Holidays Calendar for October 26, 2017

October 26 is National Day in Austria. This holiday was created to commemorate the anniversary of the 1955 Declaration of Neutrality.

The Republic of Nauru annually celebrates Angam Day on October 26. The name of the holiday angam in Nauran means “celebration”, “to have triumphed over all hardships” or “to have reached a set goal”.

People of Benin every year celebrate Armed Forces Day on October 26. This is a public holiday, people enjoy a day off and children don't go to school.

Mourning Day is observed in Libya every year on October 26. This is one of the most important official holidays in Libya and it was created to commemorate those people, who died during the Italian occupation of the country.

National Gospel Day is celebrated in the Cook Islands every year on October 26. This holiday celebrates the day, when Christianity was brought to the islands by a missionary John Williams in 1821.

Dr. José Gregorio Hernández Day is a Venezuelan holiday celebrated annually on October 26 to commemorate the birthday of a renowned Venezuelan physician who was beatified by the Catholic Church.

Intersex Awareness Day is an international observance designated to raise public awareness of intersex people and to highlight the problems they face every day. It's observed every year on October 26.

World Amyloidosis Day is observed annually on October 26. It was launched in 2021 to raise awareness of a rare and complex disease that is barely known by the general public and even many medical professionals.

International Mavrud Day is a wine-related holiday celebrated annually on October 26. It was created to raise awareness of one of the oldest Bulgarian grape varieties and to promote Bulgarian wines and wine tourism.

International Carignan Day is a wine-related holiday celebrated annually on the last Thursday of October. It was created to raise awareness of a grape variety that originated in Spain but is more commonly found in French wines.

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Court Staff Day is one of the official professional holidays in Tajikistan. It was established according to the Law on Holidays and is celebrated annually on October 26.

National Mule Day, also known as National Mule Appreciation Day or Mule Day USA, is observed annually on October 26. It was created to celebrate the animal that is often associated with stubbornness but is in fact very intelligent, patient, even-tempered, and hard-working.

Accession Day is an annual holiday celebrated in Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state of India. It commemorates the day when Jammu and Kashmir joined the Dominion of India.

October 26 is National Mincemeat Day. This food holiday is dedicated to a type of pie filling which is popular in English-speaking countries and has been around for centuries.

For many people in North America, fall is strongly associated with pumpkins because they are carved as jack-o’-lanterns for Halloween, and pumpkin pie is a Thanksgiving meal staple. No wonder that many Americans celebrate National Pumpkin Day. Although unofficial, it is quite popular throughout the United States.

Fans of Southern cuisine observe National Chicken-Fried Steak Day on October 26. This food holiday was created to celebrate a breaded cutlet dish that isn’t actually made with chicken; the word “chicken” in the name refers to the cooking technique.


