TODAY in HISTORY

Today is Monday, February 26, the 57th day of 2018. There are 308 days left in the year.

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. 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. 1935 Adolf Hitler orders the Luftwaffe to be reformed, violating the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles. 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. 1971 UN 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.

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, Canada killing at least three people.

2013 A hot air balloon crashes near Luxor, Egypt, killing 19 people.