On This Day in History for July 18

Events 1 - 100 of 140

• 390 BC Roman-Gaulish Wars: Battle of the Allia - Roman army is defeated by raiding Gauls, leads to subsequent sacking of Rome

• 1290 King Edward I of England orders expulsion of Jews

• 1334 The bishop of Florence blesses the first foundation stone for the new campanile (bell tower) of the Florence Cathedral, designed by the artist Giotto di Bondone
• 1536 Pope's authority declared void in England
• 1572 Willem of Orange recognized as viceroy of Holland/Friesland/Utrecht
• 1630 Spanish troops occupy Mantua
• 1656 -20] Battle at Warsaw: Swedish King Charles X Gustav beats John II Casimir and occupies Warsaw

• 1716 Decree orders all Jews expelled from Brussels
• 1737 Battle at Banja Luka: Turkish army beats Austrians
• 1743 1st half-page newspaper ad is published (NY Weekly Journal)
• 1753 Lemuel Haynes, escapes from slave holder in Framingham, Massachusetts
• 1766 Society of the Dutch Literary forms
• 1768 Boston Gazette publishes "Liberty Song", America's 1st patriotic song


• 1814 British capture Prairie du Chien (Wisconsin)
• 1853 Completion of Grand Trunk Line, trains begin running over 1st North American railroad between Portland, Maine and Montreal
• 1857 Louis Faidherbe, French governor of Senegal, arrives to relieve French forces at Kayes, effectively ending El Hajj Umar Tall's war against the French
• 1861 Battle of Blackburn's Ford, Virginia
• 1862 Battle of Newburgh, Indiana - captured by Union forces
• 1863 Battle of Fort Wagner, South Carolina - Second assault

• 1870 Pontifical infalliability proclaimed
• 1872 The Ballot Act introduces the secret ballot in elections in Britain; previously votes made openly
• 1882 Louisville Tony Mullane is 1st to pitch righty then lefty
• 1897 Cap Anson is 1st to get 3,000 hits
• 1907 Florenz Ziegfeld's "Follies of 1907" premieres in NYC
• 1907 French troops occupy Casablanca
• 1913 After 68 straight innings Christy Mathewson gives up a walk
• 1914 US army air service 1st comes into being, in Signal Corps

• 1915 Second Battle of Isonzo begins and ends with over 80,000 casualties
• 1918 World War I: US and French forces launch Aisne-Marne offensive
• 1921 Black Sox trial begins in Chicago
• 1923 British House of Lords accepts new divorce law
• 1924 KPD points out Rote Frontkampferbund against Nazi

• 1926 The South Africa author and journalist, Herman Charles Bosman, shoots and kills his stepbrother David Russell during a quarrel
• 1931 1st air-conditioned ship (Mariposa) launched
• 1932 Belgium, Luxembourg & Netherlands sign Ouchy Convention, a customs treaty


• 1932 US and Canada sign a treaty to develop St Lawrence Seaway
• 1935 Amsterdam city council accept city growth plan through the year 2000

• 1941 SS drowns 40 Jews in Dvina River, Belorussia
• 1942 Test flight of German Messerschmitt Me-262 using only its jet engines for the first time
• 1943 British assault on Catania, Sicily
• 1944 7:45 Operation Goodwood: British assault east of Caen
• 1944 Allies air raid railways at Vaires, Paris
• 1944 Arne Andersson runs world record 1 mile (4:01.6)
• 1944 RAF Mosquitos attack Cologne and Berlin
• 1944 British air raid on German convoy SW of Heligoland
• 1944 British troops occupy Bourquebus hill range, Normandy
• 1944 Polish troops under General Anders occupy Ancona Italy
• 1944 US troop march into St Lo
• 1947 British seize "Exodus 1947" ship of Jewish immigrants to Palestine

