Friday 8th of January 1926

Murderer William Lawrence is executed by hanging at the age of 26 in Arizona State Prison Complex, 1305 E Butte Avenue, Florence, Arizona, United States.

Tuesday 12th of January 1926

Start of the second trial against 25-year-old Accomplice of serial killer Fritz Haarmann aka Der Hannover Werwolf Hans Grans in Schwürgericht, Volgersweg 65, Hannover, Niedersachsen, Germany.

Tuesday 16th of February 1926

Film and stage director John Richard Schlesinger is born in London, Hampstead, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Saturday 20th of February 1926

60-year-old Clara Newman is raped and strangled by serial killer Earle Leonard Nelson aka The Gorilla Murderer in San Francisco, California, United States.

Newman was Nelson's first victim.

Tuesday 2nd of March 1926

60-year-old Laura Ernestine Beale is strangled by serial killer Earle Leonard Nelson aka The Gorilla Murderer in San Jose, California, United States.

Saturday 6th of March 1926

Film and theatre director Andrzej Witold Wajda is born in Suwałki, Województwo Podlaskie, Poland.

Tuesday 16th of March 1926

Actor, comedian, singer and film director Jerry Lewis is born as Joseph or Jerome Levitch in Newark Beth Israel Hospital, Newark, New Jersey, United States.

Sunday 21st of March 1926

Film director André Delvaux is born in Heverlee, Vlaams-Brabant, Belgium.

Wednesday 31st of March 1926

Writer John Robert Fowles known for his novel The Collector is born in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, United Kingdom.

Monday 5th of April 1926

Film director Roger William Corman aka The Pope of Pop Cinema is born in Detroit, Michigan, United States.

Wednesday 7th of April 1926

43-year-old Leader of the Italian National Fascist Party Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini aka Il Duce is hit in the nose by a bullet fired by Violet Gibson in an attempt to kill him in Piazza del Campidoglio, Rome, Lazio, Italy.

Mussolini was wounded only slightly, dismissing his injury as "a mere trifle" and after his nose was bandaged he continued his parade on the Capitoline. It has been theorised that Gibson was insane at the time of the attack and the idea of assassinating Mussolini was hers and that she worked alone.

Friday 9th of April 1926

Adult magazine publisher Hugh Marston Hefner known for founding Playboy Magazine is born in Chicago, Illinois, United States.

Wednesday 14th of April 1926

Murderer Andries Van Niekerk is executed by hanging at the age of 34 in Pretoria Central Prison, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa.

Wednesday 14th of April 1926

Murderer Edward Markus is executed by hanging at the age of 24 in Pretoria Central Prison, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa.

Friday 16th of April 1926

Cop killer Archie Cody is executed by hanging at the age of 34 in Oregon State Penitentiary, Salem, Oregon, United States.

Wednesday 21st of April 1926

Queen of the United Kingdom Elizabeth II is born as Elizabeth Alexandra Mary in 17 Bruton Street, London, Mayfair, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Tuesday 27th of April 1926

36-year-old Serial poisoner Antoinette Scieri aka La Goule de Saint-Gilles is sentenced to life-imprisonment in Paris, Île-de-France, France.

Wednesday 26th of May 1926

Musician Miles Dewey Davis is born in Alton, Illinois, United States.

Tuesday 1st of June 1926

53-year-old Minnie May is raped and strangled by serial killer Earle Leonard Nelson aka The Gorilla Murderer in Detroit, Michigan, United States.

Tuesday 1st of June 1926

Actress Marilyn Monroe is born as Norma Jeane Mortenson in Los Angeles County Hospital, 1200 N State Street, Los Angeles, California, United States.

Thursday 3rd of June 1926

Beat poet Allen Irwin Ginsberg is born in Newark, New Jersey, United States.

Friday 4th of June 1926

The heaviest human being recorded in the history of the world Robert Earl Hughes is born in Baylis, Illinois, United States.

At the age of six Hughes weighed about 92 kilograms (200 lb); at ten he weighed 171 kilograms (380 lb). By the time of his death he weighed almost half a ton.

Monday 7th of June 1926

While taking his daily walk to the Sant Felip Neri church for his habitual prayer and confession, 74-year-old Architect Antoni Gaudí aka God's Architect is struck by a passing tram and remains unconscious in Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.

Assumed to be a beggar because of his lack of identity documents and shabby clothing, the unconscious Gaudí did not receive immediate aid. Eventually a police officer transported him in a taxi to the Santa Creu Hospital where he received rudimentary care. He died on 10 June 1926.

