April 26th Major News Events

1984 China Ronald Reagan

1984: Ronald Reagan, has arrived in China for a six-day visit the first visit by an American president since Richard Nixon in 1972.

1989 Bangladesh Deadly Tornado Kills 1,300

1989: A deadly tornado destroys all structures in an area of 2.3 sq mi in Saturia, Bangladesh leaving 80,000 homeless and a reported death toll of 1,300 making it one of the most deadly tornadoes in modern times.

1991 Tornado Andover, Kansas

1991: A series of strong tornadoes struck parts of Kansas , with the most devastating hitting the town of Andover with wind speeds of over 260 mph. Hundreds of homes were destroyed with more than 30 twisters ripping through Kansas and 18 through Oklahoma.

1996 USA Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Auction

1996: The auction for Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis with 5000 items ranging from a presidential rocking chair to a BMW raised 34.5 million at Sothebys Auctioneers over 4 days.

1997 USA Woolworths

1997: Woolworths announces losses for the first quarter of the new fiscal year of $24 million, this followed $37 million in losses during the previous fiscal year. These losses forced the Woolworths chain to close its remaining discount stores before the end of the year ending over 130 years of history.

2000 USA Same Sex Couples Civil Unions

2000: Vermont Gov. Howard Dean signed the nation's first bill allowing same-sex couples to form civil unions.

2000 UK Illegal Immigration

2000: As new measures to curb illegal immigration are implemented at ports on the South Coast the British Home Secretary, Jack Straw on a visit to view new tougher checking witnessed nine people being caught attempting to illegally enter the UK as he inspected immigration procedures in Dover.

2002 Germany Student Shooting Rampage

2002: An expelled student (Robert Steinhäuser) went on a shooting rampage at the Johann Gutenberg Gymnasium in Erfurt, Germany, killing 13 teachers, two students and a police officer before taking his own life. Robert Steinhäuser dressed in a black ninja-style outfit moved from classroom to classroom, shooting the teachers. According to students, he ignored them and aimed only for the teachers.

2005 Syrian Troops Leave Lebanon

2005: Following pressure from the United Nations since the assassination of the Lebanese Prime minister earlier in the year. Syria has announced that all of its military forces have left Lebanon in line with United Nations demands. This ends nearly 30 years of Syrian Troops deployed in Lebanon.

2009 USA Declares Swine Flu Public Health Emergency

2009: Responding to what health officials are fearing is the beginning of a global pandemic, American health officials have declared a public health emergency from the twenty cases of swine flu have been confirmed. Other nations have imposed travel bans or made plans to quarantine air travelers if more cases are confirmed in Mexico. Top flu experts have struggled to predict how dangerous the new A (H1N1) flu strain will be as it is becoming clear that they have received too little information on the Mexico outbreak. They cannot tell whether the virus has mutating into a more lethal strain, or is weakening.

2010 Mexico Upset by Arizona Immigration Law

2010: The President of Mexico, Felipe Calderón, has condemned Arizona's new immigration law, and described it as being discriminatory. The legislation will require Arizona police to question people about their immigration status if they suspect that they are there illegally. Calderón has warned that relations with the border state would suffer as a result. He has said he that would use all means at his disposal to defend the rights of Mexican nationals.

2011 Ukraine Remembers Chernobyl Anniversary

2011: Ukraine held a memorial ceremony to remember the 25th anniversary of the world's worst nuclear accident, the explosion of the Chernobyl power plant. The Ukrainian and Russian presidents attended the ceremony at the site of the incident. The 1986 explosion and resulting radioactive gas sent across Europe made many people ill as well as causing thousands of injuries and deaths. The area is still uninhabitable by humans and there is nearly a twenty mile exclusion zone around the site.

2012 Syria Explosion in Hama Kills 70

2012: Syrian activists declared that over seventy people were killed after several houses were destroyed by a large explosion in Hama. The official state media said that only sixteen people had been killed and that the blast was in a house that had been used as a bomb factory by terrorist groups. Activists believed the explosion was a result of government shelling or a Scud missile attack.

2013 United States Singer George Jones Dies

2013: Country singer George Jones died at the age of eighty-one. Jones had several hit songs between the 1950s and 1990s and was known for being married to Tammy Wynette and struggling with drugs and alcohol.

2014 US President Obama Visits Malaysia

2014: US President Barack Obama began his visit to Malaysia, becoming the first US leader to do so since 1966. Malaysia was the third stop on the president's four-nation tour of Asia, following Japan and South Korea and preceding the Philippines. The United States had been seeking closer trade ties with the formerly hostile country in order to weaken China's influence on the region.