Browse Historical Events by Day: What Happened on October 26th?

The Dutch East India Company (VOC) is established to facilitate colonial trade.

The Erie Canal opens providing overland water transportation between the ­­ Hudson River on the east and Lake Erie at the western end. Popularly known as “Clinton’s Folly,” the eight-year construction project was the vision of New York Governor DeWitt Clinton. More

The Pony Express, the horseback mail service that had provided the fastest means of communication between the eastern and western United States officially closes, only one and one-half years of service, two days after the first Transcontinental Telegraph line is inaugurated. The nearly 2,000-mile route, using a continuous relay of the best riders and horses, from St. Joseph, Missouri, to San Francisco, California, averaged ten days, while winter deliveries required twelve to sixteen days, approximately half the time needed by stagecoach. More

The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral takes place in Tombstone, Arizona Territory, USA, involving the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday. More

Brazil declares war on the German Empire. Brazil had pursued a policy of neutrality in the initial years of the war . In the course of the war, public opinion was on the side of the Allies. Only a few intellectuals declared their solidarity with the German Empire along with the majority of the descendants of German immigrants. On April of 1917 the Brazilian freighter Paraná was sank by Germany followed by three other Brazilian ships being torpedoed. More

Japanese planes critically damage and sink the U.S.S Hornet in the Battle of Santa Cruz Island. Approximately 140 of her sailors and air crews were killed that day. The Hornet was a Yorktown-class aircraft carrier. She was in service for just over one year. While in the Pacific theater, Hornet was involved in the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo, and in the Battle of Midway. In the Solomon Islands campaign, she participated in the defense of Guadalcanal and the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. More

President George W. Bush signs the Patriot Act. More