March 18

is the 77th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (78th in leap years). There are 288 days remaining in the year.

Events

3952 BC - According to the Venerable Bede , the world was created.
37 - The Roman Senate annuls Tiberius' will and proclaims Caligula emperor.
731 - Saint Gregory III begins his reign as a Catholic pope.
1229 - Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor declares himself King of Jerusalem during the Sixth Crusade.
1241 - Krakow ravaged by Mongols.
1325 - Tenochtitlan founded.
1438 - Albert II of Habsburg becomes King of Germany.
1608 - Susenyos formally crowned Emperor of Ethiopia
1673 - John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton sells his part of New Jersey to some Friends (Quakers).
1766 - American Revolution: The British Parliament repeals the Stamp Act, which was very unpopular in the British colonies.
1850 - American Express is founded by Henry Wells & William Fargo.
1865 - American Civil War: The Congress of the Confederate States of America adjourns for the last time.
1871 - President of the French government Thiers orders evacuation of Paris, a socialist government rules the city.
1874 - Hawaii signs a treaty with the United States granting exclusive trading rights.
1900 - AFC Ajax founded.
1906 - Traian Vuia flew a self-propelled heavier-than-air aircraft which took off without any external means
1909 - Einar Dessau uses a short-wave radio transmitter becoming the first radio broadcaster.
1913 - George I of Greece is assassinated.
1915 - World War I: Massive naval attack in Battle of Gallipoli. Three battleships are sunk during a failed British & French naval attack on the Dardanelles.
1921 - The second Peace of Riga between Poland and Soviet Union. Despite the recent Polish successes, Soviets annex Ukraine and Belarus. Government of Ukraine emigrates to France. Famine kills millions of Russians.
1922 - In India, Mohandas Gandhi is sentenced to six years in prison for civil disobedience. He would serve only 2 years.
1922 - The first public celebration of Bat mitzvah, for the daughter of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, is held in New York City.
1925 - The Tri-State Tornado hits the Midwestern states of Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana, killing 695 people.
1937 - The New London School explosion kills three hundred, mostly children.
1937 - Spanish Civil War: Spanish Republican forces hand the Italian forces a grave defeat at the Battle of Guadalajara.
1938 - Mexico nationalizes all foreign-owned oil properties within its borders.
1940 - World War II: Axis Powers - Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini meet at Brenner Pass in the Alps and agree to form an alliance against France and the United Kingdom.
1945 - World War II: 1,250 American bombers attack Berlin.
1953 - An earthquake hits western Turkey killing 250.
1959 - American President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a bill into law allowing for Hawaiian statehood, which would become official on August 21.
1961 - In Cannes, France, Jean-Claude Pascal wins the sixth Eurovision Song Contest for Luxembourg singing "Nous les amoureux" (We the lovers).
1962 - The Evian Accords put an end to the Algerian War of Independence, which had began in 1954.
1962 - In Luxembourg, Isabelle Aubret wins the seventh Eurovision Song Contest for France singing "Un premier amour" (A first love).
1965 - Cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov, leaving his spacecraft Voskhod 2 for 12 minutes, becomes the first person to walk in space.
1967 - Supertanker Torrey Canyon Runs aground off the Cornish coast.
1968 - Gold standard: The U.S. Congress repeals the requirement for a gold reserve to back US currency.
1970 - Lon Nol ousts Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia.
1971 - A landslide at Chungar, Peru crashes into Lake Yanahuani killing 200.
1974 - Oil embargo crisis: Most OPEC nations end a five-month oil embargo against the United States, Europe and Japan.
1980 - On Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia 50 persons were killed at an explosion of a Vostok-2M rocket on its launch pad during a fueling operation.
1985 - The first episode of popular soap Neighbours airs on Australian TV.
1989 - In Egypt, a 4,400-year-old mummy is found in the Pyramid of Cheops.
1990 - 12 paintings, collectively worth $100 million, are stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts. This is the largest art theft in US history.
1992 - Microsoft ships Windows 3.1.
1997 - The tail of a Russian An-24 charter plane breaks off while en-route to Turkey causing the plane to crash and killing all 50 on board. This leads to the grounding of all An-24s.
2005 - The first-ever Muslim Friday prayer led by a woman in a mixed-gender congregation was held in New York City, marking a break with a 1426-year Islamic tradition.
2005 - Terri Schiavo's feeding tube is removed at the request of her husband, fueling a worldwide debate on euthanasia.

