On This Day for April 26 - Chernobyl nuclear accident, Ma Rainey is featured, and more

This message contains graphics. If you do not see the graphics, click here to view. April 26 FEATURED BIOGRAPHY Ma Rainey READ MORE   FEATURED EVENT 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident READ MORE   Advertisement Advertisement   MORE EVENTS ON THIS DAY 2018: Amid numerous allegations of sexual assault, American comedian and actor Bill Cosby was found guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman, and he later received a sentence of 3 to 10 years in prison. 2007: Jack Valenti—the longtime president of the Motion Picture Association of America who created the film-rating system that assigns labels for audience suitability (G, PG, PG-13, R, or NC-17)—died at age 85. [Test your knowledge of film.] 1989: Actress Lucille Ball—a longtime comedy star of American television, best remembered for her classic comedy series I Love Lucy—died in Los Angeles. [ Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about actors.] 1964: With the merger of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, the United Republic of Tanzania was founded, and Julius Nyerere served as its first president. [ How much do you know about African leaders?] 1954: Kurosawa Akira's Seven Samurai was released in Japan, and it is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential films ever made. [Take our movie quiz.] 1937: During the Spanish Civil War, the Condor Legion of the German air force, supporting the Nationalists, bombed the Basque city of Guernica, an event memorialized in Pablo Picasso's painting Guernica. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about European history.] SEE ALL EVENTS ON THIS DAY ALSO BORN ON THIS DAY 121 Marcus Aurelius emperor of Rome 1963 Jet Li Chinese actor 1933 Carol Burnett American comedian and actress 1894 Rudolf Hess German Nazi leader 1889 Ludwig Wittgenstein British philosopher 1798 Eugène Delacroix French artist SEE ALL BIOS ON THIS DAY   Advertisement   FOLLOW: To unsubscribe from Britannica e-mails, click here. Encyclopædia Britannica 325 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 200 Chicago, Illinois 60654 United States © 2021 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. Privacy Policy • Help