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Today in History, January 26th

On January 26, 1950, India's constitution took effect and the country became a republic. Plus Australia Day and the first public TV demonstration.

By Today in History Updated November 10, 2026 3 min read Sources checked

Published January 26, 2026 · Last updated November 10, 2026

January 26 is best known for 1950, when India’s constitution took effect and the country became a republic, a day it marks every year as Republic Day. The date also saw British settlement in Australia begin in 1788 and John Logie Baird give the first public demonstration of television in 1926.

The big story: India becomes a republic (1950)

India won its independence from Britain on August 15, 1947, but it did not yet have a constitution of its own. A Constituent Assembly had already been at work since December 1946, and it spent nearly three years debating and drafting, finishing its final reading in late November 1949. The day picked for it to take effect, January 26, carried a message. On January 26, 1930, the Indian National Congress had publicly declared its goal of complete independence, or Purna Swaraj, and urged Indians to celebrate the day. Twenty years later, on that same date, the Republic of India was born. Rajendra Prasad became its first president, a largely ceremonial post, while Jawaharlal Nehru led the government as prime minister. Nehru went on to win the country’s first general election in 1952. India has celebrated January 26 as Republic Day ever since.

More events on January 26

Year	What happened
1500	Spanish explorer Vicente Yáñez Pinzón, who had commanded the Niña on Columbus’s first voyage, reached Brazil’s northeast coast.
1788	Arthur Phillip’s fleet of 11 British ships, carrying more than 700 convicts, began the British settlement of Australia in New South Wales. The date is marked as Australia Day.
1838	Tennessee passed the nation’s first prohibition law, making it a misdemeanor to sell liquor in taverns and stores.
1926	Scottish inventor John Logie Baird gave the first public demonstration of a working television system in London.
1939	Francisco Franco’s Nationalist forces captured Barcelona, the Republican capital, during the Spanish Civil War.
1945	In France, Audie Murphy climbed onto an abandoned tank destroyer and used its machine gun to stop a German attack, despite a leg wound. The action earned him the Medal of Honor.
1986	The Chicago Bears beat the New England Patriots 46–10 in Super Bowl XX in New Orleans.
2005	Condoleezza Rice was sworn in as U.S. secretary of state, the highest-ranking African American woman to serve in a presidential cabinet up to that time.
2020	Basketball star Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and seven others died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California.