March 26 is the 85th day of the year (86th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 280 days remaining until the end of the year.

• 590 – Maurice proclaims his son Theodosius co–emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
• 1027 – Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor is crowned.
• 1169 – Saladin becomes Emir of Egypt.
• 1344 – The Siege of Algeciras, one of the first European military engagements where gunpowder was used, comes to an end.
• 1351 – Combat of the Thirty: 30 Breton knights call out and defeat 30 English knights
• 1511 – An earthquake on the Balkan peninsula and Italy kills 6,000 people.
• 1552 – Guru Amar Das becomes the third Sikh Guru.
• 1636 – Utrecht University is founded in the Netherlands.
• 1808 – Charles IV of Spain abdicates in favour of his son, Ferdinand VII.
• 1812 – Caracas, Venezuela, is destroyed in an earthquake, killing 12,000 people.
• 1830 – The Book of Mormon is published in Palmyra, New York.
• 1839 – The first Henley Royal Regatta is held.
• 1866 – Carol I becomes Prince of Romania.
• 1872 – An earthquake kills 27 people in Lone Pine, California.
• 1881 – The Principality of Romania declares itself a Kingdom.
• 1885 – The Metis people of the District of Saskatchewan under Louis Riel begin the North–West Rebellion against Canada.
• 1898 – Kruger National Park is founded in South Africa.

• 1913 – Gas explosions occur after the floods in Dayton, Ohio.
• 1917 – World War I: The Battle of Gaza takes place.
• 1931 – SwissAir is founded.
• 1934 – The Driving Test is introduced in the United Kingdom.
• 1939 – Spanish Civil War: Nationalists under Francisco Franco begin their final offensive of the war.
• 1942 – The first female prisoners arrive at Auschwitz.
• 1945 – The US declares Iwo Jima secure.
• 1958 – The United States Army launches Explorer 3.
• 1971 – East Pakistan declares independence under the name of Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Liberation War begins.
• 1973 – The Young and The Restless airs for the first time.
• 1974 – In Caracas, Venezuela, George Foreman wins the Heavyweight Boxing title against Ken Norton.
• 1975 – The Biological Weapons Convention comes into force.
• 1976 – Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom sends the first royal email.
• 1979 – Anwar Sadat, Menachem Begin, and Jimmy Carter sign the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty in Washington, DC.
• 1980 – Arianespace, European space organization, is founded.
• 1982 – The foundation stone is laid for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC.
• 1991 – The Mercosur Common Market is founded by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
• 1995 – The Schengen Treaty comes into effect.
• 1997 – Members of the Heaven's Gate cult commit suicide.
• 1998 – Oued Bouaicha massacre in Algeria: 52 people, including 32 children under the age of two, are murdered with knives and axes.
• 1999 – The Melissa worm infects Microsoft Word Processing and email systems.
• 1999 – A jury in Michigan finds Jack Kevorkian guilty of second–degree murder for administering a lethal injection to a terminally ill man.
• 2000 – Vladimir Putin is elected President of Russia.
• 2000 – Greece joins the Schengen Treaty.

• 2006 – Burma's military junta moves its seat, capital city, from Rangoon to Naypyidaw in the Mandalay Division.
• 2006 – Smoking is banned in all public places in Scotland.
• 2009 – In New York City, the Freedom Tower, still under construction, is renamed One World Trade Center.
• 2010 – The South Korean warship ROKS Cheonan sinks, killing 46 seamen. It is believed that a North Korean torpedo was responsible.
• 2015 – King Richard III of England is reburied at Leicester Cathedral. His remains had been found in a car park in the city in 2012.
• 2015 – Germanwings Flight 9525: It is revealed that the plane's co–pilot Andreas Lubitz deliberately crashed it two days earlier, in the French Alps.

• 603 – Pacal II, Mayan ruler (d. 683)
• 1031 – King Malcolm III of Scotland (d. 1093)
• 1516 – Conrad Gessner, Swiss naturalist (d. 1565)
• 1554 – Charles of Lorraine, Duke of Mayenne, French military leader (d. 1611)
• 1634 – Domenico Freschi, Italian composer (d. 1710)
• 1687 – Sophia Dorothea of Hanover (d. 1757)
• 1698 – Prokop Divis, Czech theologian and natural scientist (d. 1765)
• 1740 – Jonathan Trumbull, Jr., Governor of Connecticut (d. 1809)
• 1749 – William Blount, American politician (d. 1800)
• 1753 – Benjamin Thompson, American physicist and inventor (d. 1814)
• 1773 – Nathaniel Bowditch, American mathematician and navigator (d. 1838)
• 1784 – John W. Taylor, American politician (d. 1854)

