February 18Birthdays & History

On this day: February 18 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 3102 BCKali Yuga, the fourth and final yuga of Hinduism, starts with the death of Krishna.Asia
2. 1229The 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.EuropeMiddle East
3. 1268The Battle of Wesenberg is fought between the Livonian Order and Dovmont of Pskov.Europe
4. 1332Amda Seyon I, Emperor of Ethiopia begins his campaigns in the southern Muslim provinces.Africa
5. 1637Eighty Years' War: Off the coast of Cornwall, England, a Spanish fleet intercepts an important Anglo-Dutch merchant convoy of 44 vessels escorted by six warships, destroying or capturing 20 of them.Europe
6. 1735The ballad opera called Flora, or Hob in the Well went down in history as the first opera of any kind to be produced in North America (Charleston, S.C.)North America
7. 1781Fourth Anglo-Dutch War: Captain Thomas Shirley opens his expedition against Dutch colonial outposts on the Gold Coast of Africa (present-day Ghana).EuropeAfrica
8. 1791Congress passes a law admitting the state of Vermont to the Union, effective 4 March, after that state had existed for 14 years as a de facto independent largely unrecognized state.North America
9. 1797French Revolutionary Wars: Sir Ralph Abercromby and a fleet of 18 British warships invade Trinidad.EuropeLatin America
10. 1814Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Montereau.Europe
11. 1861In Montgomery, Alabama, Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as the provisional President of the Confederate States of America.North America
12. 1861With Italian unification almost complete, Victor Emmanuel II of Piedmont, Savoy and Sardinia assumes the title of King of Italy.Europe
13. 1873Bulgarian revolutionary leader Vasil Levski is executed by hanging in Sofia by the Ottoman authorities.EuropeMiddle East
14. 1878John Tunstall is murdered by outlaw Jesse Evans, sparking the Lincoln County War in Lincoln County, New Mexico.North AmericaLatin America
15. 1885Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is published in the United States.North America
16. 1900Second Boer War: Imperial forces suffer their worst single-day loss of life on Bloody Sunday, the first day of the Battle of Paardeberg.Africa
17. 1906Édouard de Laveleye forms the Belgian Olympic Committee in Brussels.Europe
18. 1911The first official flight with airmail takes place from Allahabad, United Provinces, British India (now India), when Henri Pequet, a 23-year-old pilot, delivers 6,500 letters to Naini, about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) away.EuropeAsia
19. 1915U-boat Campaign: The Imperial German Navy institutes unrestricted submarine warfare in the waters around Great Britain and Ireland.Europe
20. 1930While studying photographs taken in January, Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto.North America
21. 1930Elm Farm Ollie becomes the first cow to fly in a fixed-wing aircraft and also the first cow to be milked in an aircraft.North America
22. 1932The Empire of Japan creates the independent state of Manzhouguo (the obsolete Chinese name for Manchuria) free from the Republic of China and installed former Chinese Emperor Puyi as Chief Executive of the State.AsiaAsia
23. 1938Second Sino-Japanese War: During the Nanking Massacre, the Nanking Safety Zone International Committee is renamed "Nanking International Rescue Committee", and the safety zone in place for refugees falls apart.AsiaAsia
24. 1942World War II: The Imperial Japanese Army begins the systematic extermination of perceived hostile elements among the Chinese in Singapore.AsiaAsia
25. 1943World War II: The Nazis arrest the members of the White Rose movement.Europe
26. 1943World War II: Joseph Goebbels delivers his Sportpalast speech.Europe
27. 1945World War II: American and Brazilian troops kick off Operation Encore in Northern Italy, a successful limited action in the Northern Apennines that prepares for the western portion of the Allied Spring offensive.North AmericaLatin AmericaEurope
28. 1946Sailors of the Royal Indian Navy mutiny in Bombay harbour, from where the action spreads throughout the Provinces of British India, involving 78 ships, twenty shore establishments and 20,000 sailorsAsiaEurope
29. 1947First Indochina War: The French gain complete control of Hanoi after forcing the Viet Minh to withdraw to the mountains.EuropeAsia
30. 1954The first Church of Scientology is established in Los Angeles.North America
31. 1955Operation Teapot: Teapot test shot "Wasp" is successfully detonated at the Nevada Test Site with a yield of 1.2 kilotons. Wasp is the first of fourteen shots in the Teapot series.North America
32. 1957Kenyan rebel leader Dedan Kimathi is executed by the British colonial government.AfricaEurope
33. 1957Walter James Bolton becomes the last person legally executed in New Zealand.Oceania
34. 1965The Gambia becomes independent from the United Kingdom.AfricaEurope
35. 1970The Chicago Seven are found not guilty of conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.North America
36. 1972The 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 imprisonment.North America
37. 1977The Space Shuttle Enterprise test vehicle is carried on its maiden "flight" on top of a Boeing 747.North America
38. 1977A thousand armed soldiers raid Kalakuta Republic, the commune of Nigerian singer Fela Kuti, leading to the death of Funmilayo Anikulapo Kuti.Africa
39. 1977The Xinjiang 61st Regiment Farm fire started during Chinese New Year when a firecracker ignited memorial wreaths of the late Mao Zedong, killing 694 personnel. It remains the deadliest fireworks accident in the world.Asia
40. 1979Richard Petty wins a then-record sixth Daytona 500 after leaders Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough crash on the final lap of the first NASCAR race televised live flag-to-flag.North America
41. 1983Thirteen people die and one is seriously injured in the Wah Mee massacre in Seattle. It is said to be the largest robbery-motivated mass-murder in U.S. history.North America
42. 1991The IRA explodes bombs in the early morning at Paddington station and Victoria station in London.Europe
43. 2001FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested for spying for the Soviet Union. He is ultimately convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.Europe
44. 2001Sampit conflict: Inter-ethnic violence between Dayaks and Madurese breaks out in Sampit, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, ultimately resulting in more than 500 deaths and 100,000 Madurese displaced from their homes.Asia
45. 2003192 people die when an arsonist sets fire to a subway train in Daegu, South Korea.Asia
46. 2004Up to 295 people, 182 of which being rescue workers, die near Nishapur, Iran, when a runaway freight train carrying sulfur, petrol and fertilizer catches fire and explodes.Middle East
47. 2010WikiLeaks publishes the first of hundreds of thousands of classified documents disclosed by the soldier now known as Chelsea Manning.North America
48. 2013Armed robbers steal a haul of diamonds worth $50 million during a raid at Brussels Airport in Belgium.Europe
49. 2014Revolution of Dignity: At least 76 people are killed and hundreds are injured in clashes between riot police and demonstrators in Kyiv, Ukraine.Europe
50. 2018Iran Aseman Airlines Flight 3704 crashes in the Dena sub-range in the Zagros Mountains of Iran, Resulting in 66 DeathsMiddle East
51. 2021Perseverance, a Mars rover designed to explore Jezero crater on Mars, as part of NASA's Mars 2020 mission, lands successfully.North America

Source: Wikipedia "February 18" / CC BY-SA 4.0