This Day in History
July 18

What happened in history on this day: July 18? On July 18 in ... 64 - Great Fire of Rome begins. 1013 - Birth of Hermann von Reichenau in Saulgau, (Germany); chronicler of information. 1066 - Death of St. Answer by stoning in far north of German area (born about 1035); Benedictine monk. 1374 - Francesco Petrarch Italian poet, dies at age 69. 1504 - Birth of Heinrich Bullinger in Bremgarten, Switzerland; contributed to moving Switzerland to Protestantism. 1536 - Pope's authority declared void in England. 1552 - Birth of Rudolf II in Vienna Austria; Holy Roman Emperor (1576-1612). 1635 - In Freshwater, Isle of Wight, England, Robert Hooke is born; physicist. 1650 - Christoph Scheiner German astronomer, dies at age 74. 1716 - Jews are expelled from Brussels Belgium. 1720 - Birth of Gilbert White "father of British naturalists". 1753 - Lemuel Haynes, escapes from slaveholder in Framingham Massachusetts 1792 - Death of John Paul Jones, American naval hero ("I have not yet begun to fight"). 1794 - The Bank of Maryland makes the first deposit of silver bullion at the US Mint, $80,715.735 in French coins. 1796 - Birth of Feargus O'Connor in County Cork, England; leader of the English Chartists. 1811 - Birth of William Makepeace Thackeray in England; Victorian novelist (Vanity Fair). 1814 - British capture Prairie du Chien (Wisconsin). 1848 - Birth of William Gilbert Grace; Victorian England's greatest cricket player (dies 1915). 1853 - First train to cross the US-Canada boundary, from Portland, Maine to Montréal, Quebec. 1853 - Birth of Hendrik Antoon Lorentz in Holland; physicist (Nobel Prize 1902). 1853 - Completion of Grand Trunk Line, America's first international railroad. 1861 - Federal government of Confederación Granadina ceases to exist. 1865 - Birth of Laurence Housman in England; author/playwright (Victoria Regina). 1872 - Benito Juárez, Mexican president, Cuban justice/general (battle of Acapulco), dies at age 66. 1872 - Britain introduces secret ballot voting. 1890 - Birth of Charles Wilson; President of General Motors (1940-53), Secretary of Defence (1953-57). 1891 - Birth of Gene Lockhart in New York City, New York, USA; actor (Going My Way). 1894 - Birth of Bernard Wagenaar in Arnhem, Holland; composer ("Three Songs for the Chinese"). 1903 - Birth of Chill Wills in Seagoville, Texas, USA; actor (Frontier Circus, Rounders). 1904 - P Gotz discovers asteroid #538 Friederike. 1906 - Birth of Clifford Odets; US dramatist (1961 Award of Merit - Golden Boy). 1906 - Birth of S.I. Hayakawa; American politician (Senator-Republican-California), educator (Language in Action) (dies 1992). 1909 - Birth of Andrei Gromyko; USSR diplomat/USSR President (1985-89). 1909 - Birth of Harriet Nelson in Des Moines, Iowa, USA; actress (Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet). 1911 - Birth of Hume Cronyn in London, Ontario, Canada; actor (The World According to Garp, Cocoon). 1913 - Birth of Richard Bernard "Red" Skelton; comedian (Clem Kadiddlehopper, Freddie the Freeloader) (dies 1997). 1913 - Birth of Marvin Miller in Saint Louis, Missouri, USA; actor (Space Patrol, Millionaire). 1914 - Birth of Mack Robinson; US 200m dash (Olympic-silver-1932). 1914 - US army air service first comes into being, in the Signal Corps. 1916 - Birth of Harriet Hilliard Nelson; singer/actress (Ozzie and Harriet). 1918 - Birth of Jane Frazee in Duluth, Minnesota, USA; actress/singer (Alice - Beulah). 1918 - Birth of Nelson Mandela in Qunu, South Africa; political prisoner (African National Congress), South African President. 1918 - Birth of Pamela Brown in England; actress (Alice in Wonderland, Dracula). 1918 - US and French forces launch Aisne-Marne offensive. 1921 - Birth of John H Glenn Junior in Cambridge, Ohio, USA; Colonel US Marine Corp astronaut (Mercury 6), politician (Senator-Democrat-Ohio). 1924 - Birth of Howard Roberts in Burlington, New Jersey, USA; choral director (Leslie Uggams Show). 1924 - Birth of Inge Sörensen in Denmark; 200m breaststroke (Olympic-bronze-1936). 1925 - Birth of Shirley Strickland de la Hunty in Austria; 100m dash (Olympics-bronze-1948). 1926 - Birth of Jane Hylton in London, England; actress (Adventures of Sir Lancelot). 1929 - Birth of "Screamin Jay" Hawkins in Cleveland, Ohio, USA; rocker ("I Put a Spell on You"). 1929 - Birth of Dick Button; commentator/figure skater (Olympic-gold-1948, 1952). 1931 - First air-conditioned ship (Mariposa) launched. 