1870 ~ CHRiSTMAS was declared a federal holiday in the United States on the 26th day of June in 1870.

1909 ~ COLONEL TOM PARKER best known as ELViS PRESLEY‘s manager was born on the 26th day of June in 1909 (died in 1997 aged 87)

1928 ~ YOSHiRO NAKAMATSU the Japanese inventor was born on the 26th day of June in 1928.

1929 ~ MiLTON GLASER the American designer was born on the 26th day of June in 1929.

1938 ~ BiLLY DAViS, Jr. the American singer from The 5th DiMENSION was born on the 26th day of June in 1938.

1956 ~ CHRiS iSAAK the American singer was born on the 26th day of June in 1956.

1957 ~ PATTY SMYTH the American singer from SCANDAL was born on the 26th day of June in 1957.

1961 ~ TERRi NUNN the American singer from the band BERLiN was born on the 26th day of June in 1961.

1963 ~ JOHN F. KENNEDY the U.S. President gave his “Ich bin ein Berliner“ on the 26th day of June in 1963. This underlined the support of the United States for democratic West Germany, shortly after Soviet-supported East Germany erected the Berlin Wall.

1974 – The UNiVERSAL PRODUCT CODE aka BARCODE was scanned for the first time on the 26th day of June in 1974. The barcode was used to sell a package of Wrigley’s chewing gum at the Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio in the United States.

1988 ~ iNTERNATIONAL DAY AGAiNST DRUG ABUSE & iLLiCiT TRAFFiCKiNG has been held annually since the 26th of June in 1988.

1997 ~ iSRAEL KAMAKAWiWO’OLE the Hawaiian singer died on the 26th day of June in 1997 aged 38 (born 1959).

1998 ~ iNTERNATiONAL DAY in SUPPORT of ViCTiMS of TORTURE was launched and held annually since the 26th of June in 1998.

2013 ~ KEViN RUDD returned as Prime Minster of Australia on the 26th June 2013, when he won the leadership ballot by 57 votes to Julia Gillard 45 votes. It all began after Julia Gillard called a leadership spill, intending to head off any challenge, Kevin Rudd then announced that he would challenge the Prime Minister, with Julia Gillard announcing that the loser of the ballot was to permanently resign from politics, and he agreed to this condition. Julia Gillard‘s key supporter Bill Shorten, who was one of the main figures responsible for Kevin Rudd‘s previous overturn as Prime Minister, this time announced his support for Kevin Rudd.

Today in History for June 26th ~ video presented by the Associated Press…