Sat · 17 OctMoon 38%Field Kp 2.7 · quiet Quote · Will Durant, on Aristotle Riddle of the day Sky tonightHow today feels →

This day in history

This day in history: 18 November

Events, births and deaths on this date, ordered by how many people look them up.

Share

← Previous day17 Nov

Events55

Born on this day · Died on this day226 · 89

Next day →19 Nov

Key facts

370 historical events, births and deaths are listed for 18 November.
Entries come from Wikipedia’s day pages and are ordered by page views.
2020: The Utah monolith, built sometime in 2016 is discovered by state biologists of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.

Holidays and observances

Christian feast day: Abhai of Hach (Syriac Orthodox Church)

Christian feast day: Alphaeus and Zacchaeus

Christian feast day: Barulas

Christian feast day: Constant

Christian feast day: Dedication of Saints Peter and Paul

Christian feast day: Elizabeth of Hungary (Church of England)

Christian feast day: Juthwara

Christian feast day: Mabyn (Roman Catholic Church and Anglicanism)

Christian feast day: Maudez (Mawes)

Christian feast day: Nazarius (Nazaire)

Christian feast day: November 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Christian feast day: Odo of Cluny

Events

2020The Utah monolith, built sometime in 2016 is discovered by state biologists of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.

2013NASA launches the MAVEN probe to Mars.

2012Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria becomes the 118th Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria.

2003The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rules 4–3 in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health that the state's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional and gives the state legislature 180 days to change the law making Massachusetts the

2002Iraq disarmament crisis: United Nations weapons inspectors led by Hans Blix arrive in Iraq.

1999At Texas A&M University, the Aggie Bonfire collapses killing 12 students and injuring 27 others.

1996A fire occurs on a train traveling through the Channel Tunnel from France to England causing several injuries and damaging approximately 500 metres (1,600 ft) of tunnel.

1993In South Africa, 21 political parties approve a new constitution, expanding voting rights and ending white minority rule.

1993In the United States, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is approved by the House of Representatives.

1991After an 87-day siege, the Croatian city of Vukovar capitulates to the besieging Yugoslav People's Army and allied Serb paramilitary forces.

1991Shiite Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon release Anglican Church envoys Terry Waite and Thomas Sutherland.

1991The autonomous Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia, which would in 1993 become a republic, was established in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

1987King's Cross fire: In London, 31 people die in a fire at the city's busiest underground station, King's Cross St Pancras.

1985The first comic of Calvin and Hobbes is published in ten newspapers.

1983Aeroflot Flight 6833 is hijacked en route from Tbilisi to Leningrad. After returning to Tbilisi, the aircraft is subsequently raided on the ground, resulting in seven deaths.

1978In Jonestown, Guyana, Jim Jones leads his Peoples Temple to a mass murder–suicide that claimed 918 lives in all, 909 of them in Jonestown itself, including over 270 children.

1978The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet makes its first flight, at the Naval Air Test Center in Maryland, United States.

1971Oman declares its independence from the United Kingdom.

1970U.S. President Richard Nixon asks the U.S. Congress for $155 million in supplemental aid for the Cambodian government.

1963The Bell Telephone Company introduces the first push-button telephone.

1961Vietnam War: United States President John F. Kennedy sends 18,000 military advisors to South Vietnam.

1949The Iva Valley Shooting occurs after the coal miners of Enugu in Nigeria go on strike over withheld wages; 21 miners are shot dead and 51 are wounded by police under the supervision of the British colonial administration of Nigeria.

1947The Ballantyne's Department Store fire in Christchurch, New Zealand, kills 41; it is the worst fire disaster in the history of New Zealand.

1944The Popular Socialist Youth is founded in Cuba.

1943World War II: In the first action of the Berlin Air Offensive, four hundred and forty Royal Air Force planes bomb Berlin causing only light damage and killing 131. The RAF loses nine aircraft and 53 air crew.

1940World War II: German leader Adolf Hitler and Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano meet to discuss Benito Mussolini's disastrous Italian invasion of Greece.

1929Grand Banks earthquake: Off the south coast of Newfoundland in the Atlantic Ocean, a Richter magnitude 7.2 submarine earthquake, centered on the Grand Banks, breaks 12 submarine transatlantic telegraph cables and triggers a tsunami that de

1928Release of the animated short Steamboat Willie, the first fully synchronized sound cartoon.

1918Latvia declares its independence from Russia.

1916World War I: First Battle of the Somme: In France, British Expeditionary Force commander Douglas Haig calls off the battle which started on July 1, 1916.

1910In their campaign for women's voting rights, hundreds of suffragettes march to the British Parliament in London. Several are beaten by police, newspaper attention embarrasses the authorities, and the march is dubbed Black Friday.

1909Two United States warships are sent to Nicaragua after 500 revolutionaries (including two Americans) are executed by order of José Santos Zelaya.

1905Prince Carl of Denmark becomes King Haakon VII of Norway.

1903The Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty is signed by the United States and Panama, giving the United States exclusive rights over the Panama Canal Zone.

