26 January 1840

A Sikorsky S-76 helicopter crashed in Calabasas, California, killing all nine people on board, including former basketball player Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna.

A jet fighter crashed at Los Llanos Air Base in Albacete, Spain, killing 11 people and injuring 21 others.

Rioting broke out in Antananarivo, Madagascar, sparking a political crisis that led to the deposal of President Marc Ravalomanana.

An earthquake in the Indian state of Gujarat killed at least 20,000 people, injured 167,000 others and destroyed nearly 400,000 homes.

In a nationally televised press conference, U.S. president Bill Clinton denied having "sexual relations" with intern Monica Lewinsky.

Turkish Airlines Flight 301 crashed while taking off from İzmir Adnan Menderes Airport, killing 67 people.

JAT Flight 367 exploded in mid-air over Czechoslovakia; the only survivor of the 28 on board, flight attendant Vesna Vulović, fell 10,160 m (33,330 ft), setting the record for surviving the highest fall without a parachute.

The three Beaumont children disappeared from a beach in Glenelg, South Australia, resulting in one of the country's largest-ever police investigations.

Spontaneous anti-British riots erupted in Cairo following the killings of 50 Egyptian auxiliary police officers the previous day.

Indian independence movement: India became a republic under a new constitution, with Rajendra Prasad as president and Jawaharlal Nehru as prime minister.

The Hale Telescope at Palomar Observatory in California, the largest aperture optical telescope in the world for 28 years, saw first light.

Audie Murphy engaged in action at the Colmar Pocket that won him a Medal of Honor and made him one of the most famous and decorated U.S. soldiers of World War II.

Hurtig & Seamon's New Burlesque Theater in New York City reopened as the Apollo Theater, becoming one of the nation's premier venues for African-American performers.

Oliver Hutchinson (pictured) appeared on television in inventor John Logie Baird's first successful demonstration of using the technology to show humans.

A group of Red Guards hung a red lantern atop the tower of the Helsinki Workers' House, symbolically marking the start of the Finnish Civil War.

The 3,106-carat (621 g) Cullinan Diamond (pictured), the largest gem-quality rough diamond ever found, was discovered at the Premier Mine in Gauteng, South Africa.

Mahdist War: The siege of Khartoum ended as Mahdist forces defeated the Egyptian garrison and captured the city.

Commodore Gordon Bremer took formal possession of Hong Kong Island for the United Kingdom at Possession Point.

William Bligh, the governor of New South Wales, was deposed in the only military coup in Australian history.

Captain Arthur Phillip and the British First Fleet landed at Sydney Cove on the shore of Port Jackson, establishing the first permanent European settlement in Australia.

An earthquake with a moment magnitude of around 9.0 occurred off the Pacific Northwest coast of North America, as evidenced by Japanese records of tsunamis.

Livonian War: A Lithuanian surprise attack resulted in a decisive defeat of numerically superior Russian forces.

Ali, the fourth Rashidun caliph, was assassinated (depicted) by Ibn Muljim, leading to the end of the caliphate.

Protesters and farmers storm the Red Fort near Delhi, clashing with police. One protester is killed and more than 80 police officers are injured.