● June 26 in History

1843 — Hong Kong becomes a British colony in terms of the Treaty of Nanking, the August 29 1842 peace treaty which ended the First Opium War (1839-1842).

1906 (June 26-27) — Ferenc Szisz of Hungary wins the first Grand Prix motor race in a 13-litre, 90-horsepower Renault on closed public roads outside the city of Le Mans. The Grand Prix de l’Automobile Club de France, prompted by the French automobile industry (the largest in Europe at the time), had no limit to the number of entries per country. Having to lap the 103.18km circuit six times on both days (1,238.16km in total), Szisz finishes in 12:14:07.4 — 32 minutes ahead of Italian Felice Nazzaro in a Fiat and 35 minutes before Frenchman Albert Clément in a Clément-Bayard. Eleven of the 34 entrants complete the race, with the 11th finishing 4 hours 34 minutes behind Szisz. 1955 — SA’s Congress of the People adopts the Freedom Charter at a gathering of about 3,000 people in Kliptown, Soweto.

1956 — Chris Isaak, American singer-songwriter (“Wicked Game”, “Blue Hotel”) and actor, is born in Stockton, California.

1970 — Chris O’Donnell, American film (“Batman Forever”, “Batman & Robin”) and TV (“NCIS: Los Angeles”) actor, is born in Winnetka, Illinois.

1974 — At the Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio, Sharon Buchanan becomes the first cashier to scan a Universal Product Code (barcode) — on a 67c pack of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit chewing gum. 1976 — The 553.3m CN Tower in Toronto, for 32 years the world’s tallest free-standing structure, is opened.

1976 — Muhammad Ali fights Japanese wrestler Antonio Inoki in Nippon Budokan arena, Tokyo. Inoki spends the majority of the 15-rounder on his back, kicking Ali’s legs 107 times. The fight ends in a draw. The crowd, chanting “Money back! Money back!”, throw rubbish into the ring.

1977 — Elvis Presley closes his last concert with “Are You Lonesome Tonight” at Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, Indiana. He dies on August 16. 1997 — After 12 publishers rejected British author JK Rowling’s “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” (completed in June 1995), it is published by Bloomsbury Publishing. The Harry Potter franchise is now worth an estimated £32.5bn. 2013 — Scientists announce that a previously unknown bird species has been discovered in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The wren-sized Cambodian tailorbird, Orthotomus chaktomuk, is one of two species unique to Cambodia.