• 1947 US President Harry Truman signs Presidential Succession Act
• 1947 Tigers shut out Yanks 2-0, end 19 game win streak
• 1947 US begins administering Trust Territory of Pacific Islands
• 1951 Uruguay accepts its constitution
• 1955 1st electric power generated from atomic energy sold commercially
• 1955 280 mm rain in Martinstown, Dorset (UK-record)
• 1956 Erno Gero succeeds Matyas Rákosi as party leader of Hungary
• 1958 6th British Empire Games and Commonwealth Games open in Cardiff, Wales
• 1960 1st UN troops reach Congo
• 1960 Premier Kishi of Japan resigns
• 1961 Commissioner Ford Frick rules Babe Ruth's record of 60 HR in 154-game sched in 1927, must be broken in 1st 154 of 162 games
• 1962 Minn is 1st AL team to hit 2 grand slams in an inning as Bob Allison
• 1963 Failed military coup in Syria
• 1963 The United Nations Special Committee on Apartheid releases its second interim report pressing for international sanctions against South Africa, particularly the supply of arms, ammunition and petroleum
• 1964 Race riot in Harlem (NYC); riots spread to Bedford-Stuyvesant (Brooklyn)
• 1965 Zond 3 launched to fly by Moon, enters solar orbit
• 1966 Carl Sagan turns 1 billion seconds old
• 1966 Gemini 10 launched (John Young & Michael Collins)
• 1967 Silver hits record $1.87 an ounce in NY
• 1968 The Intel Corporation is founded in Santa Clara, California
• 1970 Arthur Brown arrested for stripping on stage in Palemo Sicily
• 1970 Ron Hunt gets hit by a pitch for a record 119th time

• 1972 Mike Procter 8-73 with hat-trick, plus 51 and 102, Gloucs v Essex
• 1972 The 100th British soldier to die in the Northern Ireland "troubles" is shot by a sniper in Belfast

• 1974 US performs nuclear Test at Nevada Test Site
• 1974 World's tallest structure, 646 metre Polish radio mast, completed
• 1976 Stockhausens "Sirius" premieres in NYC
• 1976 Thiokol conducts 2-min firing of space shuttle's SRB at Brigham, Ut
• 1977 Hugh Leonard's "Da" premieres in London
• 1977 Vietnam becomes a member of the UN
• 1978 Egyptian and Israeli officials begin 2 days of talks
• 1979 Gold hits record $303.85 an ounce in London
• 1979 USSR performs nuclear Test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
• 1980 Failed attack on Iran ex-premier Bakhtiar in Neuilly, France
• 1980 Federal court voids Selective Service Act as it doesn't include women
• 1980 Quett Masire installed as President of Botswana
• 1980 Rohini 1, 1st Indian satellite, launches into orbit
• 1981 Polish communist party selects ex-party leader Edward Gierek

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• 1340 Philip van Artevelde, Flemish leader and wine salesman, born in Ghent, Belgium (d. 1382)
• 1501 Isabella of Burgundy, wife of Christian II of Denmark, born in Brussels (d. 1526)
• 1504 Heinrich Bullinger, Swiss religious reformer, born in Bremgarten, Switzerland (d. 1575)
• 1534 Zacharias Ursinus, German theologist (Heidelberger Catechism), born in Breslau, Silesia (d. 1583)
• 1552 Rudolf II von Habsburg, Emperor of Germany (1576-1612), born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1612)
• 1634 Johannes Camphuys, Governor-General of Dutch-Indies (1684-91), born in Haarlem, Dutch Republic (d. 1695)

• 1718 Saverio Bettinelli, Italian Jesuit writer, born in Mantua, Lombardy, Italy (d. 1808)
• 1720 Gilbert White, English naturalist (Natural History and Antiquities of Selborn), born in Selborne, Hampshire (d. 1793)
• 1796 Feargus O'Connor, Leader of English Chartists, born in County Cork (d. 1855)
• 1797 Immanuel Hermann Fichte, German philosopher, born in Jena, Saxe-Weimar (d. 1879)
• 1811 William Makepeace Thackeray, British novelist (Vanity Fair), born in Kolkata, India (d. 1863)
• 1818 Louis Gerhard De Geer, 1st Swedish Prime Minister (1876-80), born in Finspång Castle, Sweden (d. 1896)
• 1823 Leonard Fulton Ross, American lawyer, probate judge, and Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Lewistown, Illinois (d. 1901)
• 1827 Pierre-Lambert Goossens, Belgian archbishop of Mechelen and Cardinal Primate of Belgium, born in Perk, Steenokkerzeel, Belgium (d. 1906)
• 1837 Vasil Levski, Bulgarian revolutionary, born in Karlovo, Rumelia, Bulgaria (d. 1873)
• 1845 Tristan Corbière, French poet, born in Morlaix, Brittany, France (d. 1875)
• 1850 Rose Hartwick Thorpe, American poet (Curfew Must Not Ring) and writer, born in Mishawaka, Indiana, Kansas (d. 1939)
• 1853 Hendrik Antoon Lorentz, Dutch physicist (electromagnetic radiation, Nobel 1902), born in Arnherm, Netherlands (d.1928)
• 1862 Victor, Prince Napoléon (Napoléon V ), French pretender to throne, born in Palais-Royal, Paris (d. 1926)
• 1862 Nikolai Nikolayevich Yudenich, Russian WWI general, born in Moscow, Russian Empire (d. 1933)
• 1864 Ricarda Huch, German writer and historian "First Lady of German humanism", born in Braunschweig (d. 1947)
• 1864 Phillip Snowden, British politician, 1st Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer, born Cowling, Yorkshire (d. 1937)
• 1865 Laurence Housman, English author and playwright (Victoria Regina), born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England (d. 1959)
• 1871 Giacomo Balla, Italian painter (Dog at a Rope), born in Turin, Italy (d. 1958)
• 1882 Manuel Gálvez, Argentine novelist (La maestra normal), born in Paraná, Argentina (d. 1962)
• 1884 Alberto di Jorio, Italian Cardinal and former head of the Vatican Bank, born in Rome (d. 1979)
• 1887 Vidkun Quisling, Norwegian Minister of Defense and Prime Minister (1942-45), born in Fyresdal, Norway (d. 1945)
• 1888 Alexander Rosemeier, Indonesian-Dutch painter, born in Soerakarta, Java (d. 1992)
• 1888 Sydney Horler, English detective writer (Checkmate), born in Leytonstone, Essex (d. 1954)
• 1890 Charles Erwin Wilson, American engineer (President and CEO of General Motors) and politician (United States Secretary of Defense 1953-57), born in Minerva, Ohio (d. 1961)
• 1890 Frank Forde, 15th Prime Minister of Australia (the shortest-serving prime minister in Australia's history-8 days), born in Mitchell, Queensland, Australia (d. 1983)

