On This Day in History for October 18

Events 1 - 100 of 118

• 707 John VII ends his reign as Catholic Pope
• 1009 The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is destroyed by the Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, who hacks the Church's foundations down to bedrock
• 1016 Danes defeat Saxons at Battle of Assandun (Ashingdon)
• 1081 Battle of Dyrrhachium: Southern Italian Normans under Robert Guiscard defeat Byzantine Empire
• 1267 Battle at Marienholz: Henry III, Otto II van Gelre beat Keuls archbishop Engelbert III
• 1356 Basel earthquake, the most significant historic seismological event north of the Alps, destroys Basel in Switzerland.
• 1386 Opening of the University of Heidelberg
• 1534 New pursuit of French protestants
• 1561 Fourth Battle of Kawanakajima -- Takeda Shingen defeats Uesugi Kenshin in the climax of their ongoing conflict
• 1564 John Hawkins begins 2nd trip to America
• 1572 Spanish troops attack Maastricht
• 1622 French King Louis XIII & Huguenots sign Treaty of Montpellier
• 1648 1st labor organization forms in North American colonies (Boston Shoemakers)
• 1667 English fleet plunders Suriname plantations
• 1672 Poland & Turkey sign Peace of Buczacz

• 1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle signed, ending War of Austrian Succession
• 1767 Mason Dixon line, the boundary between Maryland & Pennsylvania agreed upon

• 1776 In a bar decorated with bird tail in Elmsford, New York, a customer requests a glassful of “those cock tails” from bartender Betsy Flanagan
• 1776 Battle of Pelham: Colonel John Glover & Marblehead regiment meet British Forces in Bronx

• 1860 The Second Opium War finally ends at the Convention of Peking with the ratification of the Treaty of Tientsin, an unequal treaty.
• 1862 Morgan's raiders capture federal garrison at Lexington, KY
• 1863 Battle of Charlestown, WV
• 1867 US takes formal possession of Alaska from Russia having paid $7.2 million
• 1869 Henrik Ibsen's "De Unges Forbund" premieres in Christiania (Oslo), Norway
• 1873 1st football game between Toronto Argonauts & Hamilton Tigers
• 1873 Columbia Princeton Rutgers & Yale set rules for collegiate football
• 1878 Edison makes electricity available for household use
• 1878 Anti-socialist laws are ratified in Germany
• 1887 Start of Sherlock Holmes adventure "A Case of Identity" (BG)
• 1892 1st commercial long-distance phone line opens (Chicago-NY)
• 1898 American flag raised in Puerto Rico
• 1900 Count Bernard von Bulow becomes Chancellor of Germany, famous for first referring to Germany's need for 'place in the sun' and global empire
• 1901 Belgium's Louise of den Plas begins activities towards women rights
• 1908 Belgium annexes Congo Free State
• 1909 Comte de Lambert of France sets airplane altitude record of 300 m

• 1912 The Treaty of Lausanne ends the Tripolitan War between Turkey and Italy
• 1912 The First Balkan War breaks out, with Bulgaria, Serbia, and Greece opposed to Turkey


• 1914 Schoenstatt Movement is founded in Germany
• 1915 3rd Italian offensive at Isonzo
• 1918 Czechoslovakia declares independence from Austro-Hungarian Empire
• 1918 Russian 10th Army drives out White armies of Tsaritsyn (Stalingrad)

• 1921 Biding its time, Soviet Russia agrees to independence for the Crimea
• 1924 Notre Dame beats Army 13-7, NY Hearld Tribune dubs them (4 Horsemen)
• 1925 -20] French Gen Sarrail bombs Damascus
• 1925 Salt Lake City (PCL) Tony Lazzeri hits his 60th HR of the season

• 1929 Women are considered "Persons" under Canadian law

• 1932 Belgium government of Renkin falls
• 1940 Kaufman & Harts "George Washington Slept Here" premieres in NYC
• 1941 Soviet spy Richard Sorge arrested in Tokyo

• 1943 US bombing of Bougainville, Solomon Island

• 1944 Soviet troops invade Czechoslovakia during WW II
• 1945 Paul Robeson wins Spingarn Medal for singing & acting achievements
• 1948 Operation 10 Plagues - Israeli offensive against Egyptian army
• 1951 USSR performs nuclear test
• 1952 Date of the first Mad Magazine issue
• 1952 Vinoo Mankad takes 13 Pakistan wkts to win 1st India-Pak clash
• 1954 Hurricane Hazel becomes most severe to ever hit the US, killing 195 in US and Canada
• 1954 Texas Instruments Inc. announces the first transistor radio.

