First Confidential

THIS DAY IN HISTORY - JANUARY 26th

This Day in History

January 26th, 1500

Conquistadors (Spanish 'conquerors') were soldiers, explorers, and adventurers at the service of the Spanish Empire (sailing beyond Europe, conquering territory and opening trade routes, colonizing much of the world for Spain and Portugal in the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries)

Conquistador:
1500 - Vicente Yáñez Pinzón becomes the first European to set foot on Brazil.

Wikipedia  Image: Conquistadors (Spanish "conquerors") were soldiers, explorers, and adventurers at the service of the Spanish Empire (sailing beyond Europe, conquering territory and opening trade routes, colonizing much of the world for Spain and Portugal in the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries)
● Christopher Columbus setting foot in the New World in 1492 ● Conquistadors praying before a battle ● Conquistadors and their Tlaxcalan allies enter Tenochtitlan ● The surrender of Granada in 1492. Muhammad XII before Ferdinand and Isabella ● Detail of Velázquez's Portrait of Juan de Pareja a contemporary morisco Spaniard, slave and afterwards freedman, assistant and trust man of Diego Velazquez ● Conquistador, jQuey-deviantart.

January 26th, 1531

Global Earthquake epicenters

Earthquake:
1531 - Lisbon, Portugal is hit by an earthquake - thousands die.
1700 - Cascadia Earthquake; a magnitude 9 earthquake takes place off the west coast of North America, as evidenced by Japanese records.
2001 - Gujarat earthquake; an earthquake hits Gujarat, India, causing more than 20,000 deaths.

Wikipedia  Image: Preliminary Determination of Epicenters / Aleppo Syria; Anchorage, Alaska - March 28, 1964 Prince William Sound USA earthquake and tsunami; 8.9 Mega Earthquake Strikes Japan; Tsunami Swirls Japan's Ibaraki Prefecture March 12 2011. credit NOAA / NGDC, NOAA National Geophysical Data Center, USGS, National Geographics.

January 26th, 1565

Map Satellite India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet AR, Bangladesh Battle of Talikota: fought between the Vijayanagara Empire and the Islamic sultanates of the Deccan, leads to the subjugation, and eventual destruction of the last Hindu kingdom in India, and the consolidation of Islamic rule over much of the Indian subcontinent

1565 - Battle of Talikota: fought between the Vijayanagara Empire and the Islamic sultanates of the Deccan, leads to the subjugation, and eventual destruction of the last Hindu kingdom in India, and the consolidation of Islamic rule over much of the Indian subcontinent.

Wikipedia  Image: Map Satellite India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet AR, Bangladesh.
Battle of Talikota; leads to the subjugation, and eventual destruction of the last Hindu kingdom in India, and the consolidation of Islamic rule over much of the Indian subcontinent

January 26th, 1788

Austrlian satellite; Whole Earth, satellite image, credit Science Photo Library The First Fleet is the name given to the eleven ships that sailed from Great Britain on 13 May 1787

1788 - The British First Fleet carrying convicts from England to Australia, led by Arthur Phillip, sails into Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) to establish Sydney, the first permanent European settlement on the continent.
1808 - Rum Rebellion: the only successful (albeit short-lived) armed takeover of the government in Australia.

Wikipedia  Image: Austrlian satellite; Whole Earth, satellite image, credit Science Photo Library.
Painting: The First Fleet is the name given to the eleven ships that sailed from Great Britain on 13 May 1787

January 26th, 1837

Michigan is admitted as the 26th U.S. state

1837 - Michigan is admitted as the 26th U.S. state.

Wikipedia  Photo: Michigan; Père Marquette and the Indians (1869), Wilhelm Lamprecht
● Aerial view of Sleeping Bear Dunes ● Tahquamenon Falls in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan ● Little Sable Point Light south of Pentwater, Michigan ● Skyscrapers in downtown Detroit ● Michigan is the center of the American automotive industry. Pictured is the Ford Shelby GT500

January 26th, 1838

U.S. Congress passes the Volstead Act over President Woodrow Wilson's veto, paving the way for Prohibition to begin the following January, and ends on December 5th 1933 with the retification of the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution

Tennessee enacts the first prohibition law in the United States.

Wikipedia  Photo: Volstead Act paves the way for Prohibition the following January, and ends on December 5th 1933 with the retification of the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution.

January 26th, 1841

Hong Kong Island and skyline, famous sights such as 'The Peak', Ocean Park, many historical sites and mountain ranges

1841 - The United Kingdom formally occupies Hong Kong, formally ceded to China on July 1, 1997.

