April 26

Mamluk forces under Sultan Qalawun capture the Crusader stronghold of Tripoli after a lengthy siege.

Mamluk forces under Sultan Qalawun captured the wealthy Crusader port city of Tripoli after a determined siege, massacring many inhabitants and effectively ending nearly two centuries of Crusader presence in the region, with the last remaining Crusader stronghold at Acre falling just two years later.

Conspirators of the Pazzi family attack Lorenzo de' Medici during Mass in Florence, fatally wounding his brother Giuliano.

Conspirators from the rival Pazzi family, with tacit support from the papacy, attacked Lorenzo de' Medici and his brother Giuliano during Mass in Florence's cathedral, fatally wounding Giuliano while Lorenzo escaped with lesser injuries. The failed coup attempt, known as the Pazzi Conspiracy, led to brutal reprisals against the plotters and further cemented Medici control over Florence.

Thousands of meteorite fragments fall near L'Aigle, France, providing definitive proof to skeptical scientists that meteorites originate in space.

Thousands of stony meteorite fragments rained down on the town of L'Aigle in Normandy, France, an event investigated by physicist Jean-Baptiste Biot, whose detailed scientific report finally convinced a skeptical European scientific establishment that rocks could indeed fall from space, a claim previously dismissed as folklore.

Union cavalry track down and kill John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, in Virginia.

Union cavalry cornered John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, in a Virginia tobacco barn nearly two weeks after the shooting, and Booth was fatally shot after refusing to surrender, either by a soldier's bullet or possibly by his own hand, ending the manhunt that had gripped the nation.

Ice hockey makes its Olympic debut, with Canada defeating Sweden 12-1 in the gold medal match.

Ice hockey made its Olympic debut at the Antwerp Games, with Canada's amateur club team overwhelming Sweden 12-1 to claim the gold medal, establishing Canadian dominance in international hockey that would continue for decades. The sport's Olympic inclusion helped accelerate its growth as a major international spectator sport.

German and Italian warplanes bomb the Basque town of Guernica, Spain, during the Spanish Civil War, an atrocity later immortalized in Picasso's painting.

German and Italian warplanes supporting Francisco Franco's Nationalist forces bombed the Basque town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War, killing an unknown but substantial number of civilians in an attack widely condemned as a deliberate test of terror bombing tactics. The atrocity was immortalized in Pablo Picasso's famous anti-war mural of the same name.

A reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Soviet Ukraine explodes, causing the worst nuclear disaster in history.

A reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Soviet Ukraine exploded during a botched safety test, releasing massive amounts of radioactive material across the surrounding region and much of Europe in the worst nuclear disaster in history. The catastrophe forced the permanent evacuation of the nearby city of Pripyat and left a lasting exclusion zone.

A devastating tornado strikes central Bangladesh, killing over 1,300 people in one of the deadliest tornadoes ever recorded.

A devastating tornado tore through densely populated areas of central Bangladesh, including the city of Manikganj, killing more than 1,300 people and injuring tens of thousands more, making it among the deadliest tornadoes ever recorded anywhere in the world, a toll reflecting the region's high population density and vulnerable housing.

China Airlines Flight 140 crashes while landing at Nagoya Airport in Japan, killing 264 of the 271 people aboard.

China Airlines Flight 140, an Airbus A300, crashed while attempting to land at Nagoya Airport in Japan after a pilot's conflicting inputs with the plane's autopilot system led to a stall, killing 264 of the 271 people aboard. The disaster prompted significant changes in pilot training regarding automation and manual override procedures.

Syria completes the withdrawal of its military forces from Lebanon after nearly three decades of occupation.

Syria completed the withdrawal of its military forces from Lebanon, ending nearly three decades of occupation and significant political influence over its smaller neighbor, a withdrawal driven by intense international pressure and mass protests following the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri weeks earlier.