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February 18

February 18 is the 49th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 316 days remaining until the end of the year (317 in leap years).

Events

• 3102 BC - Epoch (origin) of the Kali Yuga.
• 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.
• 1268 - The Livonian Brothers of the Sword are defeated by Dovmont of Pskov in the Battle of Rakovor.
• 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 - The 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 - Union forces under Major General William T. Sherman set the South Carolina State House on fire during the burning of Columbia.
• 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.
• 1901 - Winston Churchill makes his maiden speech in the British House of Commons.
• 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 - The 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 the Republic of 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.
• 1954 - The first Church of Scientology is established in Los Angeles, California.
• 1955 - The Shot Teapot-Wasp is successfully detonated at the Nevada Test Site with a yield of 1.2 kilotons. Wasp would be the first of fourteen shots of the Teapot series.
• 1957 - Dedan Kimathi, a Kenyan rebel leader is executed by the British colonial government.
• 1965 - The Gambia becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
• 1969 - The Hawthorne Nevada Airlines Flight 708 disaster occurs, killing all on board.
• 1970 - The Chicago Seven are found not guilty of conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
• 1972 - The California Supreme Court in the case of People v. Anderson, 6 Cal.3d 628 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.
• 1979 - Snow fell in the Sahara Desert in southern Algeria for the first and only recorded time in history.
• 1983 - Thirteen people die and one is seriously injured in the Wah Mee Massacre in Seattle, Washington. It is said to be the largest robbery-motivated mass-murder in U.S. 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.
• 2000 - Stjepan Mesić becomes the second president of Croatia.
• 2001 - FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested for spying for the Soviet Union. He was ultimately convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
• 2003 - Nearly 200 people die in the Daegu subway fire in South Korea.
• 2003 - Comet C/2002 V1 (NEAT) makes perihelion, seen by SOHO.
• 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.

