May 26 in Military History

English colonists and their Mohegan and Narragansett allies attacked the Pequot village at Mystic, Connecticut, killing 400-700 men, women, and children in one of the most devastating attacks of the colonial era.

Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself King of Italy in Milan Cathedral using the Iron Crown of Lombardy, consolidating his control over the Italian peninsula and alarming the other European powers.

Charles Dow published the first Dow Jones Industrial Average, creating the financial index that would come to influence defense budgets, military procurement, and wartime economic policy.

The first recorded automobile accident in the United States occurred in New York City when Henry Wells collided with cyclist Evylyn Thomas. The early safety lessons informed Army Quartermaster Corps vehicle procurement and driver training standards that would shape U.S. military wheeled-vehicle operations for the next century.

Vice-Admiral Ramsay launched the evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk, ultimately rescuing 338,226 soldiers over nine days.

Royal Navy destroyers began evacuating elements of the British 51st Highland Division from Le Havre as German forces closed on the English Channel. Operation Ariel and the parallel Dunkirk evacuation (Operation Dynamo) saved approximately 191,870 troops from continental Europe across several weeks.

Rommel launched his offensive at Gazala in Libya, beginning a battle that would result in the fall of Tobruk and push the British Eighth Army back to El Alamein in one of the Desert Fox's greatest victories.

President Nixon and Soviet leader Brezhnev signed the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I) agreements in Moscow, including the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, establishing the first limits on strategic nuclear weapons.

American Airlines Flight 191, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10, crashed on takeoff from Chicago O'Hare after an engine pylon separated from the wing. The 273 fatalities remain the deadliest aviation accident on U.S. soil. The investigation prompted FAA and Air Force maintenance overhauls across DC-10 and KC-10 Extender operations.

The Army Decorations Board opened a review that would upgrade Sergeant Daniel Cox's Silver Star from Operation Enduring Freedom to Medal of Honor consideration. The case highlighted the Army's multi-year valor-award review program that had been established after the 2014 valor-award review directed by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel.