November 26 in history — What Happened Today in History

The 7.5 Mw Ambrym earthquake shakes Vanuatu and a destructive tsunami follows. Ten people were killed and forty were injured.

Tony Blair becomes the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to address the Oireachtas, the parliament of the Republic of Ireland.

The Khanna rail disaster takes 212 lives in Khanna, Ludhiana, India.

National Assembly of Azerbaijan abolishes the autonomous status of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast of Azerbaijan and renames several cities with Azeri names.

Iran–Contra affair: U.S. President Ronald Reagan announces the members of what will become known as the Tower Commission.

The trial of John Demjanjuk, accused of committing war crimes as a guard at the Nazi Treblinka extermination camp, starts in Jerusalem.

Brink's-Mat robbery: In London, 6,800 gold bars worth nearly £26 million are stolen from the Brink's-Mat vault at Heathrow Airport.

Pakistan International Airlines Flight 740 crashes near Taif in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, killing all 156 people on board.

An unidentified hijacker named Vrillon, claiming to be the representative of the "Ashtar Galactic Command", takes over Britain's Southern Television for six minutes, starting at 5:12 pm.

In Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe, 38 millimetres (1.5 in) of rain fall in a minute, the heaviest rainfall ever recorded.

Vietnam War: United States Air Force helicopter pilot James P. Fleming rescues an Army Special Forces unit pinned down by Viet Cong fire. He is later awarded the Medal of Honor.

France launches Astérix, becoming the third nation to put an object in orbit using its own booster.

Korean War: Communist Chinese troops launch a massive counterattack (Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River and Battle of Chosin Reservoir) against United Nations and South Korean forces.

The Constituent Assembly of India adopts the constitution presented by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar.

World War II: A German V-2 rocket hits a Woolworth's shop in New Cross, London, killing 168 people.

World War II: Germany begins V-1 and V-2 attacks on Antwerp, Belgium.

World War II: HMT Rohna is sunk by the Luftwaffe in an air attack in the Mediterranean north of Béjaïa, Algeria.

World War II: Yugoslav Partisans convene the first meeting of the Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia at Bihać in northwestern Bosnia.

Casablanca, the movie starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, premieres in New York City.

A riot involving infantrymen, military police, and local law enforcement officers occurs in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, leading to three deaths.

World War II: The Hull note is given to the Japanese ambassador, demanding that Japan withdraw from China and French Indochina, in return for which the United States would lift economic sanctions. On the same day, Japan's 1st Air Fleet departs Hitokappu Bay for Hawaii.

Shelling of Mainila: The Soviet Army orchestrates an incident which is used to justify the start of the Winter War with Finland four days later.

The Mongolian People's Republic is officially established after a new constitution, passed by the first State Great Khural, abolishes the monarchy.

Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon become the first people to enter the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun in over 3,000 years.

The Toll of the Sea debuts as the first general release film to use two-tone Technicolor. (The Gulf Between was the first film to do so, but it was not widely distributed.)

Ukrainian War of Independence: The Red Army launches a surprise attack against the Makhnovshchina.

The Montenegrin Podgorica Assembly votes for a "union of the people", declaring assimilation into the Kingdom of Serbia.

The Manchester Guardian publishes the 1916 secret Sykes-Picot Agreement between the United Kingdom and France.

Louane, French singer and actress

Marc Roca, Spanish footballer

James Guy, English swimmer

Anuel AA, Puerto Rican rapper and singer

Manolo Gabbiadini, Italian footballer

Corey Knebel, American baseball player

Avery Bradley, American basketball player

Chip, English rapper

Gabriel Paulista, Brazilian footballer

Rita Ora, Kosovan-English singer-songwriter and actress

Danny Welbeck, English footballer

Angeline Quinto, Filipina singer and actress

Junior Stanislas, English footballer

Saul Leiter, American photographer and painter (born 1923)

Tony Musante, American actor and screenwriter (born 1936)

Celso Advento Castillo, Filipino actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1943)

Peter Marsh, Australian table tennis player (born 1948)

Joseph Murray, American surgeon and soldier, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1919)

M. C. Nambudiripad, Indian author and translator (born 1919)

Manon Cleary, American painter and academic (born 1942)

Leroy Drumm, American songwriter (born 1936)

Silvestre S. Herrera, Mexican-American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1917)

Mel Tolkin, Russian-Canadian screenwriter and producer (born 1913)

Herb McKenley, Jamaican sprinter (born 1922)

Mário Cesariny de Vasconcelos, Portuguese painter and poet (born 1923)

Dave Cockrum, American author and illustrator (born 1943)