What happened on November 18? There are more than 265 events that were made this day in history. Here are the important historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
Interesting Facts & Myths About November 18
November 18 is the 323rd day of the year 2024. There are 43 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Monday. This day falls under the 47th week of the year 2024.
On this day in Poplar Bluff, Missouri 63902 sunrise occured at 06:42 AM and sunset occured at 04:51 PM (local time).
The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Scorpio. The modern birthstone for this month is Topaz while the mystical birthstone is Pearl.
According to the Chinese calendar, there are 72 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (January 29, 2025).
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Historical Events For November 18
- 326The old St. Peter’s Basilica is consecrated.
- 401The Visigoths, led by king Alaric I, cross the Alps and invade northern Italy.
- 1105Maginulfo is elected the Antipope as Sylvester IV.
- 1210Pope Innocent III excommunicates Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV
- 1302Pope Boniface VIII issues the Papal bull Unam sanctam (One Faith).
- 1307William Tell shoots an apple off his son’s head.
- 1421A seawall at the Zuiderzee dike in the Netherlands breaks, flooding 72 villages and killing about 10,000 people. This event will be known as Sint-Elisabethsvloed.
- 1493Christopher Columbus first sights the island now known as Puerto Rico.
- 1494French King Charles VIII occupies Florence, Italy.
- 1601Tiryaki Hasan Pasha, provincial governor of Ottoman Empire, utterly defeats Habsburg forces, commanded by Ferdinand the Archduke of Austria during the Siege of Nagykanizsa.
- 1626St. Peter’s Basilica is consecrated.
- 1686Charles Francois Felix operates on King Louis XIV of France’s anal fistula after practicing the surgery on several peasants.
- 1730Frederick II (known as Frederick the Great), King of Prussia, is granted a royal pardon and released from confinement.
- 1803The Battle of Vertières, the last major battle of the Haitian Revolution, is fought, leading to the establishment of the Republic of Haiti, the first black republic in the Western Hemisphere.
- 1809In a naval action during the Napoleonic Wars, French frigates defeat British East Indiamen in the Bay of Bengal.
- 1863King Christian IX of Denmark decides to sign the November constitution that declares Schleswig to be part of Denmark. This is seen by the German Confederation as a violation of the London Protocol and leads to the German–Danish war of 1864.
- 1865Mark Twain’s short story The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County is published in the New York Saturday Press.
- 1883American and Canadian railroads institute five standard continental time zones, ending the confusion of thousands of local times.
- 1903The Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty is signed by the United States and Panama, giving the United States exclusive rights over the Panama Canal Zone.
- 1904General Esteban Huertas steps down after the government of Panama fears he wants to stage a coup.
- 1905Prince Carl of Denmark becomes King Haakon VII of Norway.
- 1909Two United States warships are sent to Nicaragua after 500 revolutionaries (including two Americans) are executed by order of José Santos Zelaya.
- 1916World War I: First Battle of the Somme– in France, British Expeditionary Force commander Douglas Haig calls off the battle which started on July 1, 1916.
- 1918Latvia declares its independence from Russia.
- 1926George Bernard Shaw refuses to accept the money for his Nobel Prize, saying, “I can forgive Alfred Nobel for inventing dynamite, but only a fiend in human form could have invented the Nobel Prize”.
- 1928Release of the animated short Steamboat Willie, the first fully synchronized sound cartoon, directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks, featuring the third appearances of cartoon characters Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse. This is also considered by the Disney corporation to be Mickey’s birthday.
- 19291929 Grand Banks earthquake: off the south coast of Newfoundland in the Atlantic Ocean, a Richter magnitude 7.2 submarine earthquake, centered on Grand Banks, breaks 12 submarine transatlantic telegraph cables and triggers a tsunami that destroys many south coast communities in the Burin Peninsula.
- 1930Sōka Kyōiku Gakkai, a Buddhist association later renamed Sōka Gakkai, is founded by Japanese educators Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and Josei Toda.
