What happened on October 18? There are more than 294 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 October 18

October 18 In HistoryOctober 18 is the 292nd day of the year 2024. There are 74 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Friday. This day falls under the 42nd week of the year 2024.

On this day in Barlow, Ohio 45712 sunrise will occur at 07:39 AM and sunset will occur at 06:44 PM (local time).

The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Libra. The modern birthstone for this month is Opal while the mystical birthstone is Jasper.

According to the Chinese calendar, there are 103 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (January 29, 2025).

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Historical Events For October 18

  • 320
    Pappus of Alexandria, Greek philosopher, observes an eclipse of the sun and writes a commentary on The Great Astronomer (Almagest).
  • 1009
    The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a Christian church in Jerusalem, is completely destroyed by the Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, who hacks the Church’s foundations down to bedrock.
  • 1016
    The Danes defeat the Saxons in the Battle of Ashingdon.
  • 1081
    The Normans defeat the Byzantine Empire in the Battle of Dyrrhachium.
  • 1210
    Pope Innocent III excommunicates German leader Otto IV.
  • 1356
    Basel earthquake, the most significant historic seismological event north of the Alps, destroys the town of Basel, Switzerland.
  • 1386
    Opening of the University of Heidelberg.
  • 1599
    Michael the Brave, Prince of Wallachia, defeats the Army of Andrew Bathory in the Battle of Şelimbăr, leading to the first recorded unification of the Romanian people.
  • 1648
    Boston Shoemakers form first U.S. labor organization.
  • 1748
    Signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ends the War of the Austrian Succession.
  • 1775
    African-American poet Phillis Wheatley freed from slavery.
  • 1775
    American Revolutionary War: The Burning of Falmouth (now Portland, Maine) prompts the Continental Congress to establish the Continental Navy.
  • 1779
    American Revolutionary War: The Franco-American Siege of Savannah is lifted.
  • 1797
    Treaty of Campo Formio is signed between France and Austria
  • 1851
    Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick is first published as The Whale by Richard Bentley of London.
  • 1860
    The Second Opium War finally ends at the Convention of Peking with the ratification of the Treaty of Tientsin, an unequal treaty.
  • 1867
    United States takes possession of Alaska after purchasing it from Russia for $7.2 million. Celebrated annually in the state as Alaska Day.
  • 1898
    United States takes possession of Puerto Rico.
  • 1912
    First Balkan War: Peter I of Serbia issues a declaration “To the Serbian People”, as Serbia joins the war.
  • 1914
    The Schoenstatt Movement is founded in Germany.
  • 1921
    The Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic is formed as part of the RSFSR.
  • 1922
    The British Broadcasting Company (later Corporation) is founded by a consortium, to establish a nationwide network of radio transmitters to provide a national broadcasting service.
  • 1929
    The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council overrules the Supreme Court of Canada in Edwards v. Canada when it declares that women are considered “Persons” under Canadian law.
  • 1944
    Soviet Union begins liberation of Czechoslovakia.
  • 1945
    A group of the Venezuelan Armed Forces, led by Mario Vargas, Marcos Pérez Jiménez and Carlos Delgado Chalbaud, stages a coup d'état against then president Isaías Medina Angarita, who is overthrown by the end of the day.
  • 1945
    Argentine military officer and politician Juan Perón marries actress Eva Perón.
  • 1945
    The USSR’s nuclear program receives plans for the United States plutonium bomb from Klaus Fuchs at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
  • 1954
    Texas Instruments announces the first Transistor radio.
  • 1964
    The 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair closes for its first season after a six-month run.
  • 1967
    The Soviet probe Venera 4 reaches Venus and becomes the first spacecraft to measure the atmosphere of another planet.
  • 1968
    The U.S. Olympic Committee suspends Tommie Smith and John Carlos for giving a “black power” salute during a victory ceremony at the Mexico City games.
  • 1977
    German Autumn: a set of events revolving around the kidnapping of Hanns-Martin Schleyer and the hijacking of a Lufthansa flight by the Red Army Faction (RAF) comes to an end when Schleyer is murdered and various RAF members allegedly commit suicide.
  • 1991
    The Supreme Council of Azerbaijan adopts a declaration of independence from the Soviet Union.
  • 2003
    Bolivian Gas War: President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, is forced to resign and leave Bolivia.
  • 2007
    Karachi bombings: A suicide attack on a motorcade carrying former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto kills 139 and wounds 450 more. Bhutto herself is not injured.
  • 2011
    Gilad Shalit is released.

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Who Were Born On October 18?

