February 18 is the 49th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 316 days remaining until the end of the year (317 in leap years).

[edit] Events

• 3102 BC - Epoch (origin) of the Kali Yuga.
• 1229 - The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor signs a ten-year truce with al-Kamil, regaining Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem with neither military engagements nor support from the papacy.
• 1268 - The Livonian Brothers of the Sword are defeated by Dovmont of Pskov in the Battle of Rakovor.
• 1332 (or 1329) - 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.
• 1685 - Fort St. Louis is established by a Frenchman at Matagorda Bay thus forming the basis for France's claim to Texas.
• 1797 - Trinidad is surrendered to a British fleet under the command of Sir Ralph Abercromby.
• 1814 - The Battle of Montereau occurs.
• 1841 - The first ongoing filibuster in the United States Senate begins and lasts until March 11.
• 1856 - The American Party (Know-Nothings) convene in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to nominate their first Presidential candidate, former President Millard Fillmore.
• 1861 - In Montgomery, Alabama, Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as the provisional President of the Confederate States of America.
• 1861 - With the Italian unification almost complete, King Victor Emmanuel II of Piedmont, Savoy and Sardinia assumes the title of King of Italy.
• 1865 - Union forces under Major General William T. Sherman set the South Carolina State House on fire during the burning of Columbia.
• 1878 - John Tunstall is murdered by outlaw Jessie Evans, sparking the Lincoln County War in Lincoln County, New Mexico.
• 1885 - Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is published for the first time.
• 1901 - Winston Churchill makes his maiden speech in the British House of Commons.
• 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.
• 1913 - Raymond Poincaré becomes President of France.
• 1929 - The first Academy Awards are announced.
• 1930 - While studying photographs taken in January, Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto.
• 1930 - Elm Farm Ollie becomes the first cow to fly in a fixed-wing aircraft and also the first cow to be milked in an aircraft.
• 1932 - The Empire of Japan declares Manzhouguo (obsolete Chinese name for Manchuria) independent from the Republic of China.
• 1943 - The Nazis arrest the members of the White Rose movement.
• 1943 - Joseph Goebbels delivers the Sportpalast speech.
• 1948 - Eamon de Valera resigns as Taoiseach of Ireland.
• 1954 - The first Church of Scientology is established in Los Angeles, California.
• 1955 - The Shot Teapot-Wasp is successfully detonated at the Nevada Test Site with a yield of 1.2 kilotons. Wasp would be the first of fourteen shots of the Teapot series.
• 1957 - Dedan Kimathi, a Kenyan rebel leader is executed by the British colonial government.
• 1965 - The Gambia becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
• 1969 - The Hawthorne Nevada Airlines Flight 708 disaster occurs, killing all on board.
• 1970 - The Chicago Seven are found not guilty of conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
• 1972 - The California Supreme Court in the case of People v. Anderson, 6 Cal.3d 628 invalidates the state's death penalty and commutes the sentences of all death row inmates to life in prison.
• 1977 - The Space Shuttle Enterprise test vehicle goes on its maiden "flight" while sitting on top of a Boeing 747.
• 1979 - Snow fell in the Sahara Desert in southern Algeria for the only recorded time in history.
• 1983 - Thirteen people die and one is seriously injured in the Wah Mee Massacre in Seattle, Washington. It is said to be the largest robbery-motivated mass-murder in U.S. history.
• 1991 - The IRA explodes bombs in the early morning at both Paddington station and Victoria station in London.
• 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 - Nearly 200 people die in the Daegu subway fire in South Korea.
• 2003 - Comet C/2002 V1 (NEAT) makes perihelion, seen by SOHO.
• 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.

