1926, 26 May
Rebel leader Abd al-Krim, based at Targuist in the Rif mountains of Morocco, surrendered to Marshal Philip Petain, leader of the Franco-Spanish forces. The combined French, Spanish, and Moroccan forces aligned against Krim totalled 250,000. Krim commanded almost 30,000. He is to be exiled on the French island of Reunion, in the Indian Ocean.
1937, 26 May
Egypt joins the League of Nations as its 59th member.
1954, 26 May
Kamal el-Mallakh, an Antiquities Service inspector at the Great Pyramid, Giza, discovers Khufu's (Cheops) boat. It will be more than ten years before the royal barque is successfully reconstructed.
1957, 26 May
The Algerian vice-president, Ali Chekkal, is assassinated by Algerian Nationalists whilst attending the French football cup final.
1967, 26 May
Egyptian premier Gamal Abdel Nasser vows to destroy Israel if war is provoked.
1977, 26 May
Official end of the Shaba War in Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo).
1980, 26 May
Fifty-two demonstrating church leaders are arrested in South Africa.
1989, 26 May
A death sentence is handed down on 14 blacks for the murder of a black police constable who fired at demonstrators.