  • 1127
    Emperor Go-Shirakawa of Japan (d. 1192)
  • 1405
    Pope Pius II (d. 1464)
  • 1517
    Manoel da Nóbrega, Portuguese Jesuit missionary (d. 1570)
  • 1547
    Justus Lipsius, Flemish humanist (d. 1606)
  • 1569
    Giambattista Marini, Italian poet (d. 1625)
  • 1595
    Edward Winslow, Plymouth Colony founder (d. 1655)
  • 1634
    Luca Giordano, Italian artist (d. 1705)
  • 1653
    Abraham van Riebeeck, Dutch territorial governor of the Dutch East Indies (d. 1713)
  • 1662
    Matthew Henry, English minister (d. 1714)
  • 1668
    John George IV, Elector of Saxony (d. 1694)
  • 1679
    Ann Putnam, Jr., American accuser in the Salem witch trials (d. 1716)
  • 1701
    Charles le Beau, French historian (d. 1778)
  • 1706
    Baldassare Galuppi, Italian composer (d. 1785)
  • 1741
    Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, French general and author (d. 1803)
  • 1777
    Heinrich von Kleist, German writer (d. 1811)
  • 1785
    Thomas Love Peacock, English satirist (d. 1866)
  • 1804
    Mongkut, King of Siam(now Thailand) (d. 1868)
  • 1831
    Emperor Friedrich III of Germany (d. 1888)
  • 1836
    Frederick August Otto Schwarz, American entrepreneur (d. 1911)
  • 1854
    Billy Murdoch, Australian cricketer (d. 1911)
  • 1859
    Henri Bergson, French philosopher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature (d. 1941)
  • 1862
    Mehmet Esat Bülkat, Ottoman general (d. 1952)
  • 1865
    Arie de Jong, Dutch linguist (d. 1957)
  • 1865
    Logan Pearsall Smith, American essayist and critic (d. 1946)
  • 1868
    Ernst Didring, Swedish author (d. 1931)
  • 1870
    Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki, Japanese scholar (d. 1966)
  • 1873
    Ivanoe Bonomi, Italian politician (d. 1951)
  • 1882
    Lucien Petit-Breton, Argentine-born French cyclist (d. 1917)
  • 1893
    George Ohsawa, Japanese philosopher (d. 1966)
  • 1894
    H. L. Davis, American author (d. 1960)
  • 1894
    Tibor Déry, Hungarian author (d. 1977)
  • 1897
    Isabel Briggs Myers, American psychological theorist (d. 1980)
  • 1898
    Lotte Lenya, Austrian singer and actress (d. 1981)
  • 1902
    Miriam Hopkins, American actress (d. 1972)
  • 1902
    Pascual Jordan, German physicist (d. 1980)
  • 1903
    Lina Radke, German athlete (d. 1983)
  • 1904
    A. J. Liebling, American journalist (d. 1963)
  • 1904
    Haim Shirman, Russian-born Israeli academic (d. 1981)
  • 1905
    Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Côte d'Ivoire politician (d. 1993)
  • 1905
    Jan Gies, Dutch resistance fighter (d. 1993)
  • 1906
    James Brooks, American painter (d. 1992)
  • 1909
    Norberto Bobbio, Italian philosopher and legal theorist (d. 2004)
  • 1914
    Raymond Lambert, Swiss mountaineer (d. 1997)
  • 1915
    Victor Sen Yung, American actor (d. 1980)
  • 1918
    Bobby Troup, American musician (d. 1999)
  • 1918
    Constantine Mitsotakis, Greek politician
  • 1918
    Molly Geertsema, Dutch politician(d. 1991)
  • 1919
    Anita O'Day, American singer (d. 2006)
  • 1919
    Camilla Williams, operatic soprano, the first African American to receive a contract with a major American opera company
  • 1919
    Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Canadian politician (d. 2000)
  • 1919
    Ric Nordman, Canadian politician (d. 1996)
  • 1920
    Melina Mercouri, Greek actress and cultural minister (d. 1994)
