February 26 is the 57th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar.
National Pistachio Day
Publication of Federalist Paper #61: Concerning the Power of Congress to Regulate the Election of Members written by Alexander Hamilton in 1788. This is the last of three papers discussing the power of Congress over the election of its own members. The Anti-Federalists claimed that the Congress could hold elections in remote areas, thereby controlling who would be elected to the House. Hamilton cites the example of New York State Constitution not having a clause to define the location of elections and that they had not yet had a problem of the kind described. Additionally, elections are to be held every two years.
Birthday of Victor Hugo (February 26, 1802) , French novelist, author of Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.
February 26, 1815 – Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from exile on the island of Elba.
Birthday of William Frederick Cody ( Buffalo Bill) (February 26, 1846), American soldier, bison hunter and showman.
1907 – The U.S. Congress raised their own pay to $7500. As of 2019, the base salary for all rank-and-file members of the U.S. House and Senate was $174,000 per year, plus benefits. The Speaker of the House “earned” $174,000 per year. Lawmakers can take a full pension at the age of 62 if they’ve served for at least five years – and even sooner if they have served longer (age 50 for those who have completed 20 years and any age after 25 years).
President Woodrow Wilson signed an act of the U.S. Congress establishing most of the Grand Canyon as a United States National Park in 1919.
President Calvin Coolidge signed an Executive Order establishing the 96,000 acre Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming in 1929.
1993 – World Trade Center bombing: In New York City, a truck bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center exploded, killing six and injuring over a thousand. The attack was planned by a group of terrorists including Ramzi Yousef (and others). They received financing from Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, Yousef’s uncle. In March 1994, four men were convicted of carrying out the bombing. Each was sentenced to 240 years in prison. The charges included conspiracy, explosive destruction of property, and interstate transportation of explosives. In November 1997, two more were convicted: Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind behind the bombings, and Eyad Ismoil, who drove the truck carrying the bomb.
- Mahmud Abouhalima: Born in Egypt. He came to the U. S. under a tourist Visa. When it expired, he applied for amnesty claiming to be an agricultural worker and was accepted as a permanent resident under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.
He worked as a New York City cabdriver for five years from 1986–1991, though he saw his license suspended ten times during that period, for failing to attend traffic court for cab violations including traffic violations and an attempt to overcharge a customer. He was seen by several witnesses with Mohammed A. Salameh at the Jersey City storage facility allegedly used to prepare the explosives. He is currently an inmate at ADX Florence in Florence, Colorado. - Mohammad Salameh: Born in the West Bank. He entered the U. S. on a tourist visa in 1988.
Despite failing his driving test four times, Salameh had been the driver for the group. On January 24, 1993, he jumped a curb and tore the undercarriage from his car, injuring himself and Ramzi Yousef. He was checked out of Rahway Hospital the following day and went to the garage to clean his car while Yousef remained in the hospital for four more days. With his Nova in for repairs, Salameh got Nidal Ayyad to use his corporate account with Allied Signal to rent him a new car. However, he got in a car accident again on February 16 and collided with a car. Salameh’s 1978 Chevy Nova was used to ferry the nitric acid and urea used to construct the bomb used in the past 1993 bombing.He is currently an inmate at ADX Florence in Florence, Colorado. - Ahmad Ajaj: Born in the West Bank. He attended a bomb-building course in Pakistan in 1992. He is currently serving a 240-year sentence at USP Terre Haute in Terre Haute, Indiana
- Nidal A. Ayyad: He is serving his life sentence in a federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind.
The attack had been financed by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, uncle of Ramzi Yousef. Yousef (born in Pakistan) is serving his life sentences at ADX Florence, located near Florence, Colorado. He shares a cell block that is commonly referred to as “Bombers Row” with Terry Nichols, Eric Rudolph, and Ted Kaczynski. He is also implicated in the bombing of Philippine Airlines Flight 434, and was a co-conspirator in the Bojinka plot which involved assassinating Pope John Paul II, blowing up 11 airliners in flight from Asia to the United States with the goal of killing approximately 4,000 passengers and shutting down air travel around the world, and crashing a plane into the headquarters of the CIA in Fairfax County, Virginia.
Abdul Rahman Yasin was born in Indiana (his father was Iraqi) and helped make the bombs used in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing attack. He was last seen in an Iraqi prison in 2002.
Eyad Ismoil born in Jordan, admitted to the U. S. on a student visa in 1989. On February 26, 1993, Ismoil, accompanied by Yousef, drove a van packed with explosives into the parking garage below the World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York. Ismoil fled the United States that night. In August 1995, Ismoil was captured by Jordanian authorities in Amman and extradited to the United States to stand trial in New York for his role in the bombing. On April 3, 1998, Ismoil was sentenced to 240 years in prison, fined $250,000, and ordered to pay $10,000,000 in restitution. He is an inmate in Florence, Colorado.