This Day in History

  • 2014 Britain withdrew its forces from Afghanistan after the end of Operation Herrick. The operation stated on June 20, 2002, lasting 12 years, 4 months and 7 days.
  • 2010 Died: Glen Little, American clown, serving with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus for over 20 years. He was one of four clowns given the tittle Master Clown by the Ringling organization.
  • 2007 Died: Arthur Kornberg, American biochemist, remembered for discovery of the mechanisms in the biological synthesis of DNA. This work brought him the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1959.
  • 2002 The Nord-Ost siege of Moscow theater ended. The Moscow special forces stormed the theater, which had been occupied by the Chechen terrorists during a musical performance three days before. During the storm 40 terrorists and 130 hostages died.
  • 1992 A newly implemented Computer Aided Dispatch system in London failed, throwing the London Ambulance Service in chaos. The ambulances delayed up to 11 hours, that may have caused up to 30 deaths.
  • 1989 Died: Charles J. Pedersen, American chemist, best known for his describing methods of synthesizing crown ethers. This work won him the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1987, that he shared with Donald J. Cram and Jean-Marie Lehn.
  • 1984 Born: Sasha Cohen, retired American figure skater. She is the 2006 Olympic silver medalist, a three-time World Championship medalist, the 2003 Grand Prix Final Champion, and the 2006 U.S. Champion.
  • 1984 Stephanie Fae Beauclair, better known as Baby Fae, became the first infant subject of a xenotransplant procedure. She received the heart of a baboon. The procedure was successful, but Fae died 21 days later of heart failure due to rejection of the transplant.
  • 1979 Died: Park Chung-hee, South Korean politician, the 3rd President of South Korea. He lead the country from March 24, 1962 till the day of this assassination.
  • 1977 The last natural case of smallpox was registered in Merca district, Somalia. This date is considered to be the anniversary of the eradication of smallpox.
  • 1973 Born: Seth MacFarlane, American voice actor, singer, director, producer, and screenwriter, primarily known for creation of animation series Family Guy, American Dad! and The Cleveland Show.
  • 1971 Born: Anthony Rapp, American actor and singer best known for originating the role of March Cohen in the Broadway musical Rent and playing Paul Stamets on Star Trek: Discovery.
  • 1967 Born: Keith Urban, New Zealand-born Australian singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is well-known in New Zealand, Australia and the USA thanks to participation in American Idol in 2012. In 2006 he married Nicole Kidman.
  • 1965 Died: Sylvia Likens, American murder victim. She was tortured to death by Gertrude Baniszewski, her children and other young people from their neighborhood. Her death shook whole America and it became the subject of numerous fictional and non-fictional adaptations.
  • 1963 Born: Tom Cavanagh, Canadian actor and director. He is probably best known for portraying Eobard Thawne / Reverse-Flash and the various versions of Harrison Wells in the Arrowverse.
  • 1962 Born: Cary Elwes, English Actor. He is known for his roles as Westley in The Princess Bride, Robin Hood in Robin Hood: Men in Tights, and Dr. Lawrence Gordon in the Saw film series.
  • 1961 Born: Dylan McDermott, American actor. He is best known for playing Bobby Donnell on the legal drama series The Practice, which earned him a Golden Globe Award.
  • 1959 Born: Evo Morales, Bolivian politician, the 80th President of Bolivia. Morales is the first president of the country to come from the indigenous population.
  • 1958 Pan American Airways made the first commercial flight of the Boeing 707 from New York City to France, Paris.
  • 1957 Died: Gerty Cori, American biochemist, the third woman and first American woman to win a Nobel Prize. She received the prize for the discovery of the mechanism of breaking glycogen in muscle tissue into lactic acid and its further resynthesis.
  • 1956 Born: Rita Wilson, American actress, singer and producer. She appeared in films Sleepless in Seattle, Jingle All the Way, Runaway Bride, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, but didn't manage to raise to prominence.
  • 1952 Died: Hattie McDaniel, American actress and singer, best known for the role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind. This role brought her the Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actress, making her the first African American to win an Academy Award.
  • 1947 Born: Hillary Rodham Clinton, American lawyer and politician, wife of President Bill Clinton, the 44th First Lady of the United States.
  • 1945 Born: Pat Conroy, American author, best known for his novels The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini, that were made into Oscar-nominated films.
  • 1930 Died: Waldemar Haffkine, Russian-Swiss physician and microbiologist, renowned for his vaccines against cholera and bubonic plague. He developed and tested his vaccines on himself and only later used them to treat people.
  • 1917 Italy suffered a catastrophic defeat to the forces of Austro-Hungarian Empire and Germany. Then unknown young Oberleutnant Erwin Rommel captured Mount Matajur with only 100 Germans against a force of over 7000 Italians.
  • 1916 Born: François Mitterrand, French politician, the 21st President of France, serving from 1981 till 1995, becoming the longest-serving President of France.
  • 1890 Died: Carlo Collodi, Italian writer, known for his children's stories, including the world-renowned fairy tale novel The Adventures of Pinocchio.
  • 1869 Born: Washington Luís, Brazilian politician, the 13th (and the last) President of the First Brazilian Republic. He was deposed by military coup in 1930 and a provisional government junta took power in Brazil.
  • 1863 The world's oldest football association, the Football Association was formed in London.
  • 1860 Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italian general and politician, conqueror of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, gave it to King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy.
  • 1794 Born: Konstantin Thon, Russian architect during the reign of Nicholas I. He is best known for his works, including the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow.
  • 1689 General Piccolomini of Austria burned down Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, to prevent the spread of cholera. He died of cholera himself soon after.
  • 1491 Born: Zhengde, Emperor of China. His reign lasted from June 19, 1505 to April 20, 1521. His reign was full of reckless, foolish and pointless actions.
  • 1440 Died: Gilles de Rais, French knight, companion-in-arms of Joan of Arc and the inspiration for the fairytale Bluebeard by Charles Perrault.