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2012–Big Tex, a 52-foot statue and cultural icon in Dallas, Texas, is destroyed by fire during the final weekend of the 2012 Texas State Fair. After the fire, a new Big Tex was created by SRO Associates and Texas Scenic Company. This rendition made its first public appearance on September 26, 2013.


BC 202–In the Second Punic War, at the Battle of Zama, Roman legions, under Scipio Africanus, defeat Hannibal Barca, leader of the army defending Carthage.

439–The Vandals, led by King Gaiseric, take Carthage in North Africa.

993–Conrad I, King of Burgundy, dies at age 68. Some sources call him Conrad III, since he was the third Conrad in his family: his great-grandfather was Duke Conrad II, whose father was Count Conrad I.

1216–King John of England dies of dysentery at Newark Castle, Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, England, at age 49. He is succeeded by his nine-year-old son, Henry.

1335–Elizabeth Richeza of Poland dies in the local Cistercian monastery at Brno, Poland, at age 47. She had become a nun in 1339. She was a member of the House of Piast and by her two marriages Queen consort of Bohemia, Poland, and Duchess consort of Austria and Styria.

1386–The Universität Heidelberg holds its first lecture, making it the oldest university in Germany.

1433–Astrologer and philosopher, Marsilio Ficino, is born in Figline Valdarno, Republic of Florence. He was a scholar and Catholic priest who was one of the most influential humanist philosophers of the early Italian Renaissance.

1466–The Thirteen Years' War ends with the Second Treaty of Thorn.

1469–Ferdinand II of Aragon marries Isabella I of Castile, a marriage that paves the way for the unification of Aragon and Castile into a single country, Spain.

1512–Reformer, Martin Luther, joins the theological faculty of the University of Wittenberg in Germany.

1649–New Ross town, County Wexford, Ireland, surrenders to Oliver Cromwell.

1745–Satirist and essayist, Jonathan Swift, dies in Dublin, Kingdom of Ireland, at age 77. He is regarded by the Encyclopedia Britannica as the foremost prose satirist in the English language. His best known work is Gulliver's Travels.

1781–At Yorktown, Virginia, representatives of British commander Lord Cornwallis hand over Cornwallis' sword and formally surrender to George Washington and the comte de Rochambeau.

1784–Critic, essayist, poet, and writer, Leigh Hunt, is born James Henry Leigh Hunt in Southgate, London, England. He was originator of the intellectual genre of the magazine and champion of the Romantic poets.

1789–John Jay is sworn in as the first Chief Justice of the United States.

1805–Austrian General Mack surrenders his army to the Grande Armée of Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Ulm: 30,000 prisoners are captured and there are 10,000 casualties.

1812–Napoleon Bonaparte retreats from Moscow, Russia.

1813–The Battle of Leipzig concludes, giving Napoleon Bonaparte one of his worst defeats.

1822–Simplício Dias da Silva, João Cândido de Deus e Silva, and Domingos Dias declare the independent state of Piauí.

1862–Auguste Lumière, is born in Besancon, France. With his brother Louis, he devised an early camera and projector called the Cinématographe, from which we get the word "cinema." In 1895, they filmed workers leaving the Lumière factory in Paris, and that is considered the first motion picture. The next year, they made more than 40 films.

1864–Li Yuanhong, second President of the Republic of China, is born in Huangpi, Hubei, Qing Dynasty.

1866–At Hotel Europa, Austria hands over Veneto to France, which hands it immediately over to Italy.

1889–Luís I of Portugal dies at Citadel of Cascais, Cascais, Portugal, at age 50.

1900–Max Planck discovers the law of black-body radiation (Planck's law).

1901–Edward Elgar’s, Pomp & Circumstance March, premieres in Liverpool, England.

1904–Polytechnic University of the Philippines founded as Manila Business School through the superintendence of the C.A. O'Reilley.

1912–Italy takes possession of Tripoli, Libya, from the Ottoman Empire.

1914–Actress, Juanita Moore, is born in Greenwood, Mississippi. Her most famous role was that of Annie Johnson in the movie Imitation of Life. She appeared in the films Cabin in the Sky, Pinky, Affair in Trinidad, Women’s Prison, Ransom!, The Opposite Sex, The Girl Can’t Help It, The Helen Morgan Story, Tammy Tell Me True, Walk on the Wild Side, A Child Is Waiting, Papa’s Delicate Condition, The Singing Nun, Rosie!, Uptight, Skin Game, Paternity, and Two Moon Junction.

1917–The Love Field Airport is opened near Dallas, Texas.

1920–Actress, LaWanda Page, is born Alberta Peal in Cleveland, Ohio. She is best known for the role of Aunt Esther in the 1970s TV sitcom Sanford and Son.

1921–Portuguese Prime Minister, António Granjo, and other politicians are murdered in a Lisbon coup.

