February 18 Historical Events
The following events took place on February 18. The list is arranged in chronological order.
Found 51 events. Showing 31 - 51.
- 1954The first Church of Scientology is established in Los Angeles.
- 1955Operation Teapot: Teapot test shot “Wasp” is successfully detonated at the Nevada Test Site with a yield of 1.2 kilotons. Wasp is the first of fourteen shots in the Teapot series.
- 1957Kenyan rebel leader Dedan Kimathi is executed by the British colonial government.
- 1957Walter James Bolton becomes the last person legally executed in New Zealand.
- 1965The Gambia becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
- 1969Hawthorne Nevada Airlines Flight 708 crashes into Mount Whitney killing all on board.
- 1970The Chicago Seven are found not guilty of conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
- 1972The California Supreme Court in the case of People v. Anderson, (6 Cal.3d 628) invalidates the state’s death penalty and commutes the sentences of all death row inmates to life imprisonment.
- 1977The Space Shuttle Enterprise test vehicle is carried on its maiden “flight” on top of a Boeing 747.
- 1978The first Ironman Triathlon competition takes place on the island of Oahu and is won by Gordon Haller.
- 1979Snow falls in the Sahara Desert in southern Algeria for the only time in recorded history.
- 1983Thirteen people die and one is seriously injured in the Wah Mee massacre in Seattle. It is said to be the largest robbery-motivated mass-murder in U.S. history.
- 1991The IRA explodes bombs in the early morning at Paddington station and Victoria station in London.
- 2001FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested for spying for the Soviet Union. He is ultimately convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.
- 2001Seven-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt dies in an accident during the Daytona 500.
- 2001Inter-ethnic violence between Dayaks and Madurese breaks out in Sampit, Indonesia, that will ultimately result in more than 500 deaths and 100,000 Madurese displaced from their homes.
- 2003Nearly 200 people die in the Daegu subway fire in South Korea.
- 2004Up to 295 people, including nearly 200 rescue workers, die near Nishapur in Iran when a runaway freight train carrying sulfur, petrol and fertilizer catches fire and explodes.
- 2007Terrorist bombs explode on the Samjhauta Express in Panipat, Haryana, India, killing 68 people.
- 2013Armed robbers steal a haul of diamonds worth $50 million during a raid at Brussels Airport in Belgium.
- 2014At least 76 people are killed and hundreds are injured in clashes between riot police and demonstrators in Kiev, Ukraine.
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