Today: April 26, 2025

On this day: April 26

Events that happened on April 26.

• April 26, 1952:
  • 175 men are killed after a US aircraft carrier collides with the USS Hobson in the Atlantic Ocean.
  • Soccer: Manchester United win the First Division title after beating Arsenal 6-1.
  
• April 26, 1954: Clinical trials for the first successful polio vaccine begin in Fairfax County, Virginia.
• April 26, 1956: SS Ideal X: The world's first commercially successful container ship leaves Port Newark, New Jersey.
• April 26, 1961: Western musician and TV personality Spade Cooley is indicted for the murder of his wife Ella Mae Evans.
• April 26, 1962: NASA's Ranger 4 spacecraft crashes on the far side of the Moon.
• April 26, 1969: FA Cup Final 1969: Manchester City defeat Leicester City 1-0.
• April 26, 1975: North Vietnamese forces begin their assault on Saigon.
• April 26, 1980: 14-year-old Laureen Rahn goes missing from her apartment in Manchester, New Hampshire.
• April 26, 1982: A former police officer kills 57 people in a shooting spree in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea.
• April 26, 1983: Soviet leader Yuri Andropov invites American schoolgirl Samantha Smith to visit the USSR after reading her letter in which she expressed her worries about nuclear war.
• April 26, 1986: The Chernobyl disaster occurs.
• April 26, 1988: The chief investigator of the Chernobyl disaster, Valery Legasov, commits suicide at his apartment.
• April 26, 1989: American actress Lucille Ball passes away at the age of 77.
• April 26, 1991: The first episode of the TV show "Dinosaurs" is aired.
• April 26, 1992: Leeds United win the Football League First Division.
• April 26, 1994: 264 people are killed when China Airlines Flight 140 crashes at Nagoya Airport in Japan.
• April 26, 1995: The comedy movie "Friday" is released.
• April 26, 1998: Wresting: "Unforgiven: In Your House" - The Undertaker defeats Kane in an Inferno Match and Dude Love beats Stone Cold Steve Austin.
• April 26, 1999:
  • The video game "Super Smash Bros." is released for the Nintendo 64.
  • English television presenter Jill Dando is gunned down outside of her house in Fulham.
  
• April 26, 2002: A gunman called Robert Steinhäuser murders 16 people at a secondary school in Erfurt.
• April 26, 2004:
  • Deborah Falconer divorces actor Robert Downey Jr. due to "irreconcilable differences".
  • The song "Fit but You Know It" is released by The Streets.
  
• April 26, 2005: Bruce Springsteen releases the album "Devils and Dust".
• April 26, 2008:
  • Austrian man Josef Fritzl is arrested on suspicion of false imprisonment, rape, manslaughter by negligence and incest.
  • Soccer: Teddy Sheringham plays his last ever game at the age of 42.
  
• April 26, 2011: The first episode of the singing reality series "The Voice" is aired on television.
• April 26, 2013: Glee actor Cory Monteith checks out of rehab.
• April 26, 2018: Comedian and actor Bill Cosby is found guilty of sexual assault.
• April 26, 2019:
  • The highly-anticipated superhero film "Avengers: Endgame" is released in movie theaters.
  • The survival horror game Days Gone is released.
  
• April 26, 2020: The global death toll from Covid-19 reaches 200,000.
• April 26, 2022:
  • Russia's foreign minister accuses NATO of engaging in a "proxy war" in Ukraine.
  • US Vice President Kamala Harris tests positive for Covid-19.
  
• April 26, 2023: Microsoft's takeover of Activision is blocked by a British regulator.
• April 26, 2024:
  • The romantic sports film "Challengers" is released in movie theaters.
  • TikTok ban: TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, states that it has no plans to sell the app.
  • Soccer: Liverpool and Feyenoord agree a compensation package that allows Arne Slot to become the next Liverpool manager.
  

Is it that long ago already?

Half a year has passed since October 26, 2024:

• Israel launches a wave of strikes against Iranian military sites.

Nine months have passed since July 26, 2024:

• The 2024 Summer Olympics begin in Paris.
• The superhero film "Deadpool & Wolverine" is released.
• A series of arson attacks damage lines on the French high-speed railway system.
• Barack Obama endorses Kamala Harris for president.
• Three members of the southern gospel group "The Nelons" are killed in a plane crash in Wyoming.