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What happened in history on this day: November 18?
On November 18 in ...
- 1307 - William Tell shoots apple off his son's head.
- 1421 - Zuider Zee floods 72 villages, killing an estimated 10,000 in Netherlands.
- 1497 - Bartolomeu Dias discovers Cape of Good Hope.
- 1727 - In Tabriz, Iran, a powerful earthquake occurs, claiming 77,000 deaths.
- 1755 - In Cape Ann, Massachusetts, a large earthquake occurs, causing considerable damage in Boston.
- 1776 - Hessians capture Fort Lee, New Jersey.
- 1789 - Birth of Louis-Jacques-Mande Daguerre; developed a method of photography.
- 1803 - Battle of Vertieres, in which Haitians defeat French.
- 1805 - 30 women meet at Mrs Silas Lee's home in Wiscasset, Maine, organizes Female Charitable Society, the first woman's club in America.
- 1810 - Birth of Asa Gray in Sauquoit, New York, USA; botanist (Flora of North America).
- 1820 - US Navy Captain Nathaniel B Palmer discovers Antarctica.
- 1832 - Birth of Nils Adolf Erik Nordenskjold in Sweden; Arctic explorer.
- 1836 - Birth of Maximo Gomez Banff; general (Cuba).
- 1836 - Birth of William Schwenck Gilbert in London, England; composer (Gilbert and Sullivan).
- 1869 - Birth of James E Sullivan; founder (Amateur Athletic Union).
- 1872 - Susan B. Anthony is arrested for voting in the US presidential election.
- 1874 - Birth of Clarence Shepard Day in New York City, New York, USA; writer (Life with Father).
- 1874 - National Woman's Christian Temperance Union organizes in Cleveland, Ohio.
- 1881 - Birth of Percy Lesueur; hockey player/inventor (large goalie glove).
- 1882 - Birth of Jacques Maritain in France; Catholic philosopher (exponent of Saint Thomas).
- 1882 - Birth of Wyndham Lewis; English writer/painter (Tarr, Apes of God).
- 1883 - Standard time zones established by railroads in US and Canada.
- 1886 - Death of Chester Alan Arthur in New York, New York, USA at age 56; collector at the Port of New York (1871-1878), Vice President of the USA (1881), 21st President of the USA (1881-1885).
- 1889 - Birth of Amelita Galli-Curci in Italy; operatic soprano (Cave of the Winds).
- 1894 - First newspaper Sunday color comic section published (New York World).
- 1897 - Birth of Jules Buffano in Saint Louis, Missouri, USA; pianist (Jimmy Durante Show).
- 1898 - Birth of Joris Ivens in Nijmegen, Netherlands; director (Rain).
- 1899 - Birth of Eugene Ormandy (Blau) in Budapest, Hungary; conductor (Philadelphia Orchestra).
- 1900 - Birth of Constantin Alajalov in Russia; artist (Ditters and Jitters).
- 1900 - Birth of Howard Thurman; theologian/author (Deep River, Deep in the Hunger).
- 1901 - Birth of George Gallup in Jefferson, Iowa, USA; public opinion pollster (Gallup Poll).
- 1905 - Prince Carl of Denmark becomes King Haakon VII of Norway.
- 1908 - Birth of Imogene Coca in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; comedienne (Your Show of Shows, Grindl).
- 1909 - Birth of Johnny Mercer in Savannah, Georgia, USA; lyricist ("Moon River", "That Old Black Magic").
- 1909 - US invades Nicaragua.
- 1911 - Britain's first seaplane flies.
- 1912 - Birth of Arthur Peterson in Mandan, North Dakota, USA; actor (Major - Soap, Crisis).
- 1913 - Lincoln Deachey performs first US airplane loop-the-loop (San Diego, California, USA).
- 1916 - Fighting is halted in the battle of the Somme. British casualties total 420,000, French 200,000, German 500,000-600,000.
- 1918 - Latvia declares independence from Russia.