Wikipedia  Photo: Hong Kong Island and skyline, famous sights such as "The Peak", Ocean Park, many historical sites and mountain ranges

January 26th, 1856

American Indians collage

American Indian Wars:
1856 - Battle of Seattle: Marines from the USS Decatur drive off American Indian attackers after all day battle with settlers.

Wikipedia  Photos: American Indians - Chief Crazy Horse, Tashunca-uitco (1849 - 1877) ● Geronimo Apache Chief (1829 - 1909) ● Indian Chief 'Two Eagles'; Crow Indian Chief ● Snake Cheif ● Band of Chiricahua Apache Indians, followers of legendary renegade Geronimo, attending a peace negotiation after a long struggle against U.S. government attempts to force them onto reservations - Tombstone, Arizona (1886), Life Magazine ● American Horse - Oglala ● Native American Arapaho Indian ● Washakie, Shoshone leader ● Arapaho American Indian Chief.

January 26th, 1861

Lincoln Memorial: an American national monument built to honor the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln - located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. across from the Washington Monument American Civil War: Battle of Antietam; Stone Bridge at Antietam Battlefield - Sharpsburg, Maryland American Civil War, Battle of Mobile Bay: at Mobile Bay near Mobile, Alabama, Admiral David Farragut leads a Union flotilla through Confederate defenses and seals one of the last major Southern ports

American Civil War:
1861 - Louisiana secedes from the Union.
1863 - General Ambrose Burnside is relieved of command of the Army of the Potomac after the disastrous Fredericksburg campaign. He is replaced by Joseph Hooker.
1863 - Governor of Massachusetts John Albion Andrew receives permission from Secretary of War to raise a militia organization for men of African descent.
1870 - Virginia rejoins the Union.

Wikipedia  Image: ● Lincoln Memorial; an American national monument built to honor the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln - located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. across from the Washington Monument.
● The northern army led by George McClellan and the southern army led by Robert E. Lee met at Antietam Creek, Maryland in September, 1862. It was a bloody battle where 13,000 Confederates and 12,000 Union troops died in just one day. McClellan had hesitated to attack before the battle thus letting the southern troops regroup. Also, he had saved reserves and refused to use them at the end of the battle thinking that Lee was holding reserves for a counterattack, even though those reserves didn't exist. The Union victory stopped Lee's northward advance and was a turning point in the war.
● Battle of Antietam / Stone Bridge at Antietam Battlefield - Sharpsburg, Maryland
● Battle of Mobile Bay (1890) by Xanthus Russell Smith.
● Although photography was still in its infancy, war correspondents produced thousands of images, bringing the harsh realities of the frontlines to those on the home front in a new and visceral way. The Atlantic.

January 26th, 1911

The uncut Cullinan Diamond and the derived cut Cullinan Diamonds

Glenn Curtiss flies the first successful American seaplane.

Wikipedia  Photo: Glenn Curtiss; Grande Semaine d'Aviation in France in 1909; Near mint-condition flying boat - a two-person "Seagull" designed by U.S. aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss, credit Forbes.

January 26th, 1915

Rocky Mountain National Park is a national park located in the north-central region of the U.S. state of Colorado (features majestic mountain views, a variety of wildlife, varied climates and environments—from wooded forests to mountain tundra)

Rocky Mountain National Park is established by an act of the United States Congress.

Wikipedia  Photo: Rocky Mountain National Park is a national park located in the north-central region of the U.S. state of Colorado (features majestic mountain views, a variety of wildlife, varied climates and environments—from wooded forests to mountain tundra)
Rocky Mountain National Park; BioBlitz 2012 in Colorado, credit National Geographic; credit Mark Sanders, National Geographic; credit Ron Niebrugge, Alamy.

January 26th, 1918

World War I: Collage

Post World War I:
1918 - Finnish Civil War; A group of Red Guards hangs a red lantern atop the tower of Helsinki Workers' Hall to symbolically mark the start of the war.

Wikipedia  Photo: Trenches on the Western Front; a British Mark IV Tank crossing a trench; Royal Navy battleship HMS Irresistible sinking after striking a mine at the Battle of the Dardanelles; a Vickers machine gun crew with gas masks, and German Albatros D.III biplanes. National Archives and Records Administration.

January 26th, 1920

Lincoln Motor Company: 1930 Lincoln Model L Seven Passenger Dual Cowl Phaeton, Red; Lincoln K-series Touring 1937

Former Ford Motor Company executive Henry Leland launches the Lincoln Motor Company which he later sold to his former employer.

Wikipedia  Photo: Lincoln Motor Company: 1930 Lincoln Model L Seven Passenger Dual Cowl Phaeton, Red; Lincoln K-series Touring 1937.

January 26th, 1924

Saint Petersburg, Russia: a city and a federal subject (a federal city) of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea

Saint Petersburg, Russia is renamed Leningrad.

Wikipedia  Image: Saint Petersburg: Panorama from Palace Bridge ● Pushkin House is established in Saint Petersburg to preserve the cultural heritage (Institute of Russian Literature, as seen from across the Neva) ● Saint Petersburg, Russia. © Digital Vision / Getty Images ● Saint Isaac's Cathedral ● Winter Palace is one of the most splendid buildings in Saint Petersburg.

January 26th, 1934

The Apollo Theater in New York City is one of the oldest and most famous music halls in the United States, and the most famous club associated almost exclusively with African-American performers

The Apollo Theater reopens in Harlem, New York City.

Wikipedia  Photo:The Apollo Theater in New York City is one of the oldest and most famous music halls in the United States, and the most famous club associated almost exclusively with African-American performers, credit NYC-Architecture.

January 26th, 1934

World War II: Second firestorm raid on Germany, the Royal Air Force conducts an air raid on the town of Kassel, killing 10,000 and rendering 150,000 homeless World War II: Battle of Leyte Gulf; Battle of Leyte Gulf; The first kamikaze attack: A Japanese plane carrying a 200-kilogram (440 lb) bomb attacks HMAS Australia off Leyte Island World War II: German V1 flying-bomb and V2 Rockets - Preparations for a Salvo Launch of V-2 Rockets in the Heidelager near Blizna (Poland) (1944) World War II: Eastern Front (World War II); was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945

Pre World War II:
1934 - German-Polish Non-Aggression Pact is signed.
World War II:
1939 - Spanish Civil War; Catalonia Offensive, Troops loyal to nationalist General Francisco Franco and aided by Italy take Barcelona.
1942 - The first United States forces arrive in Europe landing in Northern Ireland.
1945 - Heiligenbeil Pocket; The Red Army begins encircling the German Fourth Army near Heiligenbeil in East Prussia.

Wikipedia  Photo: Bombing of Dresden in World War II; August Schreitmüller's sculpture 'Goodness' surveys Dresden after a firestorm started by Allied bombers in 1945. USS Bunker Hill was hit by kamikazes piloted by Ensign Kiyoshi Ogawa and another airman on 11 May 1945. 389 personnel were killed or missing from a crew of 2,600; Ensign Kiyoshi Ogawa, who flew his aircraft into the USS Bunker Hill during a Kamikaze mission on 11 May 1945; Kamikaze Missions - Lt Yoshinori Yamaguchi's Yokosuka D4Y3 (Type 33 Suisei) "Judy" in a suicide dive against USS Essex. The dive brakes are extended and the non-self-sealing port wing tank is trailing fuel vapor and/or smoke 25 November 1944.
German V1 flying-bomb and V2 Rockets - Preparations for a Salvo Launch of V-2 Rockets in the Heidelager near Blizna (Poland) (1944), credit German History in Documents and Images GHDI.

Eastern Front (World War II); Germans race towards Stalingrad. August 1942; Soviet children during a German air raid in the first days of the war, June 1941, by RIA Novosti archive; Soviet sniper Roza Shanina in 1944. About 400,000 Soviet women served in front-line duty units Caucasus Mountains, winter 1942/43; Finnish ski patrol: the invisible enemy of the Soviet Army with an unlimited supply of skis; Men of the German Engineers Corps cross a river which is swollen after the first autumn rains, to strengthen bridges linking the German positions on the central front in Russia. by Keystone / Getty Images. October 1942; Russian snipers fighting on the Leningrad front during a blizzard. Photo by Hulton Archive / Getty Images, 1943; German soldiers surrendering to the Russians in Stalingrad, the soldier holding the white flag of surrender is dressed in white so that there could be no doubt of his intentions, a Russian soldier is on the right of the photograph. by Keystone / Getty Images, January 1943.

January 26th, 1949

The Hale Telescope is a 200-inch (5.1 m), f/3.3 reflecting telescope at the Palomar Observatory in California, named after astronomer George Ellery Hale

The Hale telescope at Palomar Observatory sees first light under the direction of Edwin Hubble, becoming the largest aperture optical telescope (until BTA-6 is built in 1976).

Wikipedia  Image: The Hale Telescope is a 200-inch (5.1 m), f/3.3 reflecting telescope at the Palomar Observatory in California, named after astronomer George Ellery Hale.

January 26th, 1978

Land Hurricane: United States NOAA Satellite; Huge wave slams the lighthouse on Grand Marais Harbor

Great Blizzard of 1978, a rare severe blizzard with the lowest non-tropical atmospheric pressure ever recorded in the U.S. until October 2010, strikes the Ohio - Great Lakes region with heavy snow and winds up to 100 mph (161 km/h).