1922–British Conservative MPs meeting at the Carlton Club, vote to break off the Coalition Government with David Lloyd George of the Liberal Party.

1932–Actor, Robert Reed, is born John Robert Rietz, Jr. in Highland Park, Illinois. He is best known for the role of Mike Brady on the 1970s TV sitcom The Brady Bunch. He is also known for the role of Kenneth Preston on the legal drama The Defenders. He appeared in the films Pal Joey, Torpedo Run, Bloodlust!, Hurry Sundown, Star!, and The Maltese Bippy.

1933–Germany withdraws from the League of Nations.

1934–Dave Guard, of The Kingston Trio, is born Donald David Guard in San Francisco, California. The folk group had hits with Tom Dooley and A Worried Man.

1935–The League of Nations places economic sanctions on fascist Italy for its invasion of Ethiopia.

1936–Psychic, Sylvia Browne, is born Sylvia Celeste Shoemaker in Kansas City, Missouri. Browne claimed she started seeing visions at the age of five, and that her grandmother, a psychic medium, helped her understand what they meant. Browne also claimed her great-uncle was a psychic medium. She started to give psychic readings in 1974, and performed thousands of one-on-one readings for a wide variety of groups and individuals. She appeared regularly on television and radio, including The Montel Williams Show and Larry King Live.

1937–Psychedelic-pop artist, Peter Max, is born Peter Max Finkelstein in Berlin, Germany. He is an illustrator and graphic artist, known for the use of psychedelic shapes and color palettes, as well as spectra in his work. At first, works in this style appeared on posters and were seen on the walls of college dorms across America. Max then became fascinated with new printing techniques that allowed for four-color reproduction on product merchandise. Following his success with a line of art clocks for General Electric, Max's art was licensed by 72 corporations.

1943–The cargo vessel, Sinfra, is attacked and sunk by Allied aircraft at Souda Bay, Crete. Over 2,000 Italian prisoners are killed.

1943–Streptomycin, the first antibiotic remedy for tuberculosis, is isolated by researchers at Rutgers University.

1943–Illustrator and sculptor, Camille Claudel, dies after having lived 30 years in the asylum at Montfavet in Montdevergues, Vaucluse, France, at age 78. Although she destroyed much of her art work, about 90 statues, sketches, and drawings have survived.

1944–U.S. military forces land in the Philippines.

1944–A coup is launched against Juan Federico Ponce Vaides, beginning the 10-year Guatemalan Revolution.

1945–Cult film actor, Divine, is born Harris Glenn Milstead in Baltimore, Maryland. He was known for his roles in the John Waters’ films Pink Flamingos, Polyester, and Hairspray. He was described in People magazine as the "Drag Queen of the Century."

1945–Actor, John (Arthur) Lithgow, is born in Rochester, New York. He appeared in the films The Big Fix, All That Jazz, Blow Out, I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can, The World According to Garp, Twilight Zone: The Movie, Terms of Endearment, Footloose, 2010, The Manhattan Project, Harry and the Hendersons, Memphis Belle, At Play in the Fields of the Lord, The Pelican Brief, Kinsey, Dreamgirls, and Interstellar.

1945–Painter and illustrator, N.C. Wyeth, dies in an automobile accident in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, at age 62. He was struck by a freight train at a railway crossing near his home. During his lifetime, Wyeth created over 3,000 paintings and illustrated 112 books, 25 of them for Scribner's, the Scribner Classics, which is the work for which he is best known. The first of these, Treasure Island, was one of his masterpieces and the proceeds paid for his studio.

1950–The People's Republic of China joins the Korean War by sending thousands of troops across the Yalu River to fight United Nations forces.

1950–The People's Liberation Army takes control of the town of Chamdo: this is sometimes called the "Invasion of Tibet."

1950–Iran becomes the first country to accept technical assistance from the United States under the Point Four Program.

1950–Poet and playwright, Edna St. Vincent Millay, dies of a heart attack at her home in Austerlitz, New York, at age 58. She had fallen down stairs and was found approximately eight hours after her death. Millay received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1923 (just the third woman to win the award for poetry) and was also known for her feminist activism.

1956–The Soviet Union and Japan sign a Joint Declaration, officially ending the state of war between the two countries that had existed since August 1945.

1960–The United States government imposes a near-total trade embargo against Cuba.

1963–The Beatles record I Want to Hold Your Hand.

1964–Bluesman, Howlin' Wolf, kicks off the first day of a five-day American Negro Blues Festival in England. Also performing are Willie Dixon, Lightnin' Hopkins, and Sonny Boy Williamson.

1966–The Yardbirds land in New York to begin their first American tour. Jeff Beck departs after playing two dates, leaving Jimmy Page to take over the lead guitar slot.

1969–The first Prime Minister of Tunisia in 12 years, Bahi Ladgham, is appointed by President Habib Bourguiba.

