October 26: What Happened on This Day in History (High_school Level)?

(Page last edited 10/12/2017)

1. 1774 - The first Continental Congress adjourns in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
2. 1825 - The Erie Canal opens - passage from Albany, New York to Lake Erie.
3. 1881 - The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral takes place at Tombstone, Arizona.
4. 1936 - The first electric generator at Hoover Dam goes into full operation.
5. 1958 - Pan American Airways makes the first commercial flight of the Boeing 707 from New York City to Paris, France.
6. 1977 - The last natural case of smallpox is discovered in Merca district, Somalia. The World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention consider this date the anniversary of the eradication of smallpox, the most spectacular success of vaccination.
7. 1984 - "Baby Fae" receives a heart transplant from a baboon.
8. 1985 - The Australian government returns ownership of Uluru to the local Pitjantjatjara Aborigines.
9. 1999 - Britain's House of Lords votes to end the right of hereditary peers to vote in Britain's upper chamber of Parliament.
10. 2001 - The United States passes the USA PATRIOT Act into law.
11. Famous Birthdays: Joseph Hansom (English architect and inventor), C. W. Post (American entrepreneur), Boyd Wagner (First USAAF fighter ace of World War II ), Hillary Rodham Clinton (American politician), Ferdinand Georg Frobenius (German mathematician)

For famous birthdays and other daily events in history, visit our Daily Dose Activities.

Click Here for Yesterday in History: October 25

Click Here for Tomorrow in History: October 27

For more history resources on Internet 4 Classrooms, visit our Social Studies and History index. For Pre K-8th Grade Level History and Social Studies Resources, visit our Grade Level Index.