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HISTORY & TIMELINE
26 July

A journey through
26 July in history

The story of 26 July runs from a Bulgarian ambush in the Balkan mountains in 811 to a solar-powered aircraft landing in Abu Dhabi in 2016. In between come the Dutch Act of Abjuration, the opening of the Surrey Iron Railway, the meeting of San Martín and Bolívar at Guayaquil, Liberia’s declaration of independence, the first night of Wagner’s Parsifal, the Potsdam Declaration, the attack on the Moncada barracks, the nationalisation of the Suez Canal, the independence of the Maldives, the launch of Apollo 15, Stephen Roche’s Tour de France win and the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Begin the Timeline ↓ ← Back to Explore This Day
JUMP THROUGH TIME
II
THE MIDDLE AGES

Medieval History

Kingdoms, conflict, faith, power and the changing medieval world.

811
Krum's army pursues and wounds Nikephoros's son Staurakios, in a miniature from the 14th-century Bulgarian translation of the Manasses ChronicleKrum’s army pursues and wounds Nikephoros’s son Staurakios, in a miniature from the 14th-century Bulgarian translation of the Manasses ChronicleImage: Unknown illuminator (Manasses Chronicle, 14th century) · Public domain
world · Europe

The Bulgarians trap and kill the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros I

In the summer of 811 the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros I led a large army into Bulgaria, determined to crush Khan Krum, whose raids had cost the empire dearly. He took Krum’s capital, Pliska, burned it and plundered the khan’s treasury, and turned away offers of peace. But while the Byzantines lingered, the Bulgarians blocked the narrow mountain passes that led back towards Constantinople with walls of felled timber. On 26 July 811, as the retreating army camped in one of these defiles, Krum’s troops fell on it at dawn. Most of the Byzantine force was destroyed and Nikephoros himself was killed, the first emperor to die in battle in more than four centuries; his son Staurakios was badly wounded and died within months. According to the chroniclers, Krum had the emperor’s skull lined with silver and used it as a drinking cup. The victory made Bulgaria one of the great powers of the Balkans.

Source: Britannica: Krum ↗
III
A CHANGING WORLD

Early Modern Era

Exploration, political change, scientific development and expanding global connections.

1581
The Act of Abjuration of 1581, as imagined in a 19th-century painting by Johannes Hinderikus EgenbergerThe Act of Abjuration of 1581, as imagined in a 19th-century painting by Johannes Hinderikus EgenbergerImage: Johannes Hinderikus Egenberger · Public domain
politics · Europe

The Dutch rebels renounce King Philip II

By 1581 the provinces of the northern Low Countries had been in revolt against their Spanish Habsburg ruler, Philip II, for more than a decade. Led by William of Orange, they had resisted Philip’s heavy taxes, his persecution of Protestants and the brutal rule of his governors, and in 1579 several of them had joined in the Union of Utrecht to fight on together. On 26 July 1581 their States General, meeting in The Hague, issued the Plakkaat van Verlatinghe, the Act of Abjuration. It argued that a prince exists to protect his subjects as a shepherd protects his sheep, and that a king who treats them as slaves forfeits his right to rule; Philip was therefore deposed. The rebels at first looked for another prince, but in time they governed themselves as the Dutch Republic, which Spain finally recognised in 1648. The original document is kept in the Nationaal Archief in The Hague.

Source: Nationaal Archief: Plakkaat van Verlatinge (1581) ↗
IV
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

The 1800s

Industry, empire, invention, reform and a century of enormous transformation.

1803
Original stone sleepers from the Surrey Iron Railway, set beneath a plaque in the wall of the former Young's brewery in WandsworthOriginal stone sleepers from the Surrey Iron Railway, set beneath a plaque in the wall of the former Young’s brewery in WandsworthImage: Motmit · CC BY-SA 3.0
world · Europe

The Surrey Iron Railway opens south of London

The Surrey Iron Railway, formally opened on 26 July 1803, ran for about nine miles from the Thames at Wandsworth to Croydon. It was a plateway of L-shaped iron rails, and there were no locomotives: carriers brought their own horse-drawn wagons and paid a toll for using the track, which is why it is often called the world’s first public railway. It carried goods such as coal, lime and farm produce, never passengers, and closed in 1846.