Births

1395 - John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter, English military leader (d. 1447)
1555 - François, Duke of Anjou (d. 1584)
1590 - Manuel de Faria e Sousa, Portuguese historian and poet (d. 1649)
1603 - Simon Bradstreet, Massachusetts Bay colonist (d. 1693)
1634 - Marie-Madeleine Pioche de la Vergne, comtesse de la Fayette, French writer (d. 1693)
1640 - Philippe de la Hire, French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1719)
1657 - Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni, Italian composer (d. 1743)
1679 - Matthew Decker, English merchant and writer (d. 1759)
1685 - Ralph Ersine, Scottish minister (d. 1752)
1690 - Christian Goldbach, Prussian mathematician (d. 1764)
1701 - Niclas Sahlgren, Swedish merchant and philanthropist (d. 1776)
1780 - Milos Obrenovic, Leader of The Second Serbian Uprising and Prince of Serbia (d. 1860)
1782 - John C. Calhoun, Vice President of the United States (d. 1850)
1813 - Christian Friedrich Hebbel, German writer (d. 1864)
1823 - Antoine Eugène Alfred Chanzy, French general (d. 1883)
1828 - William Randal Cremer, English politician and pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1908)
1837 - Grover Cleveland, President of the United States (d. 1908)
1840 - William Cosmo Monkhouse, English poet and critic (d. 1901)
1842 - Stéphane Mallarmé, French poet (d. 1898)
1844 - Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian composer (d. 1908)
1858 - Rudolf Diesel, German inventor (d. 1913)
1869 - Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1940)
1872 - Anna Held, Polish actress and singer (d. 1918)
1877 - Edgar Cayce, American psychic (d. 1945)
1882 - Gian Francesco Malipiero, Italian composer (d. 1973)
1886 - Edward Everett Horton, American actor (d. 1970)
1898 - Jake Swirbul, American aircraft manufacturer (d. 1960)
1899 - Jean Goldkette, Greek-born jazz musician (d. 1962)
1904 - Srečko Kosovel, Slovenian poet (d. 1926)
1905 - Robert Donat, English actor (d. 1958)
1905 - Thomas Townsend Brown, American scientist (d. 1985)
1907 - John Zachary Young, biologist (d. 1997)
1910 - Chiang Ching-kuo, President of the Republic of China (d. 1988)
1913 - Werner Molders German WWII pilot (d. 1941)
1915 - Richard Condon, American novelist (d. 1996)
1918 - Al Benton, baseball player (d. 1968)
1918 - Bob Broeg, American sports writer (d. 2005)
1922 - Egon Bahr, German politician
1926 - Peter Graves, American actor
1927 - John Kander, American songwriter
1927 - George Plimpton, American writer and actor (d. 2003)
1928 - Julia Mullock, Princess of Korea
1928 - Fidel V. Ramos, President of the Philippines
1932 - John Updike, American author
1936 - Frederik Willem de Klerk, President of South Africa, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
1937 - Mark Donohue, American race car driver (d. 1975)
1938 - Charley Pride, American musician
1941 - Wilson Pickett, American singer (d. 2006)
1943 - Kevin Dobson, American actor
1949 - Alex Higgins, Northern Irish snooker player
1949 - Åse Kleveland, Norwegian singer and politician
1950 - Brad Dourif, American actor
1951 - Bill Frisell, American jazz musician
1952 - Mike Webster, American football player (d. 2002)
1956 - Ingemar Stenmark, Swedish skier
1959 - Luc Besson, French producer, writer, and director
1959 - Irene Cara, American actress and singer
1960 - Richard Biggs, American actor (d. 2004)
1962 - Thomas Ian Griffith, American actor
1963 - Vanessa Lynn Williams, American beauty queen, actress, and singer
1964 - Bonnie Blair, American speed skater
1964 - Courtney Pine, British jazz saxophonist
1964 - Rozalla, Zambian singer
1966 - Jerry Cantrell, American musician (Alice in Chains)
1968 - Shinichiro Miki, Japanese seiyu (voice actor)
1969 - Vassily Ivanchuk, Ukrainian chess player
1969 - Shaun Udal, English cricketer
1970 - Queen Latifah, American singer and actress
1972 - Dane Cook, American comedian
1973 - Max Barry, Australian author
1973 - Jason Beam, American artist
1975 - Brian Griese, American football player
1975 - Tomas Žvirgždauskas, Lithuanian footballer
1975 - Sutton Foster, American actress, singer, and dancer
1976 - Tomo Ohka, Baseball player
1976 - Jovan Kirovski, American football (soccer) player
1977 - Danny Murphy, English footballer
1977 - Willy Sagnol, French international footballer
1977 - Terrmel Sledge, Baseball player
1979 - Adam Levine, American singer (Maroon 5)
1980 - Alexei Yagudin, Russian figure skater
1980 - Sophia Myles, English actress
1982 - Pedro Mantorras, Angolan footballer
1982 - Chad Cordero, Baseball pitcher

