February 18
is the 49th day of the year in the
Gregorian Calendar. There are 316 days remaining (317 in
leap years).
*
3102 BC -
Epoch (origin) of the
Kali Yuga-
Lord Krishna is believed by
Hare Krishnas and
Hindus to have left the planet on this day.
*
1229 - The
Sixth Crusade:
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor signs a ten-year
truce with
al-Kamil, regaining
Jerusalem,
Nazareth, and
Bethlehem with neither military engagements nor support from the
papacy.
*
1332 (or
1329) -
Amda Seyon I,
Emperor of Ethiopia begins his campaigns in the southern Muslim provinces.
*
1478 -
George,
Duke of Clarence, convicted of
treason against his older brother
Edward IV of England, is privately
executed in the
Tower of London.
*
1685 -
Fort St. Louis is established by a
Frenchman at
Matagorda Bay thus forming the basis for
France's claim to
Texas.
*
1797 -
Trinidad is surrendered to a
British fleet under the command of
Sir Ralph Abercromby.
*
1814 -
Battle of Montereau occurs.
*
1841 - The first ongoing
filibuster in the
United States Senate begins and lasts until
March 11.
*
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 provisional
President of the
Confederate States of America.
* 1861 - With the
Italian unification almost complete,
King Victor Emmanuel II of
Piedmont,
Savoy and
Sardinia assumes the title of
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 ratifies 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 takes place in
Allahabad,
British India, when
Henri Pequet, a 23-year-old pilot, delivers 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 a
fixed-wing aircraft and also the first cow to be milked in an aircraft.
*
1932 - The
Empire of Japan declares
Manzhouguo (obsolete
Chinese name for
Manchuria) independent from
China.
*
1943 - The
Nazis arrest the members of the
White Rose movement.
* 1943 -
Joseph Goebbels delivers the
Sportpalast speech.
*
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 - Thirteen people die 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.
*
1991 - The
IRA explodes bombs in the early morning at both
Paddington station and
Victoria station in
London.
*
1998 - Two
white separatists are arrested in
Nevada and accused of plotting a
biological attack on
New York City subways.
*
2001 - NASCAR legend Ralph Dale Earnhardt is killed in a crash during the last lap of the Daytona 500
*
2003 - Nearly 200 people die in the
Daegu subway fire in
South Korea*
2004 - Up to 295 people, including nearly 200 rescue workers, die near
Neyshabur in
Iran when a run-away freight
train carrying
sulfur,
petrol and
fertiliser catches fire and explodes.
*
2005 - The
United Kingdom law banning
fox hunting,
hare coursing and other sports which kill wild
mammals is enforced from this date.
*
1486 -
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu,
Bengali saint,
bhakti yoga developer
*
1516 - Queen
Mary I of England (d.
1558)
*
1530 -
Uesugi Kenshin, Japanese samurai and warlord (d.
1578)
*
1559 -
Isaac Casaubon, French classical scholar (d.
1614)
*
1602 -
Per Brahe (the younger), Swedish soldier (d.
1680)
*
1609 -
Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, English historian (d.
1674)
*
1635 -
Johan Göransson Gyllenstierna, Swedish statesman (d.
1680)
*
1642 -
Marie Champmeslé, French actress (d.
1698)
*
1658 -
Charles-Irénée Castel de Saint-Pierre, French writer (d.
1743)
*
1745 -
Alessandro Volta, Italian physicist (d.
1827)
*
1835 -
César Cui, Lithuanian composer (d.
1918)
*
1838 -
Ernst Mach, Austrian physicist (d.
1916)
*
1846 -
Wilson Barrett, English playwright (d.
1904)
*
1848 -
Louis Comfort Tiffany, American glass artist (d.
1933)
*
1849 -
Alexander Kielland, Norwegian author (d.
1906)
*
1859 -
Sholom Aleichem, Russian Yiddish humorist (d.
1916)
*
1871 -
Harry Brearley, English inventor (d.
1948)
*
1883 -
Nikos Kazantzakis, Greek writer (d.
1957)
*
1884 -
Andrew Watson Myles, Canadian politician (d.
1970)
*
1890 -
Edward Arnold, American actor (d.
1956)
* 1890 -
Adolphe Menjou, American actor (d.
1963)
*
1892 -
Wendell Willkie, American politician (d.