Source: Merton Historical Society: The Surrey Iron Railway ↗
1822
The monument at La Rotonda on Guayaquil's waterfront, showing Bolívar and San Martín shaking handsThe monument at La Rotonda on Guayaquil’s waterfront, showing Bolívar and San Martín shaking handsImage: Padaguan · CC BY-SA 3.0
politics · Americas

San Martín and Bolívar meet at Guayaquil

On 26 July 1822 José de San Martín, liberator of Argentina, Chile and much of Peru, sailed into Guayaquil to meet Simón Bolívar, whose armies held the north of the continent. The two men talked alone over two days and no record was kept. San Martín seems to have offered to serve under Bolívar, but they did not agree. Soon afterwards San Martín gave up his power in Peru and left for Europe, leaving Bolívar to finish the war against Spain.

Source: Britannica: Guayaquil Conference ↗
1847
Joseph Jenkins Roberts, the Virginia-born merchant who became Liberia's first presidentJoseph Jenkins Roberts, the Virginia-born merchant who became Liberia’s first presidentImage: not stated · Public domain
politics · Africa

Liberia declares its independence

Liberia began in 1822 as a settlement on the West African coast founded by the American Colonization Society, a body of white Americans who wanted free Black people to leave the United States. Over the following years thousands of free-born and formerly enslaved African Americans made the crossing, and their capital was named Monrovia after President James Monroe. The colony was run by the society, but as it grew its settlers wanted the powers of a sovereign state, including the right to make their own laws on trade, which foreign merchants and governments would not accept from a private society. On 26 July 1847 a convention in Monrovia declared Liberia a free and independent republic and adopted a constitution modelled on that of the United States. Joseph Jenkins Roberts, a merchant born in Virginia, was elected its first president. Britain was among the first countries to recognise Liberia, but the United States waited until 1862. The new state was dominated for more than a century by the settlers’ descendants rather than the peoples already living there. 26 July remains Liberia’s Independence Day.

Source: Office of the Historian: Founding of Liberia, 1847 ↗
1882
Paul von Joukowsky's stage design for the third act of Parsifal at the first production in Bayreuth, 1882Paul von Joukowsky’s stage design for the third act of Parsifal at the first production in Bayreuth, 1882Image: Paul von Joukowsky · Public domain
culture · Europe

Wagner’s Parsifal is first performed at Bayreuth

Richard Wagner had been thinking about the story of Parsifal, the innocent ‘pure fool’ who becomes guardian of the Holy Grail, since reading Wolfram von Eschenbach’s medieval poem Parzival in the 1840s. He finished the music only in January 1882, writing it for the acoustics of the festival theatre he had built at Bayreuth in Bavaria, and he called it not an opera but a ‘festival play for the consecration of the stage’. Parsifal was first performed there on 26 July 1882, conducted by Hermann Levi, and was given 16 times that summer. It was Wagner’s last work: he died in Venice the following February. He wanted Parsifal staged only at Bayreuth, and for decades the festival guarded it jealously, which only added to its aura of solemnity.

Source: Britannica: Parsifal ↗
V
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

The 1900s

War and peace, technological leaps, social change, politics, sport and popular culture.

1945
Cecilienhof palace in Potsdam, where the Allied leaders met in July 1945Cecilienhof palace in Potsdam, where the Allied leaders met in July 1945Image: Drrcs15 · CC BY-SA 4.0
world · Asia

The Allies issue the Potsdam Declaration to Japan

On 26 July 1945, during the conference at Potsdam, the leaders of the United States, Britain and China issued a declaration setting out the terms on which Japan could end the war. It demanded the unconditional surrender of Japan’s armed forces, the disarming of its military, the loss of its overseas empire and the occupation of the country, and warned that the alternative was ‘prompt and utter destruction’. Japan’s government did not accept it; the atomic bombs fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki the following month.

