What happened today in history
August
What happened on August 18
On August 18 history recorded 53 notable events. 160 people who left a mark were born on this day, and 103 died. Here is the full almanac.
- 53events
- 160births
- 103deaths
- 14observances
Highlights
Highlights
684Second Fitna: Umayyad partisans defeated the supporters of Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr near Damascus, cementing Umayyad control of Syria.
The Second Fitna was the second civil war in the Islamic community during the early Umayyad Caliphate. It followed the death of the first Umayyad caliph Mu'awiya I in 680 and lasted for about twelve years. The war involved three main challenges to the authorit
1487Reconquista: After a four-month siege, the Catholic Monarchs of Spain conquered the city of Málaga from the Emirate of Granada.
The Reconquista or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military campaigns by northern Iberian Christian polities against Muslim-ruled al-Andalus, which had previously been part of the Visigothic Kingdom before the Muslim Conquest of 711. The Reconquista con
1590John White, governor of the Roanoke Colony, the first English settlement in North America (located in present-day North Carolina), returned after a three-year absence to find it deserted (depicted).
John White was an English colonial governor, explorer, artist, and cartographer. White was among those who sailed with Richard Grenville in the first attempt to colonise Roanoke Island in 1585, acting as artist and mapmaker to the expedition. He would most fam
August 18
On this day
VII century
- 684
684Battle of Marj Rahit: Umayyad partisans defeat the supporters of Ibn al-Zubayr and cement Umayyad control of Syria.
VIII century
XII century
XIV century
XV century
XVI century
XVII century
XVIII century
XIX century
- 1809
1809The Senate of Finland is established in the Grand Duchy of Finland after the official adoption of the Statute of the Government Council by Tsar Alexander I of Russia. - 1826
1826Major Gordon Laing becomes the first European to enter Timbuktu. - 1838
1838The Wilkes Expedition, which would explore the Puget Sound and Antarctica, weighs anchor at Hampton Roads. - 1864
1864American Civil War: Battle of Globe Tavern: Union forces try to cut a vital Confederate supply-line into Petersburg, Virginia, by attacking the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad. - 1868
1868French astronomer Pierre Janssen discovers helium. - 1870
1870Franco-Prussian War: Battle of Gravelotte is fought. - 1877
1877American astronomer Asaph Hall discovers Phobos, one of Mars's moons. - 1891
1891A major hurricane strikes Martinique, leaving 700 dead.
XX century
- 1903
1903German engineer Karl Jatho allegedly flies his self-made, motored gliding airplane four months before the first flight of the Wright brothers. - 1917
1917A Great Fire in Thessaloniki, Greece, destroys 32% of the city leaving 70,000 individuals homeless. - 1920
1920The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing women's suffrage. - 1923
1923The first British Track and Field championships for women are held in London, Great Britain. - 1933
1933The Volksempfänger is first presented to the German public at a radio exhibition; the presiding Nazi Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, delivers an accompanying speech heralding the radio as the 'eighth great power'. - 1937
1937A lightning strike starts the Blackwater Fire of 1937 in Shoshone National Forest, killing 15 firefighters within three days and prompting the United States Forest Service to develop their smokejumper program. - 1938
1938The Thousand Islands Bridge, connecting New York, United States, with Ontario, Canada, over the Saint Lawrence River, is dedicated by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. - 1940
1940World War II: The Hardest Day air battle, part of the Battle of Britain, takes place. At that point, it is the largest aerial engagement in history with heavy losses sustained on both sides. - 1945
1945Sukarno takes office as the first president of Indonesia, following the country's declaration of independence the previous day. - 1945
1945Soviet-Japanese War: Battle of Shumshu: Soviet forces land at Takeda Beach on Shumshu Island and launch the Battle of Shumshu; the Soviet Union's Invasion of the Kuril Islands commences. - 1949
1949Kemi strike: Two protesters die in the scuffle between the police and the strikers' protest procession in Kemi, Finland. - 1950
1950Julien Lahaut, the chairman of the Communist Party of Belgium, is assassinated. The Party newspaper blames royalists and Rexists. - 1958
1958Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel Lolita is published in the United States. - 1958
1958Brojen Das from Bangladesh swims across the English Channel in a competition as the first Bengali and the first Asian to do so, placing first among the 39 competitors. - 1963
1963Civil rights movement: James Meredith becomes the first African American to graduate from the University of Mississippi. - 1965
1965Vietnam War: Operation Starlite begins: United States Marines destroy a Viet Cong stronghold on the Van Tuong peninsula in the first major American ground battle of the war. - 1966
1966Vietnam War: The Battle of Long Tan ensues after a patrol from the 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment clashes with a Viet Cong force in Phước Tuy Province. - 1971
1971Vietnam War: Australia and New Zealand decide to withdraw their troops from Vietnam. - 1973
1973Aeroflot Flight A-13 crashes after takeoff from Baku-Bina International Airport in Azerbaijan, killing 56 people and injuring eight. - 1976
1976The Korean axe murder incident in Panmunjom results in the deaths of two US Army officers. - 1976
1976The Soviet Union's robotic probe Luna 24 successfully lands on the Moon. - 1977
1977Steve Biko is arrested at a police roadblock under Terrorism Act No. 83 of 1967 in King William's Town, South Africa. He later dies from injuries sustained during this arrest, bringing attention to South Africa's apartheid policies. - 1983
1983Hurricane Alicia hits the Texas coast, killing 21 people and causing over US$1 billion in damage (1983 dollars). - 1989
1989Leading presidential hopeful Luis Carlos Galán is assassinated near Bogotá in Colombia. - 1993
1993American International Airways Flight 808 crashes at Leeward Point Field at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, injuring the three crew members.