Deaths

978 - King Edward the Martyr of England
1227 - Pope Honorius III (b. 1148)
1583 - King Magnus of Livonia (b. 1540)
1584 - Tsar Ivan IV of Russia (b. 1530)
1675 - Arthur Chichester, 1st Earl of Donegall, Irish soldier (b. 1606)
1689 - John Dixwell, English judge (b. 1607)
1696 - Robert Charnock, English conspirator
1745 - Sir Robert Walpole, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1676)
1746 - Anna Leopoldovna, regent of Russia (b. 1718)
1768 - Laurence Sterne, Irish writer (b. 1713)
1823 - Jean-Baptiste Breval, French composer (b. 1753)
1835 - Christian Gunther von Bernstorff, Danish and Prussian statesman and diplomat (b. 1769)
1871 - Augustus De Morgan, Indian-born British mathematician and logician (b. 1806)
1898 - Matilda Joslyn Gage, American suffragist (b. 1826)
1907 - Marcellin Berthelot, French chemist and politician (b. 1827)
1913 - King George I of Greece (b. 1845)
1936 - Eleutherios Venizelos, Former Prime minister of Greece
1939 - Henry Simpson Lunn, English humanitarian and religious leader (b. 1859)
1947 - William C. Durant, American automobile pioneer (b. 1861)
1962 - Walter W. Bacon, Governor of Delaware (b. 1880)
1963 - Wanda Hawley, American actress (b. 1895)
1964 - Sigfrid Edström, Swedish sports official (b. 1870)
1965 - King Farouk I of Egypt (b. 1920)
1977 - Marien Ngouabi, President of the Republic of the Congo (b. 1938)
1978 - Leigh Brackett, American author (b. 1915)
1984 - Charlie Lau, American baseball player (b. 1933)
1986 - Bernard Malamud, American writer (b. 1914)
1990 - Robin Harris, American actor and comedian (b. 1953)
1996 - Odysseus Elytis, Greek writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
2001 - John Phillips, American musician (The Mamas and the Papas) (b. 1935)
2002 - R.A. Lafferty, American science fiction writer (b. 1914)
2003 - Karl Kling, German race car driver (b. 1910)
2003 - Adam Osborne, British computer pioneer (b. 1939)
2004 - Harrison McCain, Canadian businessman (b. 1927)
2006 - Bill Beutel, American journalist (b. 1930)
2006 - Dan Gibson, musician (b. 1922)

Holidays and observances

Liturgical feasts

External links

March 17 - March 19 - February 18 - April 18 -- listing of all days

Gourt Home::Gourt :: March 18

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

Liturgical feasts

External links