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 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 Salt Lake City, Utah 84113 sunrise will occur at 07:41 AM and sunset will occur at 06:43 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).
Is your birthday coming up in two days? Are you not curious to find out who is sharing your special day? Discover all the April 25 famous birthdays. There are fun facts about that day that you must know. (Sponsored link)
Historical Events For October 18
- 320Pappus of Alexandria, Greek philosopher, observes an eclipse of the sun and writes a commentary on The Great Astronomer (Almagest).
- 1009The 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.
- 1016The Danes defeat the Saxons in the Battle of Ashingdon.
- 1081The Normans defeat the Byzantine Empire in the Battle of Dyrrhachium.
- 1210Pope Innocent III excommunicates German leader Otto IV.
- 1356Basel earthquake, the most significant historic seismological event north of the Alps, destroys the town of Basel, Switzerland.
- 1386Opening of the University of Heidelberg.
- 1599Michael 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.
- 1648Boston Shoemakers form first U.S. labor organization.
- 1748Signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ends the War of the Austrian Succession.
- 1775African-American poet Phillis Wheatley freed from slavery.
- 1775American Revolutionary War: The Burning of Falmouth (now Portland, Maine) prompts the Continental Congress to establish the Continental Navy.
- 1779American Revolutionary War: The Franco-American Siege of Savannah is lifted.
- 1797Treaty of Campo Formio is signed between France and Austria
- 1851Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick is first published as The Whale by Richard Bentley of London.
- 1860The Second Opium War finally ends at the Convention of Peking with the ratification of the Treaty of Tientsin, an unequal treaty.
- 1867United States takes possession of Alaska after purchasing it from Russia for $7.2 million. Celebrated annually in the state as Alaska Day.
- 1898United States takes possession of Puerto Rico.
- 1912First Balkan War: Peter I of Serbia issues a declaration “To the Serbian People”, as Serbia joins the war.
- 1914The Schoenstatt Movement is founded in Germany.
- 1921The Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic is formed as part of the RSFSR.
- 1922The British Broadcasting Company (later Corporation) is founded by a consortium, to establish a nationwide network of radio transmitters to provide a national broadcasting service.
- 1929The 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.
- 1944Soviet Union begins liberation of Czechoslovakia.
- 1945A 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.
- 1945Argentine military officer and politician Juan Perón marries actress Eva Perón.
- 1945The USSR’s nuclear program receives plans for the United States plutonium bomb from Klaus Fuchs at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
- 1954Texas Instruments announces the first Transistor radio.
- 1964The 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair closes for its first season after a six-month run.
- 1967The Soviet probe Venera 4 reaches Venus and becomes the first spacecraft to measure the atmosphere of another planet.
- 1968The 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.
- 1977German 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.
- 1991The Supreme Council of Azerbaijan adopts a declaration of independence from the Soviet Union.
- 2003Bolivian Gas War: President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, is forced to resign and leave Bolivia.
- 2007Karachi 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.
- 2011Gilad Shalit is released.
Who Were Born On October 18?
- 1127Emperor Go-Shirakawa of Japan (d. 1192)
- 1405Pope Pius II (d. 1464)
- 1517Manoel da Nóbrega, Portuguese Jesuit missionary (d. 1570)
- 1547Justus Lipsius, Flemish humanist (d. 1606)
- 1569Giambattista Marini, Italian poet (d. 1625)
- 1595Edward Winslow, Plymouth Colony founder (d. 1655)
- 1634Luca Giordano, Italian artist (d. 1705)
- 1653Abraham van Riebeeck, Dutch territorial governor of the Dutch East Indies (d. 1713)
- 1662Matthew Henry, English minister (d. 1714)
