2018 in History

Events 1 - 100 of 660

• Jan 1 California becomes largest US state to legalise cannabis for recreational use
• Jan 2 Bus crash in Pasamayo, Peru, kills 51 on notorious "Devil's Curve" road
• Jan 2 WHO reveals it will classify gaming addiction as mental health condition in its next Classification of Diseases
• Jan 2 Storm Eleanor forms near Ireland then sweeps across the UK and Western Europe in next few days
• Jan 3 Security expert reveal two security flaws, Meltdown and Spectre which affect most microprocessors

• Jan 3 Previously unknown ancient Beringians group of people unearthed in Alaska, earliest known Native Americans at 11,500 years old
• Jan 3 First bionic hand with a sense of touch, for use outside a lab unveiled in Rome
• Jan 3 Landslide and flooding caused by heavy rains in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, kills at least 37
• Jan 4 Truck hits a train near Kroonstad city, South Africa killing 19 passengers
• Jan 4 'Bomb Cyclone' hits US Northeast prompting flooding and snow in New York subway system
• Jan 5 North Korea accepts South Korean invitation for high-level talks
• Jan 5 Kitwe in Zambia bans shaking hands and the sale of fresh food in attempt to prevent a cholera outbreak
• Jan 5 "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House" by Michael Wolff is published by Henry Holt and Company
• Jan 6 Oil tanker Sanchi collides with a freighter off the coast of Shanghai with 32 probable deaths
• Jan 7 Sydney, Australia has its hottest day for 80 years as Penrith reaches 47.3 degrees
• Jan 7 It snows in the Sahara desert - 15 inches reported in Aïn Séfra, Northwest Algeria
• Jan 8 US record year for cost of natural disasters announced - $306 billion in 2017
• Jan 8 Self-declared republic of Somaliland passes its first ever law against rape
• Jan 9 Former White House strategist Steve Bannon leaves Breitbart News after his criticism of the White House in "Fire and the Fury" book
• Jan 9 The first same-sex marriages take place in Australia after legislation passed a month ago
• Jan 9 President Trump cancels program allowing 200,000 San Salvadoreans temporary status to live in the US
• Jan 9 Mudslides sweep away 100 houses in Montecito, California, killing at least 20, on land stripped bare by recent fires

• Jan 11 In China's first significant #MeToo moment Beihang University in Beijing fires a professor for sexual misconduct
• Jan 11 US President Trump causes worldwide controversy when it is reported he called African countries "shitholes" during immigration meeting
• Jan 13 Early-morning ballistic missile alert sent across Hawaii in error, revoked after 38 minutes
• Jan 13 Chelsea Manning, former soldier responsible for Wikileaks announces her bid to run for US Senate
• Jan 15 Fashion photographers Mario Testino and Bruce Weber are suspended from magazines including Vogue, after allegations of sexual harassment in "The New York Times"
• Jan 15 Protests against the current government turn violent in Tunis, Tunisia marking the seventh anniversary of the revolution

• Jan 15 Operation in El Junquito, Venezuela, to capture terrorist group including Oscar Pérez, accused of mounting a coup, ends in 4 deaths
• Jan 15 Romanian Social Democrat (PSD) Prime Minister Mihai Tudose resigns after 7 months in office
• Jan 15 Pope Francis arrives in Chile for a three-day visit amid child sexual abuse claims against church clergy
• Jan 18 First drone rescue of swimmers by lifeguards in New South Wales, Australia
• Jan 21 Gambian Dictator Yahya Jammeh finally concedes office and leaves Gambia 2 months after losing the presidential election
• Jan 22 US government ends three-day shutdown after an agreement in Congress to extend funding
• Jan 23 Twelve camels disqualified from the King Abdulaziz Camel beauty contest, Saudi Arabia after their owners used botox on their lips
• Jan 23 Chinese researchers report they have cloned two monkeys, using the same technology as Dolly the Sheep
• Jan 24 UK charity Presidents Club forced to close after revelations of sexual harassment at event revealed by the "Financial Times"
• Jan 24 President Trump withdraws the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership
• Jan 25 Doomsday clock moved by 30 seconds to 2 minutes to midnight by Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, closest since 1950s
• Jan 25 Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi asked "are there any bookshops in Nigeria?" in controversial French interview
• Jan 26 Residents left without heat in -27C in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan after boiler breaks in main power station
• Jan 27 Bomb in an ambulance kills over 100 people in Kabul, Taliban claim responsibility
• Jan 28 Seven survivors from missing Kiribati ferry carrying 100 people rescued after week at sea
• Jan 29 F.B.I deputy director Andrew G. McCabe steps down from office
• Jan 29 Toronto police arrest landscaper Bruce McArthur for murder after remains of at least 5 people found in potted plants
• Jan 31 trump administration formally suspends the Clean Water Act
• Feb 1 The Indian government announces plan to give 500 million people free healthcare


