Today June 18th in history click read more below to view detail events, deaths, births, Holidays and observances, and video clips in hisotry. Please comments, last database updated: Jan 17th, 2009
Events
618 – Coronation of the Chinese governor Li Yuan as Emperor Gaozu of Tang, the new Emperor of China, initiating three centuries of the Tang Dynasty s rule over China.
1178 – Five Canterbury monks see what was possibly the Giordano Bruno crater being formed. It is believed that the current oscillations of the moon s distance (on the order of metres) are a result of this collision.
1264 – The Parliament of Ireland meets at Castledermot in County Kildare, the first definitively known meeting of this Irish legislature.
1429 – French forces under the leadership of Joan of Arc defeat the main English army under Sir John Fastolf at the Battle of Patay. This turns the tide of the Hundred Years War.
1767 – Samuel Wallis, an English sea captain, sights Tahiti and is considered the first European to reach the island.
1778 – American Revolutionary War: British troops abandon Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1812 – War of 1812: The U.S. Congress declares war on the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
1815 – Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Waterloo leads to Napoleon Bonaparte abdicating the throne of France for the second and final time.
1830 – French invasion of Algeria
1858 – Charles Darwin receives a paper from Alfred Russel Wallace that includes nearly identical conclusions about evolution as Darwin s own. This prompts Darwin to publish his theory.
1859 – First ascent of Aletschhorn, second summit of the Bernese Alps.
1873 – Susan B. Anthony is fined $100 for attempting to vote in the 1872 presidential election.
1887 – The Reinsurance Treaty between Germany and Russia is signed.
1900 – Empress Dowager Longyu of China orders all foreigners killed, including foreign diplomats and their families.
1908 – Japanese immigration to Brazil begins when 781 people arrive in Santos aboard the Kasato-Maru ship
1923 – Checker Taxi puts its first taxi on the streets.
1928 – Aviator Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly in an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean (she was a passenger; Wilmer Stutz was the pilot and Lou Gordon the mechanic).
1930 – Groundbreaking ceremonies for the Franklin Institute held.
1940 – Appeal of June 18 by Charles de Gaulle.
1940 – Finest Hour speech by Winston Churchill.
1945 – William Joyce (Lord Haw-Haw) is charged with treason.
1946 – Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia, a Socialist calls for a Direct Action Day against the Portuguese in Goa. A road is named after this date in Panjim.
1953 – The Republic of Egypt is declared and the monarchy is abolished.
1953 – A United States Air Force C-124 crashes and burns near Tokyo, Japan killing 129.
1954 – Pierre Mendès-France becomes Prime Minister of France.
1959 – Governor of Louisiana Earl K. Long is committed to a state mental hospital; he responds by having the hospital s director fired and replaced with a crony who proceeds to proclaim him perfectly sane.
1965 – Vietnam War: The United States uses B-52 bombers to attack National Liberation Front guerrilla fighters in South Vietnam.
1972 – Staines air disaster – 118 killed as plane crashes 2 minutes after take off from London Heathrow Airport.
1979 – SALT II is signed by the United States and the Soviet Union.
1981 – The AIDS epidemic is formally recognized by medical professionals in San Francisco, California.
1983 – Space Shuttle program: STS-7, Astronaut Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space.
1984 – A major clash between about 5,000 police and a similar number of miners takes place at Orgreave, South Yorkshire, during the 1984-1985 UK miners strike
1996 – Ted Kaczynski, suspected of being the Unabomber, is indicted on ten criminal counts.
2001 – Protests occur in Manipur over the extension of the ceasefire between Naga insurgents and the government of India.
2006 – The first Kazakh space satellite, KazSat is launched.
