This Day in History
September 18

Copyright © 2006-2024 Ken Polsson
internet e-mail: ken@kpolsson.com
URL: http://kpolsson.com/thisday/
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What happened in history on this day: September 18?

On September 18 in ...

  • 1502 - Christopher Columbus lands at Costa Rica on his fourth, and final, voyage.
  • 1630 - Death of Melchior Klesl in Vienna, Austria; priest, Bishop of Vienna, cardinal.
  • 1684 - Birth of Johann Gottfried Walther in Erfurt; Baroque composer (Musicalisches Lexikon, the first encyclopedia of music).
  • 1692 - Several earthquakes occur in area of Spa, Belgium, displacing spring waters of Pouhon and Geronstere.
  • 1709 - Birth of Dr Samuel Johnson writer (Boswell's tour guide).
  • 1733 - Birth of George Read lawyer/signed Declaration of Independence.
  • 1739 - Treaty of Belgrade-Austria cedes Belgrade to Turks.
  • 1752 - Birth of Adrien-Marie Legendre mathematician, worked on elliptic integrals.
  • 1755 - Fort Ticonderoga, New York opens.
  • 1759 - British troops capture Québec City during the French and Indian War.
  • 1769 - Boston Gazette reports first US piano (a spinet).
  • 1779 - Birth of Joseph Story in Massachusetts, USA; US Supreme Court justice (1812-45).
  • 1793 - US President George Washington lays the cornerstone of the US Capitol building.
  • 1794 - Austrian army is decisively defeated at the battle of Sprimont.
  • 1809 - The Royal Opera House in London opens.
  • 1810 - Chile declares independence from Spain.
  • 1819 - Birth of Jean-Bernard-Léon Foucault; his pendulum proved Earth rotates (dies 1868).
  • 1830 - A horse beats the first US-made locomotive in a race near Baltimore, Maryland.
  • 1851 - New York Times newspaper starts publishing, selling for 2 cents a copy.
  • 1866 - The Grand Masonic Lodge of Nevada lays the cornerstone for the Carson City Mint.
  • 1870 - Old Faithful Geyser is observed and named by Henry D. Washburn.
  • 1870 - Birth of Clark Wissler; anthropologist (American Indian).
  • 1882 - Pacific Stock Exchange opens (as the Local Security Board).
  • 1883 - Birth of Lord Berners (Gerald Tyrwhitt) in England; composer (first Childhood).
  • 1890 - US President Benjamin Harrison signs a bill into law making use of the Post Office for lottery purposes illegal.
  • 1893 - Birth of Arthur Benjamin in Sydney, Australia; composer (Jamaican Rumba).
  • 1895 - Birth of John G Diefenbaker in Neustadt, Ontario, Canada; 13th Canadian Prime Minister (Conservative, 1957-63).
  • 1895 - Booker T Washington delivers "Atlanta Compromise" address.
  • 1895 - D.D. Palmer of Davenport, Iowa, becomes first chiropractor.
  • 1901 - Birth of Harold Clurman; producer/director (Deadline at Dawn).
  • 1905 - Birth of Agnes De Mille in New York City, New York, USA; choreographer (Oklahoma).
  • 1905 - Birth of Claudette Colbert in Paris, France; actress (Lily Chauchoin, Arise My Love).
  • 1905 - Birth of Eddie "Rochester" Anderson in Oakland, California, USA; actor (Jack Benny Show).
  • 1905 - Birth of Greta Garbo in Stockholm, Sweden; actress (Ninotchka, Grand Hotel, Camille).
  • 1911 - Britain's first twin-engine airplane (Short S.39) test flown.
  • 1914 - Battle of Aisne ends with Germans beating French.
  • 1915 - Birth of Ethel Greenglass in New York, USA; secretary for U.S. Army Signal Corps, executed for spying.
  • 1916 - Birth of John J Rhodes; American politician (Representative-Republican-Arizona).
  • 1916 - Birth of Rossano Brazzi in Bologna, Italy; actor (Antaeus - Survivors).
  • 1919 - The Netherlands gives women the right to vote.
  • 1919 - Hurricane tides 16 feet above normal drown 280 along Gulf Coast.
  • 1920 - Birth of Jack Warden in Newark, New Jersey, USA; actor (NYPD, Crazy Like a Fox, Norby).
  • 1924 - Birth of Zelda Fichandler in Boston, Massachusetts, USA; theater director/producer (Raisin, K2).
  • 1926 - Hurricane hits Miami and south Florida, USA, destroying hotels, piers, marinas, mansions built in preceding years. 400 killed, 50,000 made homeless.
  • 1927 - Columbia Broadcasting System goes on the air in the USA (16 radio stations).
  • 1928 - Birth of Phyllis Kirk in Syracuse, New York, USA; actress (Thin Man, Red Button's Show).
