May 26
- Day of ArafahIslamic
The Day of Arafah, the central day of the Hajj, when pilgrims gather on the plain of Arafat.
Follows the lunar Hijri calendar; the observed date can vary by a day with the moon sighting.
- 1948 CEJewish · founded
David Ben-Gurion issued the ordinance formally establishing the Israel Defense Forces, unifying the pre-state militias of the Yishuv.
- 735 CEChristian · died
The English monk and scholar Bede, author of the 'Ecclesiastical History of the English People,' died at Jarrow.
- 1954 CEEgyptian · discovered
Egyptian archaeologist Kamal el-Mallakh opened a sealed pit beside the Great Pyramid and found the dismantled cedar solar boat of Khufu, intact for some 4,500 years.
- 1667 CEScience · born
Abraham de Moivre was born in Vitry-le-François, France. His work on probability, the normal curve, and the theorem linking trigonometry to complex numbers shaped later mathematics.
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