Date·Lore

On This Day · The 146th day of the year

May 26

From 1538 to 2025, May 26 gathers 487 years of history. Most of the weight falls in the 21st century, where conflict is a recurring thread.

♊ZodiacGemini ◈BirthstoneEmerald ❀Birth flowerLily of the Valley

Gemini is the sign for May 26 — read more on the Gemini page, or see May's birthstone & birth flower.

Compiled & reviewed by · Last reviewed September 6, 2026

What happened on May 26?

May 26 is the 146th day of the year. It marks 10 notable events in history, dated between 1538 and 2025. Famous people born on May 26 include Ward Cunningham, John Wayne and Matt Stone.

Released on May 26

Movies, games, albums & shows

2026

  • Game Realm of Ink
  • Game Yerba Buena

2022

  • Game Out There: Oceans of Time
  • Movie Fatal Conspiracy

Release data from TMDB & IGDB.

Events

10 notable moments
  1. 1538

    Geneva

  2. 1644

    Portuguese Restoration War

  3. 1822

    Grue Church fire

  4. 1864

    Abraham Lincoln

  5. 1938

    House Un-American Activities Committee

  6. 1940

    World War II

  7. 1967

    The Beatles

  8. 2002

    I-40 bridge disaster

  9. 2020

    George Floyd protests

  10. 2025

    2025 Liverpool parade attack

Famous birthday twins

Born on May 26

Ward Cunningham

b. 1949

John Wayne

b. 1907

Matt Stone

b. 1971

Jack Kevorkian

b. 1928

Sally Ride

b. 1951

Peter Kürten

b. 1883

Inge Borkh

b. 1921

Nicolaus Zinzendorf

b. 1700

Deaths

  • 1976Martin Heidegger
  • 1955Alberto Ascari
  • 1933Jimmie Rodgers
  • 946Edmund I
  • 818Ali al-Rida
  • 604Augustine of Canterbury

Holidays & observances

  • —Christian feast day: Andrew Kaggwa
  • —Christian feast day: Augustine of Canterbury (Anglican Communion and Eastern Orthodox)
  • —Christian feast day: Lambert of Vence
  • —Christian feast day: Mariana de Jesús de Paredes
  • —Christian feast day: Martyrs of the Paris Commune
  • —Christian feast day: Peter Sanz (one of Martyr Saints of China)
  • —Christian feast day: Philip Neri
  • —Christian feast day: Pope Eleutherius

The factual record above — event titles, dates, names, and observances — is drawn from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) license. DateLore adds curation, structure, and original editorial commentary. DateLore is not affiliated with the Wikimedia Foundation.

About the author

Roman Tailor compiles and reviews every date on DateLore. He's the writer and editor behind the site's editorial essays and the day-by-day almanac. Corrections and questions are welcome — read more about DateLore or get in touch.

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