Source: National Diet Library, Japan: Potsdam Declaration ↗
1953
Bullet holes in the walls of the Moncada barracks in Santiago de Cuba after the attack of 1953Bullet holes in the walls of the Moncada barracks in Santiago de Cuba after the attack of 1953Image: Unknown author · Public domain
politics · Americas

Fidel Castro leads the attack on the Moncada barracks

In March 1952 the former army sergeant Fulgencio Batista seized power in Cuba, cancelling the elections due that year. Among his opponents was Fidel Castro, a 26-year-old lawyer, who secretly gathered and trained a band of young followers. His plan was to seize the Moncada barracks in Santiago de Cuba, the island’s second-largest military post, arm his men with its weapons and spark a national uprising. Early on 26 July 1953, during Santiago’s carnival, about 160 rebels attacked. The assault collapsed within hours. Many of the attackers were killed, several of them after being captured, and Castro was arrested days later. At his trial he spoke in his own defence, a speech later published as ‘History Will Absolve Me’, and was sentenced to 15 years. Released under an amnesty in 1955, he went into exile in Mexico and named his movement after the date of the attack; within six years the 26th of July Movement had driven Batista from power.

Source: Britannica: 26th of July Movement ↗
1956
Gamal Abdel Nasser, Egypt's president, photographed on a visit to Belgrade in 1962Gamal Abdel Nasser, Egypt’s president, photographed on a visit to Belgrade in 1962Image: Stevan Kragujević · CC BY-SA 3.0
politics · Middle East

Nasser nationalises the Suez Canal

The Suez Canal had been run since it opened in 1869 by the Suez Canal Company, whose largest shareholders were the British government and French investors. Egypt’s president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, wanted to build a great new dam on the Nile at Aswan, but in July 1956 the United States and Britain withdrew their offers to help pay for it, and the World Bank loan fell through with them. On 26 July 1956, in a long speech to a huge crowd in Alexandria, Nasser announced that he had signed a decree nationalising the company, with immediate effect. Egyptian officials took over its offices, shareholders were to be compensated at the previous day’s price on the Paris stock exchange, and the canal’s income would pay for the dam. The move made Nasser a hero across the Arab world, but it alarmed Britain and France, and within three months they had joined Israel in the invasion of Egypt that became the Suez Crisis.

Source: Office of the Historian: The Suez Crisis, 1956 ↗
1965
Muhammad Fareed Didi, the Maldives' last sultan, who became its first king at independence in 1965Muhammad Fareed Didi, the Maldives’ last sultan, who became its first king at independence in 1965Image: Naajih Didi · Public domain
politics · Asia

The Maldives become independent

The Maldives, a chain of low coral atolls in the Indian Ocean, had been a British protectorate since 1887, with its sultans running internal affairs and Britain handling defence and foreign relations. On 26 July 1965 an agreement signed in Colombo ended the protectorate, though Britain kept its air base on the southern island of Gan until 1976. The Maldives joined the United Nations that September, abolished the sultanate in 1968 and still celebrate 26 July as Independence Day.

Source: United Nations Treaty Series: Agreement between the United Kingdom and the Maldive Islands, Colombo, 26 July 1965 ↗
1971
The Saturn V carrying Apollo 15 lifts off from Launch Complex 39A in Florida, 26 July 1971The Saturn V carrying Apollo 15 lifts off from Launch Complex 39A in Florida, 26 July 1971Image: NASA · Public domain
world · Americas

Apollo 15 sets off for the Moon with a car on board

Apollo 15 lifted off from Cape Kennedy at 9.34 in the morning on 26 July 1971, carrying David Scott, Alfred Worden and James Irwin. It was the first of the longer ‘J’ missions and the first to take the battery-powered Lunar Roving Vehicle. Scott and Irwin landed beside Hadley Rille in the Apennine mountains on 30 July, and on three outings in the rover they ranged far across the lunar surface, bringing back samples that included the ancient ‘Genesis Rock’.

