FEBRUARY 18

Contents

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

External links

Events

★ 3102 BC - Epoch (origin) of the Kali Yuga- Lord Krishna is believed by Hare Krishnas and Hindus to have left the planet on this day.

★ 1229 - The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor signs a ten-year truce with al-Kamil, regaining Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem with neither military engagements nor support from the papacy.

★ 1268 - The Livonian Brothers of the Sword are defeated by Dovmont of Pskov in the Battle of Rakovor.

★ 1332 (or 1329) - Amda Seyon I, Emperor of Ethiopia begins his campaigns in the southern Muslim provinces.

★ 1478 - George, Duke of Clarence, convicted of treason against his older brother Edward IV of England, is privately executed in the Tower of London.

★ 1587 - Mary I of Scotland, ''queen of Scots'', is executed at Fotheringhay Castle, Northamptonshire, England, after being convicted of high treason.

★ 1685 - Fort St. Louis is established by a Frenchman at Matagorda Bay thus forming the basis for France's claim to Texas.

★ 1797 - Trinidad is surrendered to a British fleet under the command of Sir Ralph Abercromby.

★ 1814 - Battle of Montereau occurs.

★ 1841 - The first ongoing filibuster in the United States Senate begins and lasts until March 11.

★ 1856 - The American Party (''Know-Nothings'') convene in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to nominate their first Presidential candidate, former President Millard Fillmore.

★ 1861 - In Montgomery, Alabama, Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as the provisional President of the Confederate States of America.

★ 1861 - With the Italian unification almost complete, King Victor Emmanuel II of Piedmont, Savoy and Sardinia assumes the title of King of Italy.

★ 1865 - Union forces under Major General William T. Sherman set the South Carolina State House on fire during the burning of Columbia.

★ 1878 - The Lincoln County War begins in Lincoln County, New Mexico.

★ 1885 - Mark Twain's ''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' is published for the first time.

★ 1901 - Winston Churchill makes his maiden speech in the British House of Commons.

★ 1911 - The first official flight with air mail takes place in Allahabad, British India, when Henri Pequet, a 23-year-old pilot, delivers 6,500 letters to Naini, about 10 km away.

★ 1913 - Raymond Poincaré becomes President of France.

★ 1929 - First Academy Awards are announced.

★ 1930 - While studying photographs taken in January, Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto.

★ 1930 - Elm Farm Ollie becomes the first cow to fly in a fixed-wing aircraft and also the first cow to be milked in an aircraft.

★ 1932 - The Empire of Japan declares Manzhouguo (obsolete Chinese name for Manchuria) independent from the Republic of China.

★ 1943 - The Nazis arrest the members of the White Rose movement.

★ 1943 - Joseph Goebbels delivers the Sportpalast speech.

★ 1948 - Eamon de Valera resigns as Taoiseach of Ireland.

★ 1953 - The first 3D film, ''Bwana Devil'', opens.

★ 1954 - The first Church of Scientology is established in Los Angeles, California.

★ 1957 - Dedan Kimathi, a Kenyan rebel leader is executed by the British colonial government.

★ 1965 - The Gambia becomes independent from the United Kingdom.

★ 1969 - Hawthorne Nevada Airlines Flight 708 disaster kills all on board.

★ 1970 - The Chicago Seven are found not guilty of conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic Party national convention.

★ 1972 - The 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 in prison.

★ 1977 - The Space Shuttle ''Enterprise'' test vehicle goes on its maiden "flight" while sitting on top of a Boeing 747.

★ 1983 - Thirteen people die and one is seriously injured in the Wah Mee Massacre in Seattle, Washington, said to be the largest robbery-motivated mass-murder in American history.

★ 1991 - The IRA explodes bombs in the early morning at both Paddington station and Victoria station in London.

★ 1998 - Two white separatists are arrested in Nevada and accused of plotting a biological attack on New York City subways.

★ 2000 - Stjepan Mesić becomes the second president of Croatia.

★ 2001 - FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested for spying for the Soviet Union. He was ultimately convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

★ 2001 - Dale Earnhardt is killed in a crash during the final lap of the Daytona 500, which was won by Michael Waltrip, driving in a car that Earnhardt owned. His son, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. finished second.

★ 2003 - Nearly 200 people die in the Daegu subway fire in South Korea

★ 2003 - Comet C/2002 V1 (NEAT) makes perihelion, seen by SOHO.

★ 2004 - Up to 295 people, including nearly 200 rescue workers, die near Neyshabur in Iran when a run-away freight train carrying sulfur, petrol and fertiliser catches fire and explodes.

