Today in History: Feb. 26

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747 BC – Epoch (origin) of Ptolemy's Nabonassar Era. 364 – Valentinian I is proclaimed Roman emperor. 1233 – Mongol–Jin War: The Mongols capture Kaifeng, the capital of the Jin dynasty, after besieging it for months. 1266 – Battle of Benevento: An army led by Charles, Count of Anjou, defeats a combined German and Sicilian force led by Manfred, King of Sicily. Manfred is killed in the battle and Pope Clement IV invests Charles as king of Sicily and Naples. 1616 – Galileo Galilei is formally banned by the Roman Catholic Church from teaching or defending the view that the earth orbits the sun. 1794 – The first Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen burns down. 1815 – Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from Elba. 1876 – Japan and Korea sign a treaty granting Japanese citizens extraterritoriality rights, opening three ports to Japanese trade, and ending Korea's status as a tributary state of Qing dynasty China. 1909 – Kinemacolor, the first successful color motion picture process, is first shown to the general public at the Palace Theatre in London. 1914 – HMHS Britannic, sister to the RMS Titanic, is launched at Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast. 1919 – President Woodrow Wilson signs an act of Congress establishing the Grand Canyon National Park. 1929 – President Calvin Coolidge signs an executive order establishing the 96,000 acre Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. 1935 – Adolf Hitler orders the Luftwaffe to be re-formed, violating the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles. 1935 – Robert Watson-Watt carries out a demonstration near Daventry which leads directly to the development of radar in the United Kingdom. 1936 – In the February 26 Incident, young Japanese military officers attempt to stage a coup against the government. 1952 – Vincent Massey is sworn in as the first Canadian-born Governor General of Canada. 1960 – A New York-bound Alitalia airliner crashes into a cemetery in Shannon, Ireland, shortly after takeoff, killing 34 of the 52 persons on board. 1966 – Apollo program: Launch of AS-201, the first flight of the Saturn IB rocket 1971 – U.N. Secretary-General U Thant signs United Nations proclamation of the vernal equinox as Earth Day. 1979 – The Superliner railcar enters revenue service with Amtrak. 1980 – Egypt and Israel establish full diplomatic relations. 1987 – Iran–Contra affair: The Tower Commission rebukes President Ronald Reagan for not controlling his national security staff. 1992 – Nagorno-Karabakh War: Khojaly Massacre: Armenian armed forces open fire on Azeri civilians at a military post outside the town of Khojaly leaving hundreds dead. 1993 – 1993 World Trade Center bombing: In New York City, a truck bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center explodes, killing six and injuring over a thousand. 1995 – The UK's oldest investment banking institute, Barings Bank, collapses after a rogue securities broker Nick Leeson loses $1.4 billion by speculating on the Singapore International Monetary Exchange using futures contracts. 1996 – Keddies, the Southend-on-Sea department store closes it doors after 104 years of trading. 2008 – The New York Philharmonic performs in Pyongyang, North Korea; this is the first event of its kind to take place in North Korea. 2012 – A train derails in Burlington, Ontario, Canada killing at least three people and injuring 45. 2013 – A hot air balloon crashes near Luxor, Egypt, killing 19 people.