Born on This Day English pilot and author whose memoir "West With the Night" recounted her historic 1936 solo flight across the Atlantic. Mahalia Jackson Queen of gospel music noted for her soulful, improvisational renditions of classics like "Move on Up a Little Higher." Seth MacFarlane American writer and animator who created animated TV comedies "Family Guy" and "American Dad." Baronet Cecil Chubb, the last private owner of Stonehenge, gifts it to the British people. Three years earlier, on a whim, he paid £6,600 for the ramshackle megalith at auction. His wife, who had sent him to buy dining chairs, was not pleased. Also on This Day in History Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on October 26th Congress petitions British king to address grievances On October 26, 1774, the First Continental Congress sends a respectful petition to King George III to inform his majesty that if it had not been for the acts of oppression forced upon the colonies by the British Parliament, the American people would be standing behind British rule. Despite the anger that the American public […] King George III speaks to Parliament of American rebellion On October 26, 1775, King George III speaks before both houses of the British Parliament to discuss growing concern about the rebellion in America, which he viewed as a traitorous action against himself and Great Britain. He began his speech by reading a “Proclamation of Rebellion” and urged Parliament to move quickly to end the […] Benjamin Franklin sets sail for France On October 26, 1776, exactly one month to the day after being named an agent of a diplomatic commission by the Continental Congress, Benjamin Franklin sets sail from Philadelphia for France, with which he was to negotiate and secure a formal alliance and treaty. In France, the accomplished Franklin was feted throughout scientific and literary […] Erie Canal opens The Erie Canal opens, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean via the Hudson River. Governor DeWitt Clinton of New York, the driving force behind the project, led the opening ceremonies and rode the canal boat Seneca Chief from Buffalo to New York City. Work began on the waterway in 1817. Teams of oxen […] “Bloody Bill” Anderson killed

On October 26, 1864, the notorious Confederate guerrilla leader William “Bloody Bill” Anderson is killed in Missouri in a Union ambush. Born in the late 1830s, Anderson grew up in Missouri and moved to Kansas in the late 1850s. Arriving to settle on his father’s land claim east of Council Grove, Anderson was soon enmeshed […] Brazil declares war on Germany On October 26, 1917, Brazil declares its decision to enter the First World War on the side of the Allied powers. As a major player in the Atlantic trading market, Brazil—an immense country occupying nearly one-half of the entire South American continent—had been increasingly threatened by Germany’s policy of unrestricted submarine warfare over the course […] Japanese planes destroy the U.S.S. Hornet On October 26, 1942, the last U.S. carrier manufactured before America’s entry into World War II, the Hornet, is damaged so extensively by Japanese war planes in the Battle of Santa Cruz that it must be abandoned. The battle for Guadalcanal was the first American offensive against the Japanese, an attempt to prevent the Axis […] “Wheel of Fortune” host Pat Sajak is born On October 26, 1946, Patrick Leonard Sajdak, who will one day be known to millions of game-show fans as the Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak, is born in Chicago. Wheel of Fortune, which debuted in 1975, became the longest-running syndicated game show on American television, turning Sajak and his co-host, Vanna White, into pop-culture […] An Ozzy Osbourne fan dies by suicide Nineteen-year-old John McCollum is found shot to death on his bed in Indio, California. Although it was quickly determined that the fatal wound was self-inflicted, McCollum’s parents believed that singer Ozzy Osbourne was actually responsible because their son had been listening to Osbourne’s album, Blizzard of Oz, which contains the song, “Suicide Solution,” when he […] Infant receives baboon heart At Loma Linda University Medical Center in Loma Linda, California, Dr. Leonard L. Bailey performs the first baboon-to-human heart transplant, replacing a 14-day-old infant girl’s defective heart with the healthy, walnut-sized heart of a young baboon. The infant, known as “Baby Fae,” was born with hypoplastic left-heart syndrome, a deformity that is almost always fatal […] Whitney Houston earns her first No. 1 hit with “Saving All My Love For You” On October 26, 1985, Whitney Houston shot to stardom when “Saving All My Love For You” became her first chart-toppiing hit on the Billboard Hot 100. Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner lets ground ball roll through his legs In the wee hours of the morning on October 26, 1986, Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner lets an easy ground ball dribble between his legs and roll down the right-field line. It was just a routine fielding error, but it was a disaster for the Boston Red Sox: It was the 10th inning of […] George W. Bush signs the Patriot Act On October 26, 2001, President George W. Bush signs the Patriot Act, an anti-terrorism law drawn up in response to the attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. The USA PATRIOT Act, as it is officially known, is an acronym for “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required […] Olympic committee announces the creation of refugee team On October 26, 2015, the International Olympic Committee announces the creation of the first Olympic refugee team, drawing attention to the plight of forcibly displaced people around the world. The declaration, delivered at the United Nations, provided support for athletes displaced by conflict, persecution or human rights violations—and announced a new opportunity to “build a […]