Births

• 1374 - Saint Jadwiga of Poland, queen of Poland (d. 1399)
• 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)
• 1543 - Charles III, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1608)
• 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)
• 1814 - Samuel Fenton Cary, U. S. Congressman (d. 1900)
• 1836 - Sri Ramakrishna, Bengali saint, guru of Swami Vivekananda (d. 1886)
• 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)
• 1870 - William Laurel Harris, American mural painter, writer (d. 1924)
• 1871 - Harry Brearley, English inventor (d. 1948)
• 1883 - Nikos Kazantzakis, Greek author (d. 1957)
• 1884 - Andrew Watson Myles, Canadian politician (d. 1970)
• 1888 - George Papandreou, Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1968)
• 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)
• 1897 - Charles Kuentz, WW1 veteran, changed nationality 4 times (d.2005)
• 1898 - Luis Muñoz Marín, Puerto Rican poet (d. 1980)
• 1901 - Reginald Sheffield, British actor (d. 1957)
• 1902 - Walter Herbert, German-born conductor and impresario (d. 1975)
• 1903 - Nikolai Podgorny, President of the Soviet Union (d. 1983)
• 1906 - Hans Asperger, Austrian pediatrician (d. 1980)
• 1907 - Oscar Brodney, American screenwriter (d. 2008)
• 1909 - Wallace Stegner, American writer (d. 1993)
• 1914 - Pee Wee King, American country musician and songwriter (d. 2000)
• 1915 - Phyllis Calvert, British actress (d. 2002)
• 1916 - Jean Drapeau, Quebec politician, mayor of Montreal (d. 1999)
• 1918 - Jane Loevinger, American psychologist (d. 2008).
• 1919 - Jack Palance, American actor (d. 2006)
• 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 (d. 2008)
• 1922 - Juhan Smuul, Estonian author (d. 1971)
• 1924 - Humberto Fernández Morán, Venezuelan scientist (d. 1999)
• 1924 - Louis Laberge, Quebec labour union leader (d. 2002)
• 1925 - George Kennedy, American actor
• 1925 - Marcel Barbeau, Quebec artist
• 1927 - John Warner, American politician
• 1927 - Luis Arroyo, Puerto Rican baseball player
• 1928 - Tom Johnson, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1929 - Len Deighton, British author
• 1929 - André Mathieu, Quebec composer (d. 1968)
• 1930 - Gahan Wilson, American cartoonist
• 1931 - Johnny Hart, American cartoonist (d. 2007)
• 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 - Sir Bobby Robson, English football manager
• 1933 - Mary Ure, Scottish actress (d. 1975)
• 1935 - Michel Aoun, Lebanese prime minister
• 1936 - Jean Auel, American writer
• 1936 - Dick Duff, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1938 - István Szabó, Hungarian film director
• 1938 - Manny Mota, Dominican baseball player
• 1939 - Dal Maxvill, American baseball player
• 1939 - Marek Janowski, Polish-born conductor
• 1939 - Claude Ake, Nigerian political scientist
• 1941 - Irma Thomas, American singer
• 1943 - Graeme Garden, Scottish writer
• 1944 - Pat Bowlen, owner of the Denver Broncos
• 1945 - Judy Rankin, American golfer
• 1946 - Michael Buerk, British newsreader
• 1946 - Jean-Claude Dreyfus, French actor
• 1947 - Dennis DeYoung, American musician (STYX)
• 1947 - Princess Christina of the Netherlands
• 1947 - Carlos Lopes, Portuguese athlete
• 1947 - Eliot Lance Engel, American politician
• 1948 - Sinéad Cusack, Irish actress
• 1948 - Keith Knudsen, American drummer and songwriter (The Doobie Brothers) (d. 2005)
• 1949 - Gary Ridgway, American serial killer
• 1950 - John Hughes, American director
• 1950 - Cybill Shepherd, American actress
• 1950 - Michel Gauthier, Quebec politician
• 1951 - Isabel Preysler, Philippines-born Spanish socialite
• 1952 - Maurice Lucas, American basketball player
• 1952 - Juice Newton, American singer
• 1953 - Robbie Bachman, Canadian drummer (Bachman-Turner Overdrive)
• 1954 - John Travolta, American actor
• 1955 - Miles Tredinnick, English playwright
• 1955 - Raymond Rougeau, Canadian professional wrestler
• 1956 - Ted Gärdestad, Swedish singer (d. 1997)
• 1957 - Marita Koch, German athlete
• 1957 - Vanna White, American game show presenter
• 1958 - Giovanni Lavaggi, Italian racing driver
• 1958 - Gar Samuelson, American drummer (d. 1999)
• 1960 - Carol McGiffin, British TV and radio presenter
• 1960 - Greta Scacchi, Australian actress
• 1960 - Andy Moog, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1962 - Julie Strain, American actress
• 1963 - Henry Winter, English football journalist
• 1964 - Matt Dillon, American actor
• 1964 - Paul Hanley, British musician (The Fall, Tom Hingley and the Lovers)
• 1965 - Dr. Dre, American rapper
• 1965 - Gregory Scott Johnson, American murderer (d. 2005)
• 1966 - Guy Ferland, American television director
• 1967 - Roberto Baggio, Italian footballer
• 1967 - Tracey Edmonds, American film and television producer
• 1968 - Molly Ringwald, American actress
• 1969 - Alexander Mogilny, Russian ice hockey player
• 1969 - Jason Sutter, American drummer (Smash Mouth, American Hi-Fi)
• 1970 - Raine Maida, Canadian musician (Our Lady Peace)
• 1970 - Susan Egan, American actress
• 1971 - Constantin Popa, Romanian-Israeli basketball player
• 1973 - Claude Makélélé, French footballer
• 1974 - Jamey Carroll, American baseball player
• 1974 - Ruby Dhalla, Canadian politician
• 1974 - Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Russian tennis player
• 1975 - Sarah Brown, American actress
• 1975 - Keith Gillespie, Irish footballer
• 1975 - Gary Neville, English footballer
• 1976 - Chanda Rubin, tennis star
• 1976 - Leilani Munter, American race car driver
• 1977 - Kátia, Brazilian footballer
• 1977 - Sean Watkins, American guitarist and songwriter
• 1977 - Chrissie Wellington, British triathlete
• 1978 - Josip Šimunić, Croatian footballer
• 1980 - Regina Spektor, Russian-born singer and songwriter
• 1980 - Nikolai Antropov, Kazakh ice hockey player
• 1981 - Andrei Kirilenko, Russian basketball player
• 1981 - Ivan Sproule, Irish footballer
• 1981 - Kim Jae Won, South Korean actor
• 1981 - Alex Rios, American baseball player
• 1983 - Juelz Santana, American rapper
• 1983 - Jermaine Jenas, English footballer
• 1983 - Jason Maxiell, American basketball player
• 1984 - Buddy Nielsen, American singer (Senses Fail)
• 1985 - Anton Ferdinand, English footballer
• 1985 - Lee Boyd Malvo, American serial killer
• 1986 - Marc Torrejón, Spanish footballer
• 1988 - Maiara Walsh, American actress