XXI century
- 2003
2003One-year-old Zachary Turner is murdered in Newfoundland by his mother, who was awarded custody despite facing trial for the murder of Zachary's father. The case was documented in the film Dear Zachary and led to reform of Canada's bail laws. - 2005
2005A massive power blackout hits the Indonesian island of Java; affecting almost 100 million people, it is one of the largest and most widespread power outages in history. - 2008
2008The President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, resigns under threat of impeachment. - 2008
2008War of Afghanistan: The Uzbin Valley ambush occurs. - 2011
2011A terrorist attack on Israel's Highway 12 near the Egyptian border kills 16 and injures 40. - 2017
2017The Turku terror attack occurs in Finland when a knifeman kills two and injures eight. - 2019
2019One hundred activists, officials, and other concerned citizens in Iceland hold a funeral for Okjökull glacier, which has completely melted after having once covered six square miles (15.5 km2).
Best known
Born on August 18
1908Edgar Faure
69th Prime Minister of France
1911Amelia Boynton Robinson
American civil rights activist
1911Klára Dán von Neumann
Hungarian-American mathematician
1911Maria Ulfah Santoso
Indonesian politician and activist
1912Otto Ernst Remer
German Wehrmacht Army officer and Neo-Nazi Leader
1913Romain Maes
Belgian cyclist
Best known
Died on August 18
472Ricimer
General and ruler of the Western Roman Empire (c. 418–472)
670Saint Fiacre
Name of three different Irish saints
673Kim Yu-sin
Silla-era Korean general
849Walafrid Strabo
Alemannic Benedictine monk and theological writer
1095Olaf I of Denmark
King of Denmark from 1086 to 1095
1258Theodore II Laskaris
Emperor of Nicaea from 1254 to 1258
Holidays and observances
- Christian feast day: Agapitus of Palestrina
- Christian feast day: Alberto Hurtado
- Christian feast day: Daig of Inniskeen
- Christian feast day: Evan (or Inan)
- Christian feast day: Fiacre
- Christian feast day: Florus and Laurus
- Christian feast day: Helena of Constantinople (Roman Catholic Church)
- Christian feast day: August 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Arbor Day (Pakistan)
- Armed Forces Day (North Macedonia)
- Birthday of Virginia Dare (Roanoke Island)
- Constitution Day (Indonesia)
- Long Tan Day, also called Vietnam Veterans' Day (Australia)
- National Science Day (Thailand)
Frequently asked questions
What happened on August 18?
53 documented historical events happened on August 18, from antiquity to the present day. The best known is this: Second Fitna: Umayyad partisans defeated the supporters of Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr near Damascus, cementing Umayyad control of Syria. On the same day, in another year: Reconquista: After a four-month siege, the Catholic Monarchs of Spain conquered the city of Málaga from the Emirate of Granada. On Almanaccolo every event is listed in chronological order, grouped by century, and links to the Wikipedia article it comes from, so you can always read further or check the source. Alongside the events you find who was born and who died on this date, and which observances are celebrated around the world.
Who was born on August 18?
160 people with a Wikipedia article were born on August 18, including Edgar Faure, Amelia Boynton Robinson, Klára Dán von Neumann. The list spans every era and every field — art, science, politics, sport, entertainment — ordered by year of birth, from the earliest to the most recent. The six featured people are those most has been written about: the ordering uses the length of their Wikipedia article as an indicator of prominence. For each one you find their occupation, year of birth and a link to the full biography.
Who died on August 18?
103 people with a Wikipedia article died on August 18, including Ricimer, Saint Fiacre, Kim Yu-sin. The list is in chronological order by year of death and spans all of documented history, from antiquity to the present day. For each person you find their occupation, the year and a link to the Wikipedia biography, where the full story and its sources can be read.
What is celebrated on August 18?
14 observances are celebrated on August 18 around the world: Christian feast day: Agapitus of Palestrina, Christian feast day: Alberto Hurtado, Christian feast day: Daig of Inniskeen, Christian feast day: Evan (or Inan), Christian feast day: Fiacre, Christian feast day: Florus and Laurus. The list gathers national holidays, international days and religious or civil observances falling on this date in different countries, as recorded on Wikipedia. Some are fixed and recur on the same day every year; others depend on the local calendar. Each links to the article explaining its origin and meaning.
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Source: Wikipedia · Calendar