September 26

1371 – Ottoman Turks commanded by Lala Şahin Pasha, inflict a severe defeat against Serbian forces commanded by King Vukašin Mrnjavčević  at the Maritsa River near present-day Ormenio, Greece, resulting in parts of Macedonia and Thrace falling under Ottoman rule after the battle.

1580 – Francis Drake finishes his circumnavigation of the Earth.

1687 – The Parthenon in Athens, used as a gunpowder depot by the Ottoman garrison, is partially destroyed after being bombarded during the Siege of the Acropolis by Venetian forces during the Morean War.

1688 – The city council of Amsterdam votes to support William of Orange’s invasion of England, which became the ‘Glorious Revolution’, which resulted in the passage of the English Bill or Rights where the individual right to arms was first specified and the Crown’s power restricted from.

1777 –British troops occupy Philadelphia during the Revolutionary War

1789 – President Washington appoints Thomas Jefferson the first United States Secretary of State.

1820 – Daniel Boone dies at his son Nathan’s house near Defiance, Missouri

1905 – Albert Einstein publishes the 3rd of his Annus Mirabilis papers, introducing the special theory of relativity.

1918 – The principal engagement of the American Expeditionary Force in World War I begins on the Verdun Sector as part of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive on the Western Front.

1933 – As gangster Machine Gun Kelly surrenders to the FBI, he shouts out, “Don’t shoot, G-Men!”, which becomes a nickname for FBI agents.

1950 – 11 days after landing at Inchon Harbor, United Nations troops recapture Seoul from North Korean forces during the Korean War

1960 – In Chicago, the first televised debate takes place between presidential candidates Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy.

1973 – The Concorde makes its first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic

1981 – Houston Astros’ pitcher Nolan Ryan sets a Major League Baseball record by throwing his 5th ‘no-hitter’ game at the Astrodome against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

1983 – Australia II, skippered by John Bertrand, wins the America’s Cup, ending the New York Yacht Club’s 132 year long domination of the race.

1984 – Nearing the end of the 99 year lease on the area, the United Kingdom and China agree to a transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong, to take place in 1997

2008 – Swiss pilot and inventor Yves Rossy becomes first person to fly a jet engine powered wing as a personal aircraft, across the English Channel.