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 In HistoryNovember 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 New York, New York 10013 sunrise will occur at 06:45 AM and sunset will occur at 04:36 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).

Birthday curiousity Is your birthday coming up in two days? Are you not curious to find out who is sharing your special day? Discover all the March 21 famous birthdays. There are fun facts about that day that you must know. (Sponsored link)

Historical Events For November 18

  • 326
    The old St. Peter’s Basilica is consecrated.
  • 401
    The Visigoths, led by king Alaric I, cross the Alps and invade northern Italy.
  • 1105
    Maginulfo is elected the Antipope as Sylvester IV.
  • 1210
    Pope Innocent III excommunicates Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV
  • 1302
    Pope Boniface VIII issues the Papal bull Unam sanctam (One Faith).
  • 1307
    William Tell shoots an apple off his son’s head.
  • 1421
    A 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.
  • 1493
    Christopher Columbus first sights the island now known as Puerto Rico.
  • 1494
    French King Charles VIII occupies Florence, Italy.
  • 1601
    Tiryaki Hasan Pasha, provincial governor of Ottoman Empire, utterly defeats Habsburg forces, commanded by Ferdinand the Archduke of Austria during the Siege of Nagykanizsa.
  • 1626
    St. Peter’s Basilica is consecrated.
  • 1686
    Charles Francois Felix operates on King Louis XIV of France’s anal fistula after practicing the surgery on several peasants.
  • 1730
    Frederick II (known as Frederick the Great), King of Prussia, is granted a royal pardon and released from confinement.
  • 1803
    The 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.
  • 1809
    In a naval action during the Napoleonic Wars, French frigates defeat British East Indiamen in the Bay of Bengal.
  • 1863
    King 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.
  • 1865
    Mark Twain’s short story The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County is published in the New York Saturday Press.
  • 1883
    American and Canadian railroads institute five standard continental time zones, ending the confusion of thousands of local times.
  • 1903
    The Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty is signed by the United States and Panama, giving the United States exclusive rights over the Panama Canal Zone.
  • 1904
    General Esteban Huertas steps down after the government of Panama fears he wants to stage a coup.
  • 1905
    Prince Carl of Denmark becomes King Haakon VII of Norway.
  • 1909
    Two United States warships are sent to Nicaragua after 500 revolutionaries (including two Americans) are executed by order of José Santos Zelaya.
  • 1916
    World 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.
  • 1918
    Latvia declares its independence from Russia.
  • 1926
    George 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”.
  • 1928
    Release 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.
  • 1929
    1929 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.
  • 1930
    Sōka Kyōiku Gakkai, a Buddhist association later renamed Sōka Gakkai, is founded by Japanese educators Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and Josei Toda.
  • 1938
    Trade union members elect John L. Lewis as the first president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
  • 1940
    New York City’s “Mad Bomber” George Metesky places his first bomb at a Manhattan office building used by Consolidated Edison.
  • 1940
    World War II: German leader Adolf Hitler and Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano meet to discuss Benito Mussolini’s disastrous invasion of Greece.
  • 1943
    World 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.
  • 1947
    The Ballantyne’s Department Store fire in Christchurch, New Zealand, kills 41; it is the worst fire disaster in the history of New Zealand.
  • 1949
    The 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.
  • 1961
    United States President John F. Kennedy sends 18,000 military advisors to South Vietnam.
  • 1963
    The first push-button telephone goes into service.
  • 1970
    U.S. President Richard Nixon asks the U.S. Congress for $155 million USD in supplemental aid for the Cambodian government.
  • 1978
    In 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.
  • 1987
    Iran-Contra Affair: the U.S. Congress issues its final report on the Iran-Contra Affair.
  • 1987
    King’s Cross fire: in London, 31 people die in a fire at the city’s busiest underground station, King’s Cross St Pancras.
  • 1988
    War on Drugs: U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs a bill into law allowing the death penalty for drug traffickers.