★ 2005 - The United Kingdom law banning fox hunting, hare coursing and other sports which kill wild mammals is enforced from this date.

Births

★ 1486 - Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Bengali saint, bhakti yoga developer

★ 1516 - Queen Mary I of England (d. 1558)

★ 1530 - Uesugi Kenshin, Japanese samurai and warlord (d. 1578)

★ 1543 - Charles III, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1608)

★ 1559 - Isaac Casaubon, French classical scholar (d. 1614)

★ 1602 - Per Brahe (the younger), Swedish soldier (d. 1680)

★ 1609 - Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, English historian (d. 1674)

★ 1635 - Johan Göransson Gyllenstierna, Swedish statesman (d. 1680)

★ 1642 - Marie Champmeslé, French actress (d. 1698)

★ 1658 - Charles-Irénée Castel de Saint-Pierre, French writer (d. 1743)

★ 1745 - Alessandro Volta, Italian physicist (d. 1827)

★ 1814 - Samuel Fenton Cary, U. S. Congressman (d. 1900)

★ 1836 - Sri Ramakrishna, Bengali saint, guru of Swami Vivekananda (d. 1886)

★ 1838 - Ernst Mach, Austrian physicist (d. 1916)

★ 1846 - Wilson Barrett, English playwright (d. 1904)

★ 1848 - Louis Comfort Tiffany, American glass artist (d. 1933)

★ 1849 - Alexander Kielland, Norwegian author (d. 1906)

★ 1859 - Sholom Aleichem, Russian Yiddish humorist (d. 1916)

★ 1871 - Harry Brearley, English inventor (d. 1948)

★ 1883 - Nikos Kazantzakis, Greek author (d. 1957)

★ 1884 - Andrew Watson Myles, Canadian politician (d. 1970)

★ 1890 - Edward Arnold, American actor (d. 1956)

★ 1890 - Adolphe Menjou, American actor (d. 1963)

★ 1892 - Wendell Willkie, American politician (d. 1944)

★ 1896 - Andre Breton, French writer (d. 1966)

★ 1897 - Charles Kuentz, WW1 veteran, changed nationality 5 times (d.2005)

★ 1898 - Enzo Ferrari, Italian race car driver (d. 1988)

★ 1898 - Luis Muñoz Marín, Puerto Rican poet (d. 1980)

★ 1901 - Reginald Sheffield, British actor (d. 1957)

★ 1901 - Wayne King, saxophonist, bandleader (d. 1985)

★ 1903 - Nikolai Podgorny, President of the Soviet Union (d. 1983)

★ 1906 - Hans Asperger, Austrian pediatrician (d. 1980)

★ 1907 - Oscar Brodney, American screenwriter

★ 1909 - Wallace Stegner, American writer (d. 1993)

★ 1914 - Pee Wee King, American country musician and songwriter (d. 2000)

★ 1915 - Phyllis Calvert, British actress (d. 2002)

★ 1916 - Jean Drapeau, Quebec politician, mayor of Montreal (d. 1999)

★ 1919 - Jack Palance, American actor (d. 2006)

★ 1920 - Bill Cullen, American game show host (d. 1990)

★ 1920 - Eric Gairy, Grenadan politician (d. 1997)

★ 1922 - Helen Gurley Brown, American editor

★ 1922 - Allan Melvin, American actor

★ 1922 - Juhan Smuul, Estonian author (d. 1971)

★ 1924 - Humberto Fernández Morán, Venezuelan scientist (d. 1999)

★ 1924 - Louis Laberge, Quebec labour union leader (d. 2002)

★ 1925 - George Kennedy, American actor

★ 1925 - Marcel Barbeau, Quebec artist

★ 1927 - John Warner, American politician

★ 1927 - Luis Arroyo, Puerto Rican baseball player

★ 1928 - Tom Johnson, Canadian ice hockey player

★ 1929 - Len Deighton, British author

★ 1930 - Gahan Wilson, American cartoonist

★ 1931 - Johnny Hart, American cartoonist (d. 2007)

★ 1931 - Toni Morrison, American writer, Nobel laureate

★ 1931 - Bob St. Clair, American football player

★ 1932 - Miloš Forman, Czech film director

★ 1933 - Yoko Ono, Japanese-born singer

★ 1933 - Sir Bobby Robson, English football manager

★ 1933 - Mary Ure, Scottish actress (d. 1975)

