Historical Events on March 18

Events 1 - 200 of 220

• 417 Saint Zosimus begins his reign as Catholic Pope
• 731 St Gregory III begins his reign as Catholic Pope
• 978 Edward the Martyr, the teenage King of England, is murdered, possibly arranged by his stepmother Queen Ælfthryth, by Corfe Castle
• 1123 First Council of the Lateran (9th ecumenical council) opens in Rome, agreements of the Concordat of Worms ratified
• 1167 Battle of El-Babein, Egypt: Franks under Amalrik vs Syrians
• 1184 Battle of Ichi-no-Tani near Kobe, Japan
• 1190 Crusaders kill 57 Jews in Bury St Edmunds, England
• 1229 Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II crowns himself King of Jerusalem
• 1241 Mongolian armies rout the forces of Boleslaw IV at Chmielnik and sack and burn the city of Kraków to the ground

• 1325 According to legend, Tenochtitlan is founded on this date on an island in what was then Lake Texcoco in the Valley of Mexico
• 1438 Albert II of Habsburg chosen as King of Germany at Frankfurt

• 1532 English parliament bans payments by English church to Rome

• 1583 Dutch States General and Anjou sign treaty
• 1608 Susenyos is formally crowned Emperor of Ethiopia

• 1673 Lord Berkley sells his half of New Jersey to the Quakers

• 1766 Britain repeals the Stamp Act, which had caused outrage in colonial America and helped lead to the American Revolution
• 1773 Oliver Goldsmith's "She Stoops to Conquer" premieres in London

• 1793 Second Battle at Neerwinden: Austria army beats France
• 1793 The first republican state in Germany, the Republic of Mainz, is declared by Andreas Joseph Hofmann
• 1813 David Melville, Newport, Rhode Island, patents apparatus for making coal gas
• 1818 US Congress approves 1st pensions for government service
• 1834 1st railroad tunnel in US completed, in Pennsylvania (275 m long)
• 1834 Six farm labourers from Tolpuddle, Dorset, England are sentenced to be transported to Australia for forming a trade union
• 1840 In a bloody battle Liberal general Francisco Morazán attempts to retake Guatemala City from Rafael Carrera but fails, barely escaping with his life
• 1847 1st Dutch public telegram
• 1850 Henry Wells & William Fargo form American Express in Buffalo
• 1858 Dutch Van der Brugghen government resigns
• 1859 Vera Cruz besieged by Miramon (Cons) in Mexican War of Reform
• 1865 Battle of Wilson's raid to Selma, Alabama
• 1865 Congress of Confederate States of American adjourns for last time
• 1870 1st US National Wildlife Preserve (Lake Meritt in Oakland California)
• 1870 Antonio Carlos Gomes' "Il Guarany" premieres at La Scala Opera House in Milan, Italy, 1st Brazilian opera successful outside Brazil
• 1871 Communards revolt in Paris
• 1874 Hawaii signs a treaty with the United States granting exclusive trading rights.

• 1878 City of Anaheim in California incorporates for the 2nd time

• 1882 Morgan Earp is assassinated by outlaws while playing billiards in Tombstone
• 1890 1st US state naval militia organized (Massachusetts)

• 1891 Britain is linked to the continent by Telephone
• 1892 Lord Stanley presents silver challenge cup for hockey (Stanley Cup)
• 1895 200 African Americans leave Savannah, Georgia for Liberia
• 1899 Phoebe, a moon of Saturn is discovered by William Pickering
• 1900 Ajax soccer club forms in Amsterdam, The Netherlands (33 Eredivisie titles, 18 KNVB Cups, 4 Champions League); named after legendary Greek hero
• 1900 Japan uses its influence over Korea to deny Russia's efforts to obtain a naval station at Korean Port of Masampo, the lead up to the Russo-Japanese war

• 1902 Turkey grants Germany syndicate the first concession to construct a railroad through Turkish territory to Baghdad, to be linked to Berlin
• 1903 Following through on its attacks on Roman Catholic institutions, the French Government dissolves the Catholic religious orders

• 1909 Einar Dessau of Denmark makes 1st ham broadcast
• 1909 Russia and Bulgaria reach an agreement in which late 19th century Russian financial claims are cancelled to meet compensation due to Turkey from Bulgaria
• 1910 Frederick Converse's opera "The Pipe of Desire" is the first American opera to be performed at the Metropolitan Opera, NYC
• 1911 North Dakota enacts a hail insurance law
• 1913 King George I of Greece is assassinated in the recently liberated city of Thessaloniki
• 1914 White Wolf gang beats government army in Jingdezhen, China
• 1915 Failed British attack in Dardanelles
• 1915 French battleship Bouvet explodes, 640 killed
• 1918 Soccer team SON OF Meerssen forms
• 1918 Socialist Youth AJC organizes in Amsterdam
• 1919 Order of DeMolay forms in Kansas City