  • 1991
    After an 87-day siege, the Croatian city of Vukovar capitulates to the besieging Yugoslav People’s Army and allied Serb paramilitary forces.
  • 1991
    Shiite Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon release Anglican Church envoys Terry Waite and Thomas Sutherland.
  • 1993
    In South Africa, 21 political parties approve a new constitution.
  • 1993
    In the United States, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is ratified by the House of Representatives.
  • 1999
    In 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.
  • 2002
    Iraq disarmament crisis: United Nations weapons inspectors led by Hans Blix arrive in Iraq.
  • 2003
    In the United Kingdom, the Local Government Act 2003, repealing controversial anti-gay amendment Section 28, becomes effective.

Who Were Born On November 18?

  • 1522
    Lamoral, Count of Egmont, Flemish general and statesman (d. 1568)
  • 1630
    Empress Eleanor Gonzaga of the Holy Roman Empire (d. 1686)
  • 1647
    Pierre Bayle, French philosopher (d. 1706)
  • 1727
    Philibert Commerçon, French naturalist (d. 1773)
  • 1756
    Thomas Burgess, English author, philosopher and religious figure (d. 1837)
  • 1772
    Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia (d. 1806)
  • 1774
    Princess Wilhelmine of Prussia, Queen of the Netherlands (d. 1837)
  • 1785
    Sir David Wilkie, Scottish painter (d. 1841)
  • 1786
    Carl Maria von Weber, German composer (d. 1826)
  • 1787
    Louis-Jacques Daguerre, French inventor and photographer (d. 1851)
  • 1804
    Alfonso Ferrero la Marmora, Italian general and statesman (d. 1878)
  • 1810
    Asa Gray, American botanist (d. 1888)
  • 1832
    Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, Finnish-born Swedish explorer (d. 1901)
  • 1836
    Sir W. S. Gilbert, British dramatist (d. 1911)
  • 1839
    August Kundt, German physicist (d. 1894)
  • 1856
    Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia (d. 1929)
  • 1861
    Dorothy Dix, American journalist (d. 1951)
  • 1874
    Clarence Day, American writer (d. 1935)
  • 1880
    Naum Torbov, Bulgarian architect (d. 1952)
  • 1882
    Amelita Galli-Curci, Italian soprano (d. 1963)
  • 1882
    Jacques Maritain, French philosopher (d. 1973)
  • 1883
    Carl Vinson, American politician (d. 1981)
  • 1886
    Ferenc Münnich, Hungarian Communist politician (d. 1967)
  • 1889
    Stanislav Kosior, Polish-born Soviet politician (d. 1939)
  • 1897
    Patrick Blackett, British physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1974)
  • 1898
    Joris Ivens, Dutch filmmaker (d. 1989)
  • 1899
    Eugene Ormandy, Hungarian-born American violinist and conductor (d. 1985)
  • 1901
    George Gallup, American statistician and pollster (d. 1984)
  • 1901
    V. Shantaram, Indian filmmaker and actor (d. 1984)
  • 1904
    Jean Paul Lemieux, Quebec painter (d. 1990)
  • 1906
    Alec Issigonis, Greek-born British car designer (d. 1988)
  • 1906
    George Wald, American scientist, Nobel laureate (d. 1997)
  • 1906
    Klaus Mann, German writer (d. 1949)
  • 1907
    Compay Segundo, Cuban guitarist, singer and composer (Buena Vista Social Club) (d. 2003)
  • 1907
    Gustav Nezval, Czech actor (d. 1998)
  • 1908
    Imogene Coca, American actress and comedian (d. 2001)
  • 1909
    Johnny Mercer, American lyricist (d. 1976)
  • 1911
    Attilio Bertolucci, Italian poet and writer (d. 2000)
  • 1912
    Hilda Nickson, née Hilda Pressley, British novelist (d. 1977)
  • 1913
    Endre Rozsda, French surrealist painter (d. 1999)
  • 1914
    Haguroyama Masaji, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 36th Yokozuna (d. 1969)
  • 1915
