- 747 BC – Epoch (origin) of Ptolemy’s Nabonassar Era.
- 364 – Valentinian I is proclaimed Roman emperor
- 1233 – Mongol–Jin War: The Mongols capture Kaifeng, the capital of the Jin dynasty, after besieging it for months.
- 1266 – Battle of Benevento: An army led by Charles, Count of Anjou, defeats a combined German and Sicilian force led by Manfred, King of Sicily. Manfred is killed in the battle and Pope Clement IV invests Charles as king of Sicily and Naples.
- 1365 – The Ava Kingdom and the royal city of Ava (Inwa) founded by King Thado Minbya
- 1606 – The Janszoon voyage of 1605–06 becomes the first European expedition to set foot on Australia, although it is mistaken as a part of New Guinea.
- 1616 – Galileo Galilei is formally banned by the Roman Catholic Church from teaching or defending the view that the earth orbits the sun.
- 1775 – The British East India Company factory on Balambangan Island is destroyed by Moro pirates
- 1794 – The first Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen burns down.
- 1815 – Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from Elba.
- 1876 – Japan and Korea sign a treaty granting Japanese citizens extraterritoriality rights, opening three ports to Japanese trade, and ending Korea’s status as a tributary state of Qing dynasty China.
- 1909 – Kinemacolor, the first successful color motion picture process, is first shown to the general public at the Palace Theatre in London.
- 1914 – HMHS Britannic, sister to the RMS Titanic, is launched at Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast.
- 1919 – President Woodrow Wilson signs an act of Congress establishing the Grand Canyon National Park.
- 1929 – President Calvin Coolidge signs an executive order establishing the 96,000 acre Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
- 1935 – Adolf Hitler orders the Luftwaffe to be re-formed, violating the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles.
- 1935 – Robert Watson-Watt carries out a demonstration near Daventry which leads directly to the development of radar in the United Kingdom.
- 1936 – In the February 26 Incident, young Japanese military officers attempt to stage a coup against the government.
- 1952 – Vincent Massey is sworn in as the first Canadian-born Governor General of Canada.
- 1960 – A New York-bound Alitalia airliner crashes into a cemetery in Shannon, Ireland, shortly after takeoff, killing 34 of the 52 persons on board.
- 1966 – Apollo program: Launch of AS-201, the first flight of the Saturn IB rocket
- 1971 – U.N. Secretary-General U Thant signs United Nations proclamation of the vernal equinox as Earth Day.
- 1979 – The Superliner railcar enters revenue service with Amtrak.
- 1980 – Egypt and Israel establish full diplomatic relations.
- 1987 – Iran–Contra affair: The Tower Commission rebukes President Ronald Reagan for not controlling his national security staff.
- 1992 – Nagorno-Karabakh War: Khojaly Massacre: Armenian armed forces open fire on Azeri civilians at a military post outside the town of Khojaly leaving hundreds dead.
- 1993 – World Trade Center bombing: In New York City, a truck bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center explodes, killing six and injuring over a thousand people.
- 1995 – The UK’s oldest investment banking institute, Barings Bank, collapses after a rogue securities broker Nick Leeson loses $1.4 billion by speculating on the Singapore International Monetary Exchange using futures contracts.
- 2008 – The New York Philharmonic performs in Pyongyang, North Korea; this is the first event of its kind to take place in North Korea.
- 2012 – Trayvon Martin was shot and killed at the age of 17 in Sanford, Florida.
- 2012 – A train derails in Burlington, Ontario, Canada killing at least three people and injuring 45.
- 2013 – A hot air balloon crashes near Luxor, Egypt, killing 19 people.
