Historical Events on 18th February

Historical Events

1129 - Jerusalem taken by Emperor Frederik II
1268 - The Livonian Brothers of the Sword are defeated by Dovmont of Pskov in the Battle of Rakovor.
1332 - 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.
1503 - Henry Tudor created Prince of Wales (later Henry VIII)
1536 - France & Turkey sign milt/trade agreement against King Karel
1563 - Huguenot Jean Poltrot de Mere shoots gen Francois De Guise
1574 - Zeeland falls to Dutch rebels
1634 - Ferdinand II orders commander Albrecht von Wallenstein, execution
1678 - John Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" is published
1685 - Fort St. Louis is established by a Frenchman at Matagorda Bay thus forming the basis for France's claim to Texas.
1688 - Quakers conduct 1st formal protest of slavery in Germantown, Pa
1713 - French invade under Jacques Cassard on Curacao
1735 - 1st opera performed in America, "Flora," in Charleston, SC
1745 - Bonnie Prince Charlies troops occupy Inverness Scotland
1787 - Austrian emperor Jozef II bans children under 8 from labor
1797 - Trinidad is surrendered to a British fleet under the command of Sir Ralph Abercromby.
1804 - 1st US land-grant college, Ohio University, Athens Ohio, chartered
1814 - The Battle of Montereau; victory of French under Napoleon Bonaparte against Austrians and Württembergers under the King of Württemberg.
1828 - More than 100 vessels destroyed in a storm, Gibraltar
1834 - 1st US labor newspaper, "The Man," published, NYC
1839 - Detroit Boat Club forms (& still exists)
1849 - 1st regular steamboat service to California starts (or 02/28)
1850 - California Legislature creates nine Bay Area counties
1856 - American (Know-Nothing) Party abolishes secrecy
13th US President Millard Fillmore 1856 - The American Party (Know-Nothings) convenes in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to nominate its first Presidential candidate, former President Millard Fillmore.
1857 - Insurrection of Chinese in Sarawak, Borneo
1861 - Confederate President Jefferson Davis inaugurated at Montgomery Ala
1861 - King Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia becomes 1st King of Italy
1865 - Battle of Fort Moultrie, SC occupied by Federals
1865 - Evacuation of Charleston, SC
1865 - Union troops force Confederates to abandon Ft Anderson, NC
1876 - Direct telegraph link established between Britain & New Zealand
1878 - John Tunstall is murdered by outlaw Jessie Evans, sparking the Lincoln County War in Lincoln County, New Mexico.
1879 - Arabs capture Egyptian premier Nabar Pasha
1884 - General Charles Gordon arrives in Khartoum
1884 - Police seize all copies of Tolstoy's "What I Believe In"
1885 - Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," published
1891 - Capt Archinard's army fights with Nyamina of Niger in West-Sudan
1896 - Cave of Winds at Niagara Falls goes almost dry for first time in 50 yrs
King of Sardinia and Italy Victor Emmanuel II 1899 - 80°F in SF
1899 - SF named as a port of dispatch for Army transports
1899 - Stanley Cup: Mont Shamrocks sweep Queens U (Kingston Ont) in 2 games
1900 - Ajax soccer team forms in Amsterdam
1900 - Battle at Paardeberg, 1,270 British killed/injured
1900 - British troops occupy Monte Christo, Natal
1901 - H Cecil Booth patented a dust removing suction cleaner
1901 - Winston Churchill makes his maiden speech in the British House of Commons.
1902 - Opera "Hunchback of Notre Dame," premieres in Monte Carlo
1903 - Kuyper government launches anti strike laws
1905 - Frank Wedekind's "Hidada, oder Sein und Haben," premieres in Munich
1906 - Vincent d'Indy's "Jour D'été à La Montagne," premieres in Paris
1908 - 1st US postage stamps in rolls issued
1909 - Boston Red Sox trade Cy Young, at 41, to Cleveland Naps
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.
Soldier, Author and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill 1913 - French painting "Nude Descending a Staircase" displayed in NYC
1915 - Germany begins a blockade of Britain
1919 - Cy Denneny of NHL Ottawa Senators scores record 52nd goals
1921 - British troops occupy Dublin
1922 - Kenesaw Mountain Landis resigns his judgeship to work for baseball
1922 - WOC-AM in Davenport IA begins radio transmissions
1923 - Belgium: Borinage-mine workers strike for higher wages
1924 - US female Figure Skating championship won by Theresa Weld Blanchard
1924 - US male Figure Skating championship won by Sherwin Badger
1924 - US, min of marine Edwin Denby ends term due to Teapot Dome-scandal
1927 - 1st US radio broadcast of "Cities Service Concerts"
1927 - US & Canada begin diplomatic relations
1929 - The first Academy Awards are announced.
1930 - Cow flown & milked, milk sealed in paper containers & parachuted
1930 - Luigi Pirandello's "Come Tu Mi Vuoi," premieres in Milan
1930 - Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart's "Simple Simon," premieres in NYC
1930 - US astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto
1932 - Japan declares Manchuria independent
1932 - Sonja Henie wins her 6th straight World Women's figure skating title
1936 - NHL record 32 points scored, NY Americans (28) & Mont Maroons (24)
1939 - Golden Gate International Exposition opens on Treasure Island
1942 - Japanese troop land on Bali
1943 - 1st edition of Dutch resistance newspaper "Trouw"
1943 - Munich resistance group "White Rose" captured by Nazis