    Ken Burkhart, American baseball player and umpire (d. 2004)
  • 1917
    Pedro Infante, Mexican actor and singer (d. 1957)
  • 1918
    Sir Tasker Watkins, Welsh Victoria Cross recipient and rugby administrator (d. 2007)
  • 1919
    Georgia Carroll, American singer, fashion model, and actress (d. 2011)
  • 1919
    Jocelyn Brando, American actress (d. 2005)
  • 1920
    Mustafa Khalil, 77th Prime Minister of Egypt (d. 2008)
  • 1922
    Luis Somoza Debayle, 70th President of Nicaragua (d. 1967)
  • 1923
    Alan Shepard, American astronaut (d. 1998)
  • 1923
    Anne Sargent, American actress
  • 1923
    Ted Stevens, American politician (d. 2010)
  • 1924
    Alexander Mackenzie Stuart, Scottish jurist (d. 2000)
  • 1924
    Les Lye, Canadian actor (d. 2009)
  • 1925
    Gene Mauch, American baseball manager (d. 2005)
  • 1927
    Hank Ballard, American rhythm'n'blues singer and songwriter (d. 2003)
  • 1928
    Otar Gordeli, Georgian composer (d. 1994)
  • 1928
    Salvador Laurel, Filipino politician (d. 2004)
  • 1928
    Sheila Jordan, American jazz singer
  • 1929
    Gianna D'Angelo, American soprano
  • 1929
    Joey Forman, American comedian and comic actor (d. 1982)
  • 1932
    Danny McDevitt, American baseball player (d. 2010)
  • 1932
    Nasif Estéfano, Argentine racing driver (d. 1973)
  • 1934
    Vassilis Vassilikos, Greek writer and ambassador
  • 1935
    Rodney Hall, Australian author
  • 1935
    Rudolf Bahro, German dissident (d. 1997)
  • 1936
    Don Cherry, American jazz trumpeter (d. 1995)
  • 1936
    Ennio Antonelli, Italian cardinal
  • 1939
    Amanda Lear, Hong Kong-born French singer, TV presenter and model
  • 1939
    Brenda Vaccaro, American actress
  • 1939
    Margaret Atwood, Canadian poet, novelist, critic and essayist
  • 1940
    Qaboos bin Said al Said, Sultan of Oman
  • 1941
    David Hemmings, British actor (d. 2003)
  • 1942
    Linda Evans, American actress
  • 1942
    Susan Sullivan, American actress
  • 1943
    Leonardo Sandri, Argentine Catholic Cardinal
  • 1944
    Wolfgang Joop, German artist and fashion designer
  • 1945
    Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka
  • 1945
    Wilma Mankiller, American tribal chief (d. 2010)
  • 1946
    Alan Dean Foster, American writer
  • 1947
    Jameson Parker, American actor
  • 1948
    Andrea Marcovicci, American singer and actress
  • 1948
    Jack Tatum, American football player (d. 2010)
  • 1949
    Ahmed Zaki, Egyptian actor (d. 2005)
  • 1950
    Dennis Haskins, American actor
  • 1950
    Eric Pierpoint, American actor
  • 1950
    Rudy Sarzo, Cuban-born American bassist (Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne’s band, Whitesnake, Dio, Blue Öyster Cult)
  • 1951
    Justin Raimondo, American author
  • 1952
    Claudio Capone, Italian-born Scottish voice actor (d. 2008)
  • 1952
    Delroy Lindo, British actor
  • 1952
    Peter Beattie, Australian politician
  • 1953
    Alan Moore, British comic book writer and novelist
  • 1953
    Kevin Nealon, American comedian and actor
  • 1954
    Evan Gray, New Zealand cricketer
  • 1954
    John Parr, British pop singer
  • 1955
    Carter Burwell, American composer
  • 1955
    Michael Zimmer, German footballer
  • 1956
    Noel Brotherston, Northern Irish footballer (d. 1995)
  • 1956
    Warren Moon, American football player
  • 1957
    Seán Mac Falls, Irish poet
  • 1958
    Daniel Brailovsky, Argentine football manager
  • 1958
    Oscar Nunez, Cuban-born American actor
  • 1958
    Plamen Krastev, Bulgarian hurdler
  • 1959
    Cindy Blackman, American jazz and rock drummer
  • 1959
    Jimmy Quinn, Northern Irish footballer and football manager
  • 1959
