October 18
October 18 is the 291st day of the year (292nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 74 days remaining until the end of the year.
Events
- 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 – The USSR's nuclear program receives plans for the United States plutonium bomb from Klaus Fuchs at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
- 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.
- 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.
Births
- 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 – Jan Gies, Dutch resistance fighter (d. 1993)
- 1905 – Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Côte d'Ivoire politician (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 – Molly Geertsema, Dutch politician(d. 1991)
- 1918 – Constantine Mitsotakis, Greek politician
- 1918 – Bobby Troup, American musician (d. 1999)
- 1919 – Ric Nordman, Canadian politician (d. 1996)
- 1919 – Anita O'Day, American singer (d. 2006)
- 1919 – Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Canadian politician (d. 2000)
- 1919 – Camilla Williams, operatic soprano, the first African American to receive a contract with a major American opera company
- 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 – Violeta Chamorro, Nicaraguan politician
- 1929 – Hillard Elkins, American theatre and film producer (d. 2010)
- 1929 – Kees Fens, Dutch writer, essayist and literary critic (d. 2008)
- 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 – Inger Stevens, Swedish actress (d. 1970)
- 1934 – Chuck Swindoll, American evangelist
- 1935 – Peter Boyle, American actor (d. 2006)
- 1938 – Dawn Wells, American actress
- 1939 – Flavio Cotti, Swiss jurist
- 1939 – Mike Ditka, American football player, coach, and commentator
- 1939 – Lee Harvey Oswald, American alleged assassin of John F. Kennedy (d. 1963)
- 1940 – Cynthia Weil, American songwriter
- 1942 – Larry Pickering, Australian newspaper cartoonist
- 1943 – Birthe Rønn Hornbech, Danish politician
- 1945 – Huell Howser, American television personality
- 1945 – Chris Shays, American politician
- 1945 – Yıldo, Turkish footballer
- 1946 – James Robert Baker, American novelist, screenwriter
- 1946 – Frank Beamer, American college football coach
- 1946 – Howard Shore, Canadian film composer
- 1947 – Paul Chuckle, British comedian
- 1947 – Job Cohen, Dutch politician
- 1947 – Joe Morton, American actor
- 1947 – Laura Nyro, American singer and songwriter (d. 1997)
- 1948 – Hans Köchler, Austrian philosopher
- 1948 – Ntozake Shange, American author
- 1949 – Joe Egan, British musician (Stealers Wheel)
- 1949 – George Hendrick, American baseball player
- 1949 – Gary Richrath, American musician (REO Speedwagon)
- 1950 – Om Puri, Indian actor
- 1950 – Wendy Wasserstein, American playwright (d. 2006)
- 1950 – Sheila White, English actress
- 1951 – Mike Antonovich, American ice hockey player and executive
- 1951 – Pam Dawber, American actress
- 1951 – Terry McMillan, American author
- 1952 – Patrick Morrow, Canadian mountaineer
- 1952 – Chuck Lorre, American T.V. producer
- 1952 – Bảo Ninh, Vietnamese novelist
- 1952 – Jerry Royster, American baseball player
- 1953 – Loes Luca, Dutch actress, singer and comedian
- 1954 – Liz Burch, Australian actress
- 1954 – Arliss Howard, American actor
- 1955 – Vanessa Briscoe Hay, American singer and songwriter (Pylon (band), Supercluster)
- 1955 – Timmy Mallett, British TV presenter
- 1955 – David Twohy, American movie director and screenwriter
- 1955 – Rita Verdonk, Dutch politician
- 1956 – Craig Bartlett, American animator
- 1956 – Martina Navrátilová, Czech-born American tennis player
- 1956 – Jim Talent, American politician
- 1957 – Jon Lindstrom, American actor
- 1957 – Catherine Ringer, French singer and songwriter (Les Rita Mitsouko)
- 1958 – Stacy Allison, first American female mountaineer to summit Mount Everest
- 1958 – Corinne Bohrer, American actress
- 1958 – Thomas Hearns, American boxer
- 1958 – Kjell Samuelsson, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1959 – Kirby Chambliss, American aerobatic pilot
- 1959 – Milčo Mančevski, Macedonian film director and screenwriter
- 1959 – John Nord, American pro wrestler
- 1959 – Chris Russo, American sports talk show host
- 1959 – Steve Swayne, American academic
- 1960 – Jean-Claude Van Damme, Belgian actor
- 1960 – Erin Moran, American actress
- 1961 – Wynton Marsalis, American jazz musician