1944)
*
1896 -
Andre Breton, French writer (d.
1966)
*
1898 -
Enzo Ferrari, Italian race car driver (d.
1988)
* 1898 -
Luis Muñoz Marín, Puerto Rican poet (d.
1980)
*
1901 -
Reginald Sheffield, British actor (d.
1957)
*
1903 -
Nikolai Podgorny,
President of the Soviet Union (d.
1983)
*
1905 -
Jan Gies, Dutch resistance fighter (d.
1993)
*
1906 -
Hans Asperger, Austrian pediatrician (d.
1980)
*
1909 -
Wallace Stegner, American writer (d.
1993)
*
1915 -
Phyllis Calvert, British actress (d.
2002)
*
1919 -
Jack Palance, American actor
*
1920 -
Bill Cullen, American game show host (d.
1990)
* 1920 -
Eric Gairy, Grenadan politician (d.
1997)
*
1922 -
Helen Gurley Brown, American editor
* 1922 -
Allan Melvin, American actor
*
1924 -
Humberto Fernández Morán,
Venezuelan scientist (d.
1999)
*
1925 -
George Kennedy, American actor
*
1927 -
John Warner, American politician
* 1927 -
Luis Arroyo, Baseball player
*
1929 -
Len Deighton, British author
*
1930 -
Gahan Wilson, American cartoonist
*
1931 -
Johnny Hart, American cartoonist
* 1931 -
Toni Morrison, American writer,
Nobel laureate* 1931 -
Bob St. Clair, American football player
*
1932 -
Miloš Forman, Czech film director
*
1933 -
Yoko Ono, Japanese-born singer
* 1933 -
Bobby Robson, English football manager
* 1933 -
Mary Ure, Scottish actress (d.
1975)
*
1936 -
Jean Auel, American writer
*
1938 -
István Szabó, Hungarian film director
*
1939 -
Dal Maxvill, baseball player
*
1943 -
Graeme Garden, Scottish writer
*
1944 -
Pat Bowlen, owner of the
Denver Broncos*
1945 -
Judy Rankin, American golfer
*
1947 -
Dennis DeYoung, American musician (
STYX)
* 1947 -
Princess Christina of the Netherlands* 1947 -
Carlos Lopes, Portuguese athlete
*
1948 -
Sinéad Cusack, Irish actress
*
1949 -
Gary Ridgway, American serial killer
*
1950 -
John Hughes, American director
* 1950 -
Cybill Shepherd, American actress
*
1951 -
Isabel Preysler, Spanish fashion designer
*
1952 -
Maurice Lucas, American basketball player
* 1952 -
Juice Newton, American country singer
*
1953 -
Robbie Bachman, Canadian drummer (
Bachman-Turner Overdrive)
*
1954 -
John Travolta, American actor
*
1956 -
Ted Gärdestad, Swedish singer (d.
1997)
*
1957 -
Marita Koch, German athlete
* 1957 -
Vanna White, American game show presenter
*
1960 -
Greta Scacchi, Australian actress
*
1962 -
Julie Strain, American actress
*
1964 -
Matt Dillon, American actor
*
1965 -
Dr. Dre, American rapper
* 1965 -
Gregory Scott Johnson, American murderer (d.
2005)
*
1967 -
Roberto Baggio, Italian footballer
*
1968 -
Molly Ringwald, American actress
* 1968 -
Tommy Scott, British musician (
Space)
*
1969 -
Alexander Mogilny, Russian
ice hockey player
*
1970 -
Raine Maida, Canadian musician (
Our Lady Peace)
* 1970 -
Susan Egan, American musical actress
*
1973 -
Claude Makelele, French footballer
*
1974 -
Jamey Carroll, baseball player
*
1975 -
Keith Gillespie, Northern Irish footballer
* 1975 -
Gary Neville, English footballer (
Manchester United)
*
1978 -
Josip Simunic, Croatian footballer
*
1980 -
Regina Spektor, Russian-born American singer-songwriter
*
1981 -
Andrei Kirilenko, Russian basketball player
* 1981 -
Buddy Nielsen, American singer (
Senses Fail)
* 1981 -
Ivan Sproule, Northern Irish footballer
*
1982 -
Juelz Santana, American rapper
*
1983 -
Jermaine Jenas, English footballer
*
1985 -
Lee Boyd Malvo, American serial killer
* 1985 -
Anton Ferdinand, English footballer
*
806 -
Tarasius, Patriarch of Constantinople (b.