    Karla Faye Tucker, first woman to be executed in the United States since 1984 (d. 1998)
  • 1960
    Elizabeth Perkins, American actress
  • 1960
    Kim Wilde, British singer
  • 1960
    Shari Shattuck, American actress and author
  • 1961
    Nick Chinlund, American actor
  • 1961
    Steven Moffat, Scottish television writer and producer
  • 1962
    Jamie Moyer, American baseball player
  • 1962
    Kirk Hammett, American guitarist (Metallica)
  • 1963
    Dante Bichette, American baseball player
  • 1963
    Joost Zwagerman, Dutch writer
  • 1963
    Len Bias, American basketball player (d. 1986)
  • 1963
    Peter Schmeichel, Danish footballer
  • 1964
    Rita Cosby, American journalist
  • 1965
    Tim DeLaughter, American singer and songwriter (Tripping Daisy, The Polyphonic Spree)
  • 1967
    Gavin Peacock, British Football player
  • 1967
    Jocelyn Lemieux, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1967
    Tom Gordon, American baseball player
  • 1968
    Barry Hunter, Northern Irish footballer and manager
  • 1968
    Gary Sheffield, American baseball player
  • 1968
    Owen Wilson, American actor and film-writer
  • 1968
    Romany Malco, American actor and music producer
  • 1969
    Ahmed Helmi, Egyptian actor
  • 1969
    Duncan Sheik, American singer and songwriter
  • 1969
    Sam Cassell, American basketball player
  • 1970
    Elizabeth Anne Allen, American actress
  • 1970
    Johan Liiva, Swedish vocalist (Arch Enemy)
  • 1970
    Megyn Kelly, American television news anchor
  • 1970
    Mike Epps, American comedian
  • 1970
    Peta Wilson, Australian actress
  • 1972
    Jeroen Straathof, Dutch skater
  • 1972
    Jessi Alexander, American country music singer and songwriter
  • 1973
    Nic Pothas, South African cricket wicket-keeper
  • 1974
    Chloë Sevigny, American actress
  • 1975
    Anthony McPartlin, British actor, television presenter
  • 1975
    Dirk Müller, German race car driver
  • 1975
    Jason Williams, American basketball player
  • 1975
    Pastor Troy, American rapper
  • 1975
    Shawn Camp, American baseball player
  • 1976
    Matt Welsh, Australian swimmer
  • 1976
    Mona Zaki, Egyptian actress
  • 1976
    Sage Francis, American musician
  • 1976
    Shagrath, Norwegian singer (Dimmu Borgir)
  • 1977
    Charles A. Lee, American athlete
  • 1977
    Fabolous, American rapper
  • 1977
    Trent Barrett, Australian rugby league footballer
  • 1978
    Damien Johnson, Northern Irish footballer
  • 1980
    Denny Hamlin, American race car driver
  • 1980
    Dustin Kensrue, American singer (Thrice)
  • 1980
    François Duval, Belgian rally driver
  • 1980
    Junichi Okada, Japanese singer (V6)
  • 1980
    Luke Chadwick, English footballer
  • 1980
    Mathew Baynton, English actor and writer
  • 1980
    Minori Chihara, Japanese voice actress and singer
  • 1981
    Christina Vidal, American actress
  • 1981
    Gian Magdangal, Filipino singer and actor
  • 1981
    Nasim Pedrad, Iranian-born American comedienne
  • 1981
    Shin Ji, Korean singer
  • 1981
    Vittoria Puccini, Italian actress
  • 1982
    Greg Estandia, American football player
  • 1983
    Jon Johansen, Norwegian software developer
  • 1983
    Travis Buck, American baseball player
  • 1984
    Johnny Christ, American bassist (Avenged Sevenfold)
  • 1984
    Ryohei Chiba, Japanese singer (W-inds)
  • 1985
    Christian Siriano, American fashion designer
  • 1986
    Nic Sampson, New Zealand actor
  • 1987
    Jake Abel, American actor
  • 1988
    Montanna Thompson, English actress
  • 1991
    Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, Thai tennis player
  • 1992
    Nathan Kress, American actor

Who Died On November 18?