Births on February 26
- 1361 – Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia (d. 1419)
- 1416 – Christopher of Bavaria (d. 1448)
- 1564 – Christopher Marlowe, English playwright, poet and translator (d. 1593)
- 1584 – Albert VI, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1666)
- 1587 – Stefano Landi, Italian composer and educator (d. 1639)
- 1629 – Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll, Scottish peer (d. 1685)
- 1651 – Quirinus Kuhlmann, German Baroque poet and mystic (d. 1689)
- 1671 – Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, English philosopher and politician (d. 1713)
- 1672 – Antoine Augustin Calmet, French monk and theologian (d. 1757)
- 1677 – Nicola Fago, Italian composer and teacher (d. 1745)
- 1718 – Johan Ernst Gunnerus, Norwegian bishop, botanist and zoologist (d. 1773)
- 1720 – Gian Francesco Albani, Italian cardinal (d. 1803)
- 1746 – Maria Amalia, Duchess of Parma (d. 1806)
- 1770 – Anton Reicha, Bohemian composer and flautist (d. 1836)
- 1777 – Matija Nenadović, Serbian priest, historian, and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Serbia (d. 1854)
- 1786 – François Arago, French mathematician and politician, 25th Prime Minister of France (d. 1853)
- 1799 – Benoît Paul Émile Clapeyron, French physicist and engineer (d. 1864)
- 1802 – Victor Hugo, French author, poet, and playwright (d. 1885)
- 1808 – Honoré Daumier, French painter, illustrator, and sculptor (d. 1879)
- 1808 – Nathan Kelley, American architect, designed the Ohio Statehouse (d. 1871)
- 1829 – Levi Strauss, German-American fashion designer, founded Levi Strauss & Co. (d. 1902)
- 1842 – Camille Flammarion, French astronomer and author (d. 1925)
- 1846 – Buffalo Bill, American soldier and hunter (d. 1917)
- 1852 – John Harvey Kellogg, American surgeon, co-created Corn flakes (d. 1943)
- 1857 – Émile Coué, French psychologist and pharmacist (d. 1926)
- 1861 – Ferdinand I of Bulgaria (d. 1948)
- 1861 – Nadezhda Krupskaya, Russian soldier and politician (d. 1939)
- 1866 – Herbert Henry Dow, Canadian-American businessman, founded the Dow Chemical Company (d. 1930)
- 1877 – Henry Barwell, Australian politician, 28th Premier of South Australia (d. 1959)
- 1877 – Rudolph Dirks, German-American illustrator (d. 1968)
- 1879 – Frank Bridge, English viola player and composer (d. 1941)
- 1880 – Kenneth Edgeworth, Irish astronomer (d. 1972)
- 1881 – Janus Djurhuus, Faroese poet (d. 1948)
- 1882 – Husband E. Kimmel, American admiral (d. 1968)
- 1885 – Aleksandras Stulginskis, Lithuanian farmer and politician, 2nd President of Lithuania (d. 1969)
- 1887 – Grover Cleveland Alexander, American baseball player and coach (d. 1950)
- 1887 – William Frawley, American actor and vaudevillian (d. 1966)
- 1887 – Stefan Grabiński, Polish author and educator (d. 1936)
- 1893 – Wallace Fard Muhammad, American religious leader, founded the Nation of Islam (disappeared 1934)
- 1893 – Dorothy Whipple, English novelist (d. 1966)
- 1896 – Andrei Zhdanov, Ukrainian-Russian civil servant and politician (d. 1948)
- 1899 – Max Petitpierre, Swiss jurist and politician, 54th President of the Swiss Confederation (d. 1994)
- 1900 – Halina Konopacka, Polish discus thrower and poet (d. 1989)
- 1900 – Fritz Wiessner, German-American mountaineer (d. 1988)
- 1902 – Jean Bruller, French author and illustrator, co-founded Les Éditions de Minuit (d. 1991)
- 1903 – Giulio Natta, Italian chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)
- 1903 – Orde Wingate, English general (d. 1944)
- 1906 – Madeleine Carroll, English actress (d. 1987)
- 1908 – Tex Avery, American animator, producer, and voice actor (d. 1980)
- 1908 – Nestor Mesta Chayres, Mexican operatic tenor and bolero vocalist (d. 1971)
- 1908 – Jean-Pierre Wimille, French race car driver (d. 1949)
- 1909 – Fanny Cradock, English chef, author, and critic (d. 1994)
- 1909 – Talal of Jordan (d. 1972)
- 1910 – Vic Woodley, English footballer (d. 1978)
- 1911 – Tarō Okamoto, Japanese painter and sculptor (d. 1996)
- 1912 – Dane Clark, American actor and director (d. 1998)
- 1913 – George Barker, English author and poet (d. 1991)
- 1914 – Robert Alda, American actor, singer, and director (d. 1986)
- 1916 – Jackie Gleason, American actor and singer (d. 1987)
- 1918 – Otis R. Bowen, American physician and politician, 44th Governor of Indiana (d. 2013)
- 1918 – Pyotr Masherov, Leader of Soviet Belarus (d. 1980)
- 1918 – Theodore Sturgeon, American author and critic (d. 1985)
- 1919 – Mason Adams, American actor (d. 2005)
- 1920 – Danny Gardella, American baseball player and trainer (d. 2005)
- 1920 – Tony Randall, American actor, director, and producer (d. 2004)
