August
18
Events
1572 – Marriage
in Paris of the future Huguenot King Henry IV of Navarre to
Marguerite de Valois, in a supposed attempt to reconcile Protestants
and Catholics.
1587 – Virginia Dare, granddaughter of governor John White of
the Colony of Roanoke, becomes the first English child born
in the Americas.
1590 – John White, the governor of the Colony of Roanoke, returns
from a supply trip to England and finds his settlement deserted.
1634 – Urbain Grandier, accused and convicted of sorcery, is
burned alive in Loudun, France.
1783 – A huge fireball meteor is seen across the United Kingdom
as it passes over the east coast.
1838 – The Wilkes Expedition, which would explore the Puget
Sound and Antarctica, weighs anchor at Hampton Roads in 1838
1848 – Camila O'Gorman and Ladislao Gutierrez are executed on
the orders of Argentine dictator Juan Manuel de Rosas.
1864 – 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.
1868 – French astronomer Pierre Jules César Janssen discovers
helium.
1870 – Franco-Prussian War: Battle of Gravelotte is fought.
1877 – Asaph Hall discovers Martian moon Phobos.
1891 – Major hurricane strikes Martinique, leaving 700 dead.
1903 – German engineer Karl Jatho allegedly flies his self-made,
motored gliding airplane four months before the first flight
of the Wright Brothers.
1917 – A Great Fire in Thessaloniki, Greece destroys 32% of
the city leaving 70,000 individuals homeless.
1920 – The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
is ratified, guaranteeing women's suffrage.
1938 – The Thousand Islands Bridge, connecting New York State,
United States with Ontario, Canada over the St. Lawrence River,
is dedicated by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
1948 – The Australian cricket team completed a 4–0 Ashes series
win over England during their undefeated Invincibles tour.
1950 – Julien Lahaut, the chairman of the Communist Party of
Belgium is assassinated by far-right elements.
1958 – Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel Lolita is published
in the United States.
1958 – Brojen Das from Bangladesh swims across the English Channel
in a competition, as the first Bangali as well as the first
Asian to ever do it. He became first among 39 competitors.
1963 – American civil rights movement: James Meredith becomes
the first black person to graduate from the University of Mississippi.
1965 – 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.
1966 – 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 Phuoc Tuy Province.
1971 – Vietnam War: Australia and New Zealand decide to withdraw
their troops from Vietnam.
1976 – In the Korean Demilitarized Zone at Panmunjeom, the Axe
Murder Incident results in the death of two US soldiers.
1977 – Steve Biko is arrested at a police roadblock under the
Terrorism Act No 83 of 1967 in King William's Town, South Africa.
He would later die of the injuries sustained during this arrest
bringing attention to South Africa's apartheid policies.
1983 – Hurricane Alicia hits the Texas coast, killing 22 people
and causing over USD $1 billion in damage (1983 dollars).
1989 – Leading presidential hopeful Luis Carlos Galán is assassinated
near Bogotá in Colombia.
2005 – A Massive power blackout hits the Indonesian island of
Java, affecting almost 100 million people, the largest and most
widespread power outage in history.
2008 – President of Pakistan Pervez Musharaf resigns due to
the threat of impeachment.
Holidays
and observances
Birthday
of Virginia Dare (Roanoke Island)
Christian Feast Day:
Agapitus of Palestrina
Alberto Hurtado
Helena of Constantinople (Roman Catholic Church)
August 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Long Tan Day, also called Vietnam Veterans' Day (Australia)
National Science Day (Thailand)
For details, contact Datacentre
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