- 1668John George IV, Elector of Saxony (d. 1694)
- 1679Ann Putnam, Jr., American accuser in the Salem witch trials (d. 1716)
- 1701Charles le Beau, French historian (d. 1778)
- 1706Baldassare Galuppi, Italian composer (d. 1785)
- 1741Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, French general and author (d. 1803)
- 1777Heinrich von Kleist, German writer (d. 1811)
- 1785Thomas Love Peacock, English satirist (d. 1866)
- 1804Mongkut, King of Siam(now Thailand) (d. 1868)
- 1831Emperor Friedrich III of Germany (d. 1888)
- 1836Frederick August Otto Schwarz, American entrepreneur (d. 1911)
- 1854Billy Murdoch, Australian cricketer (d. 1911)
- 1859Henri Bergson, French philosopher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature (d. 1941)
- 1862Mehmet Esat Bülkat, Ottoman general (d. 1952)
- 1865Arie de Jong, Dutch linguist (d. 1957)
- 1865Logan Pearsall Smith, American essayist and critic (d. 1946)
- 1868Ernst Didring, Swedish author (d. 1931)
- 1870Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki, Japanese scholar (d. 1966)
- 1873Ivanoe Bonomi, Italian politician (d. 1951)
- 1882Lucien Petit-Breton, Argentine-born French cyclist (d. 1917)
- 1893George Ohsawa, Japanese philosopher (d. 1966)
- 1894H. L. Davis, American author (d. 1960)
- 1894Tibor Déry, Hungarian author (d. 1977)
- 1897Isabel Briggs Myers, American psychological theorist (d. 1980)
- 1898Lotte Lenya, Austrian singer and actress (d. 1981)
- 1902Miriam Hopkins, American actress (d. 1972)
- 1902Pascual Jordan, German physicist (d. 1980)
- 1903Lina Radke, German athlete (d. 1983)
- 1904A. J. Liebling, American journalist (d. 1963)
- 1904Haim Shirman, Russian-born Israeli academic (d. 1981)
- 1905Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Côte d'Ivoire politician (d. 1993)
- 1905Jan Gies, Dutch resistance fighter (d. 1993)
- 1906James Brooks, American painter (d. 1992)
- 1909Norberto Bobbio, Italian philosopher and legal theorist (d. 2004)
- 1914Raymond Lambert, Swiss mountaineer (d. 1997)
- 1915Victor Sen Yung, American actor (d. 1980)
- 1918Bobby Troup, American musician (d. 1999)
- 1918Constantine Mitsotakis, Greek politician
- 1918Molly Geertsema, Dutch politician(d. 1991)
- 1919Anita O'Day, American singer (d. 2006)
- 1919Camilla Williams, operatic soprano, the first African American to receive a contract with a major American opera company
- 1919Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Canadian politician (d. 2000)
- 1919Ric Nordman, Canadian politician (d. 1996)
- 1920Melina Mercouri, Greek actress and cultural minister (d. 1994)
- 1921Jesse Helms, American politician (d. 2008)
- 1923Jessie Mae Hemphill, Mississippi country blues electric guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist (d. 2008)
- 1924Buddy MacMaster, Canadian musician
- 1925Ramiz Alia, Albanian politician {d. 2011}
- 1926Chuck Berry, American musician
- 1926Klaus Kinski, German actor (d. 1991)
- 1927George C. Scott, American actor (d. 1999)
- 1928Keith Jackson, American football commentator
- 1929Hillard Elkins, American theatre and film producer (d. 2010)
- 1929Kees Fens, Dutch writer, essayist and literary critic (d. 2008)
- 1929Violeta Chamorro, Nicaraguan politician
- 1931Chris Albertson, American jazz historian
- 1931Ien Dales, Dutch politician and mayor (d. 1994)
- 1932Vytautas Landsbergis, Lithuanian politician
- 1933Forrest Gregg, American football player
- 1934Calvin Lockhart, Bahamian actor (d. 2007)
- 1934Chuck Swindoll, American evangelist
- 1934Inger Stevens, Swedish actress (d. 1970)
- 1935Peter Boyle, American actor (d. 2006)
- 1938Dawn Wells, American actress
- 1939Flavio Cotti, Swiss jurist
- 1939Lee Harvey Oswald, American alleged assassin of John F. Kennedy (d. 1963)
- 1939Mike Ditka, American football player, coach, and commentator
- 1940Cynthia Weil, American songwriter
- 1942Larry Pickering, Australian newspaper cartoonist
- 1943Birthe Rønn Hornbech, Danish politician
- 1945Chris Shays, American politician
- 1945Huell Howser, American television personality
- 1945Yıldo, Turkish footballer
- 1946Frank Beamer, American college football coach
- 1946Howard Shore, Canadian film composer
- 1946James Robert Baker, American novelist, screenwriter
- 1947Job Cohen, Dutch politician
