On this day...

1774 First Continental Congress adjourns in Philadelphia
1825 Erie Canal between Hudson River & Lake Erie opened
1863 Soccer rules standardized; rugby starts as a separate game
1863 Worldwide Red Cross organized in Geneva
1863 Football Association forms in England, standardizing soccer
1868 White terrorists kill several blacks in St Bernard Parish, Louisiana
1869 First American steeplechase horserace (Westchester, NY)
1876 President sends federal troops to SC
1881 Shootout at the OK corral, in Tombstone, Arizona
1887 Detroit (NL) beats St Louis (AA) 10 games to 5 in the World Series
1903 Yerba Buena is first Key System ferry to cross SF Bay
1905 First Soviet (workers' council) formed, St Petersburg, Russia
1905 Union of Sweden & Norway ends
1911 Phila A's beat NY Giants, 4 games to 2 in 8th World Series
1916 Margaret Sanger arrested for obscenity (advocating birth control)
1921 Solomon Porter Hood named minister to Liberia
1941 US savings bonds go on sale
1942 US ship Hornet sunk in Battle of Santa Cruz Islands during WW II
1947 Maharajah of Jammu & Kashmir accedes to India
1949 Pres Truman increases minimum wage from 40 cents to 75 cents
1950 Branch Rickey resigns as Brooklyn Dodger president
1951 Rocky Marciano defeats Joe Louis at Madison Square Garden
1955 Ngo Dinh Diem proclaims Vietnam a republic with himself as pres
1956 UN's International Atomic Energy Agency statute approved
1956 Vietnam promulgates its constitution
1957 USSR fires defense minister, Marshal Georgi Zhukov
1957 Vatican Radio begins broadcasting
1958 PanAm flies the first transatlantic jet trip-NY to Paris
1960 AL announces Minneapolis & LA to get teams in 1961
1960 AL's Washington Senators move to become Minnesota Twins
1962 Beatles tape "Please Please Me" & "Ask Me Why"
1964 Rolling Stones appear on the Ed Sullivan Show
1965 Beatles receive MBEs at Buckingham Palace
1965 Sylvia Likens tortured by teen girl gang
1966 first Pacific communications satellite launched, Intelsat 2
1967 Shah of Iran crowns himself after 26 years on Peacock Throne
1968 Soyuz 3 launched
1970 "Doonesbury" comic strip debuts in 28 newspapers
1971 UN votes to replace Taiwan with China
1972 Guided tours of Alcatraz (by Park Service) begin
1972 Henry Kissinger declares "Peace is at hand" in Vietnam
1973 Wings release "Helen Wheels"
1974 Cleveland Coliseum opens for NBA's Cavaliers & MISL's Crunch
1975 Anwar Sadat became first Egyptian president to officially visit the US
1976 T Smirnova discovers asteroid #3159 Prokof'ev
1976 Transkei gains independence, not recognized outside of South Africa
1976 Trinidad & Tobago becomes a republic
1977 5th & final test of space shuttle Enterprise
1977 Dr Clifford R Wharton Jr named chancellor of State University of NY
1980 St Louis Cards sack Balt Colt QBs an NFL record tying 12 times
1981 LA Dodgers beat NY Yankees, 4 games to 2 in 78th World Series
1982 Steve Carlton became first pitcher to win 4 Cy Young awards
1984 "Baby Fae" gets baboon heart transplant, lives 21 days
1984 E Bowell discovers asteroid #3174 Alcock
1985 On a poor call in 6th game, umpire Don Deckinger starts a string of events costing Cardinals the World Series
1987 Dow Jones down 156.83 points
1987 Head of Salvadoran Human Rights Comm assassinated by death squads
1988 Donald Trump bills Mike Tyson $2,000,000 for 4 month advisory service
1988 US-Soviet effort free 2 grey whales from frozen Arctic, Barrow, AK

Birthdays which occurred on October 26th:

1466 Desiderius Erasmus, Holland, scholar/author (In Praise of Folly)
1685 Domenico Scarlatti, Naples Italy, composer/harpsichordist
1759 Georges Danton, France, revolutionary leader
1791 Charles Sprague, Boston, banker/poet (Curiosity)
1855 Charles Post, who had a way with breakfast cereals
1861 Richard D. Sears, Boston, first to win US amateur national tennis match
1873 Thorvald Stauning, Denmark, PM (1924-26, 1929-42)
1879 Leon Trotsky, Russian revolutionary (pres of first Soviet)
1894 John S. Knight, WV, publisher (Knight-Rider)
1910 John Cardinal Krol, former archbishop of Philadelphia
1911 Mahalia Jackson, New Orleans, gospel singer (Whole World in his Hands)
1911 Sid Gillman, NFL coach (LA, San Diego, Houston)
1914 Jackie Coogan, Los Angeles, actor (Uncle Fester-Addams Family)
1917 Felix the Cat, cartoon character
1919 Edward W. Brooke, first black senator in over 80 years (Sen-R-Mass)
1919 Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Aryamehr, Shah of Iran (1941-79)
1931 Hank Garrett Monticello, NY, actor (Car 54 Where Are You)
1932 Chinadorai Deshmutu ,India, field hockey player (1952)
1933 Suzy Parker, San Antonio, model/actress (Chamber of Horrors)
1936 Bruce Belland, Chicago, singer (Tim Conway Hour)
1939 John Arden, England, novelist/playwright (Left Handed Liberty)
1940 Mario Orosco, first victim of NYC's Zodiac killer (survives)
1941 Harald Nielsen, Denmark, soccer player (Olympic-silver-1960)
1942 Bob Hoskins, Suffolk England, actor (Brazil, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?)
1945 Pat Conroy, American writer (Great Santini, Prince of Tides)
1946 Pat Sajak, Chicago, TV host (Wheel of Fortune, Pat Sajak Show)
1947 Jaclyn Smith, Houston, actress (Charlie's Angel, Nightkill)
1948 Marshall Colt, New Orleans La, actor (Eric-Lottery)
1950 Chuck Foreman, NFL running back (Minnesota Vikings)
1951 Bootsy Collins, rocker (Parliaments-We Got the Funk)
1953 Julian Keith Stockland drummer (B-52's-Rock Lobster)
1954 Lauren Tewes, actress (Love Boat, Eyes of a Stranger)
1962 Cary Elwes, actor (Glory, Princess Bride)
1966 Olga Bicherova, gymnastics (won title at 15yrs 33 days)

Deaths which occurred on October 26th:

901 King Alfred the Great
1868 B. F. Randolph, SC state senator, assassinated
1909 Prince Ito of Japan is assassinated by a Korean
1962 Louise Beavers, actress (Beulah-Beulah), dies at 64
1979 Park Chung-hee, South Korean President is assassinated
1984 Sue Randall, actress (Miss Landers-Leave it to Beaver), dies at 49
1990 William Paley, CEO (CBS), dies at 89 from a heart attack
1991 Lori Rae Matthews, crushed to death by an artist's 485 lb umbrella