- 1920 – Lucjan Wolanowski, Polish journalist and author (d. 2006)
- 1921 – Betty Hutton, American actress and singer (d. 2007)
- 1922 – Bill Johnston, Australian cricketer and businessman (d. 2007)
- 1922 – Margaret Leighton, English actress (d. 1976)
- 1924 – Noboru Takeshita, Japanese soldier and politician, 74th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 2000)
- 1924 – Marc Bucci, American composer, lyricist, and dramatist (d. 2002)
- 1925 – Everton Weekes, Barbadian cricketer and referee
- 1926 – Doris Belack, American actress (d. 2011)
- 1926 – Verne Gagne, American football player, wrestler, and trainer (d. 2015)
- 1927 – Tom Kennedy, American game show host and actor
- 1928 – Fats Domino, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2017)
- 1928 – Ariel Sharon, Israeli general and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Israel (d. 2014)
- 1931 – Ally MacLeod, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 2004)
- 1931 – Robert Novak, American journalist and author (d. 2009)
- 1931 – Josephine Tewson, English actress
- 1932 – Johnny Cash, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 2003)
- 1933 – James Goldsmith, French-British businessman and politician (d. 1997)
- 1934 – Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina, Algerian director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1936 – José Policarpo, Portuguese cardinal (d. 2014)
- 1937 – Paul Dickson, American football player and coach (d. 2011)
- 1939 – Chuck Wepner, American professional boxer
- 1940 – Oldřich Kulhánek, Czech painter, illustrator, and stage designer (d. 2013)
- 1942 – Jozef Adamec, Slovak footballer and manager (d. 2018)
- 1943 – Paul Cotton, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1943 – Bill Duke, American actor and director
- 1943 – Dante Ferretti, Italian art director and costume designer
- 1943 – Bob “The Bear” Hite, American singer-songwriter and musician (d. 1981)
- 1944 – Christopher Hope, South African author and poet
- 1944 – Ronald Lauder, American businessman and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Austria
- 1945 – Peter Brock, Australian race car driver (d. 2006)
- 1945 – Marta Kristen, Norwegian-American actress
- 1945 – Mitch Ryder, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1946 – Colin Bell, English footballer
- 1946 – Ahmed Zewail, Egyptian-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2016)
- 1947 – Sandie Shaw, English singer and psychotherapist
- 1948 – Sharyn McCrumb, American author
- 1949 – Simon Crean, Australian trade union leader and politician, 14th Australian Minister for the Arts
- 1949 – Elizabeth George, American author and educator
- 1949 – Emma Kirkby, English soprano
- 1950 – Jonathan Cain, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
- 1950 – Helen Clark, New Zealand academic and politician, 37th Prime Minister of New Zealand
- 1951 – Steve Bell, English cartoonist
- 1951 – Wayne Goss, Australian lawyer and politician, 34th Premier of Queensland (d. 2014)
- 1953 – Michael Bolton, American singer-songwriter and actor
- 1954 – Prince Ernst August of Hanover
- 1954 – Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkish politician, 12th President of Turkey
- 1955 – Andreas Maislinger, Austrian historian and academic, founded the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service
- 1956 – Michel Houellebecq, French author, poet, screenwriter, and director
- 1957 – David Beasley, American lawyer and politician, 113th Governor of South Carolina
- 1957 – Joe Mullen, American ice hockey player and coach
- 1957 – Keena Rothhammer, American swimmer
- 1958 – Paul Ackford, English rugby player
- 1958 – Greg Germann, American actor and director
- 1958 – Susan Helms, American general, engineer, and astronaut
- 1958 – Tim Kaine, American lawyer and politician, 70th Governor of Virginia
- 1959 – Rolando Blackman, American basketball player and coach
- 1959 – Ahmet Davutoğlu, Turkish political scientist, academic, and politician, 37th Prime Minister of Turkey
- 1960 – Jaz Coleman, English singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
- 1962 – Ahn Cheol-soo, South Korean physician, academic, and politician
- 1963 – Chase Masterson, American actress, singer, and activist
- 1965 – James Mitchell, American wrestler and manager
- 1966 – Garry Conille, Haitian physician and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Haiti
- 1966 – Marc Fortier, French-Canadian ice hockey player
- 1966 – Najwa Karam, Lebanese singer
- 1967 – Mark Carroll, Australian rugby league player
- 1967 – Kazuyoshi Miura, Japanese footballer
