Born on this day 26th February
1802 Victor Hugo
1829 Levi Strauss
1846 William Cody Buffalo Bill
1907 Harry Gold
1925 Sir Everton Weekes
1928 Fats Domino
1932 Johnnie Cash
1947 Sandie Shaw
1953 Michael Bolton

Died on this day
1990 Sherman Garnes
1990 Roy Eldridge
2002 Lawrence Tierney

Music

1965 The Rolling Stones released ‘The Last Time’ in the UK.

1972 Joe Tex’s ‘I Gotcha’ entered the US singles chart- his first top hit for 40 years.

1976 Lead singer Bryan Ferry announced a trial separation from Roxy Music.

Sport

1992 Scottish snooker player Stephen Hendry beat Gary Wilkinson by 5 frames to 1 in the sixth round of the British Open at Derby to secure enough ranking points to retain his position as world number 1.

1995 The mountaineering Council for Scotland warned people not to set foot on the hills in winter without crampons and an ice axe, and the knowledge of how to use them.

People & Showbiz

1987 Michael Checkland was appointed Director- General of the BBC.

1988 Over 20 plates painted by celebrities including Rowan Atkinson and Lenny Henry went on sale at Christie’s to raise money for Comic Relief, with the highest price of £200 being paid for a design by cartoonist Gerald Scarfe.

1994 Dancer Wayne Sleep announced that he was to appear with the English National Ballet in his first touring role in a classical ballet since he left the Royal Ballet in 1983.

General Events

1797 The Bank of England issued its first One Pound Note.

1990 The town of Clwyd was evacuated after huge waves during gale-force winds breached the sea wall and flooded most of the town.

1991 Kuwait City was liberated by Allied forces and local resistance fighters, but President Bush pledged to fight the Gulf War until all Iraqi soldiers laid down their arms. The British 1st Armored Division had destroyed about 40 Iraqi tanks and taken more than 1,500 prisoners of war.

1991 Jimmy Knapp, the general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union said that industrial action could result from a suggestion by London Underground that passengers should be expected to deputize for guards in the event of a fire.

1993 The Health Secretary Virginia Bottomley pledged to reduce the number of smokers to less than 20% of the population, but ruled out a statutory ban.

1994 It was reported that 60% of school pupils in Australia were to learn Asian languages in an attempt to encourage regional integration.

1997 The Agriculture Minister petitioned Brussels for a step-by-step lifting of the beef export ban.