{"id":15214,"date":"2022-06-26T08:06:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-26T06:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.historyextra.com\/?p=210462"},"modified":"2022-06-26T08:32:08","modified_gmt":"2022-06-26T06:32:08","slug":"26-june-on-this-day-in-history","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/rss_feed\/26-june-on-this-day-in-history\/","title":{"rendered":"26 June: On this day in history"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Elinor Evans\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Sunday, 26 June 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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26 June AD 363: A Persian spear fells Rome\u2019s last pagan emperor<\/h3>\n

Julian\u2019s attempt to impress troops in the east ends in disaster<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n

In the spring of 363, the Roman Emperor Julian invaded Persia. Having ruled Rome for less than two years, he felt that he needed to prove himself to the troops on the empire\u2019s eastern frontier. And what better way than by taking on their age-old enemies?<\/p>\n

On 5 March, around 60,000 Roman troops marched out of Antioch (near modern-day Antakya in Turkey), led by the emperor himself. At first everything went smoothly, and by mid-May Julian had crossed the Tigris and was outside the Persian capital, Ctesiphon.\u00a0But then things began to go wrong. Harassed almost daily by Persian attacks, Julian ordered his army to retreat north, and at a minor engagement on 26 June, the worst happened. Julian had thrown himself into the fray, wrote Ammianus Marcellinus, a historian on the emperor\u2019s military staff, \u201cwhen suddenly a cavalry spear, grazing the skin of his arm, pierced his side and fixed itself in the bottom of his liver\u201d.<\/p>\n

The wound did not at first seem serious; Julian\u2019s personal doctor washed it with wine, then tried to stitch up the organs. But the bleeding continued, and it became obvious that the emperor was failing. As he lay dying, wrote Ammianus, Julian \u201centered into an intricate discussion with the philosophers Maximus and Priscus on the sublime nature of the soul\u201d.<\/p>\n

This seems a bit unlikely. It was inevitable that the last non-Christian emperor would get short shrift from Christian writers, so Ammianus, a fellow pagan, was probably gilding the lily. \u201cAt last,\u201d the historian went on, \u201cthe swelling of his veins began to choke his breath and, having drank some cold water, which he had asked for, he expired quietly about midnight, in the 31st year of his age.\u201d | Written by Dominic Sandbrook<\/strong><\/p>\n

26 June 1409\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

In a failed bid to end the Great Schism of the western church, the Council of Pisa deposes popes Gregory XII of Rome and Benedict XIII of Avignon and elects Cardinal Peter Philarghi as pope. He assumes the title Alexander V.<\/p>\n

26 June 1541: Francis Pizarro meets a bloody end over dinner <\/strong><\/h3>\n

The ageing conquistador\u2019s brutal past finally catches up with him<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n

Francisco Pizarro died as he had lived, sword in hand. Pizarro, who had defied the odds to bring down the Incas and conquer modern-day Peru for the Spanish, was almost 70 years old. As governor of New Castile (as Peru was then named), he had spent years locked in a bitter feud with a rival conquistador, Diego de Almagro. In 1538 Pizarro had had Almagro executed. But now the latter\u2019s son \u2013 also Diego \u2013 wanted revenge.<\/p>\n

Pizarro was dining in his palace in Lima when Almagro burst in with about 20 armed supporters. Most of the old man\u2019s guests fled, but Pizarro stood his ground, reaching for his sword from where it hung on the wall. According to one account, he struck down two would-be assassins and ran a third through. While he struggled to draw out his sword, however, Almagro\u2019s men stabbed him in the throat. Lying on the palace floor, Pizarro shouted: \u201cJesus!\u201d The last thing he ever did was to draw a cross on the ground with his own blood and kiss it. The most ruthless conquistador of the age was dead.<\/p>\n

Pizarro\u2019s body was buried in Lima Cathedral, but it was not until 1977 that building workers found a lead box, bearing the inscription: \u201cHere is the head of Don Francisco Pizarro Demarkes, Don Francisco Pizarro who discovered Peru and presented it to the crown of Castile.\u201d Forensic scientists reported that the skull was broken by numerous violent blows \u2013 perhaps a fitting end for a man steeped in violence. | Written by Dominic Sandbrook<\/strong><\/p>\n

26 June 1830\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Following the death of his brother, King George IV, the 64-year-old Duke of Clarence ascended to the throne as King William IV.<\/p>\n

26 June 1912\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Mahler\u2019s Ninth Symphony was first performed at the Vienna Festival by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Bruno Walter. Mahler never heard the symphony being performed for he had died in the May of the previous year.<\/p>\n

26 June 1963\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

US president John F Kennedy proclaimed American solidarity with the citizens of West Berlin in his \u2018ich bin ein Berliner\u2019 speech, which he gave on the steps of Berlin\u2019s Rathaus Sch\u00f6neberg.<\/p>\n

Browse more\u00a0On this day in history<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n