Template:On this day - August 26

Santiago de Liniers

• 1542 – In America, the expedition of the Spanish soldier Francisco de Orellana reaches the mouth of the Amazon River.
• 1549 – In the course of the Conquest of Chile, on the orders of the Spanish governor Pedro de Valdivia, Captain Francisco de Aguirre refounds the city of La Serena.
• 1562 – Birth of Bartolomé Leonardo de Argensola, Spanish poet and historian of the Golden Age.
• 1702 – In the course of the War of the Spanish Succession, an Anglo-Dutch expeditionary force lands at Rota (Cádiz) and sacks several towns of the province.
• 1710 – Birth of Pedro Agustín de Valencia, New Granadan businessman and philanthropist (d. 1788).
• 1727 – Birth of Luis de Misón, Spanish oboist, flautist and composer (d. 1766).
• 1810 – In the course of the Independence of Argentina, the former Viceroy of the Río de la Plata, Santiago de Liniers, is executed by firing squad after the failure of the Counter-revolution of Córdoba.
• 1914 – Birth of Julio Cortázar, Argentine writer, translator and intellectual.
• 1937 – In the course of the Spanish Civil War, the city of Santander surrenders to Franco's troops.
• 1940 – In San José (Costa Rica), the University of Costa Rica is founded.
• 1946 – The United States accepts the compulsory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice, although it will cease to accept it in 1986 after being condemned in the case of Nicaragua v. United States.
• 2003 – Death of José Delarra, Cuban sculptor and painter (b. 1938).
• 2010 – Death of Raimon Panikkar, Spanish philosopher, theologian and writer (b. 1918).