- 1968 – Tim Commerford, American bass player
- 1969 – Hitoshi Sakimoto, Japanese composer and producer
- 1970 – Mark Harper, English accountant and politician, Minister of State for Immigration
- 1970 – Scott Mahon, Australian rugby league player
- 1971 – Erykah Badu, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
- 1971 – Max Martin, Swedish-American record producer and songwriter
- 1971 – Hélène Segara, French singer-songwriter and actress
- 1973 – Marshall Faulk, American football player
- 1973 – Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Norwegian footballer and manager
- 1973 – Jenny Thompson, American swimmer
- 1974 – Sébastien Loeb, French race car driver
- 1974 – Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski, Filipina television actress, host and equestrienne
- 1976 – Nalini Anantharaman, French mathematician
- 1976 – Chad Urmston, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1977 – Marty Reasoner, American ice hockey player and coach
- 1977 – Tim Thomas, American basketball player
- 1977 – Shane Williams, Welsh rugby union player
- 1978 – Abdoulaye Faye, Senegalese footballer
- 1979 – Corinne Bailey Rae, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1979 – Steve Evans, Welsh footballer
- 1979 – Pedro Mendes, Portuguese international footballer, midfielder
- 1980 – Steve Blake, American basketball player
- 1981 – Kertus Davis, American race car driver
- 1981 – Oh Seung-bum, South Korean footballer
- 1982 – Li Na, Chinese tennis player
- 1982 – Matt Prior, South African-English cricketer
- 1982 – Nate Ruess, American singer-songwriter
- 1983 – Jerome Harrison, American football player
- 1983 – Pepe, Brazilian-Portuguese footballer
- 1984 – Emmanuel Adebayor, Togolese international footballer, forward
- 1984 – Natalia Lafourcade, Mexican singer-songwriter
- 1984 – Beren Saat, Turkish actress
- 1985 – Fernando Llorente, Spanish international footballer, striker
- 1986 – Hannah Kearney, American skier
- 1989 – Gabriel Obertan, French footballer
- 1990 – Kateřina Cachová, Czech heptathlete
- 1990 – Takanoiwa Yoshimori, Mongolian sumo wrestler
- 1991 – Lee Chae-rin, South Korean singer
- 1992 – Mikael Granlund, Finnish professional hockey player
- 1992 – Michael Chee Kam, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1997 – Reghan Tumilty, Scottish footballer
Deaths on February 26
- 420 – Porphyry of Gaza, Greek bishop and saint (b. 347)
- 943 – Muirchertach mac Néill, king of Ailech (Ireland)
- 1154 – Roger II of Sicily (b. 1093)
- 1266 – Manfred, King of Sicily (b. 1232)
- 1275 – Margaret of England, Queen consort of Scots (b. 1240)
- 1349 – Fatima bint al-Ahmar, Nasrid princess in the Emirate of Granada (b. c.1260)
- 1360 – Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March, English commander (b. 1328)
- 1462 – John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford, English politician (b. 1408)
- 1548 – Lorenzino de’ Medici, Italian writer and assassin (b. 1514)
- 1577 – Eric XIV of Sweden (b. 1533)
- 1603 – Maria of Austria, Holy Roman Empress, spouse of Maximilian II (b. 1528)
- 1608 – John Still, English bishop (b. 1543)
- 1611 – Antonio Possevino, Italian priest and diplomat (b. 1533)
- 1625 – Anna Vasa of Sweden, Polish and Swedish princess (b. 1568)
- 1630 – William Brade, English violinist and composer (b. 1560)
- 1638 – Claude Gaspard Bachet de Méziriac, French mathematician and linguist (b. 1581)
- 1723 – Thomas d’Urfey, English poet and playwright (b. 1653)
- 1726 – Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria (b. 1662)
- 1770 – Giuseppe Tartini, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1692)
- 1790 – Joshua Rowley, English admiral (b. 1730)
- 1802 – Esek Hopkins, American admiral (b. 1718)
- 1806 – Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, Haitian-French general (b. 1762)
- 1813 – Robert R. Livingston, American lawyer and politician, 1st United States Secretary of Foreign Affairs (b. 1746)
- 1815 – Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (b. 1737)
- 1821 – Joseph de Maistre, French lawyer and diplomat (b. 1753)
- 1864 – Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, Canadian jurist and politician, 3rd Premier of Canada East (b. 1807)
- 1883 – Alexandros Koumoundouros, Greek lawyer and politician, 56th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1817)
- 1887 – Anandi Gopal Joshi, First Indian women physician (b. 1865)
- 1889 – Karl Davydov, Russian cellist and composer (b. 1838)
- 1903 – Richard Jordan Gatling, American engineer, invented the Gatling gun (b. 1818)
- 1906 – Jean Lanfray, Swiss convicted murderer (b. 1874)
- 1913 – Felix Draeseke, German composer and academic (b. 1835)