• 1955 University of California discovers anti-proton
• 1960 In Britain, News Chronicle & Daily Mail merge and London Evening Star merges with Evening News
• 1961 Emergency crisis proclaimed in South Vietnam due to communist attack

• 1962 US launches Ranger 5 for lunar impact; misses Moon
• 1962 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Johnston Island

• 1967 Nobel prize for physics awarded to Hans A Bethe
• 1967 Soviet Venera 4 becomes 1st probe to send data back from Venus
• 1968 Circus Circus hotel opens in Las Vegas, largest permanent big top in the world
• 1968 John Lennon & Yoko One fined £150 for marijuana possession
• 1968 Lee Evans sets world record of 43.8 seconds in 400 meter dash
• 1969 Federal government bans use of cyclamates artificial sweeteners
• 1969 Jefferson Airplane's Paul Kanter arrested for marijuana possession
• 1969 Soyuz 8 returns to Earth
• 1970 Sachio Kinugasa begins 2,215 cons game streak for Hiroshima Carp
• 1973 Congress authorizes bi-centennial quarter, half-dollar & dollar coin
• 1973 Nobel prize for Economic Sciences awarded to American Wassily Leontief
• 1974 Andre van de Louw appointed Mayor of Rotterdam
• 1975 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
• 1976 Nobel prize for chemistry awarded to American William Lipscomb
• 1977 1st Islander 0-0 tie-Kings at Nassau-25th time shutout-Resch's 15th
• 1977 West German commandos liberate Boeing 737 with 86 hostages at Mogadishu
• 1978 US 1st daughter Susan Ford announces engagement to Charles F Vance

• 1979 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
• 1979 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
• 1981 Andreas Papandreous' PASOK wins Greek elections
• 1981 Poland General Jaruzelski elected party leader
• 1984 Discovery moves to Vandenberg AFB for mating of STS 51A mission
• 1984 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
• 1988 Israel's supreme court uphold's ban on Kahane`s Kach Party as racist