• 1898 Herbert Marcuse, German-American communist philosopher (Eros & Civilization), born in Berlin, Germany (d. 1979)
• 1899 Willem Kernkamp, Dutch minister of Colonies (Islam & Woman), born in Edam, Netherlands (d. 1956)
• 1900 Nathalie Sarraute [Tcherniak], French writer (Childhood, Portrait of a Man Unknown, The Golden Fruits), born in Ivanovo, Russia (d. 1999)
• 1906 Clifford Odets, American dramatist (1961 Award of Merit-Golden Boy), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1963)
• 1906 S. I. Hayakawa, U.S. senator from California (1977–83) and educator (Language in Action), born in Vancouver, Canada (d. 1992)
• 1908 Peace Pilgrim [Mildred Lisette Norman], American peace activist, born in Egg Harbor City, New Jersey (d. 1981)
• 1909 Andrei Gromyko, Soviet politician (President of Union of Soviet Socialist Republics), born in Staryya Hramyki, Mogilev Governorate, Russian Empire (d. 1989) [OS 7/5]
• 1909 Mohammed Daoud Khan, 1st President of Afghanistan (1973-78) and Prime Minister of Afghanistan (1953-63), born in Kabul, Afghanistan (d. 1978)
• 1911 Alexander Hyatt King, Mozart scholar, born in Beckenham, England (d. 1995)
• 1912 Harry Levin, American literary scholar, born in Minneapolis, Minnesota (d. 1994)
• 1912 Henry Louis Miller, American Rear Admiral (WW II-Pacific), born in Fairbanks, Alaska (d. 1993)
• 1913 Jan Slot, Dutch mayor (Eethen/Hardenberg/Ede), born in Broek op Langedijk, Netherlands (d. 1994)
• 1914 John G Bearer, writer (Metro, Drunken Canary, Fast Heartbeat)
• 1914 Jo [Jozef Maria Laurens Theo] Cals, Prime Minister of Netherlands (1965-66) and Minister of Education, Arts and Sciences, born in Roermond, Netherlands (d. 1971)
• 1915 Anthony Wakefield Cox, English architect, born in Park Road, Peterborough (d 1993)
• 1915 Isaack Stouten, resistance fighter (d. 1945)
• 1916 Isaäc Arend Diepenhorst, Dutch lawyer and Minister of Education, born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 2004)
• 1916 Kenneth Armitage, English sculptor, born in Leeds, England (d. 2002)