  • 1921
    Jesse Helms, American politician (d. 2008)
  • 1923
    Jessie Mae Hemphill, Mississippi country blues electric guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist (d. 2008)
  • 1924
    Buddy MacMaster, Canadian musician
  • 1925
    Ramiz Alia, Albanian politician {d. 2011}
  • 1926
    Chuck Berry, American musician
  • 1926
    Klaus Kinski, German actor (d. 1991)
  • 1927
    George C. Scott, American actor (d. 1999)
  • 1928
    Keith Jackson, American football commentator
  • 1929
    Hillard Elkins, American theatre and film producer (d. 2010)
  • 1929
    Kees Fens, Dutch writer, essayist and literary critic (d. 2008)
  • 1929
    Violeta Chamorro, Nicaraguan politician
  • 1931
    Chris Albertson, American jazz historian
  • 1931
    Ien Dales, Dutch politician and mayor (d. 1994)
  • 1932
    Vytautas Landsbergis, Lithuanian politician
  • 1933
    Forrest Gregg, American football player
  • 1934
    Calvin Lockhart, Bahamian actor (d. 2007)
  • 1934
    Chuck Swindoll, American evangelist
  • 1934
    Inger Stevens, Swedish actress (d. 1970)
  • 1935
    Peter Boyle, American actor (d. 2006)
  • 1938
    Dawn Wells, American actress
  • 1939
    Flavio Cotti, Swiss jurist
  • 1939
    Lee Harvey Oswald, American alleged assassin of John F. Kennedy (d. 1963)
  • 1939
    Mike Ditka, American football player, coach, and commentator
  • 1940
    Cynthia Weil, American songwriter
  • 1942
    Larry Pickering, Australian newspaper cartoonist
  • 1943
    Birthe Rønn Hornbech, Danish politician
  • 1945
    Chris Shays, American politician
  • 1945
    Huell Howser, American television personality
  • 1945
    Yıldo, Turkish footballer
  • 1946
    Frank Beamer, American college football coach
  • 1946
    Howard Shore, Canadian film composer
  • 1946
    James Robert Baker, American novelist, screenwriter
  • 1947
    Job Cohen, Dutch politician
  • 1947
    Joe Morton, American actor
  • 1947
    Laura Nyro, American singer and songwriter (d. 1997)
  • 1947
    Paul Chuckle, British comedian
  • 1948
    Hans Köchler, Austrian philosopher
  • 1948
    Ntozake Shange, American author
  • 1949
    Gary Richrath, American musician (REO Speedwagon)
  • 1949
    George Hendrick, American baseball player
  • 1949
    Joe Egan, British musician (Stealers Wheel)
  • 1950
    Om Puri, Indian actor
  • 1950
    Sheila White, English actress
  • 1950
    Wendy Wasserstein, American playwright (d. 2006)
  • 1951
    Mike Antonovich, American ice hockey player and executive
  • 1951
    Pam Dawber, American actress
  • 1951
    Terry McMillan, American author
  • 1952
    Bảo Ninh, Vietnamese novelist
  • 1952
    Chuck Lorre, American T.V. producer
  • 1952
    Jerry Royster, American baseball player
  • 1952
    Patrick Morrow, Canadian mountaineer
  • 1953
    Loes Luca, Dutch actress, singer and comedian
  • 1954
    Arliss Howard, American actor
  • 1954
    Liz Burch, Australian actress
  • 1955
    David Twohy, American movie director and screenwriter
  • 1955
    Rita Verdonk, Dutch politician
  • 1955
    Timmy Mallett, British TV presenter
  • 1955
    Vanessa Briscoe Hay, American singer and songwriter (Pylon (band), Supercluster)
  • 1956
    Craig Bartlett, American animator
  • 1956
    Jim Talent, American politician
  • 1956
    Martina Navrátilová, Czech-born American tennis player
  • 1957