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• 1127 Emperor Go-Shirakawa of Japan (d. 1192)
• 1239 Stefanus V, prince of Transylvania/king of Hungary (1270-72)
• 1405 Pius II, [Aenea S Piccolomini], Italian pope (1458-64) (Cynthia)
• 1517 Manoel da Nóbrega, Portuguese Jesuit in Brazil (d. 1570)
• 1547 Justus Lipsius, [Joost Lips], Dutch classic philologist/historian
• 1569 Giambattista Marini, Italian poet (d. 1625)
• 1595 Edward Winslow, Plymouth Colony founder (d. 1655)
• 1634 Luca Giordano, Italian artist (d. 1705)
• 1638 Lars Johnstown, [Lasse Lucidor], Swedish poet
• 1653 Abraham van Riebeeck, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (d. 1713)
• 1662 Matthew Henry, English non-conformist minister (d. 1714)
• 1663 Prince Eugene of Savoy, famous military commander for the Habsburg Monarchy against the Ottomans and the French, born in Paris, France
• 1668 Johan Georg IV, elector of Saxony (1691-94)
• 1668 Wierich PL earl von Daun, Austrian prince of Thiano/fieldmarshall
• 1679 Ann Putnam, Jr., American accuser in the Salem Witch Trials (d. 1716)
• 1697 Giovanni Canaletto, Italian painter (Regatta on the Grand Canal) and printmaker, born in Venice (d. 1768)
• 1701 Charles le Beau, French historian (d. 1778)
• 1712 Jeremias van Riemsdijk, gov-general of Dutch Indies (1775-77)
• 1741 Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, French general and author (d. 1803)
• 1774 Adolf Muller, German dramatist and critic, born near Weissenfels (d. 1829)
• 1777 Heinrich von Kleist, German dramatist/poet (Penthesilea)
• 1785 Thomas Love Peacock, English author (Headlong Hall)
• 1804 Rama IV, [Phra Chomklao Chaoyuhua], king of Thailand (1851-68)
• 1806 John Breckinridge Grayson, Brig Genl (Confederate Army), (d. 1861)
• 1811 Hugh Thompson Reid, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Union City, Indiana (d. 1874)
• 1818 Edward Otho Cresap Ord, American engineer and Major General (Union Army), born in Cumberland, Maryland (d. 1883)
• 1829 Charles Sidney Winder, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1862)
• 1829 Lucius Marshall Walker, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1863)
• 1831 Frederik III NK of Hohenzollern, German Kaiser/king of Prussia
• 1837 Friedrich Wilhelm Mengelberg, German sculptor, born in Colonge (d. 1919)
• 1854 Salomon August Andrée, Swedish engineer, balloonist and polar explorer, born in Gränna, Sweden (d. 1897)
• 1859 Henri Bergson, French philosopher (Creative Evolution-Nobel 1927)
• 1859 Paolo Orsi, Rovereto, Italian Archaeologist (Sicilian excavations)
• 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 D T Suzuki, Kanazawa Japan, Zen Buddhist scholar
• 1872 Josephine CMA, princess of Belgium/nun
• 1873 Ivanoe Bonomi, Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1951)
• 1875 James E K Aggrey, Ghana, US theologian/educationalist
• 1877 Florence Dahl Walrath, humanitarian, founded Cradle society
• 1878 James Truslow Adams, historian (Pul-1921, Founding of New England)
• 1889 Fannie Hurst, novelist (Anatomy of Me)
• 1890 [Agathe] Henriette [M de Beaufort], Dutch author (Rembrandt)
• 1893 Roy Del Ruth, DE, director (About Face, Babe Ruth Story, Star Show)
• 1893 Sidney Holland, Prime Minister of New Zealand (National: 1949-57), born in Greendale, New Zealand (d. 1961)
• 1893 Georges Ohsawa, Japanese founder of Macrobiotics (d. 1966)
• 1894 H. L. Davis, American author (d. 1960)
• 1895 Raymond Brulez, Flemish author (Appearance at Kallista)
• 1897 Isabel Briggs Myers, American psychological theorist (d. 1980)
• 1902 Pascual Jordan, German physicist (d. 1980)
• 1903 Ambrose Thibodeaux, cajun accordionist
• 1904 A. J. Liebling, American journalist (d. 1963)
• 1905 Felix Houphouet-Boigny, President of Ivory coast (1960-93)
• 1906 James Brooks, US mural painter (Acquisition of Long Island)
• 1907 Alexander Hardie Williamson, artist
• 1909 Norberto Bobbio, Italian philosopher and legal theorist (d. 2004)
• 1913 Robert Gilruth, American aviation and space pioneer (d. 2000)
• 1916 Peter Shepherd, English contractor/multi-millionaire
• 1918 James Cameron Tudor, politician
• 1918 Konstantinos Mitsottakis, premier of Greece (1990- )
• 1918 Willem J "Molly" Geertsema, Dutch liberal/interior minister)
• 1918 Constantine Mitsotakis [Konstantinos Mitsotakis], Prime Minister of Greece (1990 –1993), born in Halepa, Crete (d. 2017)

• 1919 Ric Nordman, Canadian politician (d. 1996)
• 1921 Jesse Helms, (Sen-D/R-North Carolina, 1973- )
• 1922 Little Orphan Annie, comic strip character
• 1922 Richard Stankiewicz, US sculptor (1974 Akston Award, 1966 Brandeis)
• 1923 Suzanne Perlman, Hungarian/Dutch Antilian painter
• 1924 Frank Liedel, [Leo van Assche], Flemish writer (Kaperbrief)
• 1925 Ramiz Alia, political leader of Albania
• 1926 Thomas Millar, historian
• 1929 Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, president of Nicaragua (1990- )
• 1930 Frank C. Carlucci, National Security Adviser/Sec of Defense (1987-89), born in Scanton, Pennsyslvania (d. 2018)
• 1931 Catharina I "Ien" Dales, Dutch Internal minister (1989-94)
• 1932 Vytautas Landsbergis, Lithuanian politician
• 1934 Chuck Swindoll, American evangelist
• 1935 John B Coleman, hotel magnate (Ritz Carlton), born in Boston, Massachusetts