Births
1269 – Princess Eleanor of England (d. 1298)
1318 – Princess Eleanor of Woodstock (d. 1355)
1466 – Ottaviano Petrucci, Italian printer (d. 1539)
1511 – Bartolomeo Ammanati, Italian architect and sculptor (d. 1592)
1517 – Emperor Ogimachi of Japan (d. 1593)
1552 – Gabriello Chiabrera, Italian poet (d. 1637)
1667 – Ivan Trubetskoy, Russian field marshal (d. 1750)
1716 – Joseph-Marie Vien, French painter (d. 1809)
1757 – Gervasio Antonio de Posadas, Argentine leader (d. 1833)
1757 – Ignaz Pleyel, Austrian composer and piano manufacturer (d. 1831)
1812 – Ivan Goncharov, Russian author (d. 1891)
1815 – Ludwig Freiherr von und zu der Tann-Rathsamhausen, German general (d. 1881)
1839 – William Henry Seward, Jr., Union Brigadier General in the American Civil War (d. 1920)
1845 – Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran, French physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1922)
1850 – Richard Heuberger, Austrian composer, music critic, and teacher (d. 1914)
1854 – E.W. Scripps, American journalist and publisher (d. 1926)
1863 – George Essex Evans, Australian poet (d. 1909)
1868 – Miklós Horthy, Hungarian admiral and regent (d. 1957)
1870 – Edouard Le Roy, French philosopher and mathematician
1877 – James Montgomery Flagg, American illustrator (d. 1960)
1882 – Georgi Dimitrov, Bulgarian Communist leader (d. 1949)
1884 – Édouard Daladier, French politician (d. 1970)
1886 – Alexander Wetmore, American ornithologist (d. 1978)
1891 – Mae Busch, Australian actress (d. 1946)
1895 – Blanche Sweet, American actress (d. 1986)
1895 – Manuela Fernández-Fojaco, Spanish supercentenarian
1901 – Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicolaievna Romanova of Russia (d. 1918)
1903 – Jeanette MacDonald, American actress and singer (d. 1965)
1903 – Raymond Radiguet, French author (d. 1923)
1904 – Keye Luke, Chinese-born actor (d. 1991)
1904 – Manuel Rosenthal, French conductor and composer (d. 2003)
1907 – Frithjof Schuon, Swiss metaphysician, poet, and painter (d. 1998)
1908 – Bud Collyer, American game show host (d. 1969)
1908 – Nedra Volz, American actress (d. 2003)
1908 – Stanley Knowles, Canadian politician (d. 1997)
1910 – E.G. Marshall, American actor (d. 1998)
1910 – Ray McKinley, jazz drummer and bandleader (d. 1995)
1910 – Dick Foran, American actor (d. 1979)
1913 – Sammy Cahn, American composer (d. 1993)
1913 – Sylvia Field Porter, American economist and journalist (d. 1991)
1915 – Red Adair, American firefighter (d. 2004)
1916 – Julio César Turbay Ayala, Colombian politician (d. 2005)
1917 – Richard Boone, American actor (d. 1981)
1917 – Arthur Tremblay, Canadian politician (d. 1996)
1918 – Jerome Karle, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
1918 – Franco Modigliani, Italian-born economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2003)
1920 – Ian Carmichael, English actor
1922 – Claude Helffer, French pianist (d. 2004)
1924 – George Mikan, American basketball player (d. 2005)
1927 – Paul Eddington, English actor (d. 1995)
1927 – Eva Bartok, Hungarian-born British actress
1928 – David T. Lykken, American scientist
1929 – Jürgen Habermas, German sociologist and philosopher
1931 – Fernando Henrique Cardoso, President of Brazil from 1995 to 2002
1932 – Dudley R. Herschbach, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
1932 – Geoffrey Hill, English poet
1934 – Mitsuteru Yokoyama, Japanese manga artist (d. 2004)
1935 – Hugh McColl, American banker
1936 – Denny Hulme, New Zealand race car driver and one-time F1 world champion (d. 1992)
