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February 18 Gregorian calendar . There are 316 days remaining until the end of the year (317 in leap years ).
Events
3102 BC - Epoch (origin) of the Kali Yuga .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 .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 - The 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 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 - The 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 .1954 - The first Church of Scientology is established in Los Angeles, California .1955 - The Shot Teapot-Wasp is successfully detonated at the Nevada Test Site with a yield of 1.2 kilotons. Wasp would be the first of fourteen shots of the Teapot series.1957 - Dedan Kimathi , a Kenyan rebel leader is executed by the British colonial government.1965 - The Gambia becomes independent from the United Kingdom.1969 - The Hawthorne Nevada Airlines Flight 708 disaster occurs, killing all on board.1970 - The Chicago Seven are found not guilty of conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic 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 .1979 - Snow fell in the Sahara Desert in southern Algeria for the first and only recorded time in history.1983 - Thirteen people die and one is seriously injured in the Wah Mee Massacre in Seattle, Washington . It is said to be the largest robbery-motivated mass-murder in U.S. 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 .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.
Births
1374 - Saint Jadwiga of Poland , queen of Poland (d. 1399 )1486 - Chaitanya Mahaprabhu , Bengali saint, bhakti yoga developer1516 - 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 )1870 - William Laurel Harris , American mural painter, writer (d. 1924 )1871 - Harry Brearley , English inventor (d. 1948 )1883 - Nikos Kazantzakis , Greek author (d. 1957 )1884 - Andrew Watson Myles , Canadian politician (d. 1970 )1888 - George Papandreou , Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1968 )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 4 times (d.2005 )1898 - Luis Muñoz Marín , Puerto Rican poet (d. 1980 )
1901 - Reginald Sheffield , British actor (d. 1957 )1902 - Walter Herbert , German-born conductor and impresario (d. 1975 )1903 - Nikolai Podgorny , President of the Soviet Union (d. 1983 )1906 - Hans Asperger , Austrian pediatrician (d. 1980 )1907 - Oscar Brodney , American screenwriter (d. 2008 )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 )1918 - Jane Loevinger , American psychologist (d. 2008 ).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 editor1922 - Allan Melvin , American actor (d. 2008 )
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 actor1925 - Marcel Barbeau , Quebec artist
1927 - John Warner , American politician1927 - Luis Arroyo , Puerto Rican baseball player
1928 - Tom Johnson , Canadian ice hockey player1929 - Len Deighton , British author1929 - André Mathieu , Quebec composer (d. 1968 )
1930 - Gahan Wilson , American cartoonist1931 - 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 director1933 - Yoko Ono , Japanese-born singer1933 - Sir Bobby Robson , English football manager
1933 - Mary Ure , Scottish actress (d. 1975 )
1935 - Michel Aoun , Lebanese prime minister1936 - Jean Auel , American writer1936 - Dick Duff , Canadian ice hockey player
1938 - István Szabó , Hungarian film director1938 - Manny Mota , Dominican baseball player
1939 - Dal Maxvill , American baseball player1939 - Marek Janowski , Polish-born conductor
1939 - Claude Ake , Nigerian political scientist
1941 - Irma Thomas , American singer1943 - Graeme Garden , Scottish writer1944 - Pat Bowlen , owner of the Denver Broncos 1945 - Judy Rankin , American golfer1946 - Michael Buerk , British newsreader1946 - Jean-Claude Dreyfus , French actor
1947 - Dennis DeYoung , American musician (STYX )1947 - Princess Christina of the Netherlands
1947 - Carlos Lopes , Portuguese athlete
1947 - Eliot Lance Engel , American politician
1948 - Sinéad Cusack , Irish actress1948 - Keith Knudsen , American drummer and songwriter (The Doobie Brothers ) (d. 2005 )
1949 - Gary Ridgway , American serial killer1950 - John Hughes , American director1950 - Cybill Shepherd , American actress
1950 - Michel Gauthier , Quebec politician
1951 - Isabel Preysler , Philippines-born Spanish socialite1952 - Maurice Lucas , American basketball player1952 - Juice Newton , American singer
1953 - Robbie Bachman , Canadian drummer (Bachman-Turner Overdrive )1954 - John Travolta , American actor1955 - Miles Tredinnick , English playwright1955 - Raymond Rougeau , Canadian professional wrestler
1956 - Ted Gärdestad , Swedish singer (d. 1997 )1957 - Marita Koch , German athlete1957 - Vanna White , American game show presenter
1958 - Giovanni Lavaggi , Italian racing driver1958 - Gar Samuelson , American drummer (d. 1999 )
1960 - Carol McGiffin , British TV and radio presenter1960 - Greta Scacchi , Australian actress
1960 - Andy Moog , Canadian ice hockey player
1962 - Julie Strain , American actress1963 - Martin Treanor , Irish Writer1963 - Henry Winter , English football journalist
1964 - Matt Dillon , American actor1964 - Paul Hanley , British musician (The Fall , Tom Hingley and the Lovers )
1965 - Dr. Dre , American rapper1965 - Gregory Scott Johnson , American murderer (d. 2005 )
1966 - Guy Ferland , American television director1967 - Roberto Baggio , Italian footballer1967 - Tracey Edmonds , American film and television producer
1968 - Molly Ringwald , American actress1969 - Alexander Mogilny , Russian ice hockey player1969 - 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 player1973 - Claude Makélélé , French footballer1974 - Jamey Carroll , American baseball player1974 - Ruby Dhalla , Canadian politician
1974 - Yevgeny Kafelnikov , Russian tennis player
1975 - Sarah Brown , American actress1975 - Keith Gillespie , Irish footballer
1975 - Gary Neville , English footballer
1976 - Leilani Munter , American race car driver1977 - Kátia , Brazilian footballer1977 - Sean Watkins , American guitarist and songwriter
1977 - Chrissie Wellington , British triathlete
1978 - Josip Šimunić , Croatian footballer1980 - Regina Spektor , Russian-born singer and songwriter1980 - Nikolai Antropov , Kazakh ice hockey player
1981 - Andrei Kirilenko , Russian basketball player1981 - Ivan Sproule , Irish footballer
1981 - Kim Jae Won , South Korean actor
1981 - Alex Rios , American baseball player
1983 - Juelz Santana , American rapper1983 - Jermaine Jenas , English footballer
1983 - Jason Maxiell , American basketball player
1984 - Buddy Nielsen , American singer (Senses Fail )
1985 - Anton Ferdinand , English footballer1985 - Lee Boyd Malvo , American serial killer
1986 - Marc Torrejón , Spanish footballer1988 - 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 von Abensberg 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 )1785 - Johnny Appleseed , American environmentalist (b.1774 )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 )1955 - Sadako Sasaki , School student(b. 1944 )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 )1998 - Robbie James , Welsh footballer (b. 1957 )
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 )2008 - Sir Richard Knowles , British politician (b. 1917 )2008 - Mihaela Mitrache , Romanian actress, (b. 1955 )2008 - Mickey Renaud , Canadian professional ice hockey player (b. 1988 )
Holidays and observances
External links
