On This Day: 26 June

Roman emperor Augustus adopts his stepson Tiberius (who would succeed him as Emperor ten years later)		4
Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate – the first non–Christian since Constantine – dies of spear wounds sustained in a battle with the Persians		363
The Pied Piper lures 130 children away from Hamelin, never to be seen again - as revenge for the Mayor's refusal to pay the agreed sum for his ridding the town of rats (according to a later source)		1284
The Roman Catholic Church is led into a double schism as Petros Philargos is crowned Pope Alexander V after the Council of Pisa, joining Pope Gregory XII in Rome and Pope Benedict XII in Avignon		1409
Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, and Edward, Earl of March, land at Sandwich with a rebel army and march on London		1460
Edward V is usurped by his father's brother, Richard III		1483
Francisco Pizarro, conqueror of the Inca empire (Peru) is assassinated in Lima by the son of his former companion and later antagonist, Diego de Almagro the younger		1541
Christ's Hospital (the Bluecoat School) receives its charter		1553
Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia – son of Peter the Great – mysteriously dies after being sentenced to death by his father for plotting against him		1718
During the War of Jenkins' Ear, a combined force of Spanish, free blacks and allied Indians defeat a British garrison at the Siege of Fort Mose, near St. Augustine, Florida		1740
During the French Revolutionary Wars, the French Republican Army beats the Coalition Army (Britain, Hanover, Dutch Republic and the Habsburg Monarchy) under the Duke of Coburg, at the Battle of Fleurus, which is marked by the use of observation balloons by the French – the first successful use of aircraft for military purposes		1794
George IV dies; succeeded by his brother William IV		1830
The Treaty of Nanking comes into effect: Hong Kong Island is ceded to the British "in perpetuity"		1843
Queen Victoria awards the first 62 VCs to men of the Army and Navy, in Hyde Park		1857
During the Siege of Cawnpore (during the Indian Mutiny), 120 British women and children captured by the Sepoys are killed and their remains thrown down a well in an attempt to hide the evidence		1857
US Civil War: Battle of Mechanicsville – the first major engagement of the Seven Days Battles, and the start of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's counter–offensive against the Union Army of the Potomac		1862
Joseph Wells, father of H.G., becomes the first cricketer to take four wickets in four balls in a first–class match		1862
Wagner's opera Die Valkyrie receives its first performance, in Munich		1870
Edward VII institutes the Order of Merit		1902
The first Grand Prix is held at Le Mans		1906
The Science Museum in London opens, as the New Victoria & Albert Museum		1909
Queen Alexandra Day held for the first time		1912
Emily Dawson becomes Britain's first woman magistrate, in London		1913
10,000 made homeless by a fire in Salem, Massachusetts		1914
The German SDP newspaper Vorwarts is suppressed, three days after calling on the government to sue for peace		1915
The first US troops arrive in France, led by General Pershing		1917
Allied forces under John J. Pershing and James Harbord defeat Imperial German forces under the German Crown Prince Wilhelm, in the Battle of Belleau Wood		1918
The Focke–Wulf Fw 61 – the first practical helicopter – makes its maiden flight		1936
Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, the Soviet Union presents an ultimatum to Romania requiring it to cede Bessarabia and the northern part of Bukovina		1940
Finland enters the war "in a defensive capacity", on the German side		1941
Fifty Allied nations sign the United Nations Charter in San Francisco		1945
US physicist William Shockley files the original patent for the grown–junction transistor – the first bipolar junction transistor		1948
Ingemar Johansson knocks out Floyd Patterson, in New York, to become world heavyweight boxing champion		1959
Queen Elizabeth II and President Eisenhower open the St. Lawrence Seaway, linking the Atlantic with the Great Lakes		1959
The former British Protectorate of British Somaliland gains its independence as Somaliland; Madagascar proclaims its independence as the Malagasay Republic		1960
President John F. Kennedy says "Ich bin ein Berliner" (I am a doughnut) – in a speech underlining US support for democratic West Germany, shortly after the erection of the Berlin Wall by Soviet–supported East Germany		1963
Riots break out in Londonderry after Bernadette Devlin, MP for Mid–Ulster, is arrested, having lost her appeal against her conviction for her part in the Bogside riots of the previous year		1970
Alexander Dubcek is expelled from the Czechoslovakian Communist Party		1970
First London production of Grease		1973
A Universal Product Code (barcode) is scanned for the first time to sell a package of Wrigley's chewing gum at the Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio		1974
Liz Taylor and Richard Burton divorce for the first time		1974
Elvis Presley makes his last concert appearance, at Indianapolis		1977
Rev. Jesse Jackson prevails upon Fidel Castro to release 22 jailed US citizens		1984
The Carlton Club in London – a popular haunt of Conservative MPs – is bombed by the IRA		1990
The Maguire 7 are cleared of running an IRA bomb factory, having already served their full terms		1991
US launches a missile attack on Iraq's intelligence HQ in Baghdad, in retaliation for an alleged plot to kill the former president George Bush		1993
England lose to Germany, 6–5 on penalties, in the semi–finals of Euro96		1996
A new era of medicine is hailed as scientists in Britain and the USA publish the first draft of the mapping of the human genetic code – the Human Genome		2000
Prime Minister Tony Blair hails "a very substantial further step along the road to a lasting peace" as former president of Finland, Martti Ahtisaari, and former ANC general secretary, Cyril Ramaphosa, confirm that they have seen a large number of IRA weapons stored "safely and adequately" in bunkers		2000
WorldCom, one of America's biggest and fastest growing telecommunications companies, admits to accounting improprieties amounting to $3.8 billion; the US Securities and Exchange Commission announces that it will charge WorldCom with fraud		2002
HM Government steps up its demand for an apology from the BBC after it alleged that the government "sexed up" a dossier on Iraqi weapons		2003
'Bruno', the first wild bear seen in Germany for 170 years, is shot dead in the Bavarian Alps		2006

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On This Day: 26 June