Major Events
- 218 BC Second Punic War: Battle of the Trebia - Hannibal's Carthaginian army heavily defeat Roman forces on Italian soil
- 1271 Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan renames his empire "Yuan" (元 yuán), marking the start of the Yuan Dynasty of China
- 1603 First fleet of the Dutch East India Company under Admiral Steven van der Haghen departs for the East-Indies
- 1642 Abel Tasman's expedition is the first European voyage to reach New Zealand sailing into Wharewharangi Bay at the top of the South Island, making the first confirmed contact with Maori [1]
- 1917 The 18th Amendment to the US Constitution, authorizing prohibition of alcohol, is approved by the US congress and sent to the states for ratification [1]
- 1957 World's first full scale nuclear power plant, for peacetime use only, begins to generate electricity at the Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania
- 1979 Stuntman Stanley Barrett unofficially breaks the land speed record and the sound barrier in his three-wheeled vehicle the Budweiser Rocket (739.666 mph or Mach 1.01). The speed was never officially recorded and the attempt remains controversial.
- 2019 US House of Representatives votes to impeach President Donald Trump for abuse of power (230-197) and obstruction of Congress (229-198)
- More December 18 Events
Dec 18 in Film & TV
- 2009 James Cameron's "Avatar" starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana and Sigourney Weaver, released in the US, becomes highest-grossing film of all time
Dec 18 in Music
- 1892 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's ballet "The Nutcracker" premieres in Saint Petersburg, Russia, now the world's most performed ballet; his final opera "Isolanta" also premieres
Dec 18 in Sport
- 1961 For second consecutive year, AP names Wilma Rudolph female athlete of year
- 2022 FIFA World Cup Final, Lusail Stadium, Qatar: Argentina beats France, 4-2 in penalty shootout after teams locked at 3-3 after extra time; Lionel Messi scores 2 for Argentina, Kylian Mbappé a hat-trick for France
Did You Know?
Thomas Fleet publishes "Mother Goose's Melodies For Children" in Boston, Massachusetts
J. J. Thomson
Franz Ferdinand
Joseph Stalin
Willy Brandt
Yoon Suk-yeol
Joseph Grimaldi
Betty Grable
DMX
Steven Spielberg
Brad Pitt
Christina Aguilera
Fletcher Henderson
Keith Richards
Billie Eilish
Ty Cobb
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
Fun Fact About December 18
Project SCORE, world’s 1st communications satellite launched from Cape Canaveral
Famous Weddings
- 1915 28th US President Woodrow Wilson, widowed the year before marries second wife Edith Bolling Galt, a descendant of native American Pocahontas
- 1926 American actor George Murphy (24) weds ballroom dancing partner Juliette Henkel, until her death in 1973
- 1932 Civil rights activist Rosa McCauley (19) weds Raymond Parks (29) in Montgomery, Alabama
Famous Divorces
- 1923 Jazz musician Louis Armstrong (22) divorces Daisy Parker after 5 years of marriage
- 1968 Actor Peter Sellers (43) divorces actress Britt Ekland after 4 years of marriage
More December 18 Weddings
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
Bobby Jones
Chris Farley
Joseph Barbera
Václav Havel
Zsa Zsa Gabor
