HISTORY FOR MAY 26

I was off line yesterday so I decided to post this blog anyway as it is good info. Today's blog will be posted later today!

This Day in History, May 26
On May 26th, 1897, Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula" went on sale in London.

Other Notable Events, May 26
In 1864, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, anxious to create new free territories during the Civil War, signed an act establishing the Montana Territory. Montana became a state 25 years later.

In 1868, at the end of a historic two-month trial, the U.S. Senate failed to convict President Andrew Johnson of impeachment charges levied against him by the House of Representatives. Johnson won acquittal by one vote on each count.

In 1940, the evacuation of Dunkirk began. Sailing vessels of every kind were pressed into service to ferry across the English Channel the British, French and Belgian soldiers trapped by advancing German forces in northern France. All 200,000 were safely across by June 2.

In 1954, more than 100 crewmembers of the aircraft carrier USS Bennington died in an explosion off Rhode Island.

In 1972, at a Moscow summit, U.S. President Richard Nixon and Soviet Communist Party leader Leonid Brezhnev signed a pact limiting nuclear weapons.

In 1985, a cyclone struck the Bay of Bengal, killing 1,400 people in Bangladesh.

In 1991, a Lauda Air Boeing 767-300 exploded over Thailand after take-off, killing all 223 people on board.

In 1992, the Philippines' former first lady, Imelda Marcos, formally demanded the government return billions of dollars in assets seized after her husband's ouster from power in 1986.

In 1994, the United States and Vietnam resumed diplomatic relations.

Also in 1994, Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley, the only child of Elvis Presley, were married in the Dominican Republic. They divorced in 1996.

In 2000, Canadian medical researchers reported they had transplanted insulin-producing cells into eight diabetic patients, freeing them from insulin injections.

In 2003, a plane crash in Turkey killed all 74 aboard, including 62 Spanish soldiers returning from peacekeeping duties in Afghanistan.

In 2004, Terry Nichols, serving a life sentence after a federal conviction in the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building was found guilty of 161 killings in a state court.

In 2006, U.S. Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to become director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

In 2007, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran was accelerating its nuclear program to try to become an exporter of nuclear fuel.

Also in 2007, al-Qaida remained determined to create nuclear weapons for mass destruction, a former U.N. weapons inspector said.

And, a lightning strike during a fierce storm at a school in southwest China killed seven children and injured 39 others.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International

Notable Birthdays for May 26
Those born on this date include:
- English Gen. John Churchill, ancestor of statesman Winston Churchill, in 1650
- Entertainer Al Jolson in 1886
- Actor John Wayne (born Marion Robert Morrison) in 1907
- Actor Robert Morley in 1908
- Actor Peter Cushing in 1913
- Actor James Arness in 1923 (age 85)
- Trumpeter Ziggy Elman in 1914
- Singer Peggy Lee in 1920
- Singer Stevie Nicks in 1948 (age 60)
- Jazz trumpeter Miles Davis in 1926
- Sportscaster Brent Musburger in 1939 (age 69)
- Singer Hank Williams Jr. in 1949 (age 59)
- Actor Philip Michael Thomas in 1949 (age 59)
- Sally Ride, first U.S. woman in space, in 1951 (age 57)
- Actress Genie Francis in 1962 (age 46)
- Actress Helena Bonham Carter in 1966 (age 42)

Copyright 2008 by United Press International