1943 - William D Cox buys Philadelphia Phillies
1944 - Maastricht resistance fighter JAJ Janssen arrested
1944 - Youngest baseball player, Cin Reds sign 15 year old Joe Nuxhall
1947 - 24 die in a train crash in Gallitzin Pa
1947 - Gian Carlo Menotti's opera "Telephone," premieres in NYC
1950 - "Dance Me a Song" closes at Royale Theater NYC after 35 performances
1951 - 3 City College of NY basketball players admit to accepting bribes
1951 - Nepal becomes a constitutional monarchy
1951 - Netherlands Radio School forms
1952 - 4th Emmy Awards: Red Skelton, Sid Caesar & Imogene Coca wins
1953 - "Bwana Devil," the 1st 3-D movie, opened in New York
1953 - "Maggie" opens at National Theater NYC for 5 performances
1953 - KOLN TV channel 10 in Lincoln, NB (CBS) begins broadcasting
1953 - Premiere of 1st 3-D feature film-"Bwana Devil" (NYC)
1954 - The first Church of Scientology is established in Los Angeles, California.
1955 - Baghdad Pact signed, making Turkey & Iraq a defense alliance
1957 - Dedan Kimathi, a Kenyan rebel leader is executed by the British colonial government.
1960 - 8th Winter Olympic games open in Squaw Valley, Cal
1960 - Walter O'Malley, LA Dodger owner, purchases Chavez Ravine for $494,000
1961 - Henk van der Grift becomes world champion skater
1962 - France & Algerian Moslems negotiate truce to end 7 year war
1962 - Louise Suggs wins LPGA St Petersburg Golf Open
1964 - Muriel Resnik's "Any Wednesday," premieres in NYC
1964 - Papandreou government takes power in Greece
1965 - "Fade Out-Fade In" opens at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC for 72 perfs
1965 - 27 copper miners die in avalanche, Granduc Mountain, BC
1965 - Frank Gifford announces his retirement from football for broadcasting
1965 - The Gambia becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
1967 - Bob Seagren sets pole vault record at 17'3"
1967 - Softball pitcher Eddie Feigner strikes out 6 straight major leaguers
1968 - 10,000 demonstrators against US in Vietnam War in West-Berlin
1968 - 10th Winter Olympic games close at Grenoble, France
1968 - British adopts year-round daylight savings time as a trial
1968 - David Gilmour joins rock group Pink Floyd
1969 - Doug Walters scores 2nd innings century after 242 in 1st
1969 - PLO-attack El-Al plane in Zurich Switzerland
1970 - Chicago 7 defendants found innocent of inciting to riot
1970 - US president Nixon launches "Nixon-doctrine"
1972 - California Supreme Court abolishes death penalty
1972 - Giulio Andreotti sworn in as premier of Italy
1972 - John & Yoko end a week of co-hosting Mike Douglas Show
1973 - 54-kg octopus measuring 7m across captured in Hood Canal, Wash
1973 - Belgian Emiel Puttemans runs 3000m indoor record 7:39.2
1973 - Sandra Palmer wins LPGA Pompano Beach Golf Classic
1974 - NASA launches Italian satellite San Marcos C-2 (235/843 km)
1974 - US ambassador to India Daniel Moynihan present $2,046,700,000 check
1975 - 2nd American Music Award: Olivia Newton-John & John Denver win
1975 - Italy broadens abortion law
1977 - George Harrison releases "True Love"
1977 - Space Shuttle above a Boeing 747 goes on it's maiden flight
1977 - Test Cricket debuts of Colin Croft & Joel Garner v Pakistan Bridgetown
1978 - 1st Iron Man Triathlon (swim, bike ride, marathon) held, Kona, Hawaii
1979 - -52°F (-47°C), Old Forge, New York (state record)
1979 - Amy Alcott wins LPGA Elizabeth Arden Golf Classic
1979 - Miniseries "Roots: Next Generations" premieres on ABC TV
1979 - NASA launches space vehicle S-202
1979 - Pres Zia ur-Rahmans National Party wins elections in Bangladesh
1979 - Snow falls in Sahara Desert
1980 - Billy Wyman said he will leave Rolling Stones in 1983 (Sure!)
1980 - Pierre Elliott Trudeau's Liberal Party wins Canada's elections
1983 - NBA Indiana Pacers begin a 28 game road losing streak
1984 - Revised concordat between Italy & Vatican signed
1986 - San Antonio's Alvin Robertson scores NBA 2nd quadruple double-20 pts, 11 rebounds, 10 assists & 10 steals against Phoenix
1988 - Anthony M Kennedy, sworn in as Supreme Court Justice
1989 - Sherri Turner wins LPGA Orix Hawaiian Ladies Golf Open/Itoki Pro-Am
1990 - Jane Crafter wins LPGA Phar-Mor at Inverrary Golf Tournament
1991 - Edmonton Oiler goalie Grant Fuhr returns to NHL after season-long suspension for substance abuse & shuts out NJ Devils 4-0
1993 - Howard Stern's radio show begins transmitting to Rochester NY
1994 - Dan Jansen skates world record 1000m (1:12.43)
1994 - Shreveport Pirates join CFL as 4th US team
1995 - Angela Kennedy swims world record 100m butterfly
1995 - Barb Thomas Whitehead wins Cup o' Noodles Hawaiian Ladies Golf Open
1995 - Pamela Anderson (Baywatch) & Tommy Lee (Motley Crue) wed
1995 - Warnecke swims world record 50m freestyle
1996 - 1st full ODI for Kenya, Cricket World Cup v India
1996 - Daytona 500 race
1996 - Tendulkar scores 127* in India's Cricket World Cup win over Kenya
1998 - NY Rangers fire head coach Colin Campbell
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 - Comet C/2002 V1 (NEAT) makes perihelion, seen by SOHO.
2003 - Nearly 200 people die in the Daegu subway fire in South Korea.
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.
2012 - Kateri Tekakwitha canonized as the first native American saint
2013 - 15 people are killed by flooding and landslides in Indonesia
2013 - $50 million worth of diamond is stolen in an armed robbery at Brussels Airport, Belgium