- 1947Joe Morton, American actor
- 1947Laura Nyro, American singer and songwriter (d. 1997)
- 1947Paul Chuckle, British comedian
- 1948Hans Köchler, Austrian philosopher
- 1948Ntozake Shange, American author
- 1949Gary Richrath, American musician (REO Speedwagon)
- 1949George Hendrick, American baseball player
- 1949Joe Egan, British musician (Stealers Wheel)
- 1950Om Puri, Indian actor
- 1950Sheila White, English actress
- 1950Wendy Wasserstein, American playwright (d. 2006)
- 1951Mike Antonovich, American ice hockey player and executive
- 1951Pam Dawber, American actress
- 1951Terry McMillan, American author
- 1952Bảo Ninh, Vietnamese novelist
- 1952Chuck Lorre, American T.V. producer
- 1952Jerry Royster, American baseball player
- 1952Patrick Morrow, Canadian mountaineer
- 1953Loes Luca, Dutch actress, singer and comedian
- 1954Arliss Howard, American actor
- 1954Liz Burch, Australian actress
- 1955David Twohy, American movie director and screenwriter
- 1955Rita Verdonk, Dutch politician
- 1955Timmy Mallett, British TV presenter
- 1955Vanessa Briscoe Hay, American singer and songwriter (Pylon (band), Supercluster)
- 1956Craig Bartlett, American animator
- 1956Jim Talent, American politician
- 1956Martina Navrátilová, Czech-born American tennis player
- 1957Catherine Ringer, French singer and songwriter (Les Rita Mitsouko)
- 1957Jon Lindstrom, American actor
- 1958Corinne Bohrer, American actress
- 1958Kjell Samuelsson, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1958Stacy Allison, first American female mountaineer to summit Mount Everest
- 1958Thomas Hearns, American boxer
- 1959Chris Russo, American sports talk show host
- 1959John Nord, American pro wrestler
- 1959Kirby Chambliss, American aerobatic pilot
- 1959Milčo Mančevski, Macedonian film director and screenwriter
- 1959Steve Swayne, American academic
- 1960Erin Moran, American actress
- 1960Jean-Claude Van Damme, Belgian actor
- 1961Rick Moody, American author
- 1961Wynton Marsalis, American jazz musician
- 1962Vincent Spano, American actor
- 1964Charles Stross, British author
- 1964Dan Lilker, American musician Anthrax, S.O.D., Nuclear Assault, and Brutal Truth
- 1965Curtis Stigers, American jazz vocalist and saxophonist
- 1965Zakir Naik, Indian Islamic speaker and doctor
- 1966Angela Visser, Dutch winner Miss Universe 1989
- 1966Slavi Trifonov, Bulgarian showman
- 1967Eric Stuart, American voice actor and singer
- 1968Michael Stich, German tennis player
- 1969Nelson Vivas, Argentine footballer
- 1969Volker Neumüller, German music talent manager
- 1970Doug Mirabelli, American baseball player
- 1970José Padilla, American convicted terrorist
- 1970Mike Starink, Dutch television presenter and stage actor
- 1972Alex Tagliani, Quebec racing driver
- 1973Michalis Kapsis, Greek footballer
- 1974Candy Lo, Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actress
- 1974Peter Svensson, Swedish musician (The Cardigans)
- 1974Robbie Savage, Welsh footballer
- 1975Alex Cora, Puerto Rican baseball player
- 1975Baby Bash, American rapper
- 1976Zhou Xun, Chinese actress and singer
- 1977David Vuillemin, pro motocross rider
- 1977Ryan Nelsen, New Zealand footballer
- 1978Jaime Koeppe, Canadian professional fitness expert
- 1978Jake Farrow, American actor
- 1978Kenji Wu, Taiwanese singer and actor
- 1978Mike Tindall, English rugby union player
- 1978Priyanka Trivedi, Indian actress
- 1978Wesley Jonathan, American actor
- 1979Jothika, Indian actress
- 1980Josh Gracin, American singer
- 1981Greg Warren, American football player
- 1982Michael Dingsdag, Dutch footballer
- 1982Ne-Yo, American R&B singer
- 1982Thierry Amiel, French singer
- 1984Esperanza Spalding, American jazz bassist and singer
- 1984Freida Pinto, Indian actress and model
- 1984Lindsey Vonn, American alpine ski racer
- 1985Derrick Tribbett, American musician (Twisted Method)
- 1986Wilma Elles, German actress
- 1987Freja Beha Erichsen, Danish model
- 1987Zac Efron, American actor
- 1989Joy Lauren, American actress
- 1990Bristol Palin, American daughter of Sarah Palin and Todd Palin
- 1990Carly Schroeder, American actress
- 1991Roly Bonevacia, Dutch footballer
- 1991Tyler Posey, American actor
- 1998Julia Wróblewska, Polish actress
- 2001Annelise Manojlovic, English actress
Who Died On October 18?