• Feb 1 Archaeologists announce discovery of thousands of undetected structures in Mayan lowland civilisation, Guatemala, using Lidar, suggests population of 10 million
• Feb 2 All 955 miners rescued from the Beatrix gold mine in Welkom town, South Africa, after 2 days underground
• Feb 3 Moscow has its heaviest snowfall in a day on record, killing one and bringing down 2,000 trees
• Feb 5 A share market sell off starts on Wall Street with Dow Jones sinking 4.6%, spreads around the globe

• Feb 6 Maldives President Abdulla Yameen declares state of emergency ordering arrest of two judges
• Feb 6 UN calls for ceasefire in rebel-held Eastern Ghouta area by Syrian government troops after 40 people reportedly killed
• Feb 6 Polish president Andrzej Duda signs controversial Holocaust law, outlaws accusing Poles of complicity under Nazis
• Feb 6 6.0 magnitude earthquake strikes Hualien County, Taiwan, leaving 10 dead and over 50 missing
• Feb 7 Armed groups release 300 child soldiers from Yambio, South Sudan according to UN
• Feb 7 "The Los Angeles Times" is bought by LA doctor Patrick Soon-Shiong from Tronc for $500 million
• Feb 7 Missing Nigerian painting masterpiece of Ife princess Adetutu Ademiluyi by Ben Enwonwu announced rediscovered in London
• Feb 7 DNA analysis of Chedder Man, UK's oldest complete skeleton shows he had dark skin and blue eyes
• Feb 7 White House aide Rob Porter resigns in wake of physical abuse allegations by ex-wives
• Feb 7 All citrus fruit can be traced to the southeast foothills of the Himalayas, according to DNA study published in "Nature"
• Feb 7 Angel Merkel's Christian Democratic Union party reaches a coalition deal with Social Democrats after four months
• Feb 8 Twitter reports its first quarterly profit as a public company
• Feb 8 Bangladesh court sentences former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia to 5 years in prison for corruption
• Feb 11 Russian airliner crashes south-east of Moscow, killing all 71 on board

• Feb 12 Tropical cyclone Gita strikes Tonga as a category four cyclone causing widespread damage
• Feb 12 Oxfam deputy director resigns over charity's failure to deal with sexual misconduct allegations in Haiti and Chad
• Feb 13 South African President Jacob Zuma is ordered to step down by the A.N.C.
• Feb 13 South Africa declares a three-year drought a National Disaster, though pushes Cap Town's "Day Zero" to June 4

• Feb 14 South African President Jacob Zuma resigns from office
• Feb 14 Ex-student Nikolas Cruz guns down 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Florida, before being captured
• Feb 15 Cyril Ramaphosa is sworn in as South African President, replacing Jacob Zuma
• Feb 15 First known case of transgender woman breastfeeding reported in "Transgender Health Journal" in US
• Feb 15 Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn resigns in a surprise move
• Feb 16 More than 100,00 orangutans killed in Borneo since 1999 according to study published in "Current Biology"
• Feb 16 National state of emergency declared in Ethiopia in wake of anti-government protests
• Feb 17 3 suicide bombers kill 18 in Konduga, north-east Nigeria
• Feb 18 Aseman Airlines flight crashes in the Zagros mountains, Iran, killing all 66 on board
• Feb 18 Syrian government forces begin a new offensive on Eastern Ghouta in Syria's civil war
• Feb 19 Syrian government forces bombard Gouta in deadliest day in 3 years, killing over 100 civilians
• Feb 19 At least 17 killed when a garbage mound collapses in Maputo, Mozambique
• Feb 19 Nigeria says 110 girls missing, presumed kidnapped by Boko Haram after attack on school in Dapchi, Yobe state