Source: NASA: Apollo 15 ↗
1987
Stephen Roche riding a time trial at the 1987 Giro d'Italia, which he won two months before the TourStephen Roche riding a time trial at the 1987 Giro d’Italia, which he won two months before the TourImage: ktk17028 · CC BY 2.0
sport · Europe

Stephen Roche becomes the first Irishman to win the Tour de France

Stephen Roche, a Dubliner, arrived at the 1987 Tour de France having already won the Giro d’Italia that spring. The Tour turned into a duel with the Spanish climber Pedro Delgado. On the stage to La Plagne in the Alps Roche fell far behind, then clawed back almost all of the lost time on the final climb and collapsed at the finish; he had to be given oxygen before he could leave. In the time trial at Dijon on the penultimate day he took the yellow jersey from Delgado, and on 26 July 1987 he rode into Paris as the winner by 40 seconds. Thousands welcomed him home to Dublin the next day. Later that year Roche also won the world road race championship, becoming only the second rider after Eddy Merckx to take the Giro, the Tour and the world title in the same season.

Source: RTÉ Archives: Hero’s welcome for Stephen Roche ↗
1990
President George H. W. Bush signs the Americans with Disabilities Act on the South Lawn of the White House, 26 July 1990President George H. W. Bush signs the Americans with Disabilities Act on the South Lawn of the White House, 26 July 1990Image: Joyce Boghosian · Public domain
politics · Americas

The Americans with Disabilities Act becomes law

On 26 July 1990 President George H. W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act before about 3,000 people on the South Lawn of the White House. The law banned discrimination against disabled people in employment, public services, transport, shops, hotels and other public places, and in telecommunications. It is often described as the world’s first comprehensive civil rights law for people with disabilities, and it became a model for laws in other countries.

Source: National Archives: Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act ↗
VI
2000 TO TODAY

Modern Day

The events of recent decades that have already become part of the historical record.

2016
Solar Impulse 2, with Bertrand Piccard in the cockpit, on the runway at Payerne, Switzerland, in November 2014Solar Impulse 2, with Bertrand Piccard in the cockpit, on the runway at Payerne, Switzerland, in November 2014Image: Milko Vuille · CC BY-SA 4.0
science · Global

Solar Impulse 2 completes the first round-the-world flight on sunlight alone

The Swiss adventurers Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg spent more than a decade building an aeroplane that could fly day and night on the Sun’s energy alone. Solar Impulse 2 had a wingspan wider than a jumbo jet’s but weighed about as much as a family car; more than 17,000 solar cells on its wings charged the batteries that kept its four propellers turning through the night. Its single cramped cockpit meant the two pilots had to take turns. The aircraft left Abu Dhabi in March 2015 and flew east across Asia, the Pacific, the United States, the Atlantic, southern Europe and North Africa. On the longest leg, from Japan to Hawaii, Borschberg stayed aloft for almost five days and nights. Damaged batteries then grounded the plane for months. Finally, at 4.05 in the morning local time on 26 July 2016, Piccard landed back in Abu Dhabi after some 40,000 kilometres and more than 500 hours in the air, without using a drop of fuel.

Source: Smithsonian Magazine: Inside the first solar-powered flight around the world ↗
RESEARCH

Sources & Further Reading

Selected authoritative references supporting the events on this page.

WHY THESE MOMENTS?

Significance before volume

This page is not the longest possible list of events. It is a chronological journey through 26 July, where each entry is chosen for historical significance, human interest and reliability.

Facts are checked against authoritative museums, archives, universities and reference works. Where sources disagree, the page says so.

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