Deaths

• 806 - Tarasius, Patriarch of Constantinople (b. 730)
• 814 - Angilbert, Frankish monk and confidant of Charlemagne
• 901 - Thabit ibn Qurra, Arab astronomer and mathematician (b. 826)
• 999 - Pope Gregory V (b. 972)
• 1139 - Prince Yaropolk II of Kiev (b. 1082)
• 1294 - Kublai Khan, Mongol Emperor (b. 1215)
• 1379 - Albert II of Mecklenburg (b. 1318)
• 1405 - Tamerlane, Mongol Emperor (b. 1336)
• 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, duc de Bourgogne, 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 von Abensberg 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)
• 1785 - Johnny Appleseed, American environmentalist (b.1774)
• 1788 - John Whitehurst, English clockmaker and scientist (b. 1713)
• 1803 - Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim, German poet (b. 1719)
• 1842 - Thomas Hazlehurst, English soap and alkali manufacturer (b. 1779)
• 1851 - Carl Gustav Jakob Jacobi, German mathematician (b. 1804)
• 1893 - Serranus Clinton Hastings, American politician (b. 1814)
• 1895 - Karl Abs, German professional wrestler (b. 1851)
• 1900 - Clinton L. Merriam, American politician (b. 1824)
• 1902 - Charles Lewis Tiffany, American founder of Tiffany & Co. (b. 1812)
• 1906 - John Batterson Stetson, American manufacturer (b. 1830)
• 1911 - Billy Murdoch, Australian cricketer (b. 1854)
• 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)
• 1955 - Sadako Sasaki, School student(b. 1944)
• 1956 - Gustave Charpentier, French composer (b. 1860)
• 1957 - Dedan Kimathi, Kenyan rebel leader (b. 1920)
• 1957 - Henry Norris Russell, American astronomer (b. 1877)
• 1964 - Joseph-Armand Bombardier, Quebec inventor and industrialist (b. 1907)
• 1966 - Robert Rossen, American screenwriter, producer, and director (b. 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 - Bob Stinson, American guitarist (b.1959)
• 1997 - Emily Hahn, American writer (b. 1905)
• 1998 - Harry Caray, American baseball broadcaster (b. 1914)
• 1998 - Robbie James, Welsh footballer (b. 1957)
• 1999 - Noam Pitlik, American actor and director (b. 1932)
• 2000 - Willy Maltaite, Belgian comics creator (b. 1927
• 2001 - Balthus, Polish-born painter (b. 1908)
• 2001 - Dale Earnhardt, American race car driver (b. 1951)
• 2001 - Eddie Mathews, American baseball player (b. 1931)
• 2003 - Isser Harel, Israeli Mossad leader (b. 1912)
• 2003 - Johnny Paycheck, American country singer/songwriter (b. 1938)
• 2004 - Jean Rouch, French filmmaker and ethnologist (b. 1917)
• 2006 - Richard Bright, American actor (b. 1937)
• 2008 - Sir Richard Knowles, British politician (b. 1917)
• 2008 - Mihaela Mitrache, Romanian actress, (b. 1955)
• 2008 - Mickey Renaud, Canadian professional ice hockey player (b. 1988)

Holidays and observances

• Gambian Independence Day
• February 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada