Events

History Events on August 18

By  Kevin Robinson  18 Aug   325 Views

History Events on August 18

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

#1783_Great_Meteor

In 1783

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

#Vietnam

In 1971

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

#World_War_II

In 1940

Major Gordon Laing becomes the first non-Muslim to enter Timbuktu.

#Alexander_Gordon_Laing

In 1826

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

#Karl_Jatho

In 1903

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

#Iceland

In 2019

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

#Great_Thessaloniki_Fire_of_1917

In 1917

The trial of the Pendle witches, one of England's most famous witch trials, begins at Lancaster Assizes.

#Pendle_witches

In 1612

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

#Battle_of_Marj_Rahit_(684)

In 684

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.

#Thousand_Islands_Bridge

In 1938

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

#Nineteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

In 1920

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

#Battle_of_Mons-en-Pévèle

In 1304

Franco-Prussian War: Battle of Gravelotte is fought.

#Franco-Prussian_War

In 1870

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

#United_States_Exploring_Expedition

In 1838

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

#Sukarno

In 1945

President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf resigns under threat of impeachment.

#Pervez_Musharraf

In 2008

Virginia Dare, granddaughter of Governor John White of the Colony of Roanoke, becomes the first English child born in the Americas.

#Virginia_Dare

In 1587

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

#John_White_(colonist_and_artist)

In 1590

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

#Urbain_Grandier

In 1634

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.

#Vietnam_War

In 1965

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

#Civil_rights_movement

In 1963

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

#Brojen_Das

In 1958

Camila O'Gorman and Ladislao Gutierrez are executed on the orders of Argentine dictator Juan Manuel de Rosas.

#Camila_O'Gorman

In 1848

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

#Siege_of_Málaga_(1487)

In 1487

In the Korean Demilitarized Zone at Panmunjom, the Axe murder incident results in the death of two US soldiers.

#Korean_Demilitarized_Zone

In 1976

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

#Hurricane_Alicia

In 1983

War of Afghanistan: Uzbin Valley ambush occurs.

#Uzbin_Valley_ambush

In 2008

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.

#American_Civil_War

In 1864

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

#Vladimir_Nabokov

In 1958

French astronomer Pierre Janssen discovers helium.

#Astronomy

In 1868

The first terrorist attack ever sentenced as a crime in Finland kills two and injures eight.

In 2017

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

In 2005

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 led to reform of Canada's bail laws.

In 2003

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

In 1989

Steve Biko is arrested at a police roadblock under the 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.

In 1977

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 Ph??c Tuy Province.

In 1966

Julien Lahaut, the chairman of the Communist Party of Belgium is assassinated by far-right elements.

In 1950

First British Track and Field championships for women, London.

In 1923

Major hurricane strikes Martinique, leaving 700 dead.

In 1891

Marriage in Paris, France, of the Huguenot King Henry III of Navarre to Margaret of Valois, in a supposed attempt to reconcile Protestants and Catholics.

In 1572

Kevin Robinson

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