August 18

Thursday 18, 2005:

A Massive power blackout hits the Indonesian island of Java, affecting almost 100 million people.

Wednesday 18, 2004:

In Dublin, Ireland the Dublin Port Tunnel excavation works are completed.

Tuesday 18, 1992:

NBA basketball player Larry Bird announces his retirement after winning an Olympic gold medal as a member of the U.S. Dream Team.

Sunday 18, 1991:

Collapse of the Soviet Union: Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is put under house arrest while on holiday in the Crimea.

Friday 18, 1989:

Leading presidential hopeful Luis Carlos Galán is assassinated near Bogotá in Colombia.

Thursday 18, 1983:

Hurricane Alicia hits the Texas coast, killing 22 people and causing over USD $1 billion in damage (1983 dollars).

Wednesday 18, 1982:

Japanese election law is amended to allow for proportional representation.

Wednesday 18, 1976:

In North Korea at Panmunjom, two US soldiers are killed while trying to chop down part of a tree in the DMZ which had obscured their view.

Wednesday 18, 1971:

Vietnam War: Australia and New Zealand decide to withdraw their troops from Vietnam.

Monday 18, 1969:

Jimi Hendrix plays the unofficial last day of Woodstock.

Thursday 18, 1966:

Vietnam War: The Battle of Long Tan occurs, when a patrol of Royal Australian Regiment encounter the Viet Cong.

Wednesday 18, 1965:

United States Marines destroy a Viet Cong stronghold on the Van Tuong peninsula in the first major American ground battle of the war.

Sunday 18, 1963:

American civil rights movement: James Meredith becomes the first black person to graduate from the University of Mississippi.

Monday 18, 1958:

Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel Lolita is published in the United States.

Friday 18, 1950:

Julien Lahaut, the chairman of the Communist Party of Belgium is assassinated by far-right elements.

Monday 18, 1941:

Adolf Hitler orders a temporary halt to Nazi Germany's systematic euthanasia of mentally ill and handicapped due to protests.

Thursday 18, 1938:

The Thousand Islands Bridge, connecting New York State, United States with Ontario, Canada over the St. Lawrence River, is dedicated by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Wednesday 18, 1920:

19th Amendment to US constitution passes, guaranteeing women's suffrage.

Wednesday 18, 1909:

Tokyo mayor Yukio Ozaki presents Washington, D.C. with 2,000 cherry trees, which President Taft decides to plant near the Potomac River.

Thursday 18, 1904:

Chris Watson resigns as Prime Minister of Australia and is succeded by George Reid.

Tuesday 18, 1903:

German engineer Karl Jatho allegedly flies his self-made, motored gliding airplane four months before the first flight of the Wright Brothers.

Saturday 18, 1877:

Asaph Hall discovers Martian moon Phobos.

Tuesday 18, 1868:

French astronomer Pierre Jules César Janssen discovers helium.

Thursday 18, 1864:

Union forces try to cut a vital Confederate supply-line into Petersburg, Virginia, by attacking the Weldon Railroad.

Saturday 18, 1590:

John White, the governor of the Colony of Roanoke, returns from a supply-trip to England and finds his settlement deserted.

Tuesday 18, 1587:

Virginia Dare, granddaughter of Gov. John White of the Colony of Roanoke, becomes the first English child born in the Americas.

Friday 18, 1572:

Wedding in Paris of the Huguenot King Henry III of Navarre with Marguerite de Valois, in a supposed attempt to reconcile Protestants and Catholics.

Monday 18, 1541:

A Portuguese ship drifts ashore in the ancient Japanese province of Higo (modern day Kumamoto Prefecture). (Traditional Japanese date: July 27, 1541)

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