    Catherine Ringer, French singer and songwriter (Les Rita Mitsouko)
  • 1957
    Jon Lindstrom, American actor
  • 1958
    Corinne Bohrer, American actress
  • 1958
    Kjell Samuelsson, Swedish ice hockey player
  • 1958
    Stacy Allison, first American female mountaineer to summit Mount Everest
  • 1958
    Thomas Hearns, American boxer
  • 1959
    Chris Russo, American sports talk show host
  • 1959
    John Nord, American pro wrestler
  • 1959
    Kirby Chambliss, American aerobatic pilot
  • 1959
    Milčo Mančevski, Macedonian film director and screenwriter
  • 1959
    Steve Swayne, American academic
  • 1960
    Erin Moran, American actress
  • 1960
    Jean-Claude Van Damme, Belgian actor
  • 1961
    Rick Moody, American author
  • 1961
    Wynton Marsalis, American jazz musician
  • 1962
    Vincent Spano, American actor
  • 1964
    Charles Stross, British author
  • 1964
    Dan Lilker, American musician Anthrax, S.O.D., Nuclear Assault, and Brutal Truth
  • 1965
    Curtis Stigers, American jazz vocalist and saxophonist
  • 1965
    Zakir Naik, Indian Islamic speaker and doctor
  • 1966
    Angela Visser, Dutch winner Miss Universe 1989
  • 1966
    Slavi Trifonov, Bulgarian showman
  • 1967
    Eric Stuart, American voice actor and singer
  • 1968
    Michael Stich, German tennis player
  • 1969
    Nelson Vivas, Argentine footballer
  • 1969
    Volker Neumüller, German music talent manager
  • 1970
    Doug Mirabelli, American baseball player
  • 1970
    José Padilla, American convicted terrorist
  • 1970
    Mike Starink, Dutch television presenter and stage actor
  • 1972
    Alex Tagliani, Quebec racing driver
  • 1973
    Michalis Kapsis, Greek footballer
  • 1974
    Candy Lo, Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1974
    Peter Svensson, Swedish musician (The Cardigans)
  • 1974
    Robbie Savage, Welsh footballer
  • 1975
    Alex Cora, Puerto Rican baseball player
  • 1975
    Baby Bash, American rapper
  • 1976
    Zhou Xun, Chinese actress and singer
  • 1977
    David Vuillemin, pro motocross rider
  • 1977
    Ryan Nelsen, New Zealand footballer
  • 1978
    Jaime Koeppe, Canadian professional fitness expert
  • 1978
    Jake Farrow, American actor
  • 1978
    Kenji Wu, Taiwanese singer and actor
  • 1978
    Mike Tindall, English rugby union player
  • 1978
    Priyanka Trivedi, Indian actress
  • 1978
    Wesley Jonathan, American actor
  • 1979
    Jothika, Indian actress
  • 1980
    Josh Gracin, American singer
  • 1981
    Greg Warren, American football player
  • 1982
    Michael Dingsdag, Dutch footballer
  • 1982
    Ne-Yo, American R&B singer
  • 1982
    Thierry Amiel, French singer
  • 1984
    Esperanza Spalding, American jazz bassist and singer
  • 1984
    Freida Pinto, Indian actress and model
  • 1984
    Lindsey Vonn, American alpine ski racer
  • 1985
    Derrick Tribbett, American musician (Twisted Method)
  • 1986
    Wilma Elles, German actress
  • 1987
    Freja Beha Erichsen, Danish model
  • 1987
    Zac Efron, American actor
  • 1989
    Joy Lauren, American actress
  • 1990
    Bristol Palin, American daughter of Sarah Palin and Todd Palin
  • 1990
    Carly Schroeder, American actress
  • 1991
    Roly Bonevacia, Dutch footballer
  • 1991
    Tyler Posey, American actor
  • 1998
    Julia Wróblewska, Polish actress
  • 2001
    Annelise Manojlovic, English actress

