Men Who Made History Today (26th May)

1328        May 26, William of Ockham was forced to flee from Avignon by Pope John XXII.

1906        May 26, Pres. Theodore Roosevelt approved the US Congress chartered the Archaeological Institute of America.

1924        May 26, President Coolidge signed an Immigration-restriction law based on eugenic principles.

1933        May 26, Jimmie Rodgers (b.1897), American country singer known most widely for his rhythmic yodeling, died of tuberculosis in NYC.

1992        May 26, President Bush and Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton won primaries in Kentucky, Arkansas and Idaho.

1997        May 26, President Clinton left for Paris to sign a new agreement between NATO and Russia.

1998        May 26, In Russia Pres. Yeltsin signed an accord with King Harold V of Norway for the dismantling and disposal of 90 nuclear submarines decaying in the Barents Sea. Russia expected Norway to provide $30 million for the project, which was expected to cost billions and take over a decade.

2000        May 26, In Fiji Pres. Mara fired the elected government and said he would probably grant immunity to coup leaders.

2003        May 26, Thomas R. Odhiambo (72), the Kenyan scientist who founded an int’l insect research center renowned for giving African farmers low-cost solutions for pest control, died.  He founded the African Academy of Sciences in 1985.

2006        May 26, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez moved to expand his oil-rich country’s influence in Bolivia with a set of accords to secure Venezuela’s role in the impoverished Andean nation’s recently nationalized energy industry.

2011        May 26, South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir called on north Sudan to withdraw its forces from the disputed Abyei region. He also said there would be no war over the incursion and it would not derail independence.

2013        May 26, Myanmar’s Pres. Thein Sein welcomed Japan’s PM Shinzo Abe to Naypyidaw. Abe became the first Japanese PM to visit Myanmar since 1977. He cancelled $1.8 billion of debt and promised another $500 million in aid loans.

2014        May 26, French President Francois Hollande said his Socialist government won’t resign and will press forward with tax cuts and other reforms despite a record victory for the far right in European parliament elections.