1973–President Richard Nixon rejects an Appeals Court decision that he turn over the Watergate tapes.

1973–Elvis and Priscilla Presley are divorced after six years of marriage.

1974–Niue becomes a self-governing colony of New Zealand.

1976–The Battle of Aishiya in takes place in Lebanon.

1977–The Liverpool City Council rejects a proposal to build a monument to The Beatles in the city.

1978–Actor, Gig Young, dies of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Manhattan, New York, at age 64. He appeared in the films Sergeant York, They Died with Their Boots On, Old Acquaintance, Come Fill the Cup, Torch Song, Young at Heart, The Desperate Hours, Desk Set, Teacher’s Pet, The Tunnel of Love, Ask Any Girl, That Touch of Mink, Kid Galahad, Strange Bedfellows, The Shuttered Room, They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?, and Lovers and Other Strangers.

1984–The Polish Roman Catholic priest, Jerzy Popieluszko, associated with the Solidarity Union, is murdered by three agents of the Polish communist internal intelligence agency.

1986–President of Mozambique and a prominent leader of FRELIMO, Sampra Machel, and 33 others die when their Tupolev Tu-134 plane crashes into the Lebombo Mountains.

1986–Moses Asch, founder of the Folkways record label, dies in New York at age 80. The legendary label released records by Woody Guthrie and John Cage.

1987–On “Black Monday” the Dow Jones Industrial Average falls by 22% (508 points).

1987–The U.S. Navy conducts Operation Nimble Archer, an attack on two Iranian oil platforms in the Persian Gulf.

1988–The British government imposes a broadcasting ban on television and radio interviews with members of Sinn Féin and 11 Irish republican and Ulster loyalist paramilitary groups.

1988–Delta blues guitarist, Eddie “Son” House, dies in Detroit, Michigan, at age 86. His songs include My Black Mama and Dry Spell Blues.

1989–The convictions of the Guildford Four are quashed by the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, after they had spent 15 years in prison.

1995–Jazz cornetist, Don Cherry, dies in Malaga, Spain. He was the father of Neneh Cherry and Eagle-Eye Cherry.

1998–George Martin, the legendary record producer for The Beatles, retires from the music business due to hearing loss.

1999–Ringo Starr’s Christmas album, I Wanna Be Santa Claus, is released.

2001–SIEV X, an Indonesian fishing boat carrying over 400 asylum seekers en route to Christmas Island, sinks in international waters with the loss of 353 people.

2003–Mother Teresa is beatified by Pope John Paul II.

2003–Politician, Alija Izetbegovic, dies in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, at age 78. He was the first President of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

2004–Care International aid worker, Margaret Hassan, is kidnapped in Iraq.

2005–Saddam Hussein goes on trial in Baghdad, Iraq, for crimes against humanity.

2005–Hurricane Wilma becomes the most intense Atlantic hurricane on record with a minimum pressure of 882 mb.

2007–A bomb explosion rocks Glorietta 2, a shopping mall in Makati, Philippines, killing 11 people and injuring more than 100 others.

2010–Actor, Tom Bosley, dies of heart failure in Rancho Mirage, California, at age 83. He had been battling lung cancer. He is best known for the role of Howard Cunningham on the TV series Happy Days. He was seen in dozens of other TV shows throughout his long career. He appeared in the films Love with the Proper Stranger, The World of Henry Orient, Divorce American Style, and Yours, Mine and Ours.

2012–Big Tex, a 52-foot statue and cultural icon in Dallas, Texas, is destroyed by fire during the final weekend of the 2012 Texas State Fair. After the fire, a new Big Tex was created by SRO Associates and Texas Scenic Company. This rendition made its first public appearance on September 26, 2013.

2012–A bomb explosion kills eight people and injures 110 others in Beirut, Lebanon.

2013–At least 105 people are injured in a train crash at the Once railway station in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

2013–Singer, Noel Harrison, dies of a heart attack in Exeter, Devon, England, at age 79. He had hits in the 1960s with Suzanne and The Windmills of Your Mind.

2015–Country singer, Blake Shelton, sues the Bauer Media tabloid, In Touch, for a false cover story that wrongly claimed he was in rehab. He is seeking at least $2 million in damages.

2016–Presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton meet for the third and final presidential debate of 2016, at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas.

2016–The Social Security Administration announces that cost-of-living benefits will increase 0.3% for Social Security checks beginning in January 2017, and for Supplemental Security Income payments in late December 2016.

2016–In a rare execution of a royal family member, Saudi Prince Turki bin Saud al-Kabeer, is put to death in Riyadh after being convicted for shooting another man dead in a fight.


PHOTOS TOP TO BOTTOM: King John of England; Leigh Hunt; Robert Reed; Peter Max on the cover of Life magazine; Howlin' Wolf; Gig Young; Don Cherry; and Big Tex.
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