18th August
August 18 is the 230th day of the year (231st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 135 days remaining.
Events
- 1201 - The town of Riga has been created.
- 1541 - A Portuguese ship drifts ashore in the ancient Japanese province of Higo (modern day Kumamoto Prefecture). (Traditional Japanese date: July 27, 1541)
- 1572 - Wedding in Paris of the Huguenot King Henry III of Navarre with Marguerite de Valois, in a supposed attempt to reconcile Protestants and Catholics.
- 1587 - Virginia Dare, granddaughter of Gov. John White of the Colony of Roanoke, becomes the first English child born in the Americas.
- 1590 - John White, the governor of the Colony of Roanoke, returns from a supply-trip to England and finds his settlement deserted.
- 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Weldon Railroad - Union forces try to cut a vital Confederate supply-line into Petersburg, Virginia, by attacking the Weldon Railroad.
- 1868 - French astronomer Pierre Jules César Janssen discovers helium.
- 1877 - Asaph Hall discovers Martian moon Phobos.
- 1903 - German engineer Karl Jatho allegedly flies his self-made, motored gliding airplane four months before the first flight of the Wright Brothers.
- 1904 - Chris Watson resigns as Prime Minister of Australia and is succeded by George Reid.
- 1909 - Tokyo mayor Yukio Ozaki presents Washington, D.C. with 2,000 cherry trees, which President Taft decides to plant near the Potomac River.
- 1920 - 19th Amendment to US constitution passes, guaranteeing women's suffrage.
- 1938 - The Thousand Islands Bridge, connecting New York State, United States with Ontario, Canada over the St. Lawrence River, is dedicated by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
- 1941 - Adolf Hitler orders a temporary halt to Nazi Germany's systematic euthanasia of mentally ill and handicapped due to protests.
- 1950 - Julien Lahaut, the chairman of the Communist Party of Belgium is assassinated by far-right elements.
- 1958 - Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel Lolita is published in the United States.
- 1963 - American civil rights movement: James Meredith becomes the first black person to graduate from the University of Mississippi.
- 1965 - Vietnam War: Operation Starlite begins - United States Marines destroy a Viet Cong stronghold on the Van Tuong peninsula in the first major American ground battle of the war.
- 1966 - Vietnam War: The Battle of Long Tan occurs, when a patrol of Royal Australian Regiment encounter the Viet Cong.
- 1969 - Jimi Hendrix plays the unofficial last day of Woodstock.
- 1971 - Vietnam War: Australia and New Zealand decide to withdraw their troops from Vietnam.
- 1976 - In North Korea at Panmunjom, two US soldiers are killed while trying to chop down part of a tree in the DMZ which had obscured their view.
- 1982 - Japanese election law is amended to allow for proportional representation.
- 1983 - Hurricane Alicia hits the Texas coast, killing 22 people and causing over USD $1 billion in damage (1983 dollars).
- 1989 - Leading presidential hopeful Luis Carlos Galán is assassinated near Bogotá in Colombia.
- 1991 - Collapse of the Soviet Union: Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is put under house arrest while on holiday in the Crimea.
- 1992 - Wang Laboratories files for bankruptcy.
- 1992 - NBA basketball player Larry Bird announces his retirement after winning an Olympic gold medal as a member of the U.S. Dream Team.
- 2004 - In Dublin, Ireland the Dublin Port Tunnel excavation works are completed.