1932 - US and Canada sign a treaty to develop Saint Lawrence Seaway. 1933 - Birth of R Murray Schafer in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada; composer (Patria). 1933 - Birth of Yevgeny Yevtushenko in Russia; poet (Bratsk Station). 1935 - Birth of Tenley Albright; American doctor/figure skater (Olympic-gold-1956). 1936 - Spanish Civil War begins, General Francisco Franco leads uprising in Spanish Morocco. 1938 - Birth of Britt Leach in Gadsen, Alabama, USA; actor (Mickey - Spencer's Pilots). 1939 - Birth of Brian Auger in London, England; fusion keyboardist (Befour, Genesis). 1939 - Birth of Dion DiMucci in the Bronx, New York, USA; rocker (Dion and the Belmonts - "Teenager in Love"). 1939 - Birth of Hunter S Thompson; writer (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas). 1940 - First successful helicopter flight, Stratford, Connecticut, USA. 1940 - Birth of James Brolin in Los Angeles, California, USA; actor (Dr Kiley - Marcus Welby, Peter - Hotel). 1940 - Birth of Joseph Torre; outfield/manager (Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, 1971 National League Most Valuable Player). 1941 - Birth of Lonnie Mack in Aurora, Indiana, USA; rocker ("Baby What's Wrong"). 1941 - Birth of Marcia Jones in Smoke, Oklahoma, USA; 500m kayak (Olympic-bronze-1964). 1941 - Birth of Martha Reeves in Detroit, Michigan, USA; singer (Martha and the Vandellas - "Dancing in the Street"). 1942 - First legal New Jersey horse race in 50 years; Garden State Park track opens. 1942 - German Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe, first jet fighter, takes first flight. 1944 - Birth of Jonelle Allen in New York City, New York, USA; actress (Bessie - Palmerstown USA, Berringers). 1947 - Birth of Ayn Rumen in Brooklyn, New York, USA; actress (Janet - The McLean Stevenson Show). 1947 - Detroit Tigers shut out New York Yankees 2-0, end 19-game win streak. 1947 - The United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands becomes effective, creating seven administrative districts of over 2000 islands in the Pacific Ocean liberated from Japanese occupation and control: Kosrae, Marshall Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Ponape, Truk, and Yap. 1948 - Pat Seerey of Chicago White Sox hits four home runs in a game. 1951 - Jersey Joe Walcott knocks out Ezzard Charles in five rounds for heavyweight belt. At age 37 Walcott is the oldest boxer to win the title. 1951 - Uruguay accepts its constitution. 1954 - Birth of Ricky Skaggs; singer ("Toy Hearts", "Two Different Worlds"). 1954 - Saint Louis Cardinals, losing 8-1 to Philadelphia Phillies begin stalling in 5th; they forfeit game. 1955 - Disneyland opens to the public, with general admission costing US$1. Cost of the twenty attractions range from 10c to 35c. 1955 - First electric power generated from atomic energy sold commercially. 1955 - Birth of Teresa Ann Savoy in London, England; actress (Caligula). 1958 - Birth of Nigel Twist; rocker (The Alarm - "In the Summertime"). 1959 - Birth of Audrey Landers in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; actress (Afton - Dallas, Chorus Line). 1960 - Baseball's National League votes to add Houston and New York franchises. 1961 - Birth of Elizabeth McGovern in Evanston, Illinois, USA; actress (Once Upon a Time in America). 1964 - Race riot in Harlem, New York City; riots spread to Bedford-Stuyvesant (Brooklyn). 1965 - Zond 3 launched to fly by Moon, enters solar orbit. 1966 - Bobby Fuller, rocker ("I Fought the Law"), found dead. 1966 - Gemini X is launched. 1967 - Silver hits record US$1.87 an ounce in New York. 1968 - C Torres discovers asteroid #2654 Ristenpart. 1968 - Intel incorporates. 1969 - Barbara Pepper, actress (Doris Ziffel - Green Acres), dies at age 57. 1970 - Arthur Brown arrested for stripping on stage in Palemo, Sicily. 1970 - Birth of Patrick Dancy; TV rocker (Guys Next Door-I Was Made For You). 1970 - Ron Hunt gets hit by a pitch for a record 119th time. 1970 - Willie Mays hits number 3,000. 1972 - 200,000 attend Mount Pocono rock festival in Pennsylvania. 1973 - Jack Hawkins, actor (Ben - Four Just Men), dies at age 62. 1974 - World's tallest structure, 646m Polish radio mast, completed. 1978 - Billy Martin suspends Reggie Jackson for not bunting. 1978 - Egyptian and Israeli officials begin two days of talks. 1979 - Gold hits record US$303.85 an ounce in London, England. 