• 1814 – Charles Mackay, Scottish poet, journalist and writer (d. 1889)
• 1819 – Louise Otto-Peters, German writer and social activist (d. 1895)
• 1819 – Prince George, Duke of Cambridge (d. 1904)
• 1849 – Armand Peugeot, French businessman (d. 1915)
• 1854 – Maurice Lecoq, French target shooter (d. 1925)
• 1856 – William Massey, 19th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1925)
• 1858 – Luis Barros Borgono, President of Chile (d. 1943)
• 1859 – Alfred Edward Housman, English poet (d. 1936)
• 1859 – Adolf Hurwitz, German mathematician (d. 1919)
• 1860 – André Prévost, French tennis player (d. 1919)
• 1866 – Fred Karno, English theatre producer (d. 1941)
• 1868 – King Fuad I of Egypt (d. 1936)
• 1871 – Jonah Kuhio Kalaniana'ole, Hawaiian prince and politician (d. 1922)
• 1873 – Dorothea Bleek, South African–German anthropologist and philologist (d. 1948)
• 1874 – Robert Frost, American poet (d. 1963)
• 1874 – Oskar Nedbal, Bohemian composer and conductor (d. 1930)
• 1875 – Max Abraham, German physicist (d. 1922)
• 1875 – Rhee Syng-man, President of South Korea (d. 1965)
• 1876 – William, Prince of Albania (d. 1945)
• 1879 – Othmar Ammann, Swiss–American engineer (d. 1965)
• 1879 – Waldemar Tietgens, German rower (d. 1917)
• 1881 – Guccio Gucci, Italian businessman and fashion designer (d. 1953)
• 1882 – Hermann Obrecht, Swiss jurist (d. 1940)
• 1884 – Wilhelm Backhaus, German pianist (d. 1969)
• 1893 – Palmiro Togliatti, Italian Communist leader (d. 1964)
• 1893 – James Bryant Conant, American chemist, academic and diplomat (d. 1978)
• 1894 – Viorica Ursuleac, Romanian operatic soprano (d. 1985)
• 1896 – Rudolf Dassler, German sportswear executive (d. 1974)
• 1900 – Giovanni Urbani, Archbishop of Venice (d. 1969)

• 1904 – Xenophon Zolotas, Greek economist and politician (d. 2004)
• 1904 – Attilio Ferraris, Italian footballer (d. 1947)
• 1904 – Joseph Campbell, American professor and writer (d. 1987)
• 1905 – Viktor Frankl, Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist (d. 1997)
• 1907 – Leigh Harline, American movie score composer (d. 1969)
• 1908 – Franz Stangl, Nazi Concentration Camp commandant (d. 1971)
• 1911 – Bernard Katz, German biophysicist (d. 2003)
• 1911 – J. L. Austin, British philosopher (d. 1960)
• 1911 – Robert B. Crosby, Governor of Nebraska (d. 2000)
• 1911 – Tennessee Williams, American writer and playwright (d. 1983)
• 1913 – Paul Erdős, Hungarian mathematician (d. 1996)
• 1913 – Jacqueline de Romilly, French philologist, classical scholar and fiction writer (d. 2010)
• 1914 – William Westmoreland, American military commander (d. 2005)
• 1915 – Hwang Sunwon, Korean writer (d. 2000)
• 1916 – Christian B. Anfinsen, American chemist (d. 1995)
• 1916 – Harry Rabinowitz, South African–American composer and conductor (d. 2016)
• 1917 – Rufus Thomas, American blues musician (d. 2001)
• 1920 – Sergio Livingstone, Chilean footballer (d. 2012)
• 1922 – William Milliken, American politician, former Governor of Michigan (d. 2019)
• 1923 – Gert Bastian, German politician (d. 1992)
• 1923 – Bob Elliott, American actor and comedian (d. 2016)
• 1923 – Elizabeth Jane Howard, British writer (d. 2014)
• 1925 – Pierre Boulez, French composer and conductor (d. 2016)
• 1925 – James Moody, American jazz musician (d. 2010)
• 1925 – Vesta Roy, Governor of New Hampshire (d. 2002)
• 1929 – Tom Foley, American politician (d. 2013)
• 1930 – Gregory Corso, American poet (d. 2001)
• 1930 – Sandra Day O'Connor, U.S. Supreme Court Justice
• 1931 – Leonard Nimoy, American actor (d. 2015)
• 1933 – Tinto Brass, Italian movie director and screenwriter
• 1934 – Alan Arkin, American actor
• 1935 – Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian politician
• 1936 – Giora Feidman, Israeli clarinetist
• 1937 – Ahmed Qurei, Palestinian politician
• 1937 – James Lee, 26th Premier of Prince Edward Island
• 1937 – Wayne Embry, American basketball player and manager
• 1938 – Anthony James Leggett, British–American physicist
• 1940 – James Caan, American actor
• 1940 – Nancy Pelosi, American politician
• 1941 – Richard Dawkins, British evolutionary biologist
• 1942 – Erica Jong, American novelist and poet
• 1943 – Bob Woodward, American journalist
• 1943 – Mustafa Kalemli, Turkish physician and politician
• 1944 – Diana Ross, American singer (The Supremes)
• 1944 – Igor Mitoraj, Polish sculptor (d. 2014)
• 1945 – Mikhail Voronin, Soviet gymnast (d. 2004)
• 1945 – Paul Bérenger, former Prime Minister of Mauritius
• 1946 – Alain Madelin, French politician
• 1946 – Johnny Crawford, American actor, singer and musician
• 1948 – Richard Tandy, British musician
• 1948 – Steven Tyler, American singer (Aerosmith)
• 1948 – Nash the Slash, Canadian musician (d. 2014)
• 1948 – Kyung-wha Chung, South Korean violinist
• 1949 – Jon English, English–Australian singer-songwriter, musician and actor (d. 2016)
• 1949 – Patrick Süskind, German writer
• 1949 – Vicki Lawrence, American actress, comedienne and singer
• 1950 – Teddy Pendergrass, American singer-songwriter (d. 2010)
• 1950 – Martin Short, Canadian actor and screenwriter
• 1950 – Alan Silvestri, American composer

• 1951 – Carl Wieman, American physicist
• 1952 – Didier Pironi, French racing driver (d. 1987)
• 1953 – Lincoln Chafee, American politician, former Governor of Rhode Island
• 1953 – Elaine Chao, American politician
• 1953 – Tatyana Providokhina, Russian middle–distance runner
• 1956 – Charly McClain, American singer
• 1956 – Park Won-soon, South Korean lawyer and politician
• 1957 – Fiona Bruce, British politician
• 1958 – Elio de Angelis, Italian racing driver (d. 1986)
• 1960 – Marcus Allen, former American football running back, television personality, actor, and crewman
• 1960 – Jennifer Grey, American actress
• 1961 – William Hague, British politician
• 1962 – Kevin Seitzer, American baseball player
• 1962 – Yuri Gidzenko, Russian cosmonaut
• 1963 – Rich Voisine, Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist and actor
• 1964 – Ulf Samuelsson, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1964 – Todd Barry, American comedian
• 1964 – Maria Miller, British politician
• 1965 – Violeta Szekely, Romanian runner
• 1968 – Kenny Chesney, American singer
• 1968 – James Iha, American musician
• 1969 – Alessandro Moscardi, Italian rugby player
• 1971 – Martyn Day, Scottish politician
• 1972 – Leslie Mann, American actress
• 1973 – Kyung-wha Chung, South Korean violinist
• 1973 – Larry Page, American co–founder of Google
• 1974 – Christina Surer, Swiss racing driver
• 1975 – Juvenile, American rapper

• 1976 – Amy Smart, American actress
• 1976 – Alex Varas, Chilean footballer
• 1977 – Kevin Davies, English footballer
• 1977 – Bianca Kajlich, American actress
• 1979 – Nacho Novo, Spanish footballer
• 1979 – Roisin Conaty, English comedienne
• 1981 – Massimo Donati, Italian footballer
• 1982 – Mikel Arteta, Spanish footballer
• 1982 – Andreas Hinkel, German footballer
• 1983 – Roman Bednar, Czech footballer
• 1984 – Felix Neureuther, German skier
• 1985 – Keira Knightley, British actress
• 1985 – Jonathan Groff, American actor
• 1987 – Steven Fletcher, Scottish footballer
• 1987 – Yui, Japanese singer, musician and actress
• 1989 – Simon Kjaer, Danish footballer
• 1990 – Takaki Yuya, Japanese singer and actor
• 1990 – Matteo Guidicelli, Filipino actor, singer and racing driver
• 1992 – Haley Ramm, American actress
• 1992 – Nina Agdal, Danish model
• 1994 – Mayu Watanabe, Japanese actress and singer (AKB48)
• 1996 – Kathryn Bernardo, Filipina actress

• 304 – Saint Emmanuel, Christian martyr
• 752 – Pope-elect Stephen
• 922 – Al-Hallaj, Persian Sufi teacher and writer
• 1130 – King Sigurd I of Norway (b. 1090)
• 1212 – King Sancho I of Portugal (b. 1154)
• 1535 – Georg Tannstetter, Austrian mathematician, astronomer and cartographer (b. 1482)
• 1649 – John Winthrop, English lawyer and politician
• 1685 – Emperor Go-Sai of Japan (b. 1638)
• 1726 – Johan Vanbrugh, English playwright and architect (b. 1664)
• 1793 – John Mudge, English physician (b. 1721)
• 1797 – James Hutton, Scottish geologist (b. 1726)
• 1814 – Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, French physician (b. 1738)
• 1827 – Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer (b. 1770)
• 1881 – Roman Sanguszko, Polish aristocrat (b. 1800)
• 1888 – Barghash bin Said, Sultan of Zanzibar (b. 1837)
• 1892 – Walt Whitman, American poet (b. 1819)

• 1902 – Cecil Rhodes, English explorer and colonial politician (b. 1853)
• 1905 – Maurice Barrymore, American actor (b. 1849)
• 1910 – An Jung-geun, Korean general (b. 1879)
• 1910 – Auguste Charlois, French astronomer (b. 1864)
• 1923 – Sarah Bernhardt, French actress (b. 1844)
• 1926 – Konstantin Fehrenbach, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1852)
• 1929 – Katharine Lee Bates, American poet (b. 1859)
• 1933 – Eddie Lang, American jazz musician (b. 1902)
• 1940 – Spyridon Louis, Greek marathon runner (b. 1873)
• 1945 – David Lloyd George, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1863)
• 1951 – James F. Hinkle, Governor of New Mexico (b. 1864)
• 1954 – Charles Perrin, French rower (b. 1875)
• 1957 – Edouard Herriot, Prime Minister of France (b. 1872)
• 1959 – Raymond Chandler, American–born novelist (b. 1888)
• 1969 – John Kennedy Toole, American writer (b. 1937)
• 1973 – Noël Coward, British composer and playwright (b. 1899)
• 1973 – George Sisler, American baseball player (b. 1893)
• 1976 – Josef Albers, German artist (b. 1888)
• 1980 – Roland Barthes, French linguist and critic (b. 1915)
• 1983 – Anthony Blunt, English historian and spy (b. 1907)
• 1984 – Ahmed Sékou Touré, President of Guinea (b. 1922)
• 1987 – Eugen Jochum, German conductor (b. 1902)
• 1987 – Walter Abel, American poet (b. 1898)
• 1989 – Hai Zi, Chinese poet (b. 1964)
• 1993 – J. Caleb Boggs, American politician, 62nd Governor of Delaware (b. 1909)
• 1995 – Eazy-E, American rapper (b. 1963)
• 1996 – Edmund Muskie, American politician (b. 1914)
• 1996 – David Packard, American engineer and businessman (b. 1912)
• 1997 – Marshall Applewhite, American, leader of the Heaven's Gate cult (b. 1931)

• 2003 – Daniel Patrick Moynihan, American politician (b. 1927)
• 2005 – James Callaghan, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1912)
• 2006 – Nikki Sudden, British singer–songwriter (b. 1956)
• 2008 – Manuel Marulanda, Colombian guerrilla (b. 1930)
• 2011 – Paul Baran, American computer programmer (b. 1926)
• 2011 – Geraldine Ferraro, American lawyer and politician (b. 1935)
• 2011 – Diana Wynne Jones, British writer (b. 1934)
• 2013 – Jerzy Nowak, Polish actor (b. 1923)
• 2013 – Don Payne, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1964)
• 2014 – George Bookasta, American actor and director (b. 1917)
• 2014 – Dick Guidry, American businessman and politician (b. 1929)
• 2015 – Karl Moik, Austrian television presenter and singer (b. 1938)
• 2015 – John Renbourn, English guitarist (b. 1944)
• 2015 – Dinkha IV, Catholicos–Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East (b. 1935)
• 2015 – Tomas Tranströmer, Swedish poet (b. 1931)
• 2015 – Friedrich L. Bauer, German computer scientist (b. 1924)
• 2015 – Fred Robsahm, Norwegian actor (b. 1943)
• 2016 – David Baker, American jazz musician (b. 1931)
• 2016 – Norm Hadley, Canadian rugby player (b. 1964)
• 2016 – Jim Harrison, American writer and screenwriter (b. 1937)
• 2016 – Igor Pashkevich, Soviet–Russian figure skater (b. 1971)
• 2017 – Mai Dantsig, Belarusian artist (b. 1930)
• 2017 – Vladimir Kazachyonok, Russian footballer and manager (b. 1952)
• 2017 – Roger Wilkins, American civil rights activist and journalist (b. 1932)

• Independence Day in Bangladesh
• Prince Kuhio Day (Hawaii)
• Prophet Zoroaster's Birthday (Zoroastrianism)
• Day of Democracy (Mali)