- 2005
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Births
- 1414 - Jami, Persian poet (d. 1492)
- 1450 - Marko MaruliÄ?, Croatian poet (d. 1524)
- 1587 - Virginia Dare, first English child born in North America (d. 1588)
- 1596 - Jean Bolland, Flemish Jesuit writer (d. 1665)
- 1605 - Henry Hammond, English churchman (d. 1660)
- 1685 - Brook Taylor, English mathematician (d. 1731)
- 1692 - Louis Henri, Duc de Bourbon, Prime Minister of France (d. 1740)
- 1720 - Laurence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers, English murderer (d. 1760)
- 1750 - Antonio Salieri, Italian composer (d. 1825)
- 1774 - Meriwether Lewis, American explorer (d. 1809)
- 1822 - Isaac P. Rodman, American Union general (d. 1862)
- 1830 - Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria (d. 1916)
- 1857 - Libert H. Boeynaems, Belgian Catholic prelate (d. 1926)
- 1890 - Walther Funk, German Nazi politician (d. 1960)
- 1896 - Jack Pickford, Canadian-born actor (d. 1933)
- 1904 - Max Factor, Polish-born cosmetics entrepreneur (d. 1996)
- 1917 - Caspar Weinberger, United States Secretary of Defense
- 1918 - Walter Joseph Hickel, Governor of Alaska and US Secretary of the Interior
- 1920 - Bob Kennedy, baseball player and manager (d. 2005)
- 1922 - Shelley Winters, American actress
- 1922 - Alain Robbe-Grillet, French writer
- 1925 - Brian Aldiss, English writer
- 1927 - Rosalynn Carter, First Lady of the United States
- 1928 - Marge Schott, baseball team owner (d. 2004)
- 1932 - William R. Bennett, Premier of British Columbia
- 1933 - Roman Polanski, French director and actor
- 1933 - Just Fontaine, French footballer
- 1934 - Vincent Bugliosi, American attorney
- 1934 - Roberto Clemente, Puerto Rican Major League Baseball player (d. 1972)
- 1935 - Rafer Johnson, American athlete
- 1935 - Sir Howard Morrison, New Zealand entertainer
- 1937 - Robert Redford, American actor and director
- 1939 - Sir Robert Horton, UK businessman
- 1943 - Martin Mull, American comedian and actor
- 1943 - Carl Wayne, English singer (d. 2004)
- 1945 - Barbara Harris, American singer (Toys)
- 1952 - Patrick Swayze, American actor
- 1953 - Louie Gohmert, American politician
- 1955 - Dr. Taher ElGamal, Egyptian scientist
- 1957 - Carole Bouquet, French actress
- 1957 - Denis Leary, American comedian and actor
- 1958 - Madeleine Stowe, American actress
- 1960 - Fat Lever, American basketball player
- 1965 - Koji Kikkawa, Japanese singer
- 1969 - Masta Killa, American rapper
- 1969 - Edward Norton, American actor
- 1969 - Christian Slater, American actor
- 1970 - Malcolm-Jamal Warner, American actor
- 1971 - Richard D James, Irish-born musician
- 1974 - Shivnarine Chanderpaul, West Indian cricketer
- 1980 - Esteban Cambiasso, Argentinian footballer
- 1984 - Robert Huth, German footballer
- 1992 - Frances Bean Cobain, Daughter of Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love
Deaths
- 472 - Ricimer, Roman general
- 849 - Walafrid Strabo, German monk and theologian
- 1227 - Genghis Khan, Mongol leader
- 1276 - Pope Adrian V
- 1430 - Thomas de Ros, 9th Baron de Ros, English soldier and politician (drowned) (b. 1406)
- 1503 - Pope Alexander VI (b. 1431)
- 1559 - Pope Paul IV (b. 1476)
- 1563 - �tienne de La Boétie, French judge and writer (b. 1530)
- 1613 - Giovanni Artusi, Italian composer
- 1620 - Wanli, Emperor of China (b. 1563)
- 1642 - Guido Reni, Italian painter (b. 1575)
- 1645 - Eudoxia Streshneva, Tsarina of Mikhail I of Russia (b. 1608)
- 1683 - Charles Hart, English actor (b. 1625)
- 1707 - William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire, English soldier and statesman (b. 1640)
- 1712 - Richard Savage, 4th Earl Rivers, English soldier
- 1765 - Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1708)
- 1809 - Matthew Boulton, English manufacturer and engineer (b. 1728)
- 1815 - Chauncey Goodrich, U.S. Senator from Connecticut (b. 1759)
- 1842 - Louis de Freycinet, French explorer (b. 1779)
- 1850 - Honoré de Balzac, French writer (b. 1799)
- 1940 - Walter P. Chrysler, American automobile executive (b. 1875)
- 1949 - Paul Mares, American musician (b. 1900)
- 1963 - Clifford Odets, American playwright (b. 1906)
- 1981 - Anita Loos, American screenwriter, playwright, and author (b. 1889)
- 1983 - Nikolaus Pevsner, German-born art historian (b. 1902)
- 1990 - Grethe Ingmann, Danish singer (b. 1938)
- 1994 - Richard Laurence Millington Synge, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1914)
- 1998 - Persis Khambatta, Indian actress (b. 1950)
- 2004 - Elmer Bernstein, American composer (b. 1922)
Holidays and observances
External links
August 17 - August 19 - July 18 - September 18 -- listing of all days
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