Today in History: August 26, De Gaulle leads victory march through Paris

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Today is Wednesday, Aug. 26, the 238th day of 2026. There are 127 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Aug. 26, 1944, French Gen. Charles de Gaulle braved the threat of German snipers as he led a victory march in Paris, which had just been liberated by the Allies from Nazi occupation.

Also on this date:

In 1939, the first televised Major League Baseball games were broadcast on experimental station W2XBS: a doubleheader between the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field. The Reds won the first game, 5-2, and the Dodgers the second, 6-1.

In 1958, Alaskans went to the polls to overwhelmingly vote in favor of statehood.

In 1968, the Democratic National Convention opened in Chicago; the four-day event that resulted in the nomination of Hubert H. Humphrey for president was marked by a bloody police crackdown on anti-war protesters in the streets.

In 1972, the Summer Olympics opened in Munich, West Germany.

In 1978, Cardinal Albino Luciani (al-BEE’-noh loo-CHYAH’-nee) of Venice was elected pope following the death of Paul VI. The new pontiff, who took the name Pope John Paul I, died just over a month later.

In 1980, the FBI inadvertently detonated a bomb planted at Harvey’s Resort Hotel in Stateline, Nevada, while attempting to disarm it. (The hotel had been evacuated and no injuries were reported, but the blast caused significant damage.)

In 1985, 13-year-old AIDS patient Ryan White began attending classes at Western Middle School in Kokomo, Indiana, via a telephone hook-up at his home; school officials had barred White from attending classes in person due to his illness.

In 2009, kidnapping victim Jaycee Dugard was discovered alive in California after being missing for more than 18 years.

In 2021, two suicide bombers and gunmen attacked crowds of Afghans flocking to Kabul’s airport, transforming a scene of desperation into one of horror in the waning days of an airlift for those fleeing the Taliban takeover of the country. The attacks killed at least 60 Afghans and 13 U.S. troops.

Today’s Birthdays: Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge is 81. R&B singer Valerie Simpson (Ashford & Simpson) is 80. Broadcast journalist Bill Whitaker is 75. Puzzle creator/editor Will Shortz is 74. Jazz musician Branford Marsalis is 66. Actor-singer Shirley Manson (Garbage) is 60. Actor Melissa McCarthy is 56. Latin pop singer Thalia is 55. Actor Macaulay Culkin is 46. Actor Chris Pine is 46. Comedian/actor/writer John Mulaney is 44. Country musician Brian Kelley (Florida Georgia Line) is 41. NBA guard James Harden is 37. Actor Dylan O’Brien is 35. Actor Keke Palmer is 33. Actor Charlie Gillespie is 28.