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February 26

Published in On this Day listing

1914 The Britannic, the third and largest ocean liner of the White Star Line and sister ship to RMS Olympic and RMS Titanic, was launched in Belfast. She was sunk by an underwater mine in the Aegean Sea in November 1916—the biggest ship lost during the First World War.
1962 The IRA announced the termination of their campaign, ‘Operation Harvest’, in Northern Ireland. Over a period of almost six years, twelve IRA volunteers and six RUC officers had been killed.
1930 The National Monuments Act, providing for the protection and preservation of national monuments and the preservation of archaeological objects in Saorstát Éireann, was passed. The act was extended to include underwater archaeological sites in 1987.

On this Day

1992 The Maastricht Treaty, the foundation treaty of the European Union (EU), was signed by the then twelve member states of the European Communities. It was ratified by referendum in the Republic of Ireland in June by 69.1% to 30.9%.
1991 An IRA mortar bomb exploded in the garden of 10 Downing Street as Prime Minister John Major and his cabinet were discussing the progress of the Gulf War.
1991 The Provisional IRA fired a mortar bomb into the garden of Number 10 Downing Street, which landed less than fifteen yards from a room where Prime Minister John Major was chairing a meeting of his cabinet.
1940 Peter Barnes and James McCormack were hanged in Birmingham following their convictions for the IRA bombing in Coventry the previous August.
1867 William Dargan (68), engineer and railway-builder, who at one time employed 50,000 men on various projects, died in poverty.
1812 Charles (John Huffam) Dickens, English novelist, was born in Landport, Portsmouth, the son of a clerk in the navy pay office.
1873 Sheridan Le Fanu, writer of mysterious and spine-chilling tales, notably Uncle Silas (1864), died.
1993 The Maastricht Treaty, the foundation treaty of the European Union (EU), signed by the then twelve member states of the European Communities, came into effect.