June 18

Historic Events

2023

Titan, a submersible operated by OceanGate Expeditions, implodes in the North Atlantic Ocean while attempting to view the wreck of the Titanic, killing all five people on board, including OceanGate co-founder and CEO Stockton Rush. ›

2018

An earthquake of magnitude 6.1 strikes northern Osaka. ›

2009

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), a NASA robotic spacecraft is launched. ›

2007

The Charleston Sofa Super Store fire kills nine firefighters in Charleston, South Carolina. ›

2006

The first Kazakh space satellite, KazSat-1, is launched. ›

1998

Propair Flight 420 crashes near Montréal–Mirabel International Airport in Quebec, Canada, killing 11. ›

1994

The Troubles: Members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) attack a crowded pub with assault rifles in Loughinisland, Northern Ireland. Six Catholic civilians are killed and five wounded. It was crowded with people watching the 1994 FIFA World Cup. ›

1984

A major clash between about 5,000 police and a similar number of striking miners takes place at Orgreave, South Yorkshire, during the 1984–85 UK miners' strike. ›

1983

Space Shuttle program: STS-7, astronaut Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space. ›

1983

Mona Mahmudnizhad, together with nine other women of the Baháʼí Faith, is sentenced to death and hanged in Shiraz, Iran, over her religious beliefs. ›

1982

Italian banker Roberto Calvi's body is discovered hanging beneath Blackfriars Bridge in London, England. ›

1981

The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk, the first operational aircraft initially designed around stealth technology, makes its first flight. ›

1979

SALT II is signed by the United States and the Soviet Union. ›

1972

Staines air disaster: One hundred eighteen people are killed when a BEA H.S. Trident crashes minutes after takeoff from London's Heathrow Airport. ›

1965

Vietnam War: The United States Air Force uses B-52 bombers to attack guerrilla fighters in South Vietnam. ›

1958

Benjamin Britten's one-act opera Noye's Fludde premieres at the Aldeburgh Festival. ›

1954

Carlos Castillo Armas leads an invasion force across the Guatemalan border, setting in motion the 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état. ›

1953

The Egyptian revolution of 1952 ends with the overthrow of the Muhammad Ali dynasty and the declaration of the Republic of Egypt. ›

1953

A United States Air Force C-124 crashes and burns near Tachikawa, Japan, killing 129. ›

1948

Columbia Records introduces the long-playing record album in a public demonstration at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. ›

1948

Britain, France and the United States announce that on June 21, the Deutsche Mark will be introduced in western Germany and West Berlin. Over the next six days, Communists increasingly restrict access to Berlin.[citation needed] ›

1946

Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia, a Socialist, calls for a Direct Action Day against the Portuguese in Goa. ›

1945

William Joyce ("Lord Haw-Haw") is charged with treason for his pro-German propaganda broadcasting during World War II. ›

1940

World War II: The "Finest Hour" speech is delivered by Winston Churchill. ›

1935

Police in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, clash with striking longshoremen, resulting in a total of 60 injuries and 24 arrests. ›

1928

Aviator Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly in an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean (she is a passenger; Wilmer Stultz is the pilot and Lou Gordon the mechanic). ›

1920

The Troubles in Ulster (1920–1922) begin with a week of sectarian violence in Derry. ›

1908

Japanese immigration to Brazil begins when 781 people arrive in Santos aboard the ship Kasato-Maru. ›

1908

The University of the Philippines is established. ›

1907

Most resistance societies in Santiago return to work, bringing an end to the 1907 Chilean general strike. ›

1906

Sultan Abdelaziz of Morocco ratifies the agreement reached in the Algeciras Conference in a personal decree. ›

1887

The Reinsurance Treaty between Germany and Russia is signed. ›

1873

Susan B. Anthony is fined $100 for attempting to vote in the 1872 presidential election. ›

1859

First ascent of Aletschhorn, second summit of the Bernese Alps. ›

1858

Charles Darwin receives a paper from Alfred Russel Wallace that includes nearly identical conclusions about evolution as Darwin's own, prompting Darwin to publish his theory. ›

1837

St. Joseph Mutiny: African soldiers in the 1st West India Regiment – led by former slave trader Daaga – launch a rebellion in the British colony of Trinidad in an attempt to escape to Africa. ›

1822

Konstantinos Kanaris blows up the Ottoman navy's flagship at Chios, killing the Kapudan Pasha Nasuhzade Ali Pasha. ›

1815

Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Waterloo results in the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte by the Duke of Wellington and Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, forcing Napoleon to abdicate the throne of France for the second and last time. ›

1812

The United States declaration of war upon the United Kingdom is signed by President James Madison, beginning the War of 1812. ›

1803

Haitian Revolution: The Royal Navy led by Rear-Admiral John Thomas Duckworth commence the blockade of Saint-Domingue against French forces. ›

1799

Action of 18 June 1799: A frigate squadron under Rear-admiral Jean-Baptiste Perrée is captured by the British fleet under Lord Keith. ›

1778

American Revolutionary War: The British Army abandons Philadelphia. ›

1757

Battle of Kolín between Prussian forces under Frederick the Great and an Austrian army under the command of Field Marshal Count Leopold Joseph von Daun in the Seven Years' War. ›

1684

The charter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony is revoked via a scire facias writ issued by an English court. ›

1633

Charles I is crowned King of Scots at St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh. ›

1429

Charles VII's army defeats an English army under John Talbot at the Battle of Patay during the Hundred Years' War. The English lost 2,200 men, over half their army, crippling their efforts during this segment of the war. ›

1391

Tokhtamysh–Timur war: Battle of the Kondurcha River: Timur defeats Tokhtamysh of the Golden Horde in present-day southeast Russia. ›

1265

A draft Byzantine–Venetian treaty is concluded between Venetian envoys and Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos, but is not ratified by Doge Reniero Zeno. ›

1264

The Parliament of Ireland meets at Castledermot in County Kildare, the first definitively known meeting of this Irish legislature. ›

1156

The treaty of Benevento between Pope Adrian IV and William I of Sicily is concluded. ›

1155

Pope Adrian IV crowns Frederick Barbarossa as Holy Roman Emperor. ›

1053

Battle of Civitate: Three thousand Norman horsemen of Count Humphrey rout the troops of Pope Leo IX. ›

860

Byzantine–Rus' War: A fleet of about 200 Rus' vessels sails into the Bosphorus and starts pillaging the suburbs of the Byzantine capital Constantinople. ›

656

Ali becomes Caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate. ›

618

Li Yuan becomes Emperor Gaozu of Tang, initiating three centuries of Tang dynasty rule over China. ›