August 18

Historic Events

2019

One hundred activists, officials, and other concerned citizens in Iceland hold a funeral for Okjökull glacier, which has completely melted after having once covered six square miles (15.5 km2). ›

2017

The Turku terror attack occurs in Finland when a knifeman kills two and injures eight. ›

2011

A terrorist attack on Israel's Highway 12 near the Egyptian border kills 16 and injures 40. ›

2008

The President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, resigns under threat of impeachment. ›

2008

War of Afghanistan: The Uzbin Valley ambush occurs. ›

2005

A massive power blackout hits the Indonesian island of Java; affecting almost 100 million people, it is one of the largest and most widespread power outages in history. ›

2003

One-year-old Zachary Turner is murdered in Newfoundland by his mother, who was awarded custody despite facing trial for the murder of Zachary's father. The case was documented in the film Dear Zachary and led to reform of Canada's bail laws. ›

1993

American International Airways Flight 808 crashes at Leeward Point Field at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, injuring the three crew members. ›

1989

Leading presidential hopeful Luis Carlos Galán is assassinated near Bogotá in Colombia. ›

1983

Hurricane Alicia hits the Texas coast, killing 21 people and causing over US$1 billion in damage (1983 dollars). ›

1977

Steve Biko is arrested at a police roadblock under Terrorism Act No. 83 of 1967 in King William's Town, South Africa. He later dies from injuries sustained during this arrest, bringing attention to South Africa's apartheid policies. ›

1976

The Korean axe murder incident in Panmunjom results in the deaths of two US Army officers. ›

1976

The Soviet Union's robotic probe Luna 24 successfully lands on the Moon. ›

1973

Aeroflot Flight A-13 crashes after takeoff from Baku-Bina International Airport in Azerbaijan, killing 56 people and injuring eight. ›

1971

Vietnam War: Australia and New Zealand decide to withdraw their troops from Vietnam. ›

1966

Vietnam War: The Battle of Long Tan ensues after a patrol from the 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment clashes with a Viet Cong force in Phước Tuy Province. ›

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. ›

1963

Civil rights movement: James Meredith becomes the first African American to graduate from the University of Mississippi. ›

1958

Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel Lolita is published in the United States. ›

1958

Brojen Das from Bangladesh swims across the English Channel in a competition as the first Bengali and the first Asian to do so, placing first among the 39 competitors. ›

1950

Julien Lahaut, the chairman of the Communist Party of Belgium, is assassinated. The Party newspaper blames royalists and Rexists. ›

1949

Kemi strike: Two protesters die in the scuffle between the police and the strikers' protest procession in Kemi, Finland. ›

1945

Sukarno takes office as the first president of Indonesia, following the country's declaration of independence the previous day. ›

1945

Soviet-Japanese War: Battle of Shumshu: Soviet forces land at Takeda Beach on Shumshu Island and launch the Battle of Shumshu; the Soviet Union's Invasion of the Kuril Islands commences. ›

1940

World War II: The Hardest Day air battle, part of the Battle of Britain, takes place. At that point, it is the largest aerial engagement in history with heavy losses sustained on both sides. ›

1938

The Thousand Islands Bridge, connecting New York, United States, with Ontario, Canada, over the Saint Lawrence River, is dedicated by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. ›

1937

A lightning strike starts the Blackwater Fire of 1937 in Shoshone National Forest, killing 15 firefighters within three days and prompting the United States Forest Service to develop their smokejumper program. ›

1933

The Volksempfänger is first presented to the German public at a radio exhibition; the presiding Nazi Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, delivers an accompanying speech heralding the radio as the 'eighth great power'. ›

1923

The first British Track and Field championships for women are held in London, Great Britain. ›

1920

The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing women's suffrage. ›

1917

A Great Fire in Thessaloniki, Greece, destroys 32% of the city leaving 70,000 individuals homeless. ›

1903

German engineer Karl Jatho allegedly flies his self-made, motored gliding airplane four months before the first flight of the Wright brothers. ›

1891

A major hurricane strikes Martinique, leaving 700 dead. ›

1877

American astronomer Asaph Hall discovers Phobos, one of Mars's moons. ›

1870

Franco-Prussian War: Battle of Gravelotte is fought. ›

1868

French astronomer Pierre Janssen discovers helium. ›

1864

American Civil War: Battle of Globe Tavern: Union forces try to cut a vital Confederate supply-line into Petersburg, Virginia, by attacking the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad. ›

1838

The Wilkes Expedition, which would explore the Puget Sound and Antarctica, weighs anchor at Hampton Roads. ›

1826

Major Gordon Laing becomes the first European to enter Timbuktu. ›

1809

The Senate of Finland is established in the Grand Duchy of Finland after the official adoption of the Statute of the Government Council by Tsar Alexander I of Russia. ›

1783

A huge fireball meteor is seen across Great Britain as it passes over the east coast. ›

1759

Beginning of the battle of Lagos, in which a British fleet defeats a French fleet trying to slip through Gibraltar. ›

1721

The city of Shamakhi in Safavid Shirvan is sacked. ›

1634

Father Urbain Grandier, accused and convicted of sorcery, is burned alive in Loudun, France. ›

1612

The trials of the Pendle witches and Samlesbury witches, one of England's most famous witch trials, begin at the Lancaster Assizes. ›

1590

John White, the governor of the Roanoke Colony, returns from a supply trip to England and finds his settlement deserted. ›

1572

The Huguenot King Henry III of Navarre marries the Catholic Margaret of Valois, ostensibly to reconcile the feuding Protestants and Catholics of France. ›

1492

The first grammar of the Spanish language (Gramática de la lengua castellana) is presented to Queen Isabella I. ›

1487

The Siege of Málaga ends with the taking of the city by Castilian and Aragonese forces. ›

1304

The Battle of Mons-en-Pévèle is fought to a draw between the French army and the Flemish militias. ›

1136

Following the surrender of Baghdad, Seljuk Sultan Mas'ud replaces Abbasid caliph Al-Rashid Billah with his uncle Al-Muqtafi. ›

707

Princess Abe accedes to the imperial Japanese throne as Empress Genmei. ›

684

Battle of Marj Rahit: Umayyad partisans defeat the supporters of Ibn al-Zubayr and cement Umayyad control of Syria. ›