- 1919 - Birth of Jocelyn Brando in San Francisco, California, USA; actress (Ugly American).
- 1921 - Birth of Peter Pocklington; NHL team owner (Edmonton Oilers).
- 1922 - Birth of Marjorie Gestring; American springboard diver (Olympic-gold-1936).
- 1923 - Birth of Alan B Shepard Junior in East Derry, New Hampshire, USA; Rear Admiral US Navy, astronaut (Mercury 3, Apollo 14).
- 1923 - Birth of Ted Stevens; American politician (Senator-Republican-Alaska).
- 1926 - Birth of Dorothy Collins in Windsor, Ontario, Canada; singer (Your Hit Parade).
- 1926 - Pope Pius XI issues encyclical "On the persecution of the Church in Mexico".
- 1928 - The Colony Theater in New York debuts Disney's Mickey Mouse film Steamboat Willie. This is the sound debut of Mickey Mouse, with Minnie Mouse (unnamed) as co-star. The film is the first cartoon to feature synchronized sound.
- 1929 - Birth of William (Pete) Knight; X-15 pilot.
- 1929 - Large earthquake in Atlantic breaks Transatlantic cable in 28 places.
- 1930 - Birth of Sonja Ruthstrom in Sweden; cross country relay skier (Olympic-gold-1960).
- 1932 - The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards an Honorable Mention Oscar award to Walt Disney Productions for "Distinctive Achievement", the creation of Mickey Mouse.
- 1932 - The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards an Oscar (Short Subjects, Cartoons) to Walt Disney for the film Flowers and Trees. This is the first Academy Award for a cartoon.
- 1936 - Birth of Hank Ballard in Detroit, Michigan, USA; rocker ("The Twist").
- 1936 - Germany and Italy recognize Spanish government of Francisco Franco.
- 1936 - Main span of Golden Gate Bridge (San Francisco, California) is joined.
- 1938 - Birth of Karl Schranz in Austria; slalom (Olympic-1968).
- 1939 - Birth of Brenda Vaccaro in Brooklyn, New York, USA; actress (Cactus Flower, Sara, Paper Dolls).
- 1941 - British forces in North Africa launch Operation Crusader, a major effort to take Libya.
- 1941 - Birth of David Hemmings in England; actor (Blow-up, Barbarella).
- 1942 - Birth of Jeffrey Siegel in Chicago, Illinois, USA; pianist (Chicago Symphony).
- 1942 - Birth of Linda Evans in Hartford, Connecticut, USA; actress (Dynasty, Big Valley, Beach Blanket Bingo).
- 1943 - First US ambassador to Canada, Ray Atherton, nominated.
- 1943 - Birth of Susan Sullivan in New York City, New York, USA; actress (Having Babies, Falcon Crest).
- 1943 - 444 British heavy bombers attack Berlin, Germany, in the first attack of the Battle of Berlin. Nine British planes are lost. Little damage is done, mainly due to much cloud cover.
- 1945 - Birth of Glen Walken in Astoria, Queens, New York, USA; actor (Leave it to Larry).
- 1946 - Donald Meek, Scottish actor (Stage Fair, Stagecoach), dies.
- 1947 - Birth of Jameson Parker in Baltimore, Maryland, USA; actor (American Justice, Simon and Simon).
- 1948 - Birth of Andrea Marcovicci in New York City, New York, USA; actress (Gloria - Berrengers, Fran - Trapper John).
- 1948 - Birth of Jack Tatum in Cherryville, North Carolina, USA; NFL defensive back (Oakland Raiders).
- 1949 - Birth of Ted Sator in Utica, New York, USA; NHL coach (New York Rangers, Buffalo Sabres).
- 1949 - Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers is named National League's Most Valuable Player.
- 1950 - Birth of Elizabeth Perkins; actress (About Last Night, Big).
- 1950 - Birth of Graham Parker; musician (Live Sparks, Mercury Poisoning).
- 1951 - Birth of Mark N Brown in Valparaiso, Indiana, USA; Major US Air Force/astronaut (STS 28, STS 48).
- 1952 - A briefing document is prepared for president-elect Dwight Eisenhower on Operation Majestic 12, top secret research and development and intelligence operation to deal with the UFO issue.
- 1954 - New York Yankees trade Woodling, Byrd, McDonald, Triandos, Miranada and Smith to Baltimore Orioles for Turley, Larsen and Hunter as part of an 18-player deal.
- 1955 - Bell X-2 rocket plane taken up for first powered flight.
- 1956 - Birth of Tony Franklin; NFL kicker (Philadelphia Eagles, New England Patriots).
- 1957 - Birth of Jenny Burton in New York City, USA; rocker ("Nobody Loves Me Like You Do").
- 1958 - First true reservoir in Jerusalem opens.
- 1960 - Birth of Kim Wilde in England; rocker ("You Keep Me Hanging On").
- 1960 - Copyright office issues its ten-millionth registration.
- 1961 - Birth of Janice Lynn Kuehnemund in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; rocker (Vixen - "Rev It Up").
- 1961 - US Ranger 2 launched to Moon; failed.
- 1962 - Birth of Kirk Hammett; rock guitarist (Metallica - "Helpless").
- 1962 - Niels Bohr, physicist who won the Nobel Prize in 1922, dies at age 77.
- 1964 - J Edgar Hoover describes Martin Luther King as "most notorious liar".
- 1966 - US Roman Catholic bishops do away with rule against eating meat on Fridays.
- 1966 - Brooklyn Dodgers' pitcher Sandy Koufax shocks the baseball world by announcing his retirement at the age of 30, citing his arthritic arm and the fear of permanent damage as the reason.
- 1967 - British government devalues pound sterling from US equivalent of US$2.80 to US$2.40.
- 1969 - Joseph P Kennedy dies in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, at age 81.
- 1970 - Hal Dickinson, singer (Modernaires), dies at age 56.
- 1973 - Birth of Steve Christopher in Petree, Oklahoma, USA; rocker (PC Quest - "Can You See").
- 1975 - Calvin Murphy (Houston Rockets) ends NBA free throw streak 58 games.
- 1976 - Spain's parliament establishes democracy after 37 years of dictatorship.
- 1976 - New York Yankees sign free agent Don Gullett.
- 1977 - Death of Kurt von Schuschnigg in Riva del Garda, Italy. Von Schuschnigg was the Austrian chancellor at the time of the annexation by Germany (1938).
- 1978 - In Guyana, Jim Jones leads his People's Temple cult in a mass murder-suicide that claims 918 lives in all, including Jim Jones, 909 of them at Jonestown itself, including over 270 children. US Congressman Leo J. Ryan and four others are assassinated by gunfire by members of People's Temple shortly beforehand.
- 1980 - Death of Conn Smythe, NHL coach 1927-1931 (born 1895).
- 1984 - Death of Mary Hamman, American writer and editor, modern living editor LIFE and editor-in-chief Bride & Home (born 1907).
- 1984 - New Jersey Devils shutout New York Rangers 6-0.
- 1984 - Philadelphia Flyers' Ron Sutter fails on 11th penalty shot against New York Islanders.
- 1985 - Space shuttle Enterprise (OV-101) flies from Kennedy Space Center to Dulles Airport, Washington, DC, is and turned over to the Smithsonian Institution.
- 1985 - Pitchers 20-year-old Dwight Gooden (New York Mets - National League) and 21-year-old Bret Saberhagen (Kansas City Royals - American League) win the Cy Young Award, the youngest players in their respective leagues to win the pitching honor.
- 1985 - Comic strip Calvin and Hobbes debuts in 35 newspapers.
- 1986 - Death of Gia Carangi, supermodel (born 1960).
- 1987 - 31 die in a fire at King's Cross, London's busiest subway station.
