First Confidential

THIS DAY IN HISTORY - SEPTEMBER 26th

This Day in History

September 26th, 46 BC

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that began growing on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to become one of the largest empires in the ancient world Julius Caesar dedicates a temple to his mythical ancestor Venus Genetrix in accordance with a vow he made at the battle of Pharsalus Roman Empire Decline and Fall of Rome

Roman Empire:
46 BC - Julius Caesar dedicates a Temple to his mythical ancestor Venus Genetrix in accordance with a vow he made at the battle of Pharsalus.

Wikipedia  Photo: ● Ancient roman statue ● Detail of Head from Roman Statue of Antinous, credit Corbis ● Statue of Neptune, Trevi Fountain, Rome ● International Sand Sculpture Festival, FIESA 7 ancient Rome.
Temple of Venus Genetrix, Rome Relief from a 3rd-century sarcophagus depicting a battle between Romans and Germanic warriors; the central figure is perhaps the emperor Hostilian / Depiction of the Menorah on the Arch of Titus in Rome.

September 26th, 1580

Sir Francis Drake finishes his circumnavigation of the Earth

Sir Francis Drake finishes his circumnavigation of the Earth.

Wikipedia  Image: The Golden Hinde: Drake started his famous circumnavigation of the world from Plymouth, England, November 15, 1577, passed through the Straight of Magellan (southern tip of South America) into the Pacific, coasted up the western shores of the Americas, crossed to Asia and the Philippines, and finally returned to Britain on September 26, 1580.

September 26th, 1687

The Parthenon in Athens is partially destroyed by an explosion caused by the bombing from Venetian forces led by Morosini who are besieging the Ottoman Turks stationed in Athens

The Parthenon in Athens is partially destroyed by an explosion caused by the bombing from Venetian forces led by Morosini who are besieging the Ottoman Turks stationed in Athens.

Wikipedia  Photo: Early morning lightning illuminates the sky over the 2,500-year-old Ancient Parthenon temple, at the Acropolis hill during a heavy rainfall in Athens. Associated Press.

September 26th, 1687

Glorious Revolution Collage: William of Orange launched a colossal armada to seize the throne from Catholic King James II

Glorious Revolution:
1687 - The city council of Amsterdam votes to support William of Orange's invasion of England.

Wikipedia  Painting: Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688: James II King of England & James VII King of Scots, King of Ireland and Duke of Normandy ● William III, King of England, Scotland and Ireland, stadtholder of Guelders, Holland, Zealand, Utrecht and Overijssel ● Henry Sydney, author of the Invitation to William, which was signed by six noblemen (both Whigs and Tories) and one bishop. He has been described as "the great wheel on which the Revolution rolled" ● Francisco Lopes Suasso, who partly financed the invasion ● William of Orange launched a colossal armada to seize the throne from Catholic King James II ● New England's Siege of Louisbourg (1745) by Peter Monamy.

September 26th, 1777

American Revolutionary War Collage American Revolutionary War: British troops occupy Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

American Revolutionary War:
1777 - British troops occupy Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Wikipedia  Paintings: Washington Crossing the Delaware, by Emanuel Leutz; Battle of the Chesapeake, French (left) and British (right) lines; Battle of Bunker Hill, The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker Hill by John Trumbull; The Defeat of the Floating Batteries at Gibraltar, September 13, 1782, by John Singleton Copley; Washington and the Comte de Rochambeau at Yorktown, 1781; "The surrender at Saratoga" shows General Daniel Morgan in front of a French de Vallière 4-pounder; Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown by (John Trumbull, 1797).
British Grenadier Attack at Princeton.

September 26th, 1789

Thomas Jefferson is appointed the first United States Secretary of State, John Jay is appointed the first Chief Justice of the United States, Samuel Osgood is appointed the first United States Postmaster General, and Edmund Randolph is appointed the first United States Attorney General

Thomas Jefferson is appointed the first United States Secretary of State, John Jay is appointed the first Chief Justice of the United States, Samuel Osgood is appointed the first United States Postmaster General and Edmund Randolph is appointed the first United States Attorney General.

Wikipedia  Image: Thomas Jefferson, John Jay, Samuel Osgood, Second Continental Congress, Edmund Randolph.

September 26th, 1872

Shriners Temple (called Mecca) is established in New York City

Shriners Temple (called Mecca) is established in New York City.

Wikipedia  Photo: New York City Center, the former Shriner temple

September 26th, 1917

World War I: Collage World War I: The Meuse-Argonne Offensive, the bloodiest single battle in American history, begins

World War I:
1917 - Battle of Polygon Wood begins.
1918 - Meuse-Argonne Offensive;, the bloodiest single battle in American history begins.
1923 - Post World War I: Weimar Republic, Gustav Stresemann, resumes payment of reparations.

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.
Ruined church at Montfaucon-d'Argonne. The blocky structure on the left is a German WWI observation post.

September 26th, 1934

Steamship RMS Queen Mary is launched

Steamship RMS Queen Mary is launched.

Wikipedia  Photo: RMS Queen Mary at Long Beach, California

September 26th, 1944

World War II: Central front of the Gothic Line Brazilian troops control the Serchio valley region after ten days of fighting

World War II: Central front of the Gothic Line Brazilian troops control the Serchio valley region after ten days of fighting.

Wikipedia  Photo: 370th Infantry Regiment walking toward the mountains at north of Montignoso – April 1945

September 26th, 1950

Korean War Collage

Korean War:
1950 - United Nations troops recapture Seoul from North Korean forces.

Wikipedia  Photo: Korean War Collage credit, The Big Picture, Boston Globe - (Associated Press; U.S. Department of Defense / SGT. F.C. Kerr; AP Photo; U.S. Department of Defense / TSGT. Charles B. Tyler; U.S. Department of Defense / TSGT. Charles B. Tyler; U.S. Department of Defense / TSGT. Robert H. Mosier; AP Photo / Max Desfor; U.S. Department of Defense / CPL. P. McDonald; AP Photo / Max Desfor; AP Photo/George Sweers; U.S. Navy / Maj. R.V. Spencer, UAF; AP Photo / Max Desfor).

September 26th, 1954

September Typhoon

Typhoon:
1954 - Japanese Trail ferry Toya Maru sinks during a typhoon in the Tsugaru Strait Toya Maru, Japan killing 1,172.
1959 - Typhoon Vera, the strongest typhoon to hit Japan in recorded history, makes landfall, killing 4,580 people and leaving nearly 1.6 million others homeless.
2009 - Typhoon Ketsana, hits the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand, causing 700 fatalities.

Wikipedia  Photo: Typhoon Ketsana, September 26th 2009. NASA Earth Observatory.

September 26th, 1973

Concorde makes its first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic in record-breaking time

Concorde makes its first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic in record-breaking time.

Wikipedia  Photo: Concorde, one of the wonders of the modern technical world, the first commercially successful airliner capable of speeds in excess of Mach 2 (twice the speed of sound) credit Heritage Concorde.

September 26th, 1981

Nolan Ryan strikes out Rickey Henderson to become the first Major League Baseball pitcher to record 5,000 strikeouts on August 22nd, 1989

Baseball: Nolan Ryan sets a Major League record by throwing his fifth no-hitter.

Wikipedia  Photo: Texas Rangers photo galleries. DFW / CBS

September 26th, 1997

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:
1997 - Garuda Indonesia Flight 152; A Garuda Indonesia Airbus A300 crashes near Medan, Indonesia, airport, killing 234.

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