1866)
*
814 -
Angilbert, Frankish monk and confidant of
Charlemagne*
901 -
Thabit ibn Qurra, Arab astronomer and mathematician (b.
826)
*
999 -
Pope Gregory V*
1139 - Prince
Yaropolk II of Kiev (b.
1082)
*
1294 -
Kublai Khan, Mongol Emperor (b.
1215)
*
1379 -
Albert II of Mecklenburg*
1405 -
Tamerlane, Mongol Emperor
*
1455 -
Fra Angelico, Italian artist (b.
1395)
*
1478 -
George, Duke of Clarence, brother of Kings
Edward IV of England and
Richard III of England (executed) (b.
1449)
*
1535 -
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, astrologer and alchemist (b.
1486)
*
1546 -
Martin Luther, German religious reformer (b.
1483)
*
1564 -
Michelangelo Buonarroti, Italian artist (b.
1475)
*
1583 -
Antonio Francesco Grazzini, Italian writer (b.
1503)
*
1654 -
Jean-Louis Guez de Balzac, French writer (b.
1594)
*
1683 -
Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem, Dutch painter (b.
1620)
*
1712 -
Louis, Duke of Burgundy, heir to the throne of France (b.
1682)
*
1718 -
Pierre Antoine Motteux, French-born English dramatist (b.
1663)
*
1743 -
Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici, last of the Medicis (b.
1667)
*
1748 -
Otto Ferdinand Graf von Abensperg und Traun, Austrian field marshal (b.
1677)
*
1772 -
Johann Hartwig Ernst, Count von Bernstorff, Danish statesman (b.
1712)
*
1778 -
Joseph Marie Terray, French statesman (b.
1715)
*
1780 -
Kristijonas Donelaitis, Lithuanian poet (b.
1714)
*
1788 -
John Whitehurst, English clockmaker and scientist (b.
1713)
*
1803 -
Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim, German poet (b.
1719)
*
1895 -
Karl Abs, German professional wrestler
*
1931 -
Milan Šufflay, Croatian politician (b.
1879)
*
1933 -
James J. Corbett, American boxer (b.
1866)
*
1938 -
David King Udall, American politician (b.
1851)
*
1942 -
Albert Payson Terhune, American author (b.
1872)
*
1945 -
Ivan Chernyakhovsky, Russian general (b.
1906)
*
1956 -
Gustave Charpentier, French composer (b.
1860)
*
1957 -
Henry Norris Russell, American astronomer (b.
1877)
*
1966 -
Robert Rossen, American screenwriter, producer, and director (d.
1908*
1967 -
J. Robert Oppenheimer, American physicist (b.
1904)
*
1973 -
Frank Costello, Italian-born gangster (b.
1891)
*
1977 -
Andy Devine, American actor (b.
1905)
*
1978 -
Maggie McNamara, American actress (b.
1928)
*
1981 -
John Knudsen Northrop, American aircraft manufacturer (b.
1895)
*
1982 -
Ngaio Marsh, New Zealand author (b.
1895)
*
1993 -
Kerry Von Erich, American professional wrestler (b.
1960)
*1993 -
Jacqueline Hill, British actress (b.
1929)
*
1995 -
"Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert, Wrestler
*
1997 -
Emily Hahn, American writer (b.
1905)
*
1998 -
Harry Caray, baseball broadcaster (b.
1914)
*
1999 -
Noam Pitlik, American actor and director (b.
1932)
*
2001 -
Balthus, Polish-born painter (b.
1908)
*2001 -
Dale Earnhardt, American race car driver (b.
1951)
*2001 -
Eddie Mathews, baseball player (b.
1931)
*2001 -
Charles Trenet, French singer (b.
1913)
*
2003 -
Isser Harel, Israeli Mossad leader (b.
1912)
*
2004 -
Jean Rouch, French filmmaker and ethnologist (b.
1917)
*
2006 -
Richard Bright, American actor (b.
1937)
*
Independence Day in
The Gambia (
1965)
*
BBC: On This Day*
The New York Times: On This Day*
On This Day in CanadaFebruary 17 -
February 19 -
January 18 -
March 18 --
listing of all days
