18 February

Events

• 1685 - Fort St. Louis is established by a Frenchman at Matagorda Bay thus forming the basis for France's claim to Texas.
• 1841 - The first ongoing filibuster in the United States Senate begins and lasts until March 11.
• 1848 - Battle of Montereau occurs.
• 1856 - The American Party (Know-Nothings) convene in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to nominate their first Presidential candidate, former President (Millard Fillmore).
• 1861 - In Montgomery, Alabama Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as the first and only President of the Confederate States of America.
• 1861 - Victor Emmanuel of Savoy becomes King of Italy.
• 1865 - In the U.S., Delaware voters reject the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and vote to continue the practice of slavery. (Delaware finally ratified the amendment on February 12, 1901.)
• 1878 - The Lincoln County War begins in Lincoln County, New Mexico.
• 1885 - Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is published for the first time.
• 1913 - Raymond Poincaré becomes President of France
• 1929 - First Academy Awards are announced.
• 1930 - While studying photographs taken in January, Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto.
• 1930 - Elm Farm Ollie becomes the first cow to fly in an airplane and also the first cow to be milked in an airplane.
• 1932 - Japan declares Manzhouguo (Japanese name for Manchuria) independent from China.
• 1943 - The Nazis arrest the members of the White Rose movement.
• 1948 - Eamon de Valera resigns as Taoiseach of Ireland.
• 1953 - The first 3D film, Bwana Devil opens.
• 1953 - Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz sign an $8,000,000 contract to continue the I Love Lucy television series through 1955.
• 1965 - The Gambia becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
• 1970 - The Chicago Eight are found not guilty of conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic Party national convention.
• 1972 - The California Supreme Court invalidates the state's death penalty and commutes the sentences of all death row inmates to life in prison.
• 1977 - The Space Shuttle Enterprise test vehicle goes on its maiden "flight" while sitting on top of a Boeing 747.
• 1998 - Two white separatists were arrested in Nevada and accused of plotting a biological attack on New York City subways.
• 2001 - During the Daytona 500 race, NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, known as "The Intimidator" for his aggressive driving style, is killed in a crash.
• 2004 - Up to 295 people, including nearly 200 rescue workers, die near Neyshabur in Iran when a run-away freight train carrying sulphur, petrol and fertiliser catches fire and explodes.

Births

• 1516 - Queen Mary I of England, (d. 1558)
• 1745 - Alessandro Volta, physicist, eponym for the unit of the electric potential, (d. 1827)
• 1838 - Ernst Mach, Austrian physicist and philosopher, (d. 1916)
• 1846 - Wilson Barrett, actor and playwright, (d. 1904)
• 1848 - Louis Comfort Tiffany, American glass artist, (d. 1933)
• 1867 - Hedwig Courths-Mahler, novelist, (d. 1950)
• 1887 - Nikos Kazantzakis, poet, (d. 1957)
• 1890 - Adolphe Menjou, actor, (d. 1963)
• 1892 - Wendell Wilkie, politican, Presidential candidate, (d. 1944)
• 1896 - Andre Breton, poet and principal theorist of surrealism, (d. 1966)
• 1898 - Enzo Ferrari, auto racer, manufacturer, (d. 1988)
• 1912 - Heinz Kühn, politician, (d. 1992)
• 1920 - Jack Palance, actor
• 1920 - Bill Cullen, game show host, (d. 1990)
• 1922 - Helen Gurley Brown, editor, publisher
• 1925 - George Kennedy, actor
• 1929 - Hayden Fry, college football coach
• 1929 - Len Deighton, author
• 1931 - Toni Morrison, writer, winner of the Nobel Prize in literature 1993
• 1931 - Bob St. Clair, American football star
• 1931 - Johnny Hart, cartoonist
• 1932 - Milos Forman, film director
• 1933 - Yoko Ono, singer, artist, wife of John Lennon
• 1934 - Paco Rabanne, fashion designer
• 1938 - Istvan Szabo, director
• 1943 - Graeme Garden, writer, comedian, actor
• 1947 - Princess Christina of the Netherlands
• 1947 - Dennis DeYoung, musician ("Styx")
• 1949 - Gary Ridgway, accused of being the Green River Killer
• 1950 - John Hughes, director, producer, writer
• 1952 - Juice Newton, country music entertainer
• 1954 - John Travolta, actor
• 1957 - Vanna White, game show presenter
• 1964 - Matt Dillon, actor
• 1965 - Dr. Dre, rap music performer, music producer
• 1967 - Roberto Baggio, Italian football player
• 1970 - Michael (Raine) Maida, frontman for Canadian rock band Our Lady Peace.
• 1981 - Andrei Kirilenko, Russian NBA star
• 1985 - Lee Boyd Malvo, convicted Beltway sniper

Deaths

• 901 - Thabit ibn Qurra, Arab astronomer and mathematician, (b. 826)
• 1478 - Duke of Clarence, drowned in wine by Richard III, (b. 1449)
• 1546 - Martin Luther, religious reformer, (b. 1483)
• 1564 - Michelangelo Buonarroti, Italian artist, (b. 1475)
• 1933 - James J. Corbett, boxer
• 1957 - Henry Norris Russell, American astronomer, (b. 1877)
• 1967 - J. Robert Oppenheimer, American physicist, (b. 1904)
• 1997 - Emily Hahn, writer, (b. 1905)
• 2001 - Dale Earnhardt, NASCAR race car driver, (b. 1951)
• 2001 - Balthus, French painter
• 2001 - Eddie Mathews, Baseball Hall of Famer, (b. 1931)
• 2003 - Isser Harel, Mossad leader

Holidays and observances

• Gambia - National Day

February 17 - February 19 - January 18 - March 18 -- listing of all days

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

Referenced By