- 1961 – Rick Moody, American author
- 1962 – Vincent Spano, American actor
- 1964 – Dan Lilker, American musician Anthrax, S.O.D., Nuclear Assault, and Brutal Truth
- 1964 – Charles Stross, British author
- 1965 – Zakir Naik, Indian Islamic speaker and doctor
- 1965 – Curtis Stigers, American jazz vocalist and saxophonist
- 1966 – Slavi Trifonov, Bulgarian showman
- 1966 – Angela Visser, Dutch winner Miss Universe 1989
- 1967 – Eric Stuart, American voice actor and singer
- 1968 – Michael Stich, German tennis player
- 1969 – Volker Neumüller, German music talent manager
- 1969 – Nelson Vivas, Argentine footballer
- 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 – Robbie Savage, Welsh footballer
- 1974 – Peter Svensson, Swedish musician (The Cardigans)
- 1975 – Baby Bash, American rapper
- 1975 – Alex Cora, Puerto Rican baseball player
- 1976 – Zhou Xun, Chinese actress and singer
- 1977 – Ryan Nelsen, New Zealand footballer
- 1977 – David Vuillemin, pro motocross rider
- 1978 – Jaime Koeppe, Canadian professional fitness expert
- 1978 – Jake Farrow, American actor
- 1978 – Wesley Jonathan, American actor
- 1978 – Mike Tindall, English rugby union player
- 1978 – Priyanka Trivedi, Indian actress
- 1979 – Jothika, Indian actress
- 1978 – Kenji Wu, Taiwanese singer and actor
- 1982 – Ne-Yo, American R&B singer
- 1980 – Josh Gracin, American singer
- 1981 – Greg Warren, American football player
- 1982 – Thierry Amiel, French singer
- 1982 – Michael Dingsdag, Dutch footballer
- 1984 – Freida Pinto, Indian actress and model
- 1984 – Esperanza Spalding, American jazz bassist and singer
- 1984 – Lindsey Vonn, American alpine ski racer
- 1985 – Derrick Tribbett, American musician (Twisted Method)
- 1986 – Wilma Elles, German actress
- 1987 – Zac Efron, American actor
- 1987 – Freja Beha Erichsen, Danish model
- 1989 – Joy Lauren, American actress
- 1990 – Bristol Palin, American daughter of Sarah Palin and Todd Palin
- 1990 – Carly Schroeder, American actress
- 1991 – Tyler Posey, American actor
- 1991 – Roly Bonevacia, Dutch footballer
- 1998 – Julia Wróblewska, Polish actress
- 2001 – Annelise Manojlovic, English actress
Deaths
- 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)
- 1871 – Charles Babbage, English mathematician and inventor (b. 1791)
- 1865 – Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1784)
- 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 – Margaret Caroline Anderson, American magazine publisher (b. 1886)
- 1973 – Walt Kelly, American cartoonist, (Pogo) (b. 1913)
- 1973 – Leo Strauss, German-American philosopher (b. 1899)
- 1975 – Al Lettieri, American actor (b. 1928)
- 1976 – Kavi Samrat Viswanatha Satyanarayana, Telugu writer (b. 1895)
- 1977 – Red Army Faction Stammheim Prison suicides
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- 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 – Pierre Mendès-France, French politician (b. 1907)
- 1982 – John Robarts, Canadian politician, Premier of Ontario (b. 1917)
- 1983 – Willie Jones, baseball player (b. 1925)
- 1983 – Diego Abad de Santillán, Spanish anarchist (b. 1897)
- 1984 – Jon-Erik Hexum, American actor (b. 1957)
- 1984 – Henri Michaux, French painter and poet (b. 1899)
- 1987 – Adriaan Ditvoorst, Dutch film director and screenwriter (b. 1940)
- 1988 – Sir Frederick Ashton, British dancer and choreographer (b. 1904)
- 2000 – Julie London, American singer and actress (b. 1926)
- 2000 – Gwen Verdon, American dancer and actress (b. 1925)
- 2001 – Micheline Ostermeyer, French athlete and musician (b. 1922)
- 2002 – Nikolai Rukavishnikov, cosmonaut (b. 1932)
- 2002 – Roman Tam, Hong Kong singer (b. 1950)
- 2003 – Preston Smith, Governor of Texas (b. 1912)
- 2003 – Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, Spanish writer (b. 1939)
- 2004 – Veerappan, Indian bandit and smuggler (b. 1945)
- 2005 – John Hollis, British actor (b. 1931)
- 2005 – Johnny Haynes, English footballer (b. 1934)
- 2005 – Bill King, American sports broadcaster (b. 1927)
- 2006 – Mario Francesco Pompedda, cardinal (b. 1929)
- 2006 – Anna Russell, English music satirist (b. 1911)
- 2007 – Alan Coren, English writer and satirist (b. 1938)
- 2007 – William J. Crowe, American admiral and ambassador (b. 1925)
- 2007 – Vincent DeDomenico, American entrepreneur (b. 1915)
- 2007 – Lucky Dube, South African musician (b. 1964)
- 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)
Holidays and observances
External links