• 1939 Flavio Cotti, member of the Swiss Federal Council
• 1942 Larry Pickering, Australian newspaper cartoonist
• 1943 Birthe Rønn Hornbech, Danish politician
• 1944 Katherine Kurtz, UK, sci-fi author (Deryni Rising, Saint Camber)
• 1945 Christopher Shays, (Rep-R-Connecticut)
• 1947 Luc Journet, Belgian physician (Order of Zonnetempel)
• 1947 Job Cohen, Dutch politician, Mayor of Amsterdam
• 1948 Isabel E Allen, biostatician
• 1948 Ntozake Shange, American author
• 1950 Patrick L Swindall, (Rep-R-GA, 1985- )
• 1950 Wendy Wasserstein, American playwright (d. 2006)
• 1951 Terry McMillan, American author
• 1952 Bảo Ninh, Vietnamese novelist
• 1955 Rita Verdonk, Dutch politician
• 1956 Jim Talent, Des Peres, Missouri, American politician (Rep-R-Missouri)
• 1957 Doug Isaacson, Alaskan politician
• 1959 Kirby Chambliss, Aerobatic pilot and Red Bull Air Racer
• 1959 Steve Swayne, Dartmouth Professor
• 1970 José Padilla, American former gang member and alleged supporter of terrorism
• 1972 James Stream Thurmond Jr, son of US senator Strom Thurmond
• 1984 Lindsey Vonn, American alpine skier

• 707 John VII, Catholic Pope (705-07), of Greek ancestry, dies
• 1035 Sancho III King of Pamplona (1004-1035) dies
• 1101 Hugh "the Great", Count of Vermandois, son of Henry I of France (1085-1101), dies of battle wounds at 44
• 1141 Margrave Leopold IV of Austria
• 1340 Henry Henricus of Friemar, Augustine philosopher, dies
• 1382 James Butler, 2nd Earl of Ormonde, dies at 51
• 1417 Pope Gregory XII [Angelo Correr], Pope (1406-15), dies
• 1459 Jan of Heinsberg, bishop of Luik (1419-56), dies
• 1503 Pius III, [Francesco Todeschini], Pope (9/22-10/18/1503), dies
• 1541 Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scotland (b. 1489)
• 1558 Maria, queen of Hungary/guardian of Neth (1531-55), dies at 53
• 1564 Johannes Acronius Frisius, German physician and mathematician (b. 1520)
• 1570 Manoel da Nóbrega, Portuguese Jesuit in Brazil (b. 1517)
• 1589 Adolf van Nieuwenaar & Meurs, viceroy of Utrecht, dies in battle
• 1604 Igram van Achelen, Dutch statesman (b. 1528)
• 1646 Isaac Jogues, French Jesuit missionary (b. 1607)
• 1667 Fasilides, Emperor of Ethiopia
• 1669 Abraham Willaerts, painter (Brazil), dies
• 1676 Nathaniel Bacon, rallied against Virginian government, killed at 29
• 1678 Cornelis Galle II, Flemish engraver/illustrator, dies at 63
• 1678 Jacob Jordaens, Flemish baroque painter, dies at 85
• 1708 Henry Van Nassau, stable master/fieldmarshal, dies at 67
• 1739 Antônio José da Silva, Brazilian-born dramatist (b. 1705)
• 1744 Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, close friend of Queen Anne of Great Britain, dies at 84
• 1770 John Manners, Marquess of Granby, British soldier (b. 1721)
• 1775 Christian August Crusius, German philosopher and theologian (b. 1715)
• 1830 Peter I Petrovic Njegos, bishop (Montenegro), dies
• 1839 French Jozef Kinsoen, Flemish portrait painter, dies at 68
• 1864 David Bell Birney, US lawyer/Union general-major, dies at 39

• 1876 Francis Preston Blair, American journalist and newspaper editor (Washington Globe), dies at 85
• 1886 Philipp Franz von Siebold, German physician (b. 1796)
• 1889 Antonio Meucci, Italian inventor (b. 1808)
• 1893 Lucy Stone, American abolitionist (US Woman's Suffrage Association), dies at 75
• 1909 Alfredo Oriani, Italian writer (Political Struggle in Italy), dies at 57
• 1921 King Ludwig III of Bavaria (b. 1845)