- 1938Trade union members elect John L. Lewis as the first president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
- 1940New York City’s “Mad Bomber” George Metesky places his first bomb at a Manhattan office building used by Consolidated Edison.
- 1940World War II: German leader Adolf Hitler and Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano meet to discuss Benito Mussolini’s disastrous invasion of Greece.
- 1943World War II– Battle of Berlin: 440 Royal Air Force planes bomb Berlin causing only light damage and killing 131. The RAF loses nine aircraft and 53 air crew.
- 1947The Ballantyne’s Department Store fire in Christchurch, New Zealand, kills 41; it is the worst fire disaster in the history of New Zealand.
- 1949The Iva Valley Shooting occurs after the coal miners of Enugu in Nigeria go on strike over withheld wages; 21 miners are shot dead and 51 are wounded by police under the supervision of the British colonial administration of Nigeria.
- 1961United States President John F. Kennedy sends 18,000 military advisors to South Vietnam.
- 1963The first push-button telephone goes into service.
- 1970U.S. President Richard Nixon asks the U.S. Congress for $155 million USD in supplemental aid for the Cambodian government.
- 1978In Jonestown, Guyana, Jim Jones led his Peoples Temple cult to a mass murder-suicide that claimed 918 lives in all, 909 of them in Jonestown itself, including over 270 children. Congressman Leo J. Ryan is murdered by members of the Peoples Temple hours earlier.
- 1987Iran-Contra Affair: the U.S. Congress issues its final report on the Iran-Contra Affair.
- 1987King’s Cross fire: in London, 31 people die in a fire at the city’s busiest underground station, King’s Cross St Pancras.
- 1988War on Drugs: U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs a bill into law allowing the death penalty for drug traffickers.
- 1991After an 87-day siege, the Croatian city of Vukovar capitulates to the besieging Yugoslav People’s Army and allied Serb paramilitary forces.
- 1991Shiite Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon release Anglican Church envoys Terry Waite and Thomas Sutherland.
- 1993In South Africa, 21 political parties approve a new constitution.
- 1993In the United States, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is ratified by the House of Representatives.
- 1999In College Station, Texas, 12 are killed and 27 injured at Texas A&M University when the 59 ft Aggie Bonfire, under construction for the annual football game against the University of Texas, collapses at 2:42am.
- 2002Iraq disarmament crisis: United Nations weapons inspectors led by Hans Blix arrive in Iraq.
- 2003In the United Kingdom, the Local Government Act 2003, repealing controversial anti-gay amendment Section 28, becomes effective.
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Who Were Born On November 18?
- 1522Lamoral, Count of Egmont, Flemish general and statesman (d. 1568)
- 1630Empress Eleanor Gonzaga of the Holy Roman Empire (d. 1686)
- 1647Pierre Bayle, French philosopher (d. 1706)
- 1727Philibert Commerçon, French naturalist (d. 1773)
- 1756Thomas Burgess, English author, philosopher and religious figure (d. 1837)
- 1772Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia (d. 1806)
- 1774Princess Wilhelmine of Prussia, Queen of the Netherlands (d. 1837)
- 1785Sir David Wilkie, Scottish painter (d. 1841)
- 1786Carl Maria von Weber, German composer (d. 1826)
- 1787Louis-Jacques Daguerre, French inventor and photographer (d. 1851)
- 1804Alfonso Ferrero la Marmora, Italian general and statesman (d. 1878)
- 1810Asa Gray, American botanist (d. 1888)
- 1832Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, Finnish-born Swedish explorer (d. 1901)
- 1836Sir W. S. Gilbert, British dramatist (d. 1911)
- 1839August Kundt, German physicist (d. 1894)
- 1856Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia (d. 1929)
- 1861Dorothy Dix, American journalist (d. 1951)
- 1874Clarence Day, American writer (d. 1935)