• 1922 Thomas Kuhn, American philosopher of science (paradigm shift), born in Cincinnati, Ohio (d. 1996)
• 1923 Jerome H. Lemelson, American inventor, (held more than 600 patents), born in Staten Island, New York (d. 1997)
• 1924 Howard A. Roberts, American choral director (Leslie Uggams Show), born in Burlington, New Jersey (d. 2011)
• 1924 John Cruickshank, French scholar (d. 1995)
• 1926 Margaret Laurence, Canadian writer (The Stone Angel), born in Neepawa, Manitoba (d. 1987)
• 1927 Ludwig Harig, German writer, born in Sulzbach (d. 2018)
• 1928 Simon Vinkenoog, Dutch writer and poet, born in Amsterdam (d. 2009)
• 1929 Adelaide Tambo, South African anti-apartheid activist, politician and wife of Oliver Tambo, born in Top Location, Vereeniging (d. 2007)
• 1931 "Papa" Dee Allen, American percussionist (War-World is a Ghetto), born in Wilmington, Delaware (d. 1988)
• 1933 Aad Nuis, Dutch writer and political scientist, born in Sliedrecht, Netherlands (d. 2007)
• 1933 Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Russian poet (Bratsk Station), born in Zima, Siberia (d. 2017)
• 1935 Jayendra Saraswathi, Hindu religious leader (69th Shankaracharya Guru), born in Irulneeki, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu (d. 2018)
• 1937 Roald Hoffmann, Polish-American chemist (Nobel 1981), born in Złoczów, Poland
• 1937 Hunter S. Thompson, American journalist and author (Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas), born in Louisville, Kentucky (d. 2005)
• 1939 Edward Gramlich, American economics professor (University of Michigan), born in Rochester, New York (d. 2007)
• 1940 Qaboos bin Said al Said, Omanis politician and Sultan of Oman (1970-present), born in Salalah, Oman
• 1942 Prince Alexandre of Belgium, Prince of the Belgians and son of Leopold III, born in Stuyvenberg Castle, Laeken, Brussels, Belgium (d. 2009)
• 1942 Adolf Ogi, President of Switzerland (2000), born in Kandersteg, Switzerland
• 1945 Danny McCullock, rocker (Animals), born in London, England
• 1946 Tim Lynch, rocker (Flaming Groovies)
• 1947 Steven W. Mahoney, Canadian politician
• 1948 Phil Harris, rocker (Ace)
• 1948 Hartmut Michel, German chemist, Nobel laureate
• 1950 Jack Layton, Canadian politician
• 1951 Elio Di Rupo, Belgian politician
• 1953 Peter Greenall, English brewer (Greenall Witley)
• 1955 Vitali Viktorovich Savitsky, biologist/politician
• 1955 Bernd Fasching, Austrian painter and sculptor
• 1958 Margo [AM] Vliegenthart, Dutch 2nd Chamber member (PvdA)
• 1963 Martín Torrijos Espino, President of Panama
• 1964 Wendy Williams, radio host
• 1969 Elizabeth Gilbert, American author (Eat Pray, Love), born in Waterbury, Connecticut
• 1974 Alan Morrison, British poet
• 1977 Alfian bin Sa'at, Singaporean writer, poet and playwright
• 1979 Rick Baxter, American politician
• 1994 Ricardo Dela Corte, Italian test tube baby born to oldest (62) mother

• 1922 British naval officer Louis Mountbatten (22) weds Lord Mount Temple's daughter Edwina Cynthia Annette Ashley (20) at St. Margaret's in Westminster, London

• 1992 Helen Windsor, daughter of British Duke and Duchess of Kent weds art dealer Timothy Taylor at Windsor Castle

• 640 Arnulf, bishop of Metz (614-640)/politician, dies at about 58
• 715 Muhammad bin Qasim (b. 695)
• 1100 Godfried IV van Bouillon, count of Antwerp, dies
• 1374 Francesco Petrarch, Italian poet (Italia Mia), dies at 69
• 1488 Alvise Cadamosto, Italian explorer (b. 1432)
• 1544 René van Chalon, viceroy of Holland, dies in battle at 25
• 1608 Joachim III Frederik, ruler (Brandenburg), dies at 61
• 1610 Caravaggio [Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio], Italian painter, (Saint Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy), dies at 38
• 1639 Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar, German prince and general (b. 1604)
• 1642 Willem earl of Nassau-Siegen, gov of Ft Emmerik/Heusden, dies
• 1650 Christoph Scheiner, German astronomer and physicist, dies at 74
• 1695 Johannes Camphuys, Governor-General of Dutch-Indies (1684-91), dies at 61
• 1698 Johann Heinrich Heidegger, Swiss theologian (b. 1633)
• 1721 Jean-Antoine Watteau, French Rococo painter (fêtes galantes), dies at 36
• 1730 François de Neufville, duc de Villeroi, French soldier (b. 1644)
• 1792 John Paul Jones, American naval commander (b. 1747)