1937 – Wray Carlton, American football player
1937 – John D. Rockefeller IV, U.S. Senator
1937 – Vitali Zholobov, Soviet cosmonaut
1938 – Kevin Murray, Australian rules footballer
1939 – Lou Brock, American baseball player
1939 – Jean-Claude Germain, French Canadian author, journalist and historian
1940 – Michael Sheard, British actor (d. 2005)
1941 – Delia Smith, English cook and television presenter
1942 – Roger Ebert, American film reviewer
1942 – Sir Paul McCartney, English singer and songwriter (The Beatles)
1942 – Hans Vonk, Dutch conductor (d. 2004)
1942 – Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa
1942 – Carl Radle, American bass guitarist (d. 1980)
1943 – Raffaella Carrà, Italian singer
1944 – Sandy Posey, American singer
1946 – Russell Ash, British author
1946 – Fabio Capello, Italian football coach
1946 – Bruiser Brody, professional wrestler (d. 1988)
1948 – Éva Marton, Hungarian operatic soprano
1949 – Chris Van Allsburg, American author and illustrator
1949 – Prince Lincoln Thompson, Jamaican musician (d. 1999)
1949 – Lech Kaczynski, Polish president, 2005-present
1949 – Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Polish prime minister, twin brother of Lech Kaczynski
1950 – Jackie Leven aka Sir Vincent Lone Scottish singer and songwriter
1952 – Isabella Rossellini, Italian actress
1952 – Carol Kane, American actress
1956 – Brian Benben, American actor
1957 – Miguel Ángel Lotina, Spanish football manager
1960 – Ralph Brown, British actor
1961 – Andrés Galarraga, baseball player
1961 – Alison Moyet, English pop singer
1963 – Bruce Smith, American football player
1962 – Mitsuharu Misawa, Japanese professional wrestler
1963 – Dizzy Reed, aka Darren Arthur Reed keyboardist for (former) Guns N Roses and Velvet Revolver
1964 – Uday Hussein, Iraqi leader (d. 2003)
1965 – Kim Dickens, American actress and model
1966 – Kurt Browning, Canadian figure skater
1967 – Pasquale Bruno, Italian American entrepreneur
1969 – Pål Pot Pamparius, Norwegian musician (Turbonegro)
1969 – Vito LoGrasso, American professional wrestler
1969 – Christopher Largen, American author
1970 – Greg Yaitanes, American television and film director
1971 – Nathan Morris, American singer (Boyz II Men)
1971 – Jason McAteer, England-born Irish footballer
1972 – Michal Yannai, Israeli actress and model.
1973 – Alexandros Papadimitriou, Greek hammer thrower
1973 – Eddie Cibrian, American actor
1973 – Julie Depardieu, French actress
1974 – Vincenzo Montella, Italian footballer
1975 – Martin St. Louis, Canadian hockey player
1975 – Aleksandrs Kolinko, Latvian footballer
1975 – Marie Gillain, Belgian actress
1975 – Jemma Griffiths, Welsh singer-songwriter
1975 – Jamel Debbouze, French actor and producer
1976 – Alana de la Garza, American actress
1976 – Witte Wartena, Dutch artist
1976 – Blake Shelton, American Country Singer
1978 – Wang Liqin, Chinese table tennis player
1980 – Antonio Gates, American football player
1980 – Tara Platt, American actress
1980 – Ivana Wong, Hong Kong singer and songwriter
1980 – Craig Mottram, Australian middle distance runner
1981 – Teresa Cormack, New Zealand murder victim (d. 1987)
1981 – Ella (Jiahua) Chen, member of the Taiwanese girl-group S.H.E
1982 – Vadim Pruzhanov, keyboardist for the British group Dragonforce
1984 – Mateus, Angolan footballer
1984 – Janne Happonen, Finnish skijumper
1986 – Richard Gasquet, French tennis player
1989 – Renee Olstead, American singer and actress
1990 – Sandra Izbasa, Romanian gymnast and Olympic gold medalist.
