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)

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