• Feb 20 Venezuela becomes the first country to launch a virtual currency, the petro, to counteract their financial crisis
• Feb 22 Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak stirs up controversy by declaring he prefers quinoa to rice, the national dish
• Feb 23 Study suggests earliest European Palaeolithic artwork in Spain made by Neanderthals not humans in "Science Journal"
• Feb 24 UN Security Council passes resolution for 30 day ceasefire in Syria
• Feb 25 China briefly bans the letter 'N' as part of widespread censorship efforts
• Feb 26 Cold weather nicknamed "the Beast from the East" hits Europe, killing 7 and covering Pompeii in snow
• Feb 26 Global Seed Vault in Svalbard, Norway, receives its 1 millionth seed on 10 year anniversary
• Feb 26 Global Seed Vault opens in Svalbard, Norway, to help preserve diversity and loss from other genebanks
• Feb 26 7.5 magnitude earthquake in central Papa New Guinea kills at least 100

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• Apr 23 Prince Louis of Cambridge, English son of Prince William and Duchess of Cambridge, born in London

• Jun 30 "The Big Bang Theory" star Kaley Cuoco (32) marries Karl Cook (26) in San Diego, California

Deaths 1 - 100 of 149

• Jan 1 John V Tunney, American politician (Rep/Sen-D-California), dies of prostate cancer at 83
• Jan 2 Thomas Monson, 16th president of the (Mormon) Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, dies at 90
• Jan 5 John Young, American astronaut and 9th person to walk on the Moon (Gemini 3 & 10, Apollo 10 & 16, STS 1 & 9), dies of pneumonia complications at 87
• Jan 7 Peter Sutherland, Irish businessman (Allied Irish Banks) and politician (Fine Gael), dies at 71
• Jan 7 Anna Mae Hays [McCabe], American military officer and US military's 1st female General, dies from a heart attack at 97
• Jan 9 Odvar Nordli, 21st Prime Minister of Norway (Labour: 1976-81), dies at 90
• Jan 10 Doreen Tracey, British-born American performer (Mickey Mouse Club-Mouseketeer), dies at 74
• Jan 10 Tom Luken, American politician (U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio), dies at 92
• Jan 11 Edgar Ray Killen, American convict, former preacher, K.K.K. member and murderer, dies at 92
• Jan 15 Mathilde Krim, American medical researcher and founding chairman of amfAR (Foundation for AIDS Research), dies at 91
• Jan 15 Joe Frank [Joseph Langermann], American radio personality (KCRW), dies of cancer at 79
• Jan 18 John Barton, British theatre director and co-founder of the Royal Shakespeare Company, dies at 89
• Jan 20 Paul Bocuse, French great chef (Legion of Honor), dies of Parkinson's disease at 91
• Jan 20 Jack Whitten, American abstract painter, dies of chronic leukemia at 78
• Jan 22 Ursula K. Le Guin, American sci-fi author (The Left Hand of Darkness, Tombs of Atuan), dies at 88
• Jan 23 Stansfield Turner, American admiral and CIA director (1977-81), dies at 94
• Jan 23 Wyatt Tee Walker, African-American pastor, civil rights leader, chief of staff for Martin Luther King, Jr. and cultural historian, dies at 88
• Jan 23 Nicanor Parra, Chilean poet, mathematician, and physicist (Defense of Violeta Parra), dies at 103
• Jan 24 Jack Ketchum [Dallas William Mayr], American horror fiction author (Off Season, Red, The Woman), dies of cancer at 71