Thursday 10th of June 1926

63-year-old Lilian St. Mary is raped and strangled by serial killer Earle Leonard Nelson aka The Gorilla Murderer in San Francisco, California, United States.

Thursday 10th of June 1926

Architect Antoni Gaudí aka God's Architect dies of injuries suffered in a traffic accident at the age of 74 in Hospital de la Santa Creu, Barcelona, El Guinardó, Catalonia, Spain.

On 7 June 1926 Gaudí was taking his daily walk to the Sant Felip Neri church for his habitual prayer and confession. While walking along the Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes between Girona and Bailén streets he was struck by a passing tram and lost consciousness.

Saturday 19th of June 1926

Anarchist publisher and millionaire Giangiacomo Feltrinelli is born in Milano, Lombardia, Italy.

Thursday 24th of June 1926

Double murderess Louie Calvert is executed by hanging by Thomas Pierrepoint at the age of 31 in Strangeways Prison, Manchester, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom.

Thursday 24th of June 1926

58-year-old Anna Russel is raped and strangled by serial killer Earle Leonard Nelson aka The Gorilla Murderer in Santa Barbara, California, United States.

Sunday 27th of June 1926

Murderer Geza de Kaplany aka The Acid Doctor is born as Geza F. P. Kaplany de Kaplanyhaza in Makó, Csongrád Megye, Hungary.

As a child de Kaplany lost the sight in an eye during a beating by his father.

Monday 28th of June 1926

Film director, actor and comedian Mel Brooks is born as Melvin James Kaminsky in New York, Brooklyn, New York, United States.

Monday 12th of July 1926

Writer, traveller, political officer, administrator, spy and archaeologist Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell aka The Uncrowned Queen of Iraq commits suicide by an overdose of sleeping pills at the age of 58 in Baġdād, Muḥāfaẓät Baġdād, Iraq.

There is much debate on Bell's death but it is unknown whether the overdose was an intentional suicide or accidental since she had asked her maid to wake her.

Wednesday 14th of July 1926

Actor Harry Dean Stanton is born in West Irvine, Kentucky, United States.

Sunday 25th of July 1926

29-year-old Doctor and serial killer Marcel André Henri Félix Petiot aka The Triangular Chamber of Death Murderer is elected as mayor in Villeneuve-sur-Yonne, Yonne, France.

Friday 30th of July 1926

Psychic Nina Sergeyevna Kulagina is born as Ninel Mikhaylova in Leningrad, Northwestern Federal District, Russia.

Friday 13th of August 1926

15th President of Cuba Fidel Alejandro Ruz Castro is born in Birán, Holguín, Cuba.

Saturday 14th of August 1926

Film director Lina Wertmüller is born as Arcangela Felice Assunta Wertmüller von Elgg Spañol von Braueich in Rome, Lazio, Italy.

Monday 16th of August 1926

50-year-old Mary Nesbitt is raped and strangled by serial killer Earle Leonard Nelson aka The Gorilla Murderer in Oakland, California, United States.

Monday 23rd of August 1926

Actor and sex symbol Rudolph Valentino aka Latin Lover dies of pleurisy at the age of 31 in Polyclinic Hospital, 345 West 50th Street, New York City, New York, United States.

Friday 10th of September 1926

Murderer Henry Jackson is executed by hanging at the age of 44 in Moundsville State Penitentiary, 818 Jefferson Avenue, Moundsville, West Virginia, United States.

Saturday 25th of September 1926

16-year-old Gangster Bonnie Elizabeth Parker marries Roy Thornton six days before her 16th birthday in Cement City, Texas, United States.

After January 1929 their paths never crossed again. But they were never divorced and Parker was wearing Thornton's wedding ring when she died.

Saturday 9th of October 1926

Murderess Ruth Ellis is born in Rhyl, Wales, United Kingdom.

Friday 15th of October 1926

Philosopher Michel Paul Foucault is born in Poitiers, Poitou-Charentes, France.

Monday 18th of October 1926

Actor Klaus Kinski is born as Klaus Gunther Nakszynski in Zoppot, Pomorze Wschodnie, Poland.

Monday 18th of October 1926

Singer-songwriter and musician Chuck Charles Edward Anderson Berry is born in St. Louis, Missouri, United States.

Tuesday 19th of October 1926

35-year-old Beata Duhrkoop Withers is raped and strangled by serial killer Earle Leonard Nelson aka The Gorilla Murderer in Portland, Oregon, United States.