• 1921 2nd Peace of Riga, Poland enlarged
• 1921 Steamer "Hong Koh" runs aground off Swatow China killing 1,000
• 1922 1st intercollegiate indoor polo championship (Princeton vs Yale)

• 1922 The first public celebration of Bat mitzvah, for the daughter of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, is held in New York City.
• 1922 WBT-AM in Charlotte NC begins radio transmissions

• 1925 Great Tri-State Tornado: Monstrous F5 (over 300MPH) tornado roars 219 miles across southeast Missouri, southern Illinois, and southwest Indiana; kills 695, injures over 2000, and destroys 15,000 homes [1] [2]

• 1930 Boston Bruins win record 20th NHL home game
• 1931 1st electric shavers go on sale in US (Schick)
• 1931 Juan Bautista Aznar becomes premier of Spain
• 1933 Radio Clube de Mocambique's 1st radio transmission
• 1937 Gas explosion in school in New London, Texas: 294 die
• 1937 The human-powered aircraft, Pedaliante, flies 1 kilometre (0.62 miles) outside Milan.
• 1938 NY 1st requires serological blood tests of pregnant women
• 1938 President Cardena of Mexico nationalizes US & British oil companies

• 1942 Illegal Free Netherlands announces boycott of theaters

• 1943 British merchant vessel "Canadian Star" is torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic by German U-boat U-221, 34 die with 54 survivors [1]
• 1943 Red Army evacuates Belgorod
• 1943 Ships James Oglethorpe (US) & Terkolei (Netherlands) torpedoed and sinks
• 1944 Nazi Germany occupies Hungary

• 1945 US Army Air Force completes largest bombing raid on Berlin Germany: Over 1200 bombers drop 3,000 tons of explosives [1]
• 1945 US Task Force 58 attacks targets on Kyushu, Japan
• 1948 France & Great Britain & Benelux sign Treaty of Brussels
• 1948 Philips begin experimental TV broadcasting

• 1949 WGAL TV channel 8 in Lancaster, PA (NBC) begins broadcasting
• 1950 CCNY beats Bradley 69-61 for the NIT championship
• 1951 LPGA Titleholders Championship Women's Golf, Augusta CC: Pat O'Sullivan wins her only major title by 2 strokes from fellow amateur Beverly Hanson
• 1951 William Grant Still's Symphony No. 4 ("Autochthonous"), premiere performance, by the Oklahoma City Symphony Orchestra with Victor Alessandro conducting
• 1952 1st plastic lens for cataract patients fitted (Philadelphia)
• 1953 7.5 magnitude earthquake strikes Yenice–Gönen in western Turkey, 1070 die
• 1953 KGNC (now KAMR) TV channel 4 in Amarillo, TX (NBC) begins broadcasting
• 1953 MLB National League approves Boston Braves move to Milwaukee (1st shift since 1903)
• 1955 Ichirō Hatojama recognized as premier of Japan
• 1957 WTWV (now WTVA) TV channel 9 in Tupelo-Columbus, MS (NBC) begins
• 1958 MLB Los Angeles Dodgers announce their mascot and clown Emmett Kelly will not perform in 1958

• 1962 Algerian War of Independence ends in a ceasefire after 7½ yrs and 250,000 dead, Ahmed Ben Bella flees
• 1962 Dmitri Shostakovich becomes member of Supreme Soviet of USSR
• 1963 France performs underground nuclear test at Ecker, Algeria
• 1963 WGSF TV channel 31 in Newark, OH (PBS) begins broadcasting
• 1965 A truck loses control down Moosic Street, Scranton, Pennsylvania, killing the driver. This accident later inspired the 1974 Harry Chapin song, "30,000 Pounds of Bananas."
• 1965 Poppin' Fresh Pillsbury Dough Boy introduced
• 1965 Rolling Stones fined £5 each for public urination