- 325Jin Mingdi, Chinese emperor of the Jin Dynasty (b. 299)
- 1035Sancho III of Navarre, King of Navarre
- 1101Hugh of Vermandois, son of Henry I of France (b. 1053)
- 1141Leopold IV of Austria, Duke of Bavaria
- 1382James Butler, 2nd Earl of Ormonde (b. 1331)
- 1417Pope Gregory XII
- 1503Pope Pius III (b. 1439)
- 1541Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scotland (b. 1489)
- 1545John Taverner, English composer
- 1558Maria of Austria, wife of Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia (b. 1505)
- 1564Johannes Acronius Frisius, German physician and mathematician (b. 1520)
- 1570Manoel da Nóbrega, Portuguese Jesuit in Brazil (b. 1517)
- 1604Igram van Achelen, Dutch statesman (b. 1528)
- 1646Isaac Jogues, French Jesuit missionary (b. 1607)
- 1667Fasilides, Emperor of Ethiopia (b. 1603)
- 1678Jacob Jordaens, Flemish painter (b. 1593)
- 1739Antônio José da Silva, Brazilian-born dramatist (b. 1705)
- 1744Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, close friend of Queen Anne of Great Britain (b. 1660)
- 1770John Manners, Marquess of Granby, British soldier (b. 1721)
- 1775Christian August Crusius, German philosopher and theologian (b. 1715)
- 1817Etienne Nicolas Méhul, French composer (b. 1763)
- 1865Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1784)
- 1871Charles Babbage, English mathematician and inventor (b. 1791)
- 1886Philipp Franz von Siebold, German physician (b. 1796)
- 1889Antonio Meucci, Italian inventor (b. 1808)
- 1892William W. Chapman, American politician (b. 1808)
- 1893Charles Gounod, French composer (b. 1818)
- 1911Alfred Binet, French psychologist (b. 1857)
- 1921King Ludwig III of Bavaria (b. 1845)
- 1931Thomas Edison, American inventor (b. 1847)
- 1932Ioannis Chrysafis, Greek gymnast (b. 1873)
- 1941Manuel Teixeira Gomes, 7th President of Portugal (b. 1860)
- 1942Mikhail Nesterov, Russian painter (b. 1862)
- 1948Walther von Brauchitsch, German field marshal (b. 1881)
- 1959Boughera El Ouafi, Algerian athlete (b. 1898)
- 1961Tsuru Aoki, Japanese-born American actress (b. 1892)
- 1965Henry Travers, British actor (b. 1874)
- 1965Larry Thorne, US soldier (b. 1919)
- 1966Elizabeth Arden, Canadian businesswoman (b. 1878)
- 1966Sebastian S. Kresge, American merchant (Kmart) (b. 1867)
- 1973Leo Strauss, German-American philosopher (b. 1899)
- 1973Margaret Caroline Anderson, American magazine publisher (b. 1886)
- 1973Walt Kelly, American cartoonist, (Pogo) (b. 1913)
- 1975Al Lettieri, American actor (b. 1928)
- 1976Kavi Samrat Viswanatha Satyanarayana, Telugu writer (b. 1895)
- 1977Red Army Faction Stammheim Prison suicides: Andreas Baader, German left-wing militant leader (b. 1943)
- 1977Red Army Faction Stammheim Prison suicides: Gudrun Ensslin, German left-wing militant leader (b. 1940)
- 1977Red Army Faction Stammheim Prison suicides: Jan-Carl Raspe, German left-wing militant (b. 1944)
- 1978Ramón Mercader, Assassin of Leon Trotsky (b. 1914)
- 1982Bess Truman, First Lady of the United States (b. 1885)
- 1982Dwain Esper, American film director (b. 1892)
- 1982John Robarts, Canadian politician, Premier of Ontario (b. 1917)
- 1982Pierre Mendès-France, French politician (b. 1907)
- 1983Diego Abad de Santillán, Spanish anarchist (b. 1897)
- 1983Willie Jones, baseball player (b. 1925)
- 1984Henri Michaux, French painter and poet (b. 1899)
- 1984Jon-Erik Hexum, American actor (b. 1957)
- 1987Adriaan Ditvoorst, Dutch film director and screenwriter (b. 1940)
- 1988Sir Frederick Ashton, British dancer and choreographer (b. 1904)
- 2000Gwen Verdon, American dancer and actress (b. 1925)
- 2000Julie London, American singer and actress (b. 1926)
- 2001Micheline Ostermeyer, French athlete and musician (b. 1922)
- 2002Nikolai Rukavishnikov, cosmonaut (b. 1932)
- 2002Roman Tam, Hong Kong singer (b. 1950)
- 2003Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, Spanish writer (b. 1939)
- 2003Preston Smith, Governor of Texas (b. 1912)
- 2004Veerappan, Indian bandit and smuggler (b. 1945)
- 2005Bill King, American sports broadcaster (b. 1927)
- 2005John Hollis, British actor (b. 1931)
- 2005Johnny Haynes, English footballer (b. 1934)
- 2006Anna Russell, English music satirist (b. 1911)
- 2006Mario Francesco Pompedda, cardinal (b. 1929)
- 2007Alan Coren, English writer and satirist (b. 1938)
- 2007Lucky Dube, South African musician (b. 1964)
- 2007Vincent DeDomenico, American entrepreneur (b. 1915)
- 2007William J. Crowe, American admiral and ambassador (b. 1925)
- 2008Dee Dee Warwick, American soul singer (b. 1945)
- 2009Adriaan Kortlandt, Dutch ethologist (b. 1918)
- 2009Haji Md Abu Taher, Bangladeshi(Chittagong) famous person, munificent,educationist (b. 1951)
- 2010Marion Brown, American jazz musician (b. 1931)
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