• 1938 Karl J Kautsky, Austrian marxist/socialist, dies
• 1940 Suze Groeneweg, 1st woman in Dutch 2nd Chamber (1918-37), dies at 65
• 1941 Dirk Fock, governor-general van/of Neth-Indies 1921-6, dies at 83
• 1941 Manuel Teixeira Gomes, 7th President of Portugal (b. 1860)
• 1942 Mikhail Nesterov, Russian painter (b. 1862)
• 1943 Adrianus M de Young, writer (Merijntje Gijzen's Youth), dies at 55
• 1943 A. M. de Jong, Dutch writer (World Tour of Bulletje & Bonestaak), dies at 55
• 1948 Walther von Brauchitsch, German field marshal, dies at 67
• 1953 Douwe Kalma, Dutch literary writer and leader (Young Frisian Movement), dies at 57
• 1955 Jose Ortega y Gasset, Spanish philosopher, dies at 72
• 1966 Sebastian S. Kresge, American merchant and philanthropist (Kmart), dies at 99
• 1973 Crane Wilbur, American director and writer (Bat, Canon City, Yellow Cargo), dies at 86
• 1973 Margaret Caroline Anderson, American magazine publisher (b. 1886)
• 1973 Leo Strauss, German-American political philosopher, dies at 74
• 1976 Kavi Samrat Viswanatha Satyanarayana, Telugu writer (b. 1895)
• 1977 Andreas Baader (b. 1943)
• 1977 Gudrun Ensslin, German terrorist (Founder of Red Army Faction), dies at 37
• 1977 Jan-Carl Raspe (b. 1944)
• 1978 Jacques Mornard, [Ramon Mercader], murderer of Trotsky, dies at 64

• 1982 Maurice Gilliams, Flemish literary (Sources of Insomnia), dies at 82
• 1982 Pierre Mendès-France, French Premier (1954-55), dies at 75
• 1982 John Robarts, Canadian politician, Premier of Ontario (b. 1917)
• 1982 Paul Lebeau, Flemish writer (Last Rose, Xanthippe), dies at 74
• 1983 Diego Abad de Santillán, Spanish anarchist (b. 1897)
• 1984 Florence Rinard, TV panelist (20 Questions), dies at 82
• 1985 Benjamin Moloisi, South African poet/Anc'er, hanged at 30
• 1987 Theodore Brameld, author (Use of Explosive Ideas), dies at 83
• 1988 Dimitri Frenkel Frank, writer/director (Hadimassa), dies at 60
• 1993 Dionisio Herrero, Spanish air force general, murdered at 63
• 1993 Smail Yefsah, Algerian TV journalist, murdered at 31
• 1994 Richard A Garland, artist photographer, dies at 60
• 1994 WIlliam Faure, producer, dies at 45
• 1995 Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher, lawyer, dies at 67
• 1995 Iri Maruki, Japanese artist (The Hiroshima Panels), dies at 94
• 1995 John Gardener, boatbuilder/writer, dies at 90
• 1995 Thomas Lyttle, paramilitary, dies at 56
• 1996 Guiseppe Panini, industrialist, dies at 71
• 1997 Bill Rotsler, cartoonist/writer, dies of cancer at 62
• 1997 Roberto C Goizueta, CEO (Coca-Cola), dies of lung cancer at 65
• 1999 Herbert Heckmann, German writer, dies at 69
• 2002 Nikolay Rukavishnikov, Soviet cosmonaut (Soyuz 10, 16, 33), dies at 70
• 2002 Wynand Breytenbach, South African soldier and politician, Deputy Minister of Defense (1986-94), dies at 67
• 2003 Preston Smith, 40th Governor of Texas, dies at 91
• 2003 Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, Spanish writer (b. 1939)
• 2004 Veerappan, Indian bandit and smuggler (b. 1945)
• 2006 Mario Francesco Cardinal Pompedda (b. 1929)
• 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)
• 2009 Nancy Spero, American feminist artist, dies at 83
• 2013 Bill Young, American politician, dies from complications from a back injury at 82
• 2013 Tom Foley, American politician (Rep-D, 1965-1995) and speaker of the house (1989-95), dies from complications from a stroke at 84

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