26 September

The European Day of Languages (EDL), a Council of Europe initiative, is held annually on the 26September to celebrate language and cultural diversity. The Day was first celebrated in 2001, theEuropean Year of Languages and involves more people every year.The general objectives of the European Day of Languages are to: Alert the public to the importance of language learning and diversifying the range of languages learntin order to increase plurilingualism and intercultural understanding;Promote the rich linguistic and cultural diversity of Europe;Encourage lifelong language learning in and out of school

Events

46 BC – Julius Caesar dedicates a temple to his mythical ancestor Venus Genetrix in accordance with a vow he made at the battle of Pharsalus.
715 – Ragenfrid defeats Theudoald at the Battle of Compiègne.
1212 – Golden Bull of Sicily is certified as an hereditary royal title in Bohemia for the Přemyslid dynasty.
1580 – Sir Francis Drake finishes his circumnavigation of the Earth.
1687 – The Parthenon in Athens is partially destroyed by an explosion caused by the bombing from Venetian forces led by Morosini who are besieging the Ottoman Turks stationed in Athens.
1687 – The city council of Amsterdam votes to support William of Orange's invasion of England, which became the Glorious Revolution.
1777 – British troops occupy Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the American Revolution.
1783 – The first battle of Shays' Rebellion begins.
1789 – Thomas Jefferson is appointed the first United States Secretary of State, John Jay is appointed the first Chief Justice of the United States, Samuel Osgood is appointed the first United States Postmaster General, and Edmund Randolph is appointed the first United States Attorney General.
1792 – Marc-David Lasource begins accusing Maximilien Robespierre of wanting a dictatorship for France.
1810 – A new Act of Succession is adopted by the Riksdag of the Estates and Jean Baptiste Bernadotte becomes heir to the Swedish throne.
1872 – The first Shriners Temple (called Mecca) is established in New York City.
1907 – New Zealand and Newfoundland each become dominions within the British Empire.
1908 – Ed Reulbach becomes the first and only pitcher to throw two shutouts in one day against the Brooklyn Dodgers.
1914 – The United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is established by the Federal Trade Commission Act.
1917 – World War I: The Battle of Polygon Wood begins.
1918 – World War I: The Meuse-Argonne Offensive, the bloodiest single battle in American history, begins.
1923 – Gustav Stresemann resumes the Weimar Republic's payment of reparations.
1934 – Steamship RMS Queen Mary is launched.
1942 – The Holocaust: August Frank, a higher official of the SS concentration camp administration department, issues a memorandum containing a great deal of operational detail in how Jews should be "evacuated".
1944 – World War II: Operation Market Garden fails.
1944 – World War II: On the central front of the Gothic Line Brazilian troops control the Serchio valley region after ten days of fighting.
1950 – United Nations troops recapture Seoul from North Korean forces.
1950 – Indonesia is admitted to the United Nations.
1954 – Japanese rail ferry Toya Maru sinks during a typhoon in the Tsugaru Strait, Japan killing 1,172.
1959 – Typhoon Vera, the strongest typhoon to hit Japan in recorded history, makes landfall, killing 4,580 people and leaving nearly 1.6 million others homeless.
1960 – In Chicago, the first televised debate takes place between presidential candidates Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy.
1960 – Fidel Castro announces Cuba's support for the U.S.S.R.
1970 – The Laguna Fire starts in San Diego County, California, burning 175,425 acres (709.92 km²).
1971 – The Freetown Christiania was founded.
1973 – Concorde makes its first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic in record-breaking time.
1981 – Baseball: Nolan Ryan sets a Major League record by throwing his fifth no-hitter.
1983 – Soviet military officer Stanislav Petrov averts a likely worldwide nuclear war by correctly identifying a report of an incoming nuclear missile as a computer error and not an American first strike.
1984 – The United Kingdom agrees to the handover of Hong Kong
1997 – A Garuda Indonesia Airbus A-300 crashes near Medan, Indonesia, airport, killing 234.
1997 – An earthquake strikes the Italian regions of Umbria and the Marche, causing part of the Basilica of St. Francis at Assisi to collapse.
2000 – Anti-globalization protests in Prague (some 20,000 protesters) turn violent during the IMF and World Bank summits.
2000 – The MS Express Samina sinks off Paros in the Agean sea killing 80 passengers.
2001 – Polish Wikipedia was started.
2002 – The overcrowded Senegalese ferry MV Joola capsizes off the coast of The Gambia killing more than 1,000.
2008 – Swiss pilot and inventor Yves Rossy becomes first person to fly a jet engine-powered wing across the English Channel.
2009 – Typhoon Ketsana (2009) hit the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand, causing 700 fatalities.

Holidays and observances

Christian Feast Days:
Cosmas and Damian
John of Meda
Nilus the Younger
September 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Day of the National Flag (Ecuador)
Dominion Day (New Zealand)
European Day of Languages (European Union)
Revolution Day (Yemen)