- 1987 - U.S. Senate and House panels release reports charging President Ronald Reagan with 'ultimate responsibility' for the Iran-Contra affair.
- 1988 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs a bill providing the death penalty for drug traffickers.
- 1990 - NFL New York Giants beat Detroit Lions 20-0, to run 1990 record to 10-0.
- 1990 - Saddam Hussein offers to free an estimated 2,000 men held in Kuwait.
- 1991 - Shiite Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon set Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite free, after four years of captivity. American educator Thomas M. Sutherland is also released.
- 1991 - Serb troops take Vukovar after an 87-day siege and commit the worst massacre in Croatian history.
- 1991 - Death of Gustáv Husák, Czechoslovakian president (born 1913).
- 1992 - The 100th episode of US TV show In the Heat of the Night airs.
- 1992 - Death of Dorothy Kirsten at age 75 after a stroke; lyric soprano (Metropolitan Opera, co-starred on the Lucky Strike Hit Parade, guest on Ed Sullivan Show, Colgate Comedy Hour, Dinah Shore Chevy Show).
- 1993 - In South Africa, 21 political parties approve a new constitution.
- 1996 - World-renowned bird expert Tony Silva is sentenced to seven years in prison without parole for leading an illegal parrot smuggling ring.
- 1996 - Martyn Bryant is sentenced to life imprisonment, two weeks after confessing to murdering 35 people in Tasmania earlier this year.
- 1998 - The 100th episode of TV show Star Trek: Voyager airs.
- 1999 - In College Station, Texas, 12 are killed and 28 injured at Texas A&M University when the annual Aggie Bonfire collapses while under construction.
- 2001 - Death of Malcolm McFee, British actor (Please Sir! and The Fenn Street Gang) (born 1949).
- 2001 - Nintendo releases the GameCube video game system in the USA. It features four controller ports, one controller, 485 MHz IBM Gekko main processor, 162 MHz ATI Technologies "Flipper" graphics processor, 40 MB RAM, DVD-based proprietary disc drive. Games come on 3-inch optical discs holding up to 1.5 GB. Price is US$199.95. Over 500,000 are sold in the first week.
- 2002 - United Nations weapons inspectors led by Hans Blix arrive in Iraq.
- 2003 - The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, in Goodridge versus Department of Public Health, rules anti-same-sex marriage laws unconstitutional in the state.
- 2003 - Death of Michael Kamen, American composer (born 1948).
- 2004 - A cargo ship explodes and breaks in half at the port of Paranagua in southern Brazil, spreading a slick of fuel oil, diesel fuel and methanol.
- 2005 - Warner Bros. releases the film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire to theaters.
- 2007 - The Zasyadko mine disaster in eastern Ukraine claims the lives of 101 miners.
- 2008 - Heads of automakers General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler appear before a Senate banking committee to ask for financial assistance.
- 2008 - Pitcher Ryan Dempster agrees to a four-year contract worth US$52 million to remain with the Chicago Cubs.
- 2010 - Death of Brian Marsden at age 73; head of Central Bureau for Astronomic Telegrams of the International Astronomical Union.
- 2011 - Summit Entertainment releases the film The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 to theaters.
- 2017 - Death of Youssouf Ouédraogo, 6th Prime Minister of Burkina Faso (born 1952).
- 2017 - Death of Naim Süleymanoglu, Turkish Olympic weightlifter (born 1967).
- 2020 - Pfizer and BioNTech complete trials on their COVID-19 vaccine, with an overall effectiveness rate of 95% without adverse events.
- 2020 - Death of Umar Ghalib, 7th Prime Minister of Somalia (born 1930).
- 2021 - Muhammad Aziz and Khalil Islam are exonorated in their conviction for the assassination of Malcolm X in 1965.
- 2022 - In Mumbai, India, Skyroot Aerospace launches a rocket 90km toward space, as a test. First such test for a private company in India.
- 2022 - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea makes first test launch of Hwasong-17 missile, capable of hitting anywhere in continental USA.
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