The May 2006 Java earthquake strikes at 5:53:58 AM local time (22:53:58 UTC May 26) devastating Bantul and the city of Yogyakarta killing over 6,600 people.

Australian Schapelle Corby is sentenced to 20 years imprisonment in Kerobokan Prison for drug smuggling by a court in Indonesia.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, Netherlands indicts Slobodan Milošević and four others for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Kosovo.

Oklahoma City bombing: Michael Fortier is sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined $200,000 for failing to warn authorities about the terrorist plot.

The U.S. Supreme Court rules that Paula Jones can pursue her sexual harassment lawsuit against President Bill Clinton while he is in office.

First Chechnya War: Russian President Boris Yeltsin meets with Chechnyan rebels for the first time and negotiates a cease-fire.

In Culpeper, Virginia, actor Christopher Reeve is paralyzed from the neck down after falling from his horse in a riding competition.

The Gwangju Massacre: Airborne and army troops of South Korea retake the city of Gwangju from civil militias, killing at least 207 and possibly many more.

The Dibble's Bridge coach crash near Grassington, North Yorkshire, England kills 32 – the highest ever death toll in a road accident in the United Kingdom.

The Dahlerau train disaster, the worst railway accident in West Germany, kills 46 people and injures 25 near Wuppertal.

The meeting of the Union Nationale des Étudiants de France (National Union of the Students of France) takes place. 30,000 to 50,000 people gather in the Stade Sebastien Charlety.

Australians vote in favor of a constitutional referendum granting the Australian government the power to make laws to benefit Indigenous Australians and to count them in the national census.

The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier {{USS|John F. Kennedy|CV-67|6}} is launched by Jacqueline Kennedy and her daughter Caroline.

Vietnam War: American warships begin the first bombardment of National Liberation Front targets within South Vietnam.

The Centralia, Pennsylvania mine fire starts.

In Turkey, a military coup removes President Celal Bayar and the rest of the democratic government from office.

The F-4 Phantom II makes its first flight.

Toronto's CHUM-AM, (1050 kHz) becomes Canada's first radio station to broadcast only top 40 Rock n' Roll music format.

World War II: In Operation Anthropoid, Reinhard Heydrich is assassinated in Prague.

World War II: The German battleship ''Bismarck'' is sunk in the North Atlantic killing almost 2,100 men.

World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaims an "unlimited national emergency".

World War II: In the Le Paradis massacre, 99 soldiers from a Royal Norfolk Regiment unit are shot after surrendering to German troops. Two survive.

In California, the Golden Gate Bridge opens to pedestrian traffic, creating a vital link between San Francisco and Marin County, California.

New Deal: The Supreme Court of the United States declares the National Industrial Recovery Act to be unconstitutional in A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, (295 U.S. 495).

The Century of Progress World's Fair opens in Chicago, Illinois.

The Walt Disney Company releases the cartoon ''Three Little Pigs'', with its hit song "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?"

New Deal: The U.S. Federal Securities Act is signed into law requiring the registration of securities with the Federal Trade Commission.

The {{convert|1046|ft|m}} Chrysler Building in New York City, the tallest man-made structure at the time, opens to the public.

The Ford Motor Company ceases manufacture of the Ford Model T and begins to retool plants to make the Ford Model A.

The NC-4 aircraft arrives in Lisbon after completing the first transatlantic flight.

Bubonic plague breaks out in San Francisco, California.

Russo-Japanese War: The Battle of Tsushima begins.

The F4-strength St. Louis-East St. Louis Tornado hits in St. Louis, Missouri and East Saint Louis, Illinois, killing at least 255 people and causing $2.9 billion in damage (1997 USD).

Oscar Wilde is imprisoned for sodomy.

Alexander III is crowned Tsar of Russia.

American Civil War: First Assault on the Confederate works at the Siege of Port Hudson.

Giuseppe Garibaldi begins his attack on Palermo, Sicily, as part of the Italian Unification.

The Great Hall of Euston station in London is opened.

War of 1812: In Canada, American forces capture Fort George.

Bolivian War of Independence: In Bolivia, the Battle of La Coronilla, in which the women from Cochabamba fight against the Spanish army.

War of the Second Coalition: Austrian forces defeats the French at Winterthur, Switzerland, securing control of the northeastern Swiss Plateau because of the town's loaction at the junction of seven cross-roads.

The Battle of Oulart Hill takes place in Wexford, Ireland.

Tsar Peter the Great founds the city of Saint Petersburg.

Philip VI is crowned King of France.

Malcolm IV becomes King of Scotland.

Richard III of Capua is anointed as Prince two weeks before his untimely death.

Battle of the Bosnian Highlands: the Croatian army, led by King Tomislav, defeats the Bulgarian Army.

Simeon I of Bulgaria is crowned Emperor of the first Bulgarian empire