August 18 Historical Events

The following events took place on August 18. The list is arranged in chronological order.

Found 36 events. Showing 1 - 30.

• 684
  Battle of Marj Rahit: Umayyad partisans defeat the supporters of Ibn al-Zubayr and cement Umayyad control of Syria.
• 1304
  The Battle of Mons-en-Pévèle is fought to a draw between the French army and the Flemish militias.
• 1487
  The Siege of Málaga ends with the taking of the city by Castilian and Aragonese forces.
• 1572
  Marriage in Paris, France, of the Huguenot King Henry III of Navarre to Margaret of Valois, in a supposed attempt to reconcile Protestants and Catholics.
• 1587
  Virginia Dare, granddaughter of Governor John White of the Colony of Roanoke, becomes the first English child born in the Americas.
• 1590
  John White, the governor of the Roanoke Colony, returns from a supply trip to England and finds his settlement deserted.
• 1612
  The trial of the Pendle witches, one of England’s most famous witch trials, begins at Lancaster Assizes.
• 1634
  Urbain Grandier, accused and convicted of sorcery, is burned alive in Loudun, France.
• 1783
  A huge fireball meteor is seen across Great Britain as it passes over the east coast.
• 1838
  The Wilkes Expedition, which would explore the Puget Sound and Antarctica, weighs anchor at Hampton Roads.
• 1848
  Camila O'Gorman and Ladislao Gutierrez are executed on the orders of Argentine dictator Juan Manuel de Rosas.
• 1864
  American 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
  French astronomer Pierre Janssen discovers helium.
• 1870
  Franco-Prussian War: Battle of Gravelotte is fought.
• 1877
  Asaph Hall discovers Martian moon Phobos.

• 1891
  Major hurricane strikes Martinique, leaving 700 dead.
• 1903
  German engineer Karl Jatho allegedly flies his self-made, motored gliding airplane four months before the first flight of the Wright brothers.
• 1917
  A Great Fire in Thessaloniki, Greece destroys 32% of the city leaving 70,000 individuals homeless.
• 1920
  The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing women’s suffrage.
• 1938
  The 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
  World War II: The Hardest Day air battle, part of the Battle of Britain. At that point, the largest aerial engagement in history with heavy losses sustained on both sides.
• 1945
  Sukarno takes office as the first president of Indonesia, following the country’s declaration of independence the previous day.
• 1950
  Julien Lahaut, the chairman of the Communist Party of Belgium is assassinated by far-right elements.
• 1958
  Vladimir Nabokov’s controversial novel Lolita is published in the United States.
• 1958
  Brojen Das from Bangladesh swims across the English Channel in a competition, as the first Bengali and the first Asian to do so. He came first among 39 competitors.
• 1963
  American civil rights movement: James Meredith becomes the first black person to graduate from the University of Mississippi.
• 1965
  Vietnam 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
  Vietnam 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
  Vietnam War: Australia and New Zealand decide to withdraw their troops from Vietnam.
• 1976
  In the Korean Demilitarized Zone at Panmunjom, the Axe murder incident results in the death of two US soldiers.