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Who Died On October 18?

  • 325
    Jin Mingdi, Chinese emperor of the Jin Dynasty (b. 299)
  • 1035
    Sancho III of Navarre, King of Navarre
  • 1101
    Hugh of Vermandois, son of Henry I of France (b. 1053)
  • 1141
    Leopold IV of Austria, Duke of Bavaria
  • 1382
    James Butler, 2nd Earl of Ormonde (b. 1331)
  • 1417
    Pope Gregory XII
  • 1503
    Pope Pius III (b. 1439)
  • 1541
    Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scotland (b. 1489)
  • 1545
    John Taverner, English composer
  • 1558
    Maria of Austria, wife of Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia (b. 1505)
  • 1564
    Johannes Acronius Frisius, German physician and mathematician (b. 1520)
  • 1570
    Manoel da Nóbrega, Portuguese Jesuit in Brazil (b. 1517)
  • 1604
    Igram van Achelen, Dutch statesman (b. 1528)
  • 1646
    Isaac Jogues, French Jesuit missionary (b. 1607)
  • 1667
    Fasilides, Emperor of Ethiopia (b. 1603)
  • 1678
    Jacob Jordaens, Flemish painter (b. 1593)
  • 1739
    Antônio José da Silva, Brazilian-born dramatist (b. 1705)
  • 1744
    Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, close friend of Queen Anne of Great Britain (b. 1660)
  • 1770
    John Manners, Marquess of Granby, British soldier (b. 1721)
  • 1775
    Christian August Crusius, German philosopher and theologian (b. 1715)
  • 1817
    Etienne Nicolas Méhul, French composer (b. 1763)
  • 1865
    Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1784)
  • 1871
    Charles Babbage, English mathematician and inventor (b. 1791)
  • 1886
    Philipp Franz von Siebold, German physician (b. 1796)
  • 1889
    Antonio Meucci, Italian inventor (b. 1808)
  • 1892
    William W. Chapman, American politician (b. 1808)
  • 1893
    Charles Gounod, French composer (b. 1818)
  • 1911
    Alfred Binet, French psychologist (b. 1857)
  • 1921
    King Ludwig III of Bavaria (b. 1845)
  • 1931
    Thomas Edison, American inventor (b. 1847)
  • 1932
    Ioannis Chrysafis, Greek gymnast (b. 1873)
  • 1941
    Manuel Teixeira Gomes, 7th President of Portugal (b. 1860)
  • 1942
    Mikhail Nesterov, Russian painter (b. 1862)
  • 1948
    Walther von Brauchitsch, German field marshal (b. 1881)
  • 1959
    Boughera El Ouafi, Algerian athlete (b. 1898)
  • 1961
    Tsuru Aoki, Japanese-born American actress (b. 1892)
  • 1965
    Henry Travers, British actor (b. 1874)
  • 1965
    Larry Thorne, US soldier (b. 1919)
  • 1966
    Elizabeth Arden, Canadian businesswoman (b. 1878)
  • 1966
    Sebastian S. Kresge, American merchant (Kmart) (b. 1867)
  • 1973
    Leo Strauss, German-American philosopher (b. 1899)
  • 1973
    Margaret Caroline Anderson, American magazine publisher (b. 1886)
  • 1973
    Walt Kelly, American cartoonist, (Pogo) (b. 1913)
  • 1975
    Al Lettieri, American actor (b. 1928)
  • 1976
    Kavi Samrat Viswanatha Satyanarayana, Telugu writer (b. 1895)
  • 1977
    Red Army Faction Stammheim Prison suicides: Andreas Baader, German left-wing militant leader (b. 1943)
  • 1977
    Red Army Faction Stammheim Prison suicides: Gudrun Ensslin, German left-wing militant leader (b. 1940)
  • 1977
    Red Army Faction Stammheim Prison suicides: Jan-Carl Raspe, German left-wing militant (b. 1944)
  • 1978
    Ramón Mercader, Assassin of Leon Trotsky (b. 1914)
  • 1982
    Bess Truman, First Lady of the United States (b. 1885)
  • 1982
    Dwain Esper, American film director (b. 1892)
  • 1982
    John Robarts, Canadian politician, Premier of Ontario (b. 1917)
  • 1982
    Pierre Mendès-France, French politician (b. 1907)
  • 1983
    Diego Abad de Santillán, Spanish anarchist (b. 1897)
  • 1983
    Willie Jones, baseball player (b. 1925)
  • 1984
    Henri Michaux, French painter and poet (b. 1899)
  • 1984
    Jon-Erik Hexum, American actor (b. 1957)
  • 1987
    Adriaan Ditvoorst, Dutch film director and screenwriter (b. 1940)
  • 1988
    Sir Frederick Ashton, British dancer and choreographer (b. 1904)
  • 2000
    Gwen Verdon, American dancer and actress (b. 1925)
  • 2000
    Julie London, American singer and actress (b. 1926)
  • 2001
    Micheline Ostermeyer, French athlete and musician (b. 1922)
  • 2002
    Nikolai Rukavishnikov, cosmonaut (b. 1932)
  • 2002
    Roman Tam, Hong Kong singer (b. 1950)
  • 2003
    Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, Spanish writer (b. 1939)
  • 2003
    Preston Smith, Governor of Texas (b. 1912)
  • 2004
    Veerappan, Indian bandit and smuggler (b. 1945)
  • 2005
    Bill King, American sports broadcaster (b. 1927)
  • 2005
    John Hollis, British actor (b. 1931)
  • 2005
    Johnny Haynes, English footballer (b. 1934)
  • 2006
    Anna Russell, English music satirist (b. 1911)
  • 2006
    Mario Francesco Pompedda, cardinal (b. 1929)
  • 2007
    Alan Coren, English writer and satirist (b. 1938)
  • 2007
    Lucky Dube, South African musician (b. 1964)
  • 2007
    Vincent DeDomenico, American entrepreneur (b. 1915)
  • 2007
    William J. Crowe, American admiral and ambassador (b. 1925)
  • 2008
    Dee Dee Warwick, American soul singer (b. 1945)
  • 2009
    Adriaan Kortlandt, Dutch ethologist (b. 1918)
  • 2009
    Haji Md Abu Taher, Bangladeshi(Chittagong) famous person, munificent,educationist (b. 1951)
  • 2010
    Marion Brown, American jazz musician (b. 1931)

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