Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

May 26

1997
Taliban: The Saudi government becomes the first country to formally recognize the Taliban government of Afghanistan. Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates will follow suit, making them the only countries to officially recognize the Taliban as of September 11, 2001.

1992
Genetically-altered foods: The U.S. announces it will allow the sale of many genetically altered foods without government testing and the first genetically altered wheat is announced (by professor Indra Vasil of the Univ. of Florida).

1992
Dodge Viper: The first production models roll off the assembly line; they are capable of 165 mph.

1952
Peace contract signed by West Germany, U.S., France, and Great Britain.

1868
Pres. Andrew Johnson avoids impeachment by one vote. The Senate voted 35-19 in favor of impeachment, one vote short of the necessary two-thirds majority.

1819
First steamboat to cross the Atlantic: The Savannah leaves Georgia arriving 25 days later in Liverpool, England.

1647
Roman Catholic priests are forbidden by law from entering Massachusetts territory under Puritan jurisdiction, punishable by banishment, and by death for a second offense.

1637
First battle of the Pequot War (the first war between the settlers and Indians), near present-day New Haven, Conn.

1951
Sally Kristen Ride, American astronaut, first U.S. woman in space.

1949
Philip Michael Thomas, American actor. TV: Miami Vice (Det. Tubbs).

1949
Hank Williams Jr., American country singer.

1948
Stevie Nicks, American singer, with Fleetwood Mac. Music: Rumours (1977) and Bella Donna (1982).

1923
James Arness (James Aurness), American 6' 7" (2.01 m) tall actor. TV: Gunsmoke (Matt Dillon).

1920
Peggy Lee (Norma Engstrom), American singer, actress. Music: Somebody Else Is Taking My Place (1942, #1). Film: Pete Kelly's Blues (1955).

1919     d. 1980
Jay Silverheels (Harold J. Smith), Canadian-born Mohawk Indian, actor. TV: The Lone Ranger (Yes kemosabe, it's Tonto).

1913     d. 1994
Peter Cushing, English-born American actor. Film: Star Wars (Grand Moff Tarkin) and numerous portrayals of Baron Frankenstein and Dracula.

1911     d. 1969
Ben Alexander, American actor. TV: Dragnet (the second Frank Smith).

1907     d. 1979
John Wayne (Marion Michael Morrison), American Oscar-winning actor. Film: True Grit (1969), The Shootist (1976). His death was attributed to radiation exposure received from an A-bomb test near the filming of a movie in 1953.

1886     d. 1950
Al Jolson (Asa Yoelson), American jazz singer.

1877     d. 1927
Isadora Duncan (Dora Angela Duncan), American dancer, pioneer of interpretative dance. Her emphasis on "free dance" made her a precursor of modern dance. She died when her scarf got caught in the spokes of the automobile she was riding in and broke her neck.

1814     d. 1879
Heinrich Geissler, German inventor. He invented an electric light in 1858 - 21 years before Edison. Now known as the Geissler tube, it consisted of a gas-filled vacuum tube which would light up when electricity was applied.

1748     d. 1831
William Barton, American Revolutionary officer, famous for his capture of the British general Robert Prescott in 1777. He also designed the Great Seal of the U.S. It bore a spread eagle with the motto "E Pluribus Unum" (Out of many, one).

1623     d. 1687
William Petty, English statistician. He co-wrote the first book of statistics.

1478     d. 1534
Clement VII, Italian religious leader, 219th Pope (1523-34). He was the illegitimate son of Giuliano de Medici. Just days before his death, he commissioned Michelangelo's painting of The Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel.

2005     b. 1906
Eddie Albert (Edward Albert Heimberger), American actor. TV: Green Acres (Oliver Wendell Douglas).

2003     b. 1928
Gerald S. Hawkins, English astronomer and mathematician. He showed that Stonehenge was an ancient astronomical observatory (1963).

1995     b. circa 1900
Isadore "Friz" Freling, Oscar-Emmy winning animator. His works include Krazy Kat, Pink Panther, Sylvester and Tweety Bird, Speedy Gonzales, Yosemite Sam, and Bugs Bunny.

1994     b. 1909
George Ball, American lawyer, economist, presidential advisor. In 1961, as Pres. Kennedy's undersecretary of state, he advised that if 15,000 troops were sent to Vietnam, it would take another 300,000 to bring them back home.

1989     b. 1931
Phineas Newborn Jr., American jazz pianist.

1973     b. 1891
Jacques Lipchitz, Lithuanian-born American sculptor, one of greatest sculptures of the 20th century, known for his bronze statues of humans and animals.

1954     b. 1900
Lionel Conacher, Canadian athlete. Considered Canada's greatest all-around athlete. He excelled in: hockey (2 Stanley Cups, Hockey Hall of Fame), CFL Football (Grey Cup, Canadian Football Hall of Fame), Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame,  minor-league baseball, soccer, track, and amateur boxing champion. He was also a member of Parliament (1949-54).

1951     b. 1880
Lincoln Ellsworth, American explorer. He led the first trans-arctic flights (1926) and the first trans-antarctic flights (1935).

1939     b. 1865
Charles Horace Mayo, American surgeon. He and his brother, William James Mayo, co-founded the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (1915).

1938     b. 1857
John Jacob Abel, American physiological chemist. He was the first to produce insulin in its crystalline form, and the first to isolate (1926) the pituitary hormone.

1786     b. 1742
Karl Wilhelm Scheele, Swedish chemist, discovered oxygen, chlorine (1774), molybdenum (1778), tungsten (1781), glycerin, and was the first to observe the effect of light on silver chloride (the basis for modern photography).

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