June 26

4  – Emperor Augustus adopts his stepson, Tiberius.

1830 – William IV, age 64,  becomes king of Britain, Ireland and Hanover on the death of his elder brother, George IV of the United Kingdom, setting up his niece Victoria as the heir apparent.

1870 – Christmas is declared a federal holiday in the U.S.

1906 – The first Grand Prix motor race is held at Le Mans

1917 – American Expeditionary Forces begin to arrive in France during World War I.

1918 – Allied forces under General John J. Pershing and James Harbord defeat Imperial German forces under Wilhelm, German Crown Prince in the Battle of Belleau Wood.

1934 – President Roosevelt signs the Federal Credit Union Act, establishing credit unions.

1942 – The first flight of the Grumman F6F Hellcat. 

1945 – The United Nations Charter is signed

1948 – The first supply flights begin during the Berlin Blockade.

1953 – Lavrentiy “Show me the man and I’ll find you the crime” Beria, head of the MVD, is arrested by Nikita Khrushchev

1963 – U.S. President Kennedy states “Ich bin ein Berliner” (‘I am a Berliner’ or ‘I am a Jelly Doughnut’, depending on the correctness of your German)  in West Berlin after the East German puppet government erects the Berlin Wall.

1974 – The Universal Product Code (the Bar Code) is scanned for the first time to sell a package of Wrigley’s chewing gum at the Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio.

1975 – 2 FBI agents and a member of the American Indian Movement are killed in a shootout on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota; Leonard Peltier is later convicted of the murders and sentenced to 2 consecutive terms of life imprisonment.

1977 – Elvis Presley holds his final concert in Indianapolis, Indiana at Market Square Arena.

1997 – In the case of Reno v. ALCU, the Supreme Court rules that the Communications Decency Act is unconstitutional.

2003 – In the case of Lawrence v. Texas, the Supreme Court rules that gender based sodomy laws are unconstitutional.

2012 – The Waldo Canyon fire descends into the Mountain Shadows neighborhood in Colorado Springs burning 347 homes, and killing 2 people.

2013 – In the case of United States v. Windsor, the Supreme Court rules that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional

2015 – In the case of Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court rules that under the 14th amendment, the states must recognize same sex marriages.