Historical timeline for October 26

A 7.5 magnitude earthquake strikes in the Hindu Kush mountain range in South Asia, killing 399 people and leaving 2,536 people injured.

Microsoft made a public release of Windows 8 and made it available on new PCs.

Rockstar Games releases Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for the PlayStation 2 in North America, which sold 12 million units for the PS2, becoming the console's best-selling video game.

The Cedar Fire, the third-largest wildfire in California history, kills 15 people, consumes 250,000 acres (1,000 km2), and destroys 2,200 homes around San Diego.

Approximately 50 Chechen terrorists and 150 hostages die when Russian special forces troops storm a theater building in Moscow, which had been occupied by the terrorists during a musical performance three days before.

The United States passes the USA PATRIOT Act into law.

A wave of protests forces Robert Guéï to step down as president after the Ivorian presidential election.

The United Kingdom's House of Lords votes to end the right of most hereditary peers to vote in Britain's upper chamber of Parliament.

An avalanche hits the Icelandic village of Flateyri, destroying 29 homes and burying 45 people, and killing 20.

Mossad agents assassinate Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Fathi Shaqaqi in his hotel in Malta.

Jordan and Israel sign a peace treaty.

Three months after the end of the Ten-Day War, the last soldier of the Yugoslav People's Army leaves the territory of the Republic of Slovenia.

China Airlines Flight 204 crashes after takeoff from Hualien Airport in Taiwan, killing all 54 people on board.

The Australian government returns ownership of Uluru to the local Pitjantjatjara Aboriginals.

Park Chung Hee, President of South Korea, is assassinated by Korean CIA head Kim Jae-gyu.

Ali Maow Maalin, the last natural case of smallpox, develops a rash in Somalia. The WHO and the CDC consider this date to be the anniversary of the eradication of smallpox, the most spectacular success of vaccination.

Space Race: The Soyuz 3 mission achieves the first Soviet space rendezvous.

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi crowns himself Emperor of Iran.

Pan American Airways makes the first commercial flight of the Boeing 707 from New York City to Paris.

Hungarian Revolution: In the towns of Mosonmagyaróvár and Esztergom, Hungarian secret police forces massacre civilians. As rebel strongholds in Budapest hold, fighting spreads throughout the country.