- 1880Naum Torbov, Bulgarian architect (d. 1952)
- 1882Amelita Galli-Curci, Italian soprano (d. 1963)
- 1882Jacques Maritain, French philosopher (d. 1973)
- 1883Carl Vinson, American politician (d. 1981)
- 1886Ferenc Münnich, Hungarian Communist politician (d. 1967)
- 1889Stanislav Kosior, Polish-born Soviet politician (d. 1939)
- 1897Patrick Blackett, British physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1974)
- 1898Joris Ivens, Dutch filmmaker (d. 1989)
- 1899Eugene Ormandy, Hungarian-born American violinist and conductor (d. 1985)
- 1901George Gallup, American statistician and pollster (d. 1984)
- 1901V. Shantaram, Indian filmmaker and actor (d. 1984)
- 1904Jean Paul Lemieux, Quebec painter (d. 1990)
- 1906Alec Issigonis, Greek-born British car designer (d. 1988)
- 1906George Wald, American scientist, Nobel laureate (d. 1997)
- 1906Klaus Mann, German writer (d. 1949)
- 1907Compay Segundo, Cuban guitarist, singer and composer (Buena Vista Social Club) (d. 2003)
- 1907Gustav Nezval, Czech actor (d. 1998)
- 1908Imogene Coca, American actress and comedian (d. 2001)
- 1909Johnny Mercer, American lyricist (d. 1976)
- 1911Attilio Bertolucci, Italian poet and writer (d. 2000)
- 1912Hilda Nickson, née Hilda Pressley, British novelist (d. 1977)
- 1913Endre Rozsda, French surrealist painter (d. 1999)
- 1914Haguroyama Masaji, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 36th Yokozuna (d. 1969)
- 1915Ken Burkhart, American baseball player and umpire (d. 2004)
- 1917Pedro Infante, Mexican actor and singer (d. 1957)
- 1918Sir Tasker Watkins, Welsh Victoria Cross recipient and rugby administrator (d. 2007)
- 1919Georgia Carroll, American singer, fashion model, and actress (d. 2011)
- 1919Jocelyn Brando, American actress (d. 2005)
- 1920Mustafa Khalil, 77th Prime Minister of Egypt (d. 2008)
- 1922Luis Somoza Debayle, 70th President of Nicaragua (d. 1967)
- 1923Alan Shepard, American astronaut (d. 1998)
- 1923Anne Sargent, American actress
- 1923Ted Stevens, American politician (d. 2010)
- 1924Alexander Mackenzie Stuart, Scottish jurist (d. 2000)
- 1924Les Lye, Canadian actor (d. 2009)
- 1925Gene Mauch, American baseball manager (d. 2005)
- 1927Hank Ballard, American rhythm'n'blues singer and songwriter (d. 2003)
- 1928Otar Gordeli, Georgian composer (d. 1994)
- 1928Salvador Laurel, Filipino politician (d. 2004)
- 1928Sheila Jordan, American jazz singer
- 1929Gianna D'Angelo, American soprano
- 1929Joey Forman, American comedian and comic actor (d. 1982)
- 1932Danny McDevitt, American baseball player (d. 2010)
- 1932Nasif Estéfano, Argentine racing driver (d. 1973)
- 1934Vassilis Vassilikos, Greek writer and ambassador
- 1935Rodney Hall, Australian author
- 1935Rudolf Bahro, German dissident (d. 1997)
- 1936Don Cherry, American jazz trumpeter (d. 1995)
- 1936Ennio Antonelli, Italian cardinal
- 1939Amanda Lear, Hong Kong-born French singer, TV presenter and model
- 1939Brenda Vaccaro, American actress
- 1939Margaret Atwood, Canadian poet, novelist, critic and essayist
- 1940Qaboos bin Said al Said, Sultan of Oman
- 1941David Hemmings, British actor (d. 2003)
- 1942Linda Evans, American actress
- 1942Susan Sullivan, American actress
- 1943Leonardo Sandri, Argentine Catholic Cardinal
- 1944Wolfgang Joop, German artist and fashion designer
- 1945Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka
- 1945Wilma Mankiller, American tribal chief (d. 2010)
- 1946Alan Dean Foster, American writer
- 1947Jameson Parker, American actor
- 1948Andrea Marcovicci, American singer and actress
- 1948Jack Tatum, American football player (d. 2010)
- 1949Ahmed Zaki, Egyptian actor (d. 2005)
- 1950Dennis Haskins, American actor
- 1950Eric Pierpoint, American actor
- 1950Rudy Sarzo, Cuban-born American bassist (Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne’s band, Whitesnake, Dio, Blue Öyster Cult)
- 1951Justin Raimondo, American author
- 1952Claudio Capone, Italian-born Scottish voice actor (d. 2008)
- 1952Delroy Lindo, British actor
