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Events

Special days marked on this website, for August 26, 2025

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August 26 ns

August 13 os

We mark certain days of the year with ‘On This Day’ posts, recalling events associated with them.

Our events are grouped under two calendars. The Gregorian ‘New Style’ (NS) is the worldwide calendar first issued at Rome in 1582. On that calendar, today is August 26. The Julian ‘Old Style’ (OS), also issued at Rome but in 46 BC, was used in Roman Britain and then in England from Anglo-Saxon times until 1752. It is still used today by roughly 100 million Orthodox Christians worldwide. On that calendar, today is August 13.

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Today

Retreat from Moscow

The fear that Russia might make an ally of Great Britain drove the would-be Emperor of Europe to extreme measures.

Napoleon Bonaparte’s retreat from Moscow in 1812 is one of the epic tales of history, and a generous one. It has given music Tchaikovsky’s unforgettable Overture, it has given rhetoric that stern officer ‘General Winter’, and it has given us all an object lesson in the deserts of excessive political ambition.

On This DayDecember 22 ns2 posts

The Battle of Borodino (1812)

Today

‘Let the boy earn his spurs!’

At the Battle of Crécy in 1346, the English army was trying out a new military tactic under the command of a sixteen-year-old boy.

The death of Charles IV of France in 1328 led to a dispute over succession between Edward III of England (whose mother Isabella was French royalty) and Philip VI of France. Matters came to a head at Crécy in 1346, but despite all that was riding on it Edward left the battle in the hands of his son Prince Edward, aged sixteen.

On This DayDecember 22 ns1 post

The Battle of Crécy (1346)

The Calendar below shows the year on the Roman (Gregorian or ‘New Style’) Calendar for 2025. Click on any date to see the events we have marked for it.

Roman Easter 2025: Sunday April 20

Old English Easter 2025: Sunday April 20

Christmas 2025: Thursday December 25

Old English Christmas 2025: Wednesday January 7, 2026