  • 1930 - Enterprise (US) beats Shamrock V (England) in 15th America's Cup.
  • 1930 - New York Yankees' pitcher Red Ruffing hits two home runs to beat Saint Louis Browns, 7-6.
  • 1931 - Japan stages the Mukden Incident as a pretext to occupy Manchuria.
  • 1931 - Geli Raubal is found shot dead in Adolf Hitler's apartment.
  • 1932 - Birth of Jack Mullaney in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; actor (My Living Doll, It's About Time).
  • 1932 - Birth of Nikolai N Rukavishnikov; cosmonaut (Soyuz 10, 16, 33).
  • 1933 - Birth of Jimmie Rodgers in Washington, USA; country singer ("Honeycomb").
  • 1933 - Birth of Robert Blake in Nutley, New Jersey, USA; actor (Baretta, Little Rascals, Coast to Coast).
  • 1934 - Saint Louis Browns' player Bobo Newsom loses no-hitter to Boston Braves in 10 innings, 2-1.
  • 1938 - Despite losing a double header, New York Yankees clinch pennant number 10.
  • 1939 - Birth of Fred Willard in Ohio, USA; comedian (Fernwood 2 Night, Real People).
  • 1939 - Russian forces reach Vilna and Brest-Litovsk in Poland, and meet with German forces. A joint German-Soviet military commission meets to draft plans for partition.
  • 1940 - Soviet Minister of Defence Marshal S.K. Timoshenko and Chief of General Staff K.A. Meretskov submit a war plan to Josef Stalin and Prime Minister Vyacheslav Molotov, proposing an attack on Germany north of the Pripet marshes, with a strong defence to the south, or vice-versa.
  • 1940 - Birth of Frankie Avalon in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; actor (Beach movies), singer ("Venus").
  • 1941 - Birth of Mariangela Melato in Milan, Italy; actress (Flash Gordon, Summer Night).
  • 1942 - Canadian Broadcasting Corporation authorized for radio service.
  • 1944 - Birth of Charles Lacy Veach in Chicago, Illinois, USA; astronaut (STS 39).
  • 1945 - 1000 whites walk out of Gary, Indiana, schools to protest integration.
  • 1947 - US President Harry Truman signs National Security Act, creating Central Intelligence Agency.
  • 1947 - The United States Air Force becomes an independent service.
  • 1948 - Ralph J Bunche confirmed as acting United Nations mediator in Palestine.
  • 1949 - Baseball major league record four grand slams hit.
  • 1949 - Death of Frank Morgan AKA Francis Wuppermann at age 59 after a heart attack; actor (Maxwell House Coffee Time radio show, The Wizard of Oz movie (1939), Annie Get Your Gun movie).
  • 1954 - Cleveland Indians clinch American League pennant, beat Detroit Tigers (3-2).
  • 1955 - CBS airs the last Toast of the Town TV show.
  • 1957 - NBC TV debuts the Wagon Train TV show.
  • 1959 - Vanguard 3 is launched into orbit to measure local phenomena related to Earth's atmosphere.
  • 1961 - Dag Hammarskjold, secretary general of the United Nations, is killed when his DC-6 plane crashes into the jungle in Zambia.
  • 1962 - Rwanda, Burundi, Jamaica, and Trinidad admitted (105th-108th) to the United Nations.
  • 1963 - Final game at Polo Grounds, 1,752 see Philadelphia Phillies beat New York Mets 5-1.
  • 1963 - ABC TV debuts The Patty Duke Show.
  • 1964 - Birth of Holly Robinson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; actress (21 Jump Street).
  • 1964 - ABC TV debuts The Addams Family TV show.
  • 1965 - NBC-TV debuts the I Dream of Jeannie sitcom TV show, starring Larry Hagman and Barbara Eden.
  • 1965 - The NBC TV network premieres the Get Smart 30-minute TV show in the USA.
  • 1966 - Birth of Spike; vocal/guitar (Ian Spice Breathe, Flash Cadillac-R&R Forever).
  • 1967 - Intrepid (US) beats Dame Pattie (Australia) in 21st America's Cup.
  • 1968 - Birth of Francis McDonald in Bowling Green, Kentucky, USA; actor (Will - Adventures of Champion).
  • 1968 - Ray Washburn (Saint Louis Cardinals) no-hits San Francisco Giants 2-0.
  • 1968 - The CBS TV network airs the last He and She TV show in the USA.
  • 1969 - The ABC TV network begins airing The Ghost and Mrs. Muir 30-minute comedy TV show in the USA.
  • 1970 - Death of James Marshall Hendrix AKA Jimi Hendrix of a drug overdose at age 27 in London, England; rock guitarist/singer ("Purple Haze", "Foxy Lady", "Fire", "Hey Joe", "Voodoo Child", "All Along The Watchtower").
