Feb 26, 1844 - Joseph Smith writes in his journal: "Held court at the Mansion. City of Nauvoo vs. O. F. Bostwick on complaint of Hyrum Smith for slanderous language concerning Hyrum and certain females of Nauvoo. Fined Bostwick $50 and costs." Hyrum Smith had two secret plural wives at this time in addition to his legal wife.

Feb 26, 1859 - Brigham Young tells church historian that "there had not been a Judge in Utah, that had been so completely taken up and set down on his arse in the mud, and had his ears pissed into as Judge [Charles E.] Sinclair had been."

Feb 26, 1862 - Wilford Woodruff records "Joseph A Young had made a Complaint to hie Father [Brigham Young] that He was in the Historians office & took a Book upon sealings & Brother Bullock told him He should not Examine it, as he had orders that no one should see it, and that it had been under his Care ever since it was delivered to him. This was the cause of the order to deliver [various] books into the hands of Preside[n]t Young. They of Course belong to him, as do all Historical Church records documents & papers to dispose of & Controll as his pleasure."

Feb 26, 1867 - Brigham Young revises the procedure for Second Anointings: "We should not anoint ownly one man & his family at one meeting. if any other women are to be anointed to another man it must be a separate meeting, there may [be] two meetings in a day at one place." Eight weeks previously Young had decided to "only anoint one man & his wives in one day at one place."

Feb 26, 1887 - Utah Supreme Court rules that legal wife is required to testify against her polygamous husband. As result several legal wives are imprisoned for refusing to testify against their polygamous husbands. U.S. Supreme Court waits to reverse this decision until Dec. 22, 1890, after LDS church has publicly abandoned polygamy.

Feb 26, 1889 - Apostle John Henry Smith writes in his diary, "H[eber]J. Grant and I went out to the Pen and had a long visit with Br. F[rancis] M. Lyman"

Feb 26, 1894 - LDS periodical the MILLENIAL STAR reprints an interview with William Smith, brother of Joseph Smith and former Apostle. When asked if he'd seen the plates he replies, "I did not see them uncovered, but I handled them and hefted them while wrapped in a tow frock and judged them to have weighed about sixty pounds. I could tell they were plates of some kind and that they were fastened together by rings running through the back. Their size was as described in mother's history." When asked , "Did any others of the family see them?" he replies, "Yes, Father and my brother Samuel saw them as I did while in the frock. So did Hyrum and others of the family." When asked, ""Din't you want to remove the cloth and see the bare plates?" Smith responds,
"No, for father had just asked if he might not be permitted to do so, and Joseph, putting his hand on them said; 'No, I am instructed not to show them to any one. If I do, I will transgress and lose them again.' Besides we did not care to have him break the commandment and suffer as he did before."

Feb 26, 1901 - Apostle Rudger Clawson writes: "There is a law now pending before the Utah legislature making it unlawful for anyone to bring a charge of adultery against a married man except the legal wife, she being the aggrieved party. The design of this measure is to curtail the power of our enemies, who seek to bring trouble upon the Latter-day Saints by prosecuting polygamists for unlawful cohabitation." The law is discusses by the First Presidency and Apostles and then "A vote was taken and was unanimous in favor of the measure."

Feb 26, 1966 - A temple-square talk by Apostle Ezra Taft Benson is printed in the DESERET NEWS. However references to the John Birch Society are deleted without Apostle Benson's permission. In the talk he said that he had read the Birch Society's Blue Book, Robert Welch's The Politician, and recommended that the audience subscribe to the Birch Society's official magazine American Opinion. His talk even included the mailing address."

Feb 26, 1969 - BYU's president instructs all bishops and stake presidents of BYU's student stakes to report to campus authorities any students who confess unacceptable conduct. This is way of "eliminating students who do not fit into the culture of BYU so that those [who] would fit into it might be admitted to the institution." This also ends confidentiality of confessions to LDS leaders.

Feb 26, 1980 - Apostle Ezra Taft Benson instructs BYU students in televised address "Fourteen Fundamentals In Following the Prophets," including: "1. The Prophet is the only man who speaks for the Lord in everything. 2. The living Prophet is more vital to us than the standard works [of scripture]. 3. The living Prophet is more important to us than a dead prophet. 4. The Prophet will never lead the Church astray. 5. The Prophet is not required to have any particular earthly training or credentials to speak on any subject or to give us scripture. . . . 11. The two groups who have the greatest difficulty in following the prophet are the proud who are learned and the proud who are rich." In the national publicity resulting from this talk some Mormon academics interpret this as Benson's way of preparing for his own presidency of the LDS church. Benson had prepared a different topic but changed abruptly when a full-page ad appeared in the SALT LAKE TRIBUNE two days previously for THE CHANGING WORLD OF MORMONISM by Jerald and Sandra Tanner. The ad emphasized supposed contradictions between different LDS prophets.
First Presidency's spokesman publicly counters that is "simply not true" that LDS president's "word is law on all issues--including politics." Privately, church president Spencer W. Kimball is "concerned" about Elder Benson's talk and wants "to protect the Church against being misunderstood as espousing ultraconservative politics, or--in this case--espousing an unthinking 'follow the leader' mentality." However, those concerns have neither the circulation nor publicity of Benson's original talk. Next week Kimball requires Benson to explain himself and his motives to private meeting of all general authorities.

Feb 26, 1985 - Steve Christensen writes to Gordon B. Hinckley asking if he would like him to donate the "Salamander Letter" to the LDS Church. Hinckley responds with a phone call saying that the Church wanted the letter. On Apr. 12 Christensen gives the letter to the Church

Feb 26, 1992 - A BYU DAILY UNIVERSE editorial criticizes a recent memo from the sociology department to University president Rex E. Lee. The editorial upholds the concept of a ban on BYU faculty speaking at unauthorized symposia such as the Sunstone Symposium. "In this case, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has said where it doesn't want research being presented. Is it a case of limited academic freedom? Yes, but any university or organization can limit expression to accomplish its institutional purpose." Professors Edward Kimball (son of Spencer W. Kimball) and Eugene England write a response rebutting the three major points of the editorial.

Feb 26, 1996 - More than half of LDS church's population resides outside U.S. A. as of this date.

No one ever saw the gold plates because there weren't any.