March 26

590 – Emperor Maurice proclaims his son Theodosius as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire. 1021 – The death of the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, kept secret for six weeks, is announced, along with the succession of his son, al-Zahir li-i'zaz Din Allah. 1027 – Pope John XIX crowns Conrad II as Holy Roman Emperor. 1169 – Saladin becomes the emir of Egypt. 1344 – The Siege of Algeciras, one of the first European military engagements where gunpowder was used, comes to an end. 1351 – Combat of the Thirty: Thirty Breton knights call out and defeat thirty English knights. 1484 – William Caxton prints his translation of Aesop's Fables. 1552 – Guru Amar Das becomes the Third Sikh guru. 1636 – Utrecht University is founded in the Netherlands. 1640 – The Royal Academy of Turku, the first university of Finland, is founded in the city of Turku by Queen Christina of Sweden at the proposal of Count Per Brahe. 1651 – Silver-loaded Spanish ship San José is pushed south by strong winds, subsequently it wrecks in the coast of southern Chile and its surviving crew is killed by indigenous Cuncos. 1697 – Safavid government troops take control of Basra. 1700 – William Dampier is the first European to circumnavigate New Britain, discovering it is an island (which he names Nova Britannia) rather than part of New Guinea. 1812 – An earthquake devastates Caracas, Venezuela. 1812 – A political cartoon in the Boston-Gazette coins the term "gerrymander" to describe oddly shaped electoral districts designed to help incumbents win reelection. 1830 – The Book of Mormon is published in Palmyra, New York. 1839 – The first Henley Royal Regatta is held. 1871 – The elections of Commune council of the Paris Commune are held. 1885 – The Métis people of the District of Saskatchewan under Louis Riel begin the North-West Rebellion against Canada. 1896 – An explosion at the Brunner Mine near Greymouth, New Zealand kills 65 coal miners in the country's worst industrial accident. 1913 – First Balkan War: Bulgarian forces capture Adrianople.