  • 1970 - The ABC TV network aires the last The Ghost and Mrs. Muir TV show in the USA.
  • 1972 - Death of Robert Faesi in Zollikon, Switzerland; playwright, poet, author, professor of German literature at the University of Zürich.
  • 1973 - German Democratic Republic and Federal Republic of Germany are both taken into the United Nations.
  • 1974 - Hurricane Fifi strikes Honduras with 110 mph winds, 5,000 die.
  • 1975 - FBI captures heiress/bank robber Patricia Campbell Hearst in San Francisco, California.
  • 1977 - Courageous (US) sweeps Australia (Australia) in 24th America's Cup.
  • 1977 - US Voyager I takes the first space photograph of the Earth and Moon together.
  • 1978 - CBS TV debuts the sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati.
  • 1979 - Bolshoi Ballet dancers Leonid and Valentina Kozlov defect.
  • 1979 - Gene Kelly, sportscaster (Sportsreel), dies at age 60.
  • 1980 - Soyuz 38 carries two cosmonauts (one Cuban) to Salyut 6 space station.
  • 1981 - France abolishes capital punishment.
  • 1982 - Birth of Lukas Reimann; Swiss politician.
  • 1983 - George Meegen completes 2,426-day (19,000 miles) walk across Western Hemisphere.
  • 1983 - New Orleans Saints' first overtime victory; beating Chicago Bears 34-31.
  • 1984 - Off the east coast of Honshu, Japan, a magnitude 6.9 earthquake occurs.
  • 1984 - In Turkey, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake occurs. Three people killed, 38 injured, and 75,000 houses destroyed or damaged in the Olur-Senkaya area.
  • 1984 - Joe Kittinger completes the first solo balloon crossing of Atlantic.
  • 1984 - Detroit Tigers become fourth team to stay in first place from opening day.
  • 1986 - The TV series Siskel & Ebert debuts in syndication.
  • 1986 - Motorola announces the Motorola 68030 microprocessor. It incorporates about 300,000 transistors.
  • 1987 - Paramount releases the film Fatal Attraction to theaters.
  • 1987 - A two-hour syndicated TV special DuckTales airs. This is the debut of the first daily animated series from the Walt Disney Studios.
  • 1987 - Detroit Tigers' Darrell Evans is first 40-year-old to hit 30 home runs.
  • 1989 - Hurricane Hugo causes extensive damage in Puerto Rico.
  • 1990 - A 500-pound 6-foot chocolate Hershey Kiss is displayed at 1 Times Square, New York City.
  • 1990 - In Tokyo, Japan, the International Olympic Committee chooses Atlanta, Georgia, to host the 1996 Summer Olympic Games.
  • 1991 - Space shuttle STS 48 (Discovery 14) lands.
  • 1992 - Undaunted by his earlier withdrawal, supporters of U.S. presidential candidate H. Ross Perot succeed in getting his name on the ballot in all 50 states.
  • 1992 - The CBS TV network begins airing the Disney show The Golden Palace, a sequel to The Golden Girls.
  • 1993 - The CBS TV network debuts the animated TV series Marsupilami.
  • 1995 - The CBS TV network debuts the Touchstone Television TV series If Not for You.
  • 1997 - Death of Jimmy Witherspoon at age 74; blues singer ("Ain't Nobody's Business" (1949), "No Rollin' Blues", "Big Fine Girl").
  • 1997 - Wales votes in favour of devolution and the formation of a National Assembly.
  • 1998 - ICANN is formed.
  • 2001 - The 2001 anthrax attacks commence as anthrax letters are mailed from Princeton, New Jersey to ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, the New York Post, and the National Enquirer.
  • 2001 - Death of Ernie Coombs at age 73; actor (Mr. Dressup TV show (1967-1996)).
  • 2002 - Death of Bob Hayes, American athlete (born 1942).
  • 2003 - Hurricane Isabel makes landfall as a Category 2 Hurricane on North Carolina's Outer Banks. It will directly kill 16 people in the Mid-Atlantic area.
  • 2005 - Federal elections in Germany. Leading Chancellor candidates are Gerhard Schröder (Social Democratic Party, 34.3 percent) and Angela Merkel (Christian Democratic Union, 27.8 percent).
  • 2007 - The Federal Reserve cuts interest rates in the U.S. by half a point (0.5 percent) for the first time since 2006 to ease the ongoing panic in the financial markets due to the subprime mortgage crisis.
  • 2007 - Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto returns to Pakistan after an eight-year self-imposed exile.
  • 2008 - Death of Mauricio Kagel, Argentine composer (born 1931).
  • 2015 - Automaker Volkswagen is alleged to have been involved in worldwide rigging of diesel emissions tests, affecting an estimated 11 million vehicles globally.
  • 2022 - Death of Marcello Magni at age 63; Italian actor, co-founder (Complicité theatre company).

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