★ 1936 - Jean Auel, American writer

★ 1936 - Dick Duff, Canadian ice hockey player

★ 1938 - István Szabó, Hungarian film director

★ 1939 - Dal Maxvill, American baseball player

★ 1939 - Marek Janowski, Polish-born conductor

★ 1941 - Irma Thomas, American singer

★ 1943 - Graeme Garden, Scottish writer

★ 1944 - Pat Bowlen, owner of the Denver Broncos

★ 1945 - Judy Rankin, American golfer

★ 1946 - Michael Buerk, British newsreader

★ 1946 - Jean-Claude Dreyfus, French actor

★ 1947 - Dennis DeYoung, American musician (STYX)

★ 1947 - Princess Christina of the Netherlands

★ 1947 - Carlos Lopes, Portuguese athlete

★ 1948 - Sinéad Cusack, Irish actress

★ 1948 - Keith Knudsen, American drummer and songwriter (The Doobie Brothers) (d. 2005)

★ 1949 - Gary Ridgway, American serial killer

★ 1950 - John Hughes, American director

★ 1950 - Cybill Shepherd, American actress

★ 1950 - Michel Gauthier, Quebec politician

★ 1951 - Isabel Preysler, Spanish socialite

★ 1952 - Maurice Lucas, American basketball player

★ 1952 - Juice Newton, American singer

★ 1953 - Robbie Bachman, Canadian drummer (Bachman-Turner Overdrive)

★ 1954 - John Travolta, American actor

★ 1955 - Miles Tredinnick, English playwright

★ 1955 - Raymond Rougeau, Canadian professional wrestler

★ 1956 - Ted Gärdestad, Swedish singer (d. 1997)

★ 1957 - Marita Koch, German athlete

★ 1957 - Vanna White, American game show presenter

★ 1958 - Giovanni Lavaggi, Italian racing driver

★ 1958 - Gar Samuelson, American drummer (d. 1999)

★ 1960 - Carol McGiffin, British TV and radio presenter

★ 1960 - Greta Scacchi, Australian actress

★ 1960 - Andy Moog, Canadian ice hockey player

★ 1962 - Julie Strain, American actress

★ 1964 - Matt Dillon, American actor

★ 1964 - Paul Hanley, British musician (The Fall, Tom Hingley and the Lovers)

★ 1965 - Dr. Dre, American rapper

★ 1965 - Gregory Scott Johnson, American murderer (d. 2005)

★ 1967 - Roberto Baggio, Italian footballer

★ 1968 - Molly Ringwald, American actress

★ 1968 - Tommy Scott, British musician (Space)

★ 1969 - Alexander Mogilny, Russian ice hockey player

★ 1969 - Jason Sutter, American drummer (Smash Mouth, American Hi-Fi)

★ 1970 - Raine Maida, Canadian musician (Our Lady Peace)

★ 1970 - Susan Egan, American actress

★ 1971 - Constantin Popa, Romanian-Israeli basketball player

★ 1973 - Claude Makélélé, French footballer

★ 1974 - Jamey Carroll, American baseball player

★ 1974 - Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Russian tennis player

★ 1975 - Keith Gillespie, Irish footballer

★ 1975 - Gary Neville, English footballer

★ 1976 - Leilani Munter, American race car driver

★ 1977 - Sean Watkins, American guitarist and songwriter

★ 1978 - Josip Simunic, Croatian footballer

★ 1980 - Regina Spektor, Russian-born singer and songwriter

★ 1980 - Nikolai Antropov, Kazakh ice hockey player

★ 1981 - Andrei Kirilenko, Russian basketball player

★ 1981 - Ivan Sproule, Irish footballer

★ 1981 - Kim Jae Won, South Korean actor

★ 1981 - Alex Rios, American baseball player

★ 1983 - Juelz Santana, American rapper

★ 1983 - Jermaine Jenas, English footballer

★ 1983 - Jason Maxiell, American basketball player

★ 1984 - Buddy Nielsen, American singer (Senses Fail)

★ 1985 - Lee Boyd Malvo, American serial killer

★ 1985 - Anton Ferdinand, English footballer

★ 1986 - Marc Torrejón, Spanish footballer

★ 1988 - Maiara Walsh, American actress

Deaths

★ 806 - Tarasius, Patriarch of Constantinople (b. 730)

★ 814 - Angilbert, Frankish monk and confidant of Charlemagne

★ 901 - Thabit ibn Qurra, Arab astronomer and mathematician (b. 826)

★ 999 - Pope Gregory V (b. 972)

★ 1139 - Prince Yaropolk II of Kiev (b. 1082)

★ 1294 - Kublai Khan, Mongol Emperor (b. 1215)

★ 1379 - Albert II of Mecklenburg (b. 1318)

★ 1405 - Tamerlane, Mongol Emperor (b. 1336)

★ 1455 - Fra Angelico, Italian artist (b. 1395)

★ 1478 - George, Duke of Clarence, brother of Kings Edward IV of England and Richard III of England (executed) (b. 1449)

★ 1535 - Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, astrologer and alchemist (b. 1486)

★ 1546 - Martin Luther, German religious reformer (b. 1483)

★ 1564 - Michelangelo Buonarroti, Italian artist (b. 1475)

★ 1583 - Antonio Francesco Grazzini, Italian writer (b. 1503)

★ 1654 - Jean-Louis Guez de Balzac, French writer (b. 1594)

★ 1683 - Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem, Dutch painter (b. 1620)

★ 1712 - Louis, duc de Bourgogne, heir to the throne of France (b. 1682)

★ 1718 - Pierre Antoine Motteux, French-born English dramatist (b. 1663)

★ 1743 - Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici, last of the Medicis (b. 1667)

★ 1748 - Otto Ferdinand Graf von Abensperg und Traun, Austrian field marshal (b. 1677)

★ 1772 - Johann Hartwig Ernst, Count von Bernstorff, Danish statesman (b. 1712)

★ 1778 - Joseph Marie Terray, French statesman (b. 1715)

★ 1780 - Kristijonas Donelaitis, Lithuanian poet (b. 1714)

★ 1788 - John Whitehurst, English clockmaker and scientist (b. 1713)

★ 1803 - Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim, German poet (b. 1719)

★ 1842 - Thomas Hazlehurst, English soap and alkali manufacturer (b. 1779)

★ 1851 - Carl Gustav Jakob Jacobi, German mathematician (b. 1804)

★ 1893 - Serranus Clinton Hastings, American politician (b. 1814)

★ 1895 - Karl Abs, German professional wrestler (b. 1851)

★ 1900 - Clinton L. Merriam, American politician (b. 1824)

★ 1902 - Charles Lewis Tiffany, American founder of Tiffany & Co. (b. 1812)

★ 1906 - John Batterson Stetson, American manufacturer (b. 1830)

★ 1911 - Billy Murdoch, Australian cricketer (b. 1854)

★ 1931 - Milan Šufflay, Croatian politician (b. 1879)

★ 1933 - James J. Corbett, American boxer (b. 1866)

★ 1938 - David King Udall, American politician (b. 1851)

★ 1942 - Albert Payson Terhune, American author (b. 1872)

★ 1945 - Ivan Chernyakhovsky, Russian general (b. 1906)

★ 1956 - Gustave Charpentier, French composer (b. 1860)

★ 1957 - Dedan Kimathi, Kenyan rebel leader (b. 1920)

★ 1957 - Henry Norris Russell, American astronomer (b. 1877)

★ 1964 - Joseph-Armand Bombardier, Quebec inventor and industrialist (b. 1907)

★ 1966 - Robert Rossen, American screenwriter, producer, and director (b. 1908)

★ 1967 - J. Robert Oppenheimer, American physicist (b. 1904)

★ 1973 - Frank Costello, Italian-born gangster (b. 1891)

★ 1977 - Andy Devine, American actor (b. 1905)

★ 1978 - Maggie McNamara, American actress (b. 1928)

★ 1981 - John Knudsen Northrop, American aircraft manufacturer (b. 1895)

★ 1982 - Ngaio Marsh, New Zealand author (b. 1895)

★ 1993 - Kerry Von Erich, American professional wrestler (b. 1960)

★ 1993 - Jacqueline Hill, British actress (b. 1929)

★ 1995 - Bob Stinson, American guitarist (b.1959)

★ 1997 - Emily Hahn, American writer (b. 1905)

★ 1998 - Harry Caray, American baseball broadcaster (b. 1914)

★ 1999 - Noam Pitlik, American actor and director (b. 1932)

★ 2000 - Willy Maltaite, Belgian comics creator (b. 1927

★ 2001 - Balthus, Polish-born painter (b. 1908)

★ 2001 - Dale Earnhardt, American race car driver (b. 1951)

★ 2001 - Eddie Mathews, American baseball player (b. 1931)

★ 2003 - Isser Harel, Israeli Mossad leader (b. 1912)

★ 2003 - Johnny Paycheck, American country singer/songwriter (b. 1938)

★ 2004 - Jean Rouch, French filmmaker and ethnologist (b. 1917)

★ 2006 - Richard Bright, American actor (b. 1937)

Holidays and observances

★ Gambian Independence Day

★ February 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

★ International Asperger's Day

External links

★ BBC: On This Day

★

★ On This Day in Canada
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