On this day, October 26: The United States defeats Japan at the Battle of Leyte Gulf in World War II

1 of 6 | U.S. soldiers attend a memorial service on the flight deck of the USS Suwannee on October 29, 1944. On October 26, 1944, after four days of bitter fighting, the Battle of Leyte Gulf occurred in World War II, the largest air-naval conflict in history ending with a decisive U.S. victory over the Japanese. File photo courtesy of the US Navy

Oct. 26 (UPI) — On this date in history:

In 1825, the Erie Canal opened, America’s first man-made waterway, connecting the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean via the Hudson River.

In 1881, the famous OK Corral Shootout occurred in Tombstone, Arizona.

In 1920, the Lord Mayor of Cork, Ireland, Terence McSwiney, who called for Irish independence, died in a British prison cell after a two and a half month hunger strike.

In 1942, Allied troops, advancing on the Egyptian front, captured 1,450 Axis prisoners, defeated Nazi tanks in the Tank Battle, and pulverized the enemy line.

In 1944, after four days of fierce fighting, the Battle of Leyte Gulf in World War II, the largest air-sea clash in history, ended with a decisive U.S. victory over the Japanese.

File photo by US Navy/UPI

In 1951, British voters elected Winston Churchill’s Conservative Party to lead the current government after six years of socialism.

In 1979, South Korean President Park Chung-hee was assassinated by the director of the Korean Secret Service.

In 1984, doctors in California performed the first baboon-to-human heart transplant on a 14-day-old girl named Baby Fae. The baby died of heart failure on November 15th.

In 1990, District of Columbia Mayor Marion Barry was sentenced to six months in prison and a $5,000 fine for her drug conviction. Barry became mayor again in 1995.

File photo by Bruce Young/UPI

In 1994, Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty at a desert site along the Israeli-Jordanian border.

In 1998, the presidents of Ecuador and Peru signed a peace treaty, ending a decades-long border dispute.

In 2002, a four-day hostage crisis in Moscow ended bloodily after Russian soldiers stormed a theater where Chechen rebels were holding 700 people for ransom. 90 hostages and 50 rebels were killed.

In 2010, British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline agreed to settle criminal and civil lawsuits for $750 million based on allegations that it knowingly sold drugs with questionable safety standards.

In 2015, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck northeastern Afghanistan, killing nearly 400 people there and in India and Pakistan.

In 2017, President Donald Trump declared the opioid crisis a national public health emergency.

In 2018, the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers began what would become the longest World Series game in both time (7 hours, 20 minutes) and number of innings (18). The Angeles won 3-2 to finish the series at 2-1, but the Red Sox won the series two days later.

In 2022, protesters celebrated the 40-day mourning period for Mahsa Amini, who died on September 16, 2022, after Iranian moral police arrested her for failing to have her hair covered according to Islamic law. Police cracked down on protests that lasted into 2023, resulting in hundreds of deaths and injuries and tens of thousands of arrests.