Withers' body was found stuffed beneath clothing inside a steamer trunk by her teenage son in the attic of her home.

Wednesday 20th of October 1926

59-year-old Virginia A. Grant is strangled by serial killer Earle Leonard Nelson aka The Gorilla Murderer in Portland, Oregon, United States.

Thursday 21st of October 1926

United States Air Force pilot Felix Eugene Moncla is born in Mansura, Louisiana, United States.

Thursday 21st of October 1926

37-year-old Mabel Fluke is raped and strangled by serial killer Earle Leonard Nelson aka The Gorilla Murderer in Portland, Oregon, United States.

Sunday 24th of October 1926

52-year-old Illusionist, magician and escapologist Harry Houdini aka The Handcuff King performs his last magic performance show in Garrick Theatre, Griswold Street, Detroit, Michigan, United States.

When Houdini arrived at the Garrick Theater for what would be his last performance, he had a fever of 40° C. Despite the diagnosis of acute appendicitis Houdini took the stage. He was reported to have passed out during the show but was revived and continued. After the show he was hospitalized at Detroit's Grace Hospital.

Sunday 31st of October 1926

Illusionist, magician and escapologist Harry Houdini aka The Handcuff King dies of peritonitis from a ruptured appendix at the age of 52 in Grace Hospital Room #401, Detroit, Michigan, United States.

Eyewitnesses to an incident at Houdini's dressing room in the Princess Theatre in Montreal gave rise to speculation that Houdini's death was caused by McGill University student Joselyn Gordon Whitehead who delivered a surprise attack of multiple blows to Houdini's abdomen.

Sunday 31st of October 1926

Propaganda of the Deed anarchist Anteo Zamboni is lynched by nearby Fascist squadristi after attempting to assassinate Benito Mussolini aka Il Duce at the age of 15 in Via dell'Indipendenza, Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.

The man who first detained Zamboni and identified him as the would-be assassin was cavalry officer Carlo Alberto Pasolini, father of film director Pier Paolo Pasolini.

Thursday 18th of November 1926

56-year-old Wilhelmina Edmunds is raped and strangled by serial killer Earle Leonard Nelson aka The Gorilla Murderer in San Francisco, California, United States.

Wednesday 24th of November 1926

Florence Fithian Monks is raped and strangled by serial killer Earle Leonard Nelson aka The Gorilla Murderer in Seattle, Washington, United States.

Friday 26th of November 1926

Firearms designer John Moses Browning dies of heart failure at the age of 71 in Herstal, Liège, Belgium.

Browning died while working at the bench on a self-loading pistol design.

Monday 29th of November 1926

48-year-old Blanche Myers is raped and strangled by serial killer Earle Leonard Nelson aka The Gorilla Murderer in Portland, Oregon, United States.

Sunday 5th of December 1926

Impressionist painter Claude Oscar Monet dies of lung cancer at the age of 86 in Maison Monet, 84 Rue Claude Monet, Giverny, Eure, France.

Wednesday 8th of December 1926

Historian and journalist Joachim Clemens Fest known for his biography of Adolf Hilter is born in Berlin, Karlshorst, Berlin, Germany.

Wednesday 22nd of December 1926

48-year-old Elizabeth Beard is raped and strangled by serial killer Earle Leonard Nelson aka The Gorilla Murderer in Council Bluffs, Iowa, United States.

Thursday 23rd of December 1926

Murderer Petrus Stephanus François Hauptfleisch is executed by hanging at the age of 40 in Cape Town, Cape Province, South Africa.

Hauptfleisch killed his elderly mother and burnt the body on the stove.

Monday 27th of December 1926

23-year-old Bonnie Pace is raped and strangled by serial killer Earle Leonard Nelson aka The Gorilla Murderer in Kansas City, Missouri, United States.

Tuesday 28th of December 1926

29-year-old Germania Harpin is strangled and raped by serial killer Earle Leonard Nelson aka The Gorilla Murderer in Kansas City, Missouri, United States.

Nelson also strangled Harpin's 8-month-old son Robert, his first and only murder of a male victim and of a young child.

Wednesday 29th of December 1926

Poet and writer Rainer Maria Rilke dies of leukemia at the age of 51 in Clinique de Valmont, Route de Valmont, Glion sur Montreux, Vaud, Switzerland.

Rilke suffered ulcerous sores in his mouth, pain troubled his stomach and intestines and he struggled with increasingly low spirits.