- 1921 – Carl Menger, Polish-Austrian economist and academic (b. 1840)
- 1930 – Mary Whiton Calkins, American philosopher and psychologist (b. 1863)
- 1931 – Otto Wallach, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1847)
- 1936 – February 26 Incident:
- Takahashi Korekiyo, Japanese accountant and politician, 20th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1854)
- Saitō Makoto, Japanese admiral and politician, 30th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1858)
- Jōtarō Watanabe, Japanese general (b. 1874)
- 1943 – Theodor Eicke, German general (b. 1892)
- 1945 – Sándor Szurmay, Minister of Defence of the Hungarian portion of Austria-Hungary (b. 1860)
- 1947 – Heinrich Häberlin, Swiss judge and politician, President of the Swiss National Council (b. 1868)
- 1950 – Harry Lauder, Scottish comedian and singer (b. 1870)
- 1951 – Sabiha Kasimati, Albanian ichthyologist (b. 1912) executed with 20 others
- 1952 – Theodoros Pangalos, Greek general and politician, President of Greece (b. 1878)
- 1961 – Karl Albiker, German sculptor, lithographer, and educator (b. 1878)
- 1961 – Mohammed V of Morocco (b. 1909)
- 1966 – Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Indian poet and politician (b. 1883)
- 1969 – Levi Eshkol, Israeli soldier and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1895)
- 1969 – Karl Jaspers, German-Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher (b. 1883)
- 1981 – Robert Aickman, English author and activist (b. 1914)
- 1981 – Howard Hanson, American composer, conductor, and educator (b. 1896)
- 1985 – Tjalling Koopmans, Dutch-American economist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1910)
- 1989 – Roy Eldridge, American trumpet player (b. 1911)
- 1993 – Constance Ford, American model and actress (b. 1923)
- 1994 – Bill Hicks, American comedian (b. 1961)
- 1995 – Jack Clayton, English director and producer (b. 1921)
- 1997 – David Doyle, American actor (b. 1929)
- 1998 – Theodore Schultz, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
- 2000 – George L. Street III, American captain, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1913)
- 2002 – Lawrence Tierney, American actor (b. 1919)
- 2004 – Adolf Ehrnrooth, Finnish general (b. 1905)
- 2004 – Boris Trajkovski, Macedonian politician, 2nd President of the Republic of Macedonia (b. 1956)
- 2005 – Jef Raskin, American computer scientist, created Macintosh (b. 1943)
- 2006 – Georgina Battiscombe, British biographer (b. 1905)
- 2008 – Bodil Udsen, Danish actress (b. 1925)
- 2009 – Johnny Kerr, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1932)
- 2009 – Wendy Richard, English actress (b. 1943)
- 2009 – Norm Van Lier, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1947)
- 2010 – Jun Seba, also known as “Nujabes”, Japanese record producer, DJ, composer and arranger (b. 1974)
- 2011 – Arnošt Lustig, Czech author, playwright, and screenwriter (b. 1926)
- 2012 – Richard Carpenter, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1929)
- 2013 – Marie-Claire Alain, French organist and educator (b. 1926)
- 2013 – Stéphane Hessel, German-French diplomat and author (b. 1917)
- 2013 – Simon Li, Hong Kong judge and politician (b. 1922)
- 2014 – Sorel Etrog, Romanian-Canadian sculptor, painter, and illustrator (b. 1933)
- 2014 – Phyllis Krasilovsky, American author and academic (b. 1927)
- 2014 – Paco de Lucía, Spanish guitarist, songwriter, and producer (b. 1947)
- 2015 – Sheppard Frere, English historian and archaeologist (b. 1916)
- 2015 – Theodore Hesburgh, American priest, theologian, educator, and academic (b. 1917)
- 2015 – Earl Lloyd, American basketball player and coach (b. 1928)
- 2015 – Tom Schweich, American lawyer and politician, 36th State Auditor of Missouri (b. 1960)
- 2016 – Andy Bathgate, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager (b. 1932)
- 2016 – Don Getty, Canadian football player and politician, 11th Premier of Alberta (b. 1933)
- 2017 – Joseph Wapner, American lieutenant and judge (b. 1919)
Holidays and observances on February 26
- Christian feast day:
- Alexander of Alexandria
- Emily Malbone Morgan (Episcopal Church (USA))
- Isabelle of France
- Li Tim-Oi (Anglican Church of Canada)
- Porphyry of Gaza
- February 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- The first day of Ayyám-i-Há (Bahá’í Faith) (Please note that this observance is only locked into this date the Gregorian calendar on this date if Bahá’í Naw-Rúz takes place on March 21, which it doesn’t in all years)
- Day of Remembrance for Victims of Khojaly Massacre (Azerbaijan)
- Liberation Day (Kuwait)
- Saviours’ Day (Nation of Islam)