• Feb 2 Joseph Polchinski, American leading theoretical physicist (multiverse), dies of brain cancer at 63
• Feb 13 Henrik [Henri Marie Jean André de Laborde de Monpezat], Prince Consort of Denmark, dies at 83
• Feb 14 Ruud Lubbers, Dutch politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (1982-94), dies at 78
• Feb 17 Arno Motulsky, German-born founder of medical genetics, known as the "father of pharmacogenomics," dies at 94

• Feb 25 Penny Vincenzi [Hannaford], British novelist (An Absolute Scandal, Spoils of Time trilogy), dies at 78
• Feb 27 Luciano Benjamín Menéndez, Argentine general, Commander of the Third Army Corps (1975-79), and convicted human rights violator and murderer, dies of cardiogenic shock at 90
• Feb 28 Jayendra Saraswathi, Hindu religious leader (69th Shankaracharya Guru), dies at 82
• Mar 1 Bender [Alexander Buchanan], Canadian underground hip hop artist (Flight Distance, King of the Dot), dies at 37
• Mar 1 Orin C Smith, American businessman and CEO of Starbucks (2000-05), dies of pancreatic cancer 75
• Mar 4 Javed Abidi, Indian disability rights activist, director (NCPEDP), and founder of the Disability Rights Group, dies of a chest infection at 53
• Mar 5 Trevor Baylis, English inventor of the wind-up radio, dies of Crohn's disease at 80
• Mar 5 Helmut Maucher, German businessman, CEO of Nestlé (1990-97), dies at 90
• Mar 5 Hayden White, American "literary criticism" historian (Metahistory: The Historical Imagination in Nineteenth-Century Europe), dies at 89
• Mar 6 Lucie Brock-Broido, American poet and academic (Noctuary), dies at 61
• Mar 6 Ferdousi Priyabhashini, Bangladeshi sculptor (Independence Day Award-2010), dies at 71
• Mar 6 Sir John E. Sulston, British molecular biologist, co-recipient of 2002 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (roundworm genome sequencing), dies of stomach cancer at 75
• Mar 7 Reynaldo Bignone, Argentine politician and human rights violator, 41st President (1982–1983), dies of a hip fracture and heart failure at 90
• Mar 7 Jacques Clemens, Dutch Catholic priest, dies at 108
• Mar 8 Kate Wilhelm, American fiction author (Hugo Award: Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang), dies of respiratory failure at 89
• Mar 8 Sir Wilson Harris, Guyanese author (Palace of the Peacock, Jonestown, The Ghost of Memory), dies of natural causes at 96
• Mar 8 Togo West Jr., American attorney and public official (3rd Secretary of Veterans Affairs 1998-2000), dies of a heart attack at 75
• Mar 9 Joaquin Avila, American lawyer and civil rights champion who advocated against voter discrimination, dies from complications of colon and liver cancer at 69

• Mar 14 Marielle Franco, Brazilian politician and human rights activist, assassinated at 38
• Mar 14 Adrián Lamo, American threat analyst and hacker (NYT, Yahoo!, Microsoft) who reported Chelsea Manning to the FBI, dies at 37
• Mar 14 Emily Nasrallah, Lebanese writer and women's rights activist (Birds of September, A Cat’s Diary), dies at 86
• Mar 15 Michael Getler, American journalist and 1st ombudsman appointed by a US broadcasting network (PBS), dies of bile duct cancer at 82
• Mar 15 Robert Grossman, American illustrator, dies of heart failure at 78
• Mar 22 Johan van Hulst, Dutch teacher who helped save 600 children from the Nazis, dies at 107
• Mar 29 Anita Shreve, American writer (Weight of Water, Past the Island; Drifting), dies of cancer at 71

• Apr 1 Edward Digby, 12th Baron Digby, British Army (Coldstream Guards) officer, dies at 93

