August 18
August 18 is the 230th day of the year (231st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 135 days remaining.
Events
- 293 BC - Oldest known Roman temple to Venus founded, institution of Vinalia Rustica begins.
- 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 - Forces under Union General Ulysses S. Grant try to cut a vital Confederate supply-line into Petersburg, Virginia, by attacking the Weldon Railroad forcing the Confederates to use wagons.
- 1877 - Asaph Hall discovers Phobos.
- 1903 - German engineer Karl Jatho flew with his self-made motored gliding airplane, four months before the first flight of the Wright Brothers.
- 1920 - 19th Amendment to US constitution is passed, guaranteeing women's suffrage.
- 1938 - The Thousand Islands Bridge, connecting the United States with Canada, is dedicated by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
- 1941 - Holocaust: Adolf Hitler orders an end to the systematic euthanasia of mentally ill and handicapped persons due to protests within Germany.
- 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 - 5,500 United States Marines destroy a Viet Cong stronghold on the Van Tuong peninsula in Quang Ngai Province in the first major American ground battle of the war. The Marines were tipped-off by a Viet Cong deserter who said that there was an attack planned against the US base at Chu Lai.
- 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.
- 1983 - Hurricane Alicia hits the Texas coast, killing 22 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 he was vacationing in the Crimea. The coup was led by eight high-ranking hard-liners (the coup will collapse in less than 72 hours).
- 1992 - Wang Laboratories files for bankruptcy.
Births
- 1587 - Virginia Dare, first English child born in North America (d. 1588)
- 1750 - Antonio Salieri, composer (d. 1825)
- 1774 - Meriwether Lewis, explorer (d. 1809)
- 1830 - Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria (d. 1916)
- 1896 - Jack Pickford, actor, Hollywood's first "bad boy", (d. 1933)
- 1904 - Max Factor, cosmetics entrepreneur (d. 1996)
- 1917 - Caspar Weinberger, former United States Secretary of Defense
- 1918 - Walter Joseph Hickel, former Governor of Alaska, former US Secretary of the Interior
- 1922 - Shelley Winters, actress
- 1925 - Brian Aldiss, writer
- 1927 - Rosalynn Carter, First Lady
- 1928 - Marge Schott, former owner of MLB's Cincinnati Reds
- 1932 - William R. Bennett, Premier of British Columbia
- 1933 - Roman Polanski, director, actor
- 1934 - Roberto Clemente, baseball Hall of Famer
- 1934 - Vincent Bugliosi, prosecuting attorney in the Charles Manson case
- 1935 - Rafer Johnson, American decathlete
- 1937 - Robert Redford, actor, director
- 1943 - Martin Mull, comedian, actor
- 1943 - Carl Wayne, singer (d. 2004)
- 1945 - Barbara Harris, singer, formerly of the group the Toys
- 1952 - Patrick Swayze, actor
- 1952 - Elayne Boosler, comedienne
- 1957 - Denis Leary, comedian, actor
- 1958 - Madeleine Stowe, actress
- 1969 - Christian Slater, actor
- 1969 - Edward Norton, actor
- 1970 - Malcolm-Jamal Warner, actor
Deaths
Holidays and observances
- Roman Empire - Vinalia Rustica celebrated in honor of Venus commemorating the founding of the oldest known temple to her in 293 BC on this date.
August 17 - August 19 - July 18 - September 18 -- listing of all days