- 1952Peter Beattie, Australian politician
- 1953Alan Moore, British comic book writer and novelist
- 1953Kevin Nealon, American comedian and actor
- 1954Evan Gray, New Zealand cricketer
- 1954John Parr, British pop singer
- 1955Carter Burwell, American composer
- 1955Michael Zimmer, German footballer
- 1956Noel Brotherston, Northern Irish footballer (d. 1995)
- 1956Warren Moon, American football player
- 1957Seán Mac Falls, Irish poet
- 1958Daniel Brailovsky, Argentine football manager
- 1958Oscar Nunez, Cuban-born American actor
- 1958Plamen Krastev, Bulgarian hurdler
- 1959Cindy Blackman, American jazz and rock drummer
- 1959Jimmy Quinn, Northern Irish footballer and football manager
- 1959Karla Faye Tucker, first woman to be executed in the United States since 1984 (d. 1998)
- 1960Elizabeth Perkins, American actress
- 1960Kim Wilde, British singer
- 1960Shari Shattuck, American actress and author
- 1961Nick Chinlund, American actor
- 1961Steven Moffat, Scottish television writer and producer
- 1962Jamie Moyer, American baseball player
- 1962Kirk Hammett, American guitarist (Metallica)
- 1963Dante Bichette, American baseball player
- 1963Joost Zwagerman, Dutch writer
- 1963Len Bias, American basketball player (d. 1986)
- 1963Peter Schmeichel, Danish footballer
- 1964Rita Cosby, American journalist
- 1965Tim DeLaughter, American singer and songwriter (Tripping Daisy, The Polyphonic Spree)
- 1967Gavin Peacock, British Football player
- 1967Jocelyn Lemieux, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1967Tom Gordon, American baseball player
- 1968Barry Hunter, Northern Irish footballer and manager
- 1968Gary Sheffield, American baseball player
- 1968Owen Wilson, American actor and film-writer
- 1968Romany Malco, American actor and music producer
- 1969Ahmed Helmi, Egyptian actor
- 1969Duncan Sheik, American singer and songwriter
- 1969Sam Cassell, American basketball player
- 1970Elizabeth Anne Allen, American actress
- 1970Johan Liiva, Swedish vocalist (Arch Enemy)
- 1970Megyn Kelly, American television news anchor
- 1970Mike Epps, American comedian
- 1970Peta Wilson, Australian actress
- 1972Jeroen Straathof, Dutch skater
- 1972Jessi Alexander, American country music singer and songwriter
- 1973Nic Pothas, South African cricket wicket-keeper
- 1974Chloë Sevigny, American actress
- 1975Anthony McPartlin, British actor, television presenter
- 1975Dirk Müller, German race car driver
- 1975Jason Williams, American basketball player
- 1975Pastor Troy, American rapper
- 1975Shawn Camp, American baseball player
- 1976Matt Welsh, Australian swimmer
- 1976Mona Zaki, Egyptian actress
- 1976Sage Francis, American musician
- 1976Shagrath, Norwegian singer (Dimmu Borgir)
- 1977Charles A. Lee, American athlete
- 1977Fabolous, American rapper
- 1977Trent Barrett, Australian rugby league footballer
- 1978Damien Johnson, Northern Irish footballer
- 1980Denny Hamlin, American race car driver
- 1980Dustin Kensrue, American singer (Thrice)
- 1980François Duval, Belgian rally driver
- 1980Junichi Okada, Japanese singer (V6)
- 1980Luke Chadwick, English footballer
- 1980Mathew Baynton, English actor and writer
- 1980Minori Chihara, Japanese voice actress and singer
- 1981Christina Vidal, American actress
- 1981Gian Magdangal, Filipino singer and actor
- 1981Nasim Pedrad, Iranian-born American comedienne
- 1981Shin Ji, Korean singer
- 1981Vittoria Puccini, Italian actress
- 1982Greg Estandia, American football player
- 1983Jon Johansen, Norwegian software developer
- 1983Travis Buck, American baseball player
- 1984Johnny Christ, American bassist (Avenged Sevenfold)
- 1984Ryohei Chiba, Japanese singer (W-inds)
- 1985Christian Siriano, American fashion designer
- 1986Nic Sampson, New Zealand actor
- 1987Jake Abel, American actor
- 1988Montanna Thompson, English actress
- 1991Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, Thai tennis player
- 1992Nathan Kress, American actor
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Who Died On November 18?