1991 – Willa Holland, American actress
2006 – Countess Zaria of Orange-Nassau, Jonkvrouwe van Amsberg
Deaths
1234 – Emperor Chukyo of Japan (b. 1218)
1291 – King Alfonso III of Aragon (b. 1265)
1464 – Roger van der Weyden, Flemish painter
1536 – Henry Fitzroy, bastard son of Henry VIII (b. 1519)
1588 – Robert Crowley, English printer and poet
1629 – Piet Hein, Dutch naval commander and folk hero (b. 1577)
1650 – Christoph Scheiner, German astronomer
1673 – Jeanne Mance, French Canadian settler (b. 1606)
1680 – Samuel Butler, English poet (b. 1612)
1704 – Tom Brown, English satirist (b. 1662)
1726 – Michel Richard Delalande, French organist and composer (b. 1657)
1742 – John Aislabie, English politician (b. 1670)
1749 – Ambrose Philips, English poet (b. 1674)
1772 – Johann Ulrich von Cramer, German judge and philosopher (b. 1706)
1772 – Gerard van Swieten, Dutch-born physician (b. 1700)
1788 – Adam Gib, Scottish religious leader (b. 1714)
1794 – François Nicolas Leonard Buzot, French Revolutionary leader (b. 1760)
1794 – James Murray, British military officer and administrator (b. 1721)
1815 – Thomas Picton, British general (killed in battle) (b. 1758)
1815 – Guillaume Philibert Duhesme, French general (b. 1766)
1835 – William Cobbett, English journalist and author (b. 1763)
1889 – Jacques Damala, Greek military officer and actor (b. 1855)
1902 – Samuel Butler, English writer (b. 1835)
1915 – Eufemio Zapata, brother to Mexican revolutionist Emiliano Zapata, killed by Sidronio Comancho
1916 – Max Immelmann, German flying ace (b. 1890)
1922 – Jacobus Kapteyn, Dutch astronomer (b. 1851)
1928 – Roald Amundsen, Norwegian explorer (b. 1872)
1936 – Maxim Gorky, Russian author (b. 1868)
1937 – Gaston Doumergue, French statesman (b. 1863)
1947 – Shigematsu Sakaibara, Japanese admiral (b. 1898)
1959 – Ethel Barrymore, American actress (b. 1879)
1963 – Pedro Armendáriz, Mexican actor (b. 1912)
1967 – Beat Fehr, Swiss racing driver (b. 1942)
1967 – Giacomo Russo, Italian racing driver (b. 1937)
1971 – Thomas Gomez, American actor (b. 1905)
1971 – Paul Karrer, Swiss chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1889)
1973 – Roger Delgado, British actor (b. 1918)
1974 – Georgy Zhukov, Marshal of the Soviet Union (b. 1896)
1974 – Júlio César de Mello e Souza, Brazilian writer (b. 1896)
1978 – Walter C. Alvarez, American physician (b. 1884)
1980 – André Leducq, French cyclist (b. 1904)
1980 – Terence Fisher, English film director (b. 1904)
1982 – John Cheever, American author (b. 1912)
1982 – Curd Jürgens, German actor (b. 1915)
1984 – Alan Berg, American radio talk show host
1985 – Paul Colin, French poster designer (b. 1892)
1986 – Frances Scott Fitzgerald, Daughter of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Sayre. (b. 1921)
1989 – I. F. Stone, American journalist (b. 1907)
1992 – Mordecai Ardon, one of Israel s greatest painters (b. 1896)
1992 – Peter Allen, Australian singer and songwriter (b. 1944)
1997 – Lev Kopelev, Russian writer and dissident (b. 1912)
2000 – Nancy Marchand, American actress (b. 1928)
2002 – Jack Buck, American baseball announcer (b. 1924)
2003 – Larry Doby, American baseball player (b. 1923)
2005 – Syed Mushtaq Ali, Indian cricketer (b. 1914)
2005 – Manuel Sadosky, Argentine mathematician (b. 1914)
2006 – Vincent Sherman, American film director (b. 1906)
2007 – Bernard Manning, British comedian (b. 1930)
2007 – Georges Thurston, Canadian singer (b. 1951)
2008 – Jean Delannoy, French actor and director (b. 1908)
2008 – Tasha Tudor, American illustrator (b. 1915)
2008 – Miyuki Kanbe, Japanese actor (b. 1984)
Holidays and observances
Seychelles – National Day
Autistic Pride Day
Waterloo Day
Saints Leontius, Hypatius and Theodulus
Saint Elizabeth of Schönau
