18 February
February 18 is the 49th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 316 days remaining (317 in leap years).
Events
- 1685 - Fort St. Louis is established by a Frenchman at Matagorda Bay thus forming the basis for France's claim to Texas.
- 1841 - The first ongoing filibuster in the United States Senate begins and lasts until March 11.
- 1848 - Battle of Montereau occurs.
- 1856 - The American Party (Know-Nothings) convene in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to nominate their first Presidential candidate, former President (Millard Fillmore).
- 1861 - In Montgomery, Alabama Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as the first and only President of the Confederate States of America.
- 1861 - Victor Emmanuel of Savoy becomes King of Italy.
- 1865 - In the U.S., Delaware voters reject the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and vote to continue the practice of slavery. (Delaware finally ratified the amendment on February 12, 1901.)
- 1878 - The Lincoln County War begins in Lincoln County, New Mexico.
- 1885 - Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is published for the first time.
- 1911 - The first official flight with air mail took place in Allahabad, British India, when Henri Pequet, a 23-year-old pilot, delivered 6,500 letters to Naini, about 10 km away.
- 1913 - Raymond Poincaré becomes President of France.
- 1929 - First Academy Awards are announced.
- 1930 - While studying photographs taken in January, Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto.
- 1930 - Elm Farm Ollie becomes the first cow to fly in an airplane and also the first cow to be milked in an airplane.
- 1932 - Japan declares Manzhouguo (Japanese name for Manchuria) independent from China.
- 1943 - The Nazis arrest the members of the White Rose movement.
- 1948 - Eamon de Valera resigns as Taoiseach of Ireland.
- 1953 - The first 3D film, Bwana Devil opens.
- 1953 - Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz sign an $8,000,000 contract to continue the I Love Lucy television series through 1955.
- 1965 - The Gambia becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
- 1970 - The Chicago Eight are found not guilty of conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic Party national convention.
- 1972 - The California Supreme Court invalidates the state's death penalty and commutes the sentences of all death row inmates to life in prison.
- 1977 - The Space Shuttle Enterprise test vehicle goes on its maiden "flight" while sitting on top of a Boeing 747.
- 1983 - 13 people lose their lives and one is seriously injured in the Wah Mee Massacre in Seattle, Washington, said to be the largest robbery-motivated mass-murder in American history.
- 1998 - Two white separatists were arrested in Nevada and accused of plotting a biological attack on New York City subways.
- 2001 - During the Daytona 500 race, NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, known as "The Intimidator" for his aggressive driving style, is murdered in a crash by stock car driver Sterling Marlin.
- 2004 - Up to 295 people, including nearly 200 rescue workers, die near Neyshabur in Iran when a run-away freight train carrying sulphur, petrol and fertiliser catches fire and explodes.
Births
- 1516 - Queen Mary I of England (d. 1558)
- 1626 - February 18/19 - Francesco Redi, physician, refuted abiogenesis (d. 1697)
- 1745 - Alessandro Volta, physicist, eponym for the unit of the electric potential (d. 1827)
- 1838 - Ernst Mach, Austrian physicist and philosopher (d. 1916)
- 1846 - Wilson Barrett, actor and playwright (d. 1904)
- 1848 - Louis Comfort Tiffany, American glass artist (d. 1933)
- 1849 - Alexander Kielland, Norwegian author
- 1858 - Louise-Marie Amélie, daughter of Leopold II of Belgium, wife of Prince Philipp of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (d. 1924)
- 1859 - Sholom Aleichem, humorist, author (d. 1916)
- 1867 - Hedwig Courths-Mahler, novelist (d. 1950)
- 1887 - Nikos Kazantzakis, poet (d. 1957)
- 1890 - Adolphe Menjou, actor (d. 1963)
- 1892 - Wendell Wilkie, politician, Presidential candidate (d. 1944)
- 1896 - Andre Breton, poet and principal theorist of surrealism (d. 1966)
- 1898 - Enzo Ferrari, auto racer, manufacturer (d. 1988)
- 1912 - Heinz Kühn, politician (d. 1992)
- 1920 - Bill Cullen, game show host (d. 1990)
- 1920 - Jack Palance, actor
- 1922 - Helen Gurley Brown, editor, publisher
- 1925 - George Kennedy, actor
- 1929 - Hayden Fry, college football coach
- 1929 - Len Deighton, author
- 1931 - Johnny Hart, cartoonist
- 1931 - Toni Morrison, writer, winner of the Nobel Prize in literature 1993
- 1931 - Bob St. Clair, American football star
- 1932 - Milos Forman, film director
- 1933 - Yoko Ono, singer, artist, wife of John Lennon
- 1934 - Paco Rabanne, fashion designer
- 1938 - Istvan Szabo, director
- 1943 - Graeme Garden, writer, comedian, actor
- 1947 - Princess Christina of the Netherlands
- 1947 - Dennis DeYoung, musician ("Styx")
- 1949 - Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer
- 1950 - John Hughes, director, producer, writer
- 1952 - Juice Newton, country music entertainer
- 1954 - John Travolta, actor
- 1957 - Vanna White, game show presenter
- 1964 - Matt Dillon, actor
- 1965 - Dr. Dre, rap music performer, music producer
- 1967 - Roberto Baggio, Italian football player
- 1970 - Michael (Raine) Maida, frontman for Canadian rock band Our Lady Peace.
- 1981 - Andrei Kirilenko, Russian NBA star
- 1985 - Lee Boyd Malvo, convicted Beltway sniper
Deaths
- 814 - Angilbert, Frankish monk and confidant of Charlemagne
- 901 - Thabit ibn Qurra, Arab astronomer and mathematician (b. 826)
- 999 - Pope Gregory V (b. ca. 972)
- 1478 - Duke of Clarence, drowned in wine by Richard III (b. 1449)
- 1546 - Martin Luther, religious reformer (b. 1483)
- 1564 - Michelangelo Buonarroti, Italian artist (b. 1475)
- 1931 - Milan Sufflay, Croatian politician (b. 1879)
- 1933 - James J. Corbett, boxer
- 1942 - Payson Terhune, author
- 1957 - Henry Norris Russell, American astronomer (b. 1877)
- 1967 - J. Robert Oppenheimer, American physicist (b. 1904)
- 1982 - Ngaio Marsh, mystery fiction author (b. 1895)
- 1997 - Emily Hahn, writer (b. 1905)
- 1998 - Harry Caray, TV and radio broadcaster for three Major League Baseball teams (b. 1917)
- 2001 - Balthus, French painter
- 2001 - Dale Earnhardt, NASCAR race car driver (b. 1951)
- 2001 - Eddie Mathews, Baseball Hall of Famer (b. 1931)
- 2003 - Isser Harel, Mossad leader
Holidays and observances
February 17 - February 19 - January 18 - March 18 -- listing of all days
February 18 recordings of popular music