Wikipedia  Image: Land Hurricane: United States NOAA Satellite; Huge wave slams the lighthouse on Grand Marais Harbor credit, Minnesota.publicradio.org.

January 26th, 1992

Cold War: often dated from 1947–1991, was a sustained state of political and military tension between the powers of the Western world, led by the United States and its NATO allies, and the communist world, led by the Soviet Union, its satellite states and allies

Cold War:
1992 - Boris Yeltsin announces that Russia will stop targeting United States cities with nuclear weapons.

Wikipedia  Photo: Lockheed C-130 Hercules; RAF Menwith Hill, a large site in the United Kingdom, part of ECHELON and the UKUSA Agreement; New Zealand nuclear test, British nuclear tests near the Malden and Christmas Islands in the mid-Pacific in 1957 and 1958; Nevada nuclear tests, Nevada Division of Environmental Protection Bureau of Federal Facilities.

January 26th, 2004

Middle East Regional Map, credit eMapStore; An Afghan woman begs for alms, as a man rides past, with a backdrop of the Darul Aman's palace which was destroyed during the civil war of 1992 in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan, on March 23, 2008, credit AP / Rahmat Gul; Mazar-e Sharif's blue-tiled Hazrat Ali mosque draws Muslim faithful, tourists, and hungry pigeons, credit Robert Stahl / Getty Images; Afghanistan poppy fields (opium poppy cultivation); An Afghan boy works in an opium poppy field in Musa Qala in Helmand province (poppy production has skyrocketed since 2001), credit Omar Sobhani, Reuters; Eastern Afghanistan, Band-e Amir; Afghanistan Sunset

Kabul, Afghanistan: President Hamid Karzai signs the new constitution of Afghanistan.

Wikipedia  Image: Middle East Regional Map, credit eMapStore; An Afghan woman begs for alms, as a man rides past, with a backdrop of the Darul Aman's palace which was destroyed during the civil war of 1992 in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan, on March 23, 2008, credit AP / Rahmat Gul; Mazar-e Sharif's blue-tiled Hazrat Ali mosque draws Muslim faithful, tourists, and hungry pigeons, credit Robert Stahl / Getty Images; Afghanistan poppy fields (opium poppy cultivation); An Afghan boy works in an opium poppy field in Musa Qala in Helmand province (poppy production has skyrocketed since 2001), credit Omar Sobhani, Reuters; Eastern Afghanistan, Band-e Amir; Afghanistan Sunset.

January 26th, 2009

List of modern conflicts in the Middle East

Modern conflicts in the Middle East, social unrest and terrorist attacks:
2009 - Malagasy political crisis; Rioting breaks out in Antananarivo, Madagascar, sparking a political crisis that will result in the replacement of President Marc Ravalomanana with Andry Rajoelina

Wikipedia  Photo: Middle East satellite image, NASA. ● Camels are seen early morning on a beach in the Marina area of Dubai October 16, 2008. (Steve Crisp, Reuters) ● A portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad burns during clashes between rebels and Syrian troops in Selehattin, near Aleppo, on July 23, 2012. (Bulent Kilic, AFP / GettyImages) ● Egyptians gather in their thousands in Tahrir Square to mark the one year anniversary of the revolution on Jan. 25, 2012 in Cairo Egypt. Tens of thousands have gathered in the square on the first anniversary of the Arab uprising which toppled President Hosni Mubarak. (Jeff J Mitchell, Getty Images) ● Black smoke rises above the Tehran skyline as supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi burn tires and other material in the streets as they fight running battles with police to protest the declared results of the Iranian presidential election in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, June 13, 2009. (Ben Curtis, AP) ● The Iron Dome defense system fires to interecpt incoming missiles from Gaza in the port town of Ashdod, Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012. (Tsafrir Abayov, AP)

January 26th, 2015

Airliners Crash: ● Pan AM 747 ● U.S. Airways flight 1549 also known as the 'Miracle on the Hudson' navigates an exit ramp near Burlington, New Jersey, June 5, 2011 ● Passengers stand on the wings of a U.S. Airways plane as a ferry pulls up to it after it landed in the Hudson River in New York, Reuters ● US Airways plane crashes into New York Hudson River, Photo: AP

Aviation accidents and incidents:
2015 - Los Llanos Air Base crash; An aircraft crashes at Los Llanos Air Base in Albacete, Spain, killing 11 people and injuring 21 others.

Wikipedia  Photo: ● Pan AM 747 ● U.S. Airways flight 1549 also known as the "Miracle on the Hudson" navigates an exit ramp near Burlington, New Jersey, June 5, 2011 ● Passengers stand on the wings of a U.S. Airways plane as a ferry pulls up to it after it landed in the Hudson River in New York, Reuters ● US Airways plane crashes into New York Hudson River, Photo: AP