[edit] Births

• 1374 - Saint Jadwiga of Poland, queen of Poland (d. 1399)
• 1486 - Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Bengali saint, bhakti yoga developer
• 1516 - Queen Mary I of England (d. 1558)
• 1530 - Uesugi Kenshin, Japanese samurai and warlord (d. 1578)
• 1543 - Charles III, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1608)
• 1559 - Isaac Casaubon, French classical scholar (d. 1614)
• 1602 - Per Brahe (the younger), Swedish soldier (d. 1680)
• 1609 - Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, English historian (d. 1674)
• 1635 - Johan Göransson Gyllenstierna, Swedish statesman (d. 1680)
• 1642 - Marie Champmeslé, French actress (d. 1698)
• 1658 - Charles-Irénée Castel de Saint-Pierre, French writer (d. 1743)
• 1745 - Alessandro Volta, Italian physicist (d. 1827)
• 1814 - Samuel Fenton Cary, U. S. Congressman (d. 1900)
• 1818 - Pedro Figueredo, Cuban poet, musician, and freedom fighter (d. 1870)
• 1836 - Sri Ramakrishna, Bengali saint, guru of Swami Vivekananda (d. 1886)
• 1838 - Ernst Mach, Austrian physicist (d. 1916)
• 1846 - Wilson Barrett, English playwright (d. 1904)
• 1848 - Louis Comfort Tiffany, American glass artist (d. 1933)
• 1849 - Alexander Kielland, Norwegian author (d. 1906)
• 1859 - Sholom Aleichem, Russian Yiddish humorist (d. 1916)
• 1870 - William Laurel Harris, American mural painter, writer (d. 1924)
• 1871 - Harry Brearley, English inventor (d. 1948)
• 1883 - Nikos Kazantzakis, Greek author (d. 1957)
• 1884 - Andrew Watson Myles, Canadian politician (d. 1970)
• 1888 - George Papandreou, Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1968)
• 1890 - Edward Arnold, American actor (d. 1956)
• 1890 - Adolphe Menjou, American actor (d. 1963)
• 1892 - Wendell Willkie, American politician (d. 1944)
• 1896 - Andre Breton, French writer (d. 1966)
• 1897 - Charles Kuentz, WW1 veteran, changed nationality 4 times (d.2005)
• 1898 - Luis Muñoz Marín, Puerto Rican poet (d. 1980)
• 1901 - Reginald Sheffield, British actor (d. 1957)
• 1902 - Walter Herbert, German-born conductor and impresario (d. 1975)
• 1903 - Nikolai Podgorny, President of the Soviet Union (d. 1983)
• 1906 - Hans Asperger, Austrian pediatrician (d. 1980)
• 1907 - Oscar Brodney, American screenwriter (d. 2008)
• 1909 - Wallace Stegner, American writer (d. 1993)
• 1914 - Pee Wee King, American country musician and songwriter (d. 2000)
• 1915 - Phyllis Calvert, British actress (d. 2002)
• 1916 - Jean Drapeau, Quebec politician, mayor of Montreal (d. 1999)
• 1918 - Jane Loevinger, American psychologist (d. 2008).
• 1919 - Jack Palance, American actor (d. 2006)
• 1920 - Bill Cullen, American game show host (d. 1990)
• 1920 - Eric Gairy, Grenadan politician (d. 1997)
• 1922 - Helen Gurley Brown, American editor
• 1922 - Allan Melvin, American actor (d. 2008)
• 1922 - Juhan Smuul, Estonian author (d. 1971)
• 1924 - Humberto Fernández Morán, Venezuelan scientist (d. 1999)
• 1924 - Louis Laberge, Quebec labour union leader (d. 2002)
• 1925 - George Kennedy, American actor
• 1925 - Marcel Barbeau, Quebec artist
• 1927 - John Warner, American politician
• 1927 - Luis Arroyo, Puerto Rican baseball player
• 1928 - Tom Johnson, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1929 - Len Deighton, British author
• 1929 - André Mathieu, Quebec composer (d. 1968)
• 1930 - Gahan Wilson, American cartoonist
• 1931 - Johnny Hart, American cartoonist (d. 2007)
• 1931 - Toni Morrison, American writer, Nobel laureate
• 1931 - Bob St. Clair, American football player
• 1932 - Miloš Forman, Czech film director
• 1933 - Yoko Ono, Japanese-born singer
• 1933 - Sir Bobby Robson, English football manager
• 1933 - Mary Ure, Scottish actress (d. 1975)
• 1934 - Audre Lord, Caribbean poet, writer, and activist (d. 1992)
• 1935 - Michel Aoun, Lebanese prime minister
• 1936 - Jean Auel, American writer
• 1936 - Dick Duff, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1938 - István Szabó, Hungarian film director
• 1938 - Manny Mota, Dominican baseball player
• 1939 - Dal Maxvill, American baseball player
• 1939 - Marek Janowski, Polish-born conductor
• 1939 - Claude Ake, Nigerian political scientist
• 1941 - Irma Thomas, American singer
• 1943 - Graeme Garden, Scottish writer
• 1944 - Pat Bowlen, owner of the Denver Broncos
• 1945 - Judy Rankin, American golfer
• 1946 - Michael Buerk, British newsreader
• 1946 - Jean-Claude Dreyfus, French actor
• 1947 - Dennis DeYoung, American musician (STYX)
• 1947 - Princess Christina of the Netherlands
• 1947 - Carlos Lopes, Portuguese athlete
• 1947 - Eliot Lance Engel, American politician
• 1948 - Sinéad Cusack, Irish actress
• 1948 - Keith Knudsen, American drummer and songwriter (The Doobie Brothers) (d. 2005)
• 1949 - Gary Ridgway, American serial killer
• 1950 - John Hughes, American director
• 1950 - Cybill Shepherd, American actress
• 1950 - Michel Gauthier, Quebec politician
• 1951 - Isabel Preysler, Philippines-born Spanish socialite
• 1952 - Maurice Lucas, American basketball player
• 1952 - Juice Newton, American singer
• 1953 - Robbie Bachman, Canadian drummer (Bachman-Turner Overdrive)
• 1954 - John Travolta, American actor
• 1955 - Miles Tredinnick, English playwright
• 1955 - Raