August 26: Facts & Historical Events On This Day

Taylor Swift and NFL player Travis Kelce announced their engagement in a joint social media post.

The post, featuring a close-up of the ring and the caption "Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married," received 1.2 million likes within 10 minutes.

Leonardo DiCaprio’s environmental fund donated $5 million in the battle against Amazon rainforest fires that were devastating the area.

Video gamer David Katz shot two people dead, injured nine then committed suicide at an NFL 19 tournament in Jacksonville, Florida.

Hundreds of thousands of people marched peacefully through the streets of Barcelona due to a terrorist attack.

The attack happened on August 17, when a van smashed into nearby walkers. Thirteen people were killed, while over 100 were injured.

Burger King agreed to buy out the donut chain Tim Hortons for $11 billion.

Shortly after liftoff, the first US Air Force Delta III rocket failed and was blown up mid-air.

A minor explosion within the rocket knocked it off its course, so the Air Force was forced to destroy it just 75 seconds after launch. The estimated loss from the disaster was around $255 million, as the rocket was carrying a Galaxy 10 communications satellite.

Britain fitted the first-ever battery-operated heart in the first operation of its kind.

The Beatles released one of their all-time hits, “Hey Jude,” in the US.

The 7-inch single record was the first release of the Beatles' own record label, Apple Records. It was an instant hit, sitting at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for nine weeks in a row.

Charles de Gaulle marched with his entourage to Notre Dame in Paris to celebrate the city’s liberation the day before.

The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was certified, giving women the right to vote.

The first electric power from a large-scale hydroelectric plant was generated at Niagara Falls.

Construction at the site diverted the water flowing over Niagara Falls through turbines, which led to a generator that created alternating current (AC) electricity. This was a significant milestone, as AC power is able to travel over long distances, unlike the previously used direct current (DC), which has a limited range.

Four men became the first recorded climbers to complete a successful ascent of Triglav, Slovenia’s highest peak.

Michelangelo was commissioned to create his sculpture Pietà.

The Battle of Crécy occurred when the French army attacked the English army while they traversed northern France.

The English won the one-day battle, which occurred during the Hundred Years' War, where the French army commanded by King Philip VI was at war with the English, led by King Edward III, over the right to rule the Kingdom of France.