September 18Birthdays & History

On this day: September 18 in history

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

1. 96Emperor Domitian is assassinated as a result of a plot by his wife Domitia and two Praetorian prefects. Nerva is then proclaimed as his successor.Europe
2. 324Constantine the Great decisively defeats Licinius in the Battle of Chrysopolis, establishing Constantine's sole control over the Roman Empire.Europe
3. 1048Battle of Kapetron between a combined Byzantine-Georgian army and a Seljuq army.Europe
4. 1066Norwegian king Harald Hardrada lands with Tostig Godwinson at the mouth of the Humber River and begins his invasion of England.Europe
5. 1180Philip Augustus becomes king of France at the age of fifteen.Europe
6. 1454Thirteen Years' War: In the Battle of Chojnice, the Polish army is defeated by the Teutonic knights.Europe
7. 1544The expedition of Juan Bautista Pastene makes landfall in San Pedro Bay, southern Chile, claiming the territory for Spain.Latin AmericaEurope
8. 1618The twelfth baktun in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar begins.Latin America
9. 1739The Treaty of Belgrade is signed, whereby Austria cedes lands south of the Sava and Danube rivers to the Ottoman Empire.EuropeMiddle East
10. 1759French and Indian War: The Articles of Capitulation of Quebec are signed.EuropeNorth America
11. 1809The Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, opens.Europe
12. 1810First Government Junta in Chile. Though supposed to rule only during the Peninsular War in Spain, it is in fact the first step towards independence from Spain, and is commemorated as such.Latin AmericaEurope
13. 1837Tiffany & Co. (first named Tiffany & Young) is founded by Charles Lewis Tiffany and Teddy Young in New York City. The store is called a "stationery and fancy goods emporium".North America
14. 1838The Anti-Corn Law League is established by Richard Cobden.Europe
15. 1850The U.S. Congress passes the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.North America
16. 1860Second Opium War: Battle of Zhangjiawan: Now heading towards Beijing after having recently occupied Tianjin, the allied Anglo-French force engages and defeats a larger Qing Chinese army at Zhangjiawan.AsiaEurope
17. 1860Wars of Italian Unification: Battle of Castelfidardo: Royal Sardinian Army defeats forces of the Papal States, resulting in the conquest of Umbria and Marche by the Kingdom of Italy.Europe
18. 1862The Confederate States celebrate for the first and only time a Thanksgiving Day.North America
19. 1863American Civil War: The Battle of Chickamauga begins between Confederate and Union forces. It involves the second highest amount of casualties for any American Civil War battle apart from Gettysburg.North America
20. 1864American Civil War: John Bell Hood begins the Franklin–Nashville Campaign in an unsuccessful attempt to draw William Tecumseh Sherman back out of Georgia.North America
21. 1867The first provincial election for the Nova Scotia Legislative Assembly after Canada's Confederation returns a large majority for the Anti-Confederation Party, led by William Annand, who becomes Premier.North America
22. 1867The fourth and current State Constitution of Maryland is ratified by voters.North America
23. 1870During an expedition to the Wyoming Territory, Henry D. Washburn observes and names the Old Faithful Geyser.North America
24. 1873The U.S. bank Jay Cooke & Company declares bankruptcy, contributing to the Panic of 1873.North America
25. 1882The Pacific Stock Exchange opens.North America
26. 1885Five Chinese people were lynched outside of Pierce City in the Idaho Territory of the United States.AsiaNorth America
27. 1898The Fashoda Incident triggers the last war scare between Britain and France.Europe
28. 1906The 1906 Hong Kong typhoon kills an estimated 10,000 people.Asia
29. 1910In Washington, D.C., George Owen Squier demonstrated the first system to allow multiplexing of telephone transmissions, sending a message between two laboratories of the U.S. Signal Corps.North America
30. 1914The Irish Home Rule Act becomes law, but is delayed until after World War I.Europe
31. 1915The Saturday Evening Post publishes the short story "Extricating Young Gussie" by P.G. Wodehouse, featuring the first appearance of Bertie Wooster and his valet Jeeves.North America
32. 1919Fritz Pollard becomes the first African American to play professional football for a major team, the Akron Pros.AfricaNorth America
33. 1919In the Netherlands, a law granting full voting rights to women is granted royal assent by Queen Wilhelmina.Europe
34. 1921Rif War: In Ajdir, Spanish Morocco, a secessionist group of Berbers led by Abd el-Krim proclaim the Republic of the Rif, in rebellion against the Sultan of Morocco and the Spanish Army. French and Spanish forces suppress the Republic by May 1926.EuropeAfrica
35. 1922The Kingdom of Hungary is admitted to the League of Nations.Europe
36. 1924The U.S. ends its military occupation of the Dominican Republic, after invading in May 1916 to force the Dominican government to pay its debts to European creditors.North AmericaLatin AmericaEurope
37. 1926A hurricane devastates Miami, Florida, killing 372 people.North America
38. 1927The Columbia Broadcasting System goes on the air.North America
39. 1928Juan de la Cierva makes the first Autogyro crossing of the English Channel.Europe
40. 1931Imperial Japan instigates the Mukden incident as a pretext to invade and occupy Manchuria.AsiaAsia
41. 1932The body of actress Peg Entwistle is discovered by police, two days after her suicide by jumping off of the Hollywoodland sign.North America
42. 1934The Soviet Union is admitted to the League of Nations.Europe
43. 1939World War II: The radio show Germany Calling begins transmitting Nazi propaganda.Europe
44. 1939World War II: The Polish government of Ignacy Mościcki flees to Romania.Europe
45. 1941World War II: The Soviet Union introduces conscription for all males between the ages of 16 and 50.Europe
46. 1943World War II: Adolf Hitler orders the deportation of Danish Jews.Europe
47. 1944World War II: The Battle of Arracourt begins.Europe
48. 1944World War II: The British submarine HMS Tradewind torpedoes Jun'yō Maru, killing 5,600, mostly slave labourers and POWs.Europe
49. 1944World War II: Operation Market Garden results in the liberation of Eindhoven.Europe
50. 1945General Douglas MacArthur moves his general headquarters from Manila to Tokyo.AsiaAsia
51. 1947The National Security Act reorganizes the United States government's military and intelligence services.North America
52. 1948Margaret Chase Smith of Maine becomes the first woman elected to the United States Senate without completing another senator's term.North America
53. 1948Operation Polo is terminated after the Indian Army accepts the surrender of the army of Hyderabad.Asia
54. 1950Korean War: U.S. Eighth Army and United Nations forces break out of the Pusan Perimeter in southeast Korea.AsiaNorth America
55. 1950TV Tupi Difusora, the first television station to broadcast in Brazil, begins transmissions on Channel 3 in São Paulo.Latin America
56. 1954Finnish president J. K. Paasikivi becomes the first Western head of state to be awarded the highest honor of the Soviet Union, the Order of Lenin.Europe
57. 1961United Nations Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld dies in an air crash while attempting to negotiate peace in the Katanga region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.Africa
58. 1962Aeroflot Flight 213 crashes into a mountain near Chersky Airport, killing 32 people.Europe
59. 1962Burundi, Jamaica, Rwanda and Trinidad and Tobago are admitted to the United Nations.AfricaLatin America
60. 1964The first television adaptation of Charles Addams's "The Addams Family" premieres on ABC Television.North America
61. 1964The wedding of Constantine II of Greece and Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark takes place in Athens.Europe
62. 1974Hurricane Fifi strikes Honduras with 110 mph winds, killing 5,000 people.Latin America
63. 1980A fuel leak from a Titan II intercontinental ballistic missile at a USAF base near Damascus, Arkansas, results in an explosion in a missile silo, killing one person and injuring 21 others.North America
64. 1988The 8888 Uprising in Myanmar comes to an end.Asia
65. 1988The Magna Charta Universitatum, asserting key principles essential to the free operation of universities, is signed in Bologna by the rectors of 388 institutions of higher learning, to commemorate the 900th anniversary of the University of Bologna.Europe
66. 1988General Henri Namphy, president of Haiti, is ousted from power in a coup d'état led by General Prosper Avril.Latin America
67. 1989An attempted coup d'état against Burkina Faso president Blaise Compaoré is uncovered and foiled.Africa
68. 1990Liechtenstein becomes a member of the United Nations.Europe
69. 1997The Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention is adopted.World
70. 2001First mailing of anthrax letters from Trenton, New Jersey in the 2001 anthrax attacks.North America
71. 2007Buddhist monks join anti-government protesters in Myanmar, starting what some call the Saffron Revolution.Asia
72. 2011The 2011 Sikkim earthquake is felt across northeastern India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and southern Tibet.Asia
73. 2013A VIA Rail train crashes into a double-decker bus at a train station in Ottawa, Canada, killing six people and injuring 35 others.North America
74. 2014Scotland votes against independence from the United Kingdom, by 55% to 45%.Europe
75. 2015Two security personnel, 17 worshippers in a mosque, and 13 militants are killed during a Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan attack on a Pakistan Air Force base on the outskirts of Peshawar.Asia
76. 2016The 2016 Uri attack in Jammu and Kashmir, India by terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed results in the deaths of nineteen Indian Army soldiers and all four attackers.Asia

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