• 1965 USSR launches Voshkod 2

• 1966 Scott Paper begins selling paper dresses for $1
• 1967 Beatles' "Penny Lane" single goes #1
• 1967 Oil tanker Torrey Canyon hits a rock off Cornwall & spills oil
• 1968 US Congress repeals requirement for a gold reserve
• 1968 WVER TV channel 28 in Rutland, VT (PBS) begins broadcasting
• 1968 WVTA TV channel 41 in Windsor, VT (PBS) begins broadcasting
• 1970 Cambodia military coup under General Lon Nol, Prince Sihanuk flees
• 1970 Five Unionist Members of Parliament (MPs), including William Craig and Harry West, are expelled from the Unionist Parliamentary Party, Northern Ireland
• 1970 KAEC TV channel 19 in Lufkin, Texas (ABC) suspends broadcasting
• 1970 NFL selects Wilson as official football & scoreboard as official time
• 1970 Two-week US postal strike begins; it is against the government and is the largest wildcat strike in US history
• 1971 200 die in landslide into Lake Yanahuani, Chungar Peru
• 1972 China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor, PRC
• 1972 Cornell NCAA hockey team shut out for 1st time in 225 games (Boston U)
• 1972 Memphis' Larry Miller sets ABA record of 67 pts in a game
• 1972 Ulster Vanguard hold a rally of 60,000 people in Belfast; William Craig tells the crowd: "if and when the politicians fail us, it may be our job to liquidate the enemy"
• 1974 Most Arab oil producing nations end embargo against US
• 1975 Kurds end fight against Iraqi army
• 1977 The Clash release their first recording "White Riot"
• 1977 US restricts citizens from visiting Cuba, Vietnam, North Korea & Cambodia
• 1977 Vietnam hands over MIA to US
• 1978 250,000 attend rock concert California Jam II in Ontario, California
• 1978 Former Pakistani premier Ali Bhutto sentenced to death
• 1979 Battles between Kurds & Iranians break in Sananday, Iran
• 1980 Vostok rocket explodes on the launch pad while being refueled, killing 50
• 1981 Buffalo Sabres sets NHL record of 9 goals in 1 period (vs Toronto)
• 1982 Singer Teddy Pendergrass' spinal cord severed in a car accident
• 1985 Capital Cities Communications Inc acquires ABC for $3.5 billion, first transfer of ownership of a TV network

• 1986 US Treasury Department announces plans to alter paper money
• 1987 Gerber survey find most popular names for newborns are Jessica and Matthew
• 1987 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
• 1989 27th NASA Space Shuttle Mission: Discovery 8 (STS-29), returns to Earth
• 1989 California Quake amusement ride opens at Universal Studios

• 1989 In Egypt, a 4,400-year-old mummy is found in the Pyramid of Cheops
• 1990 1st free elections in East Germany, Conservatives beat Communists
• 1990 32-day lockout by baseball owners ends
• 1990 A Tampa little leaguer dies after being struck by a pitch
• 1990 In the largest art heist in US history, 13 works of art worth over $500 million are stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston

• 1991 Reggie Miller (Indiana Pacers) ends NBA free throw streak of 52 games
• 1992 American businesswoman Leona Helmsley sentenced to 4 years for tax evasion "We don't pay taxes; only the little people pay taxes"

• 1992 Zimbabwe beat England by 9 runs in World Cup at Albury
• 1993 Amsterdam stock exchange hits record Ÿ12.2 billion
• 1993 Sri Lanka beat England in Test match by 5 wickets
• 1994 South Africa Goldstone committee reveals existence of secret police
• 1994 Space shuttle STS-62 (Columbia 16), lands

• 1995 STS 67 (Endeavour 8) lands after 16½ days
• 1996 50,000 swimmers raise 15 million for charity during BT's Swimathon '96
• 1996 A nightclub fire in Quezon City, Philippines kills 162.

• 1997 Ben & Jerry's introduce the philanthropic flavor "Phish Food" in conjunction with American jam band Phish at the Flynn Theatre in Burlington, Vermont; some proceeds from the chocolate ice cream with marshmallows, caramel and fish-shaped fudge. are donated to the band's charitable Water Wheel Foundation [1]
• 1997 Russian AN-24 plane crashes in Turkey, 50 die

• 2003 British Sign Language is recognised as an official British language
• 2003 FBI agents raid the corporate headquarters of HealthSouth Corporation in Birmingham, Alabama on suspicion of massive corporate fraud led by the company's top executives.

• 2005 Terri Schiavo's feeding tube is removed at the request of her husband
• 2007 Former England Test cricket batsman, and Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer is found dead one day after his team's defeat to Ireland puts them out of the World Cup in the West Indies; cause of death remains suspicious
• 2011 MESSENGER spacecraft enters Mercury's orbit
• 2012 Joachim Gauck elected President of the Federal republic of Germany by the Federal Assembly
• 2012 Superleague Greece football match between Olympiacos and Panathinaikos is abandoned after fans set fire to Athens' Olympic Stadium
• 2013 98 people are killed and 248 are injured across Iraq from a series of bombings and shootings
• 2013 A car bombing kills 10 people and injures 20 in Mogadishu, Somalia
• 2013 Explosions kill 25 people at a bus park in Kano, Nigeria

• 2014 Russia formally annexes Crimea, previously part of Ukraine. by signing Treaty on Accession
• 2014 Transnistria formally requests to join the Russian Federation
• 2014 US closes the Syrian embassy in Washington & expels all Syrian diplomats

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