26 October 1786

Rockstar Games released Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, considered one of the best video games ever made, in North America.

President George W. Bush signed the Patriot Act into law, significantly expanding the authority of United States law enforcement agencies.

Following protests against military leader Robert Guéï, Laurent Gbagbo (pictured) became the president of Ivory Coast.

Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty, settling relations between the two countries and pledging that neither would allow its territory to become a staging ground for military strikes by a third country.

Somali hospital cook Ali Maow Maalin began displaying symptoms of smallpox, becoming the last person known to be naturally infected by the disease.

Ngô Đình Diệm proclaimed himself president of the newly created Republic of Vietnam after defeating former emperor Bảo Đại in a fraudulent referendum supervised by his brother Ngô Đình Nhu.

The Chicago Theatre (pictured), the oldest surviving grand movie palace, opened.

The Illinois Memorial, honoring Union army soldiers from Illinois who fought at the Siege of Vicksburg, was dedicated at Vicksburg National Military Park.

The Saint Petersburg Soviet held its first meeting, becoming the first elected body in Russia to represent workers.

A group of Russian explorers led by Baron von Toll left their camp on Bennett Island and disappeared without a trace.

Ida B. Wells (pictured) began publishing her research on lynching in the United States, for which she was posthumously awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 2020.

Liberian president Edward James Roye was overthrown in modern Africa's first coup d'état.

The Football Association, world's first governing body of association football, was founded in London.

War of 1812: British forces and Mohawk allies under Charles de Salaberry repulsed an American attempt to invade Canada.

Imjin War: Thirteen Korean ships commanded by Admiral Yi Sun-sin defeated a far larger Japanese invading fleet at the Battle of Myeongnyang in the Myeongnyang Strait.

Charles V was crowned as Holy Roman Emperor.

The Byzantine army proclaimed chief minister John VI Kantakouzenos as emperor, triggering a civil war between his supporters and those of John V Palaiologos, the heir to the throne.

A 7.5 magnitude earthquake strikes in the Hindu Kush mountain range in South Asia, killing 399 people and leaving 2,536 people injured.

Microsoft made a public release of Windows 8 and made it available on new PCs.

Rockstar Games releases Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for the PlayStation 2 in North America, which sold 12 million units for the PS2, becoming the console's best-selling video game.

The Cedar Fire, the third-largest wildfire in California history, kills 15 people, consumes 250,000 acres (1,000 km2), and destroys 2,200 homes around San Diego.

Approximately 50 Chechen terrorists and 150 hostages die when Russian special forces troops storm a theater building in Moscow, which had been occupied by the terrorists during a musical performance three days before.

The United States passes the USA PATRIOT Act into law.

A wave of protests forces Robert Guéï to step down as president after the Ivorian presidential election.