Famous Birthdays & Music Histories

1564 - The artist Michelangelo died in Rome.

1685 - Robert Cavalier, Sueur de LaSalle established Fort St. Louis at Matagorda Bay, and thus formed the basis for France's claim to Texas.

1735 - The first opera performed in America. The work was "Flora" (or "Hob in the Well") was presented in Charleston, SC.

1841 - The first continuous filibuster in the U.S. Senate began. It lasted until March 11th.

1861 - In Montgomery, AL, Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as the President of the Confederate States.

1885 - Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" was published in the U.S. for the first time.

1913 - The famous French painting "Nude Descending a Staircase", by the French artist, Marcel Duchamp, was displayed at an "Armory Show" in New York City.

1930 - Elm Farm Ollie became the first cow to fly in an airplane.

1930 - The planet Pluto was discovered by Clyde Tombaugh. The discovery was made as a result of photographs taken in January 1930.

1932 - Sonja Henie won her 6th world women’s figure skating title in Montreal, Canada.

1938 - "The Big Broadcast of 1938" was released.

1949 - "Yours Truly Johnny Dollar" debuted on CBS radio.

1952 - Greece and Turkey became members of NATO.

1953 - "Bwana Devil" opened. It was the first three-dimensional feature.

1953 - Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz signed a contract worth $8,000,000 to continue the "I Love Lucy" TV show through 1955.

1964 - "Any Wednesday" opened at the Music Box Theatre in New York City. The play established Gene Hackman as an actor.

1970 - The Chicago Seven defendants were found innocent of conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic national convention.

1972 - The California Supreme Court struck down the state's death penalty.

1977 - The space shuttle Enterprise went on its maiden "flight" sitting on top of a Boeing 747.

1984 - Reed Larson (Detroit Red Wings) got two assists to become the highest scoring, American-born player in the history of the National Hockey League. Larson broke the record by scoring his 432nd point.

1987 - The executives of the Girl Scout movement decided to change the color of the scout uniform from the traditional Girl Scout green to the newer Girl Scout blue.

1998 - In Russia, money shortages resulted in the shutting down of three plants that produced nuclear weapons.

1998 - In Nevada, two white separatists were arrested and accused of plotting a bacterial attack on subways in New York City.

2000 - The U.S. Commerce Department reported a deficit in trade goods and services of $271.3 billion for 1999. It was the largest calendar-year trade gap in U.S. history.

2001 - NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, Sr., was killed in a crash during the Daytona 500 race.

2001 - FBI agent Robert Philip Hansson was arrested and accused of spying for Russia for more than 15 years. He later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

2003 - In South Korea, at least 120 people were killed when a man lit a fire on a subway train.

2006 - American Shane Davis won the men's 1,000-meter speed skating in Turin. He was the first black athlete to win an individual gold medal in Winter Olympic history.