• 1833 Joseph Comb, missionary to Moluccas, dies at 63
• 1854 Abbas Hilmi I, viceroy of Egypt, dies at about 41
• 1863 William Dorsey Pender, US Confederate Major General, dies of injuries at 29
• 1872 Benito Juarez, Cuban justice/general (battle of Acapulco), dies at 66
• 1884 Ferdinand von Hochstetter, Austrian geologist (b. 1829)
• 1892 Thomas Cook, British founder and CEO of Thomas Cook & Son travel agency (Cook Travel Bureau), dies at 83
• 1894 Leconte de Lisle, writer, dies at 75
• 1899 Horatio Alger, American clergyman and author (Disagreeable Woman, Ragged Dick), dies at 67
• 1916 Benjamin C. Truman, American journalist and author
• 1918 Grand Duchess Elizabeth Fyodorovna (b. 1864)
• 1925 Louis Nazaire Bégin, Roman Catholic cardinal and Archbishop of Quebec (b. 1840)
• 1931 Oskar Minkowski, German Biologist (pancreas and diabetes), dies at 73
• 1937 Julian Bell, British poet (b. 1908)
• 1938 Vladimir M Kirshon, Russian playwright, executed at 35
• 1944 George A Hartland, English MP (Norwich 1931-35), dies at 60
• 1944 Thomas Sturge Moore, English poet (Centaurs' Booty), dies at 74
• 1948 Herman Gummerus, Finnish historian and politician (b. 1877)
• 1950 Carl Clinton Van Doren, US literary (The Nation), dies at 64
• 1952 Paul Saintenoy, Belgian architect (b. 1862)
• 1953 Lucy Booth, Daughter of William and Catherine Booth (b. 1868)

• 1956 Willem J A Kerncamp, Dut overseas minister (Islam & Woman), dies at 57
• 1956 Willem Kernkamp, Dutch minister of Colonies (Islam & Woman), dies at 57
• 1967 Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco, Brazilian military leader and 26th President of Brazil (1964-67), dies at 66
• 1968 Corneille Heymans, Belgian physiologist (Nobel 1938), dies at 76
• 1970 Lucien H d'Azambuja, Fren astronomer (chromosphere of Sun), dies at 86
• 1976 Sally Salminen, Finnish writer (Katrina), dies at 70
• 1981 Wilhelm HC Tenhaeff, Dutch para-psychologist, dies at 87
• 1982 Roman Jakobson, Russian-American linguist and Slavic scholar (Fundamentals of Language), dies at 85
• 1985 Shahnawaz Bhutto, son of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto
• 1987 Gilberto Freye, Brazilian sociologist/writer, dies at 87
• 1990 Georges Dargaud, French publisher (Astérix, Tintin), dies at 79
• 1990 Karl Menninger, American psychiatrist (Menninger Clinic), dies at 96 of cancer
• 1990 Yoon Boseon, President of South Korea (b. 1897)
• 1991 André Cools, Belgian Minister of Budget, murdered at 63
• 1992 Jan Pelleboer, Dutch meteorologist, dies
• 1992 Mollie Parnis, American fashion designer (Mamie Eisenhower), dies in her 90s (she had long refused to disclose her exact age)
• 1992 Rudolf Ising, cartoonist (Looney Tunes, Merrie Melodies), dies at 88
• 1992 Viktor Louis, Russian journalist, dies
• 1993 John Beck, US producer (Harvey, Singing Nun), dies at 83
• 1993 Robert Davis, dies of emphysema at 76
• 1993 Sergei Y Vozovikov, Russian major/cosmonaut, dies in accident at 35
• 1993 Vladimir Pavlovich Barmin, Chief designer of Soviet launch pads, dies
• 1994 Gottfried Reinhardt, [Goldmann], German/US director, dies at 83
• 1996 Hans Fellner, bookseller, dies at 71
• 1997 Eugene M. Shoemaker, American planetary scientist and geologist (Shoemaker-Levy comet), dies at 69
• 2000 José Ángel Valente, Spanish poet (A modo the esperanza), dies at 71
• 2001 James Hatfield, American author (b. 1958)
• 2001 Fabio Taglioni, Italian automotive engineer (b. 1920)
• 2002 Victor Emery, British theoretical physicist (b. 1933)
• 2004 Paul Foot, British journalist (b. 1937)
• 2004 Émile Peynaud, French oenologist, dies at 92

• 2007 Kenji Miyamoto, Japanese politician (b. 1908)
• 2009 Henry Allingham, British supercentenarian and World War I veteran, dies at 113
• 2016 Billy Name [William Linich Jr], photographer (Andy Warhol's factory), dies at 76

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