1901Britain and the United States sign the Hay–Pauncefote Treaty, which nullifies the Clayton–Bulwer Treaty and withdraws British objections to an American-controlled canal in Panama.

1889Elisha P. Ferry is inaugurated as first governor of Washington.

1883In the "day of two noons", American and Canadian railroad companies institute four standard continental time zones, ending the confusion of thousands of local times.

1872Susan B. Anthony and 14 other women are arrested for voting illegally in the United States presidential election of 1872.

1867An earthquake strikes the Virgin Islands, triggering the largest tsunami witnessed in the Caribbean and killing dozens.

1863King Christian IX of Denmark signs the November constitution that declares Schleswig to be part of Denmark. This is seen by the German Confederation as a violation of the London Protocol and leads to the German–Danish war of 1864.

Born on this day

2004Luka Romero, Mexican-Argentine footballer

2002Patrick Baldwin Jr., American basketball player

2001Caleb Williams, American football player

1997Jacob Bryson, Canadian ice hockey player

1997Robert Sánchez, Spanish footballer

1997Shea Langeliers, American baseball player

1996Akram Afif, Qatari footballer

1996Christian Kirk, American football player

1994Akiyuki Hashimoto, Japanese sprinter

1994Bernhard Luxbacher, Austrian footballer

1994Danka Kovinić, Montenegrin tennis player

1992Henry Martín, Mexican footballer

1992Joe Thuney, American football player

1992Nathan Kress, American actor and director

1992Quincy Miller, American basketball player

1992Steven Skrzybski, German footballer

1991Ahmed Kelly, Iraqi-Australian swimmer

1991Jameson Taillon, Canadian-American baseball player

1991Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, Thai tennis player

1990Arnett Moultrie, American basketball player

1989Lu Jiajing, Chinese tennis player

1989Marc Albrighton, English footballer

1988Jeffrey Jordan, American basketball player

1988Marie-Josée Ta Lou, Ivorian sprinter

1988Michael Roach, American soccer player

1987Cal Clutterbuck, Canadian ice hockey player

1987Jake Abel, American actor

1987Yoon Park, South Korean actor

1985Allyson Felix, American sprinter

1984Aleksander Ihnatowicz, Polish programmer and actor

1984Enar Jääger, Estonian footballer

1984Ryohei Chiba, Japanese singer and dancer

1983Jon Lech Johansen, Norwegian computer programmer and engineer, created DeCSS

1983Travis Buck, American baseball player

1982Damon Wayans Jr., American actor and comedian

1982Justin Knapp, American Wikipedia editor

1981Christina Vidal, American actress and singer

1981Dianne dela Fuente, Filipino singer and actress

1981Mekia Cox, American actress and dancer

1981Nasim Pedrad, Iranian-American actress

Died on this day

2024Arthur Frommer, American travel writer (born 1929)

2024Bob Love, American basketball player (born 1942)

2024Charles Dumont, French singer and composer (born 1929)

2024Colin Petersen, Australian drummer, record producer and actor (born 1946)

2022Tabassum, Indian actress and talk show host (born 1944)

2020Kirby Morrow, Canadian actor, comedian, and writer (born 1973)

2017Malcolm Young, Scottish-Australian hard rock guitarist (born 1953)

2016Denton Cooley, American surgeon and scientist (born 1920)

2016Sharon Jones, American soul and funk singer (born 1956)

2015Abdelhamid Abaaoud, Belgian-Moroccan terrorist (born 1987)

2015Dan Halldorson, Canadian-American golfer (born 1952)

2015Jonah Lomu, New Zealand rugby player (born 1975)

2014Ahmad Lozi, Jordanian educator and politician, 48th Prime Minister of Jordan (born 1925)

2014C. Rudhraiya, Indian director and producer (born 1947)

2014Dave Appell, American singer-songwriter and producer (born 1922)

2014Pepe Eliaschev, Argentinian journalist and author (born 1945)

2013Ljubomir Vračarević, Serbian martial artist, founded Real Aikido (born 1947)

2013Peter Wintonick, Canadian director and producer (born 1953)

2013S. R. D. Vaidyanathan, Indian nadaswaram player and composer (born 1929)

2013Thomas Howard, American football player (born 1983)

2012Emilio Aragón Bermúdez, Spanish clown, singer, and accordion player (born 1929)

2012Phoebe Hearst Cooke, American businesswoman and philanthropist (born 1927)

2010Brian G. Marsden, English-American astronomer and academic (born 1937)

2010Freddy Beras-Goico, Dominican comedian and television host (born 1940)

2009Red Robbins, American basketball player (born 1944)

2005Harold J. Stone, American actor (born 1911)

2004Cy Coleman, American pianist and composer (born 1929)

2004Robert Bacher, American physicist and academic (born 1905)

2003Michael Kamen, American composer and conductor (born 1948)

2002James Coburn, American actor (born 1928)

Quote of the day

“Silence is a source of great strength.”

Lao Tzu

Questions people ask

Where do the entries come from?

From Wikipedia’s on-this-day pages for this language, updated once a day and ordered by how often each article is read.

This day in history

Every question has its own page

Journal

What you should know, before others do

Weekly insights. One article. One practice. No noise.