• Apr 3 David Edgerton, American entrepreneur and founder of Burger King, dies of complications of surgery at 90
• Apr 6 Daniel Akaka, American educator and politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Hawaii), dies at 93
• Apr 11 Gillian Ayres, British abstract painter and printmaker, dies at 88
• Apr 12 John Melcher, American politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Montana), dies at 93
• Apr 13 Miloš Forman, Czech-American award-winning director (One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, Amadeus, The Firemen's Ball), dies at 86

• Apr 21 Nabi Tajima, Japanese supercentenarian and the last living person certified to have been born in the 19th century, dies at 117
• May 1 Elmar Altvater, German political scientist, dies at 79
• May 1 Ninalee Craig, American-born Canadian teacher and photograph subject, dies at 90 of complications from lung cancer
• May 1 Carl W. Duckworth, American politician (Utah House of Representatives, 1955–1958), dies of bone cancer at 53
• May 1 Raymond D. Dzendzel, American politician (Michigan House of Representatives, 1955–1958; Senate, 1959–1970), dies at 96
• May 1 Reg Gadney, British author, dies at 77
• May 1 Phil Gowan, American historian (RMS Titanic), dies of cancer at 65
• May 1 Robert B. Kennedy, American politician (Massachusetts House of Representatives, 1975–1979), dies at 78
• May 1 Chuck Missler, American evangelist and author, dies at 83
• May 1 Ashok Mitra, Indian economist and politician, dies at 90
• May 1 Peter Temple-Morris, Baron Temple-Morris, British politician and life peer (MP for Leominster, 1974–2001), dies at 80
• May 1 Bob Woffinden, British journalist and author, dies of mesothelioma at 89
• May 2 Gord Brown, Canadian politician (MP, 2004–2018), dies of a heart attack at 57
• May 2 Paul Dick, Canadian politician, dies at 77 of a heart attack
• May 2 Dick Edell, American lacrosse coach (Maryland Terrapins), dies at 74 of pneumonia
• May 2 Katherine O'Regan, New Zealand politician (MP for Waipa, 1984–1996; list MP, 1996–1999), dies of cancer at 71
• May 2 Kottayam Pushpanath, Indian author, dies at 80
• May 2 Harald Range, German jurist (Attorney General, 2011–2015), dies at 70
• May 2 James Thorp, American electrical engineer, dies at 81
• May 2 Chris Walsh, American politician (Massachusetts House of Representatives, 2010–2018), dies of lymphoma at 66
• May 2 Sir Keith Williamson, British air force commander (Chief of the Air Staff, 1982–1985), dies at 90
• May 3 Jim Argue, American politician (Arkansas Senate, 1996–2008), dies of kidney cancer at 66
• May 3 Monica Barnes, Irish politician (Teachta Dála, 1982–1992, 1997–2002; Senator, 1982), dies at 82
• May 3 H. Basil S. Cooke, South African-Canadian geologist and paleontologist, dies at 102
• May 3 Doina Cornea, Romanian human rights activist and professor, dies at 88
• May 3 Alfonso Dhlakama, Mozambican politician and opposition leader (RENAMO), dies of a heart attack at 65
• May 3 David Pines, American physicist, dies at 93
• May 3 Junior Rodriguez, American politician, dies at 82
• May 3 Demetrio Túpac Yupanqui, Peruvian academic and Quechua translator, dies at 94
• May 4 Paul Bloodgood, American artist, dies at 58 of Alzheimer's disease
• May 4 Edwin G. Burrows, American historian and professor, dies at 74
• May 4 Renate Dorrelstein, Dutch writer and journalist, dies of cancer at 64
• May 4 Barnet Fain, American businessman and artist, dies at 86
• May 4 Bobbie Louise Hawkins, American poet and author, dies at 87
• May 4 BN Vijaya Kumar, Indian politician, dies at 59 of a heart attack
• May 5 Aaron D. Panken, American rabbi, dies in a plane crash at 53
• May 5 Rosemarie Schruder, German writer, dies at 89
• May 5 Stanley Falkow, American microbiologist (molecular mechanisms of infectious diseases), dies at 84
• May 5 Ludwig Harig, German writer, dies at 90

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