  • 1154
    Adélaide de Maurienne, queen consort of King Louis VI of France (b. 1092)
  • 1305
    John II, Duke of Brittany (b. 1239)
  • 1559
    Cuthbert Tunstall, English churchman (b. 1474)
  • 1590
    George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, English statesman (b. 1528)
  • 1724
    Bartolomeu de Gusmão, Portuguese naturalist (b. 1685)
  • 1785
    Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, French soldier and writer (b. 1725)
  • 1797
    Jacques-Alexandre Laffon de Ladebat, French shipbuilder and merchant (b. 1719)
  • 1814
    William Jessop, British civil engineer (b. 1745)
  • 1852
    Rose Philippine Duchesne French Catholic nun and saint (b. 1769)
  • 1886
    Chester A. Arthur, 21st President of the United States (b. 1829)
  • 1889
    William Allingham, Irish poet (b. 1824 or 1828)
  • 1909
    Renée Vivien, English-born French poet (b. 1877)
  • 1922
    Marcel Proust, French novelist (b. 1871)
  • 1940
    Ivane Javakhishvili, Georgian historian (b. 1876)
  • 1941
    Émile Nelligan, Quebec poet (b. 1879)
  • 1941
    Chris Watson, 3rd Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1867)
  • 1941
    Walther Nernst, German chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1864)
  • 1952
    Paul Eluard, French poet (b. 1895)
  • 1962
    Niels Bohr, Danish physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1885)
  • 1965
    Henry A. Wallace, 33rd Vice President of the United States (b. 1888)
  • 1969
    Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., American businessman (b. 1888)
  • 1969
    Ted Heath, British trombonist, and bandleader (b. 1902)
  • 1972
    Danny Whitten, American musician (Crazy Horse) (b. 1943)
  • 1976
    Man Ray, American-born French photographer and painter (b. 1890)
  • 1977
    Kurt Schuschnigg, Austrian politician (b. 1897)
  • 1977
    Victor Francen, Belgian actor (b. 1888)
  • 1978
    Jim Jones, American cult figure (Peoples Temple) (b. 1931)
  • 1978
    Leo Ryan, American politician (b. 1925)
  • 1979
    Freddie Fitzsimmons, American baseball player (b. 1901)
  • 1980
    Conn Smythe, Canadian ice hockey administrator and racing horse owner (b. 1895)
  • 1984
    Mary Hamman, American writer and editor (b. 1907)
  • 1986
    Gia Carangi, American model (b. 1960)
  • 1987
    Jacques Anquetil, French cyclist (b. 1934)
  • 1991
    Gustáv Husák, Slovak-born Czech politician (b. 1913)
  • 1994
    Cab Calloway, American bandleader (b. 1907)
  • 1994
    Peter Ledger, Australian illustrator (b. 1945)
  • 1999
    Doug Sahm, American musician (Sir Douglas Quintet, Flaco Jiménez) (b. 1941)
  • 1999
    Paul Bowles, American novelist (b. 1910)
  • 2002
    James Coburn, American actor (b. 1928)
  • 2003
    Michael Kamen, American composer (b. 1948)
  • 2004
    Cy Coleman, American composer, songwriter and pianist (b. 1929)
  • 2005
    Harold J. Stone, American actor (b. 1911)
  • 2009
    Red Robbins, American basketball player (b. 1944)
  • 2010
    Brian G. Marsden, British astronomer (b. 1937)

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