- 1154Adélaide de Maurienne, queen consort of King Louis VI of France (b. 1092)
- 1305John II, Duke of Brittany (b. 1239)
- 1559Cuthbert Tunstall, English churchman (b. 1474)
- 1590George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, English statesman (b. 1528)
- 1724Bartolomeu de Gusmão, Portuguese naturalist (b. 1685)
- 1785Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, French soldier and writer (b. 1725)
- 1797Jacques-Alexandre Laffon de Ladebat, French shipbuilder and merchant (b. 1719)
- 1814William Jessop, British civil engineer (b. 1745)
- 1852Rose Philippine Duchesne French Catholic nun and saint (b. 1769)
- 1886Chester A. Arthur, 21st President of the United States (b. 1829)
- 1889William Allingham, Irish poet (b. 1824 or 1828)
- 1909Renée Vivien, English-born French poet (b. 1877)
- 1922Marcel Proust, French novelist (b. 1871)
- 1940Ivane Javakhishvili, Georgian historian (b. 1876)
- 1941Émile Nelligan, Quebec poet (b. 1879)
- 1941Chris Watson, 3rd Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1867)
- 1941Walther Nernst, German chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1864)
- 1952Paul Eluard, French poet (b. 1895)
- 1962Niels Bohr, Danish physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1885)
- 1965Henry A. Wallace, 33rd Vice President of the United States (b. 1888)
- 1969Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., American businessman (b. 1888)
- 1969Ted Heath, British trombonist, and bandleader (b. 1902)
- 1972Danny Whitten, American musician (Crazy Horse) (b. 1943)
- 1976Man Ray, American-born French photographer and painter (b. 1890)
- 1977Kurt Schuschnigg, Austrian politician (b. 1897)
- 1977Victor Francen, Belgian actor (b. 1888)
- 1978Jim Jones, American cult figure (Peoples Temple) (b. 1931)
- 1978Leo Ryan, American politician (b. 1925)
- 1979Freddie Fitzsimmons, American baseball player (b. 1901)
- 1980Conn Smythe, Canadian ice hockey administrator and racing horse owner (b. 1895)
- 1984Mary Hamman, American writer and editor (b. 1907)
- 1986Gia Carangi, American model (b. 1960)
- 1987Jacques Anquetil, French cyclist (b. 1934)
- 1991Gustáv Husák, Slovak-born Czech politician (b. 1913)
- 1994Cab Calloway, American bandleader (b. 1907)
- 1994Peter Ledger, Australian illustrator (b. 1945)
- 1999Doug Sahm, American musician (Sir Douglas Quintet, Flaco Jiménez) (b. 1941)
- 1999Paul Bowles, American novelist (b. 1910)
- 2002James Coburn, American actor (b. 1928)
- 2003Michael Kamen, American composer (b. 1948)
- 2004Cy Coleman, American composer, songwriter and pianist (b. 1929)
- 2005Harold J. Stone, American actor (b. 1911)
- 2009Red Robbins, American basketball player (b. 1944)
- 2010Brian G. Marsden, British astronomer (b. 1937)
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