1980 - Rohini 1, first Indian satellite, launches into orbit. 1983 - Birth of Aaron Gillespie; drummer (Underoath). 1984 - Birth of Lee Barnard, English football player. 1984 - Birth of Josh Harding, Canadian hockey player (Minnesota Wild). 1984 - In San Ysidro, California, 41-year-old James Oliver Huberty sprays a McDonald's restaurant with gunfire, killing 21 people before being shot and killed by police. 1986 - Videotapes released showing Titanic's sunken remains. 1986 - Fox releases the film Aliens to theaters. 1987 - Molly Yard elected new president of US National Organization for Women. 1987 - New York Yankees' Don Mattingly ties major league record (Dale Long, 1956) of home runs in eight consecutive games. 1989 - Death of Donnie Moore, baseball player (suicide) (born 1954). 1989 - Rebecca Schaeffer, actress (My Sister Sam) is shot dead by a fan at age 21. 1990 - Buena Vista releases the Hollywood Pictures / Amblin Entertainment live-action feature film Arachnophobia to theaters. This is the first Hollywood Pictures' release. 1990 - Karl Menninger, psychiatrist (Menninger Clinic), dies at age 96 from cancer. 1990 - Death of Yun Po Sun, President of South Korea (born 1897). 1991 - In Romania, a magnitude 5.6 earthquake occurs. Felt strongly in western Romania and in northwestern Bulgaria. Also felt in southeastern Hungary and in parts of Yugoslavia. 1991 - Death of André Cools, Belgian politician (assassinated) (born 1927). 1994 - In Buenos Aires, a terrorist attack destroys a building housing several Jewish organizations, killing 85 and injuring many more. 1994 - Trailing 11-0 after three innings, the Houston Astros pull off a major comeback defeating the Saint Louis Cardinals, 15-12. 1995 - Death of Fabio Casartelli, Italian cyclist (born 1970). 1997 - In Eastern Caucasus, a magnitude 4.2 earthquake occurs. About 5,000 houses damaged. 1999 - David Cone pitches a perfect game, the 16th in history, as the New York Yankees defeat the Montreal Expos, 6-0, to celebrate Yogi Berra Day. 2000 - Alex Salmond resigns as the leader of the Scottish National Party. 2001 - In Baltimore, Maryland, a 60-car train derailment occurs in a tunnel, sparking a fire that lasts days and virtually shuts down downtown Baltimore. 2001 - Universal releases the film Jurassic Park III to theaters. 2003 - The Convention on the Future of Europe finishes its work and proposes the first European Constitution. 2003 - The body of David Kelly, a scientist at the British Ministry of Defence, is found a few miles from his home, leading to the Hutton inquiry. 2004 - Todd Hamilton wins The Open Championship at Royal Troon Golf Club. 2006 - The SS Nomadic, the last floating link to RMS Titanic, returns home to a great reception in Belfast, Ireland. 2007 - At the height of rush hour in New York City a major steam pipe bursts, releasing millions of gallons of boiling water and super heated steam. Only one fatality occurs, a pedestrian who goes into cardiac arrest. 2007 - Nelson Mandela convenes a group of world leaders to contribute their wisdom, independent leadership and integrity to tackle some of the world's toughest problems as he turns 89. 2007 - Franco-Spanish cigarette-maker Altadis agrees to 16.2 billion euro (US$22.4 billion) takeover offer by Britain's Imperial Tobacco. 2008 - Paramount releases the film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull to theaters. 2008 - Universal releases the film Mamma Mia! to theaters. 2008 - Warner Bros. Pictures releases the film The Dark Knight to theaters in the USA and Canada. The film sets a one-day US box office record, generating ticket sales of US$66.4 million on opening day. The opening weekend also sets a record, taking in US$155 million. 2010 - In Iraq, two suicide bombers target the government-backed Sons of Iraq militia, killing at least 48 people and wounding 46 at a military checkpoint. 2011 - Price of gold passes $1600 per ounce for the first time.         You can pick a particular day to view that day's events in history. Bookmark this URL:   http://thisdayinhistoryinfo.info/   and revisit each day. (this URL will automatically re-direct to the file containing the current day's events) Or, visit my Timelines of History page. Other web pages of interest: Chronology of World History Today in Sports History Today in USA History Today in Disney History Today in Personal Computer and Video Game History Chronology of World War II Chronology of Personal Computers