1498 – Michelangelo was commissioned to carve the Pietà on the 26th August 1498.
1740 – Joseph-Michel Montgolfier the French inventor of the hot air balloon was born on the 26th August 1740 (died 1810).
1768 ~ The 1st voyage of Captain James Cook began on the 26th August 1768. The Royal Society engaged Captain James Cook to travel to the Pacific Ocean to observe and record the transit of Venus across the Sun. The expedition sailed from England around Cape Horn and westward across the Pacific to Tahiti on the 13th April 1769, where the observations of the Venus Transit were made. Once the observations were completed, Cook opened the sealed orders which instructed him to search the South Pacific for signs of the postulated rich southern continent of Terra Australis, so he then sailed to New Zealand and mapped the complete coastline. Cook then voyaged west, reaching the south-eastern coast of Australia on the 19th April 1770, becoming the 1st recorded European to have encountered its eastern coastline.
1778 – The 1st recorded ascent of Triglav, the highest mountain in Slovenia was on the 26th August 1778.
1791 – John Fitch was granted a United States patent for the steamboat on the 26th August 1791.
1821 – The University of Buenos Aires in Argentina was officially opened on the 26th August 1821.
1865 – Arthur James Arnot the Australian engineer and inventor was born on the 26th August 1865 (died 1946). Arthur James Arnot is best known for patenting the world’s first electric drill, and designing the Spencer Street Power Station, Victoria.
1873 – Lee De Forest the American inventor of the Audion tube was born on the 26th August 1873 (died 1961).
1898 – Peggy Guggenheim the American art collector was born on the 26th August 1898 (died 1979).
1899 – Rufino Tamayo the Mexican painter was born on the 26th August 1898 (died 1991).
1883 – The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa began its final paroxysmal stage on the 26th August 1883.
1906 – Albert Sabin the Polish-American medical researcher and developer of the polio vaccine was born on the 26th August 1906 (died 1993).
1909 – Jim Davis the American actor was born on the 26th August 1909 (died 1981 aged 71).
1910 – Mother Teresa the Macedonian-Indian missionary and Nobel Prize laureate was born on the 26th August 1910 (died 1997).
1920 – Brant Parker the American cartoonist was born on the 26th August 1920 (died 2007).
1927 – B. V. Doshi the Indian architect was born on the 26th August 1927.
1933 – Oscar Marzaroli the Scots-Italian photographer was born on the 26th August 1933 (died 1988).
1938 – Jet Black the English drummer from The Stranglers was born on the 26th August 1938.
1940 – Nik Turner the British singer-songwriter and saxophonist from Hawkwind was born on the 26th August 1940.
1941 – Chris Curtis the English singer and drummer from The Searchers was born on the 26th August 1941 (died 2005).
1944 – Charles de Gaulle entered Paris on the 26th August 1944 during World War II.
1944 – Maureen Tucker the American singer-songwriter and drummer from The Velvet Underground was born on the 26th August 1944.
1946 – Valerie Simpson the American singer from Ashford & Simpson was born on the 26th August 1946.
1946 – Priit Pärn the Estonian cartoonist and animation director was born on the 26th August 1946.
1950 – Jüri Okas the Estonian architect was born on the 26th August 1950.
1952 – Will Shortz the American puzzle creator and editor was born on the 26th August 1952.
1966 – Shirley Manson the Scottish singer-songwriter from Garbage was born on the 26th August 1966.
1966 – Avner Ben-Gal the Israeli painter was born on the 26th August 1966.
1969 ~ Kirk Fox the American actor, screenwriter, and stand-up comedian was born on the 26th August 1969.
1971 – Thalía the Mexican singer-songwriter and actress was born on the 26th August 1971.
1981 – Jesse Martin the Australian sailor was born on the 26th August 1981.
2002 – Earth Summit 2002 began in Johannesburg, South Africa on the 26th August 2002.
2011 – The Boeing 787 Dreamliner received certification from the EASA and the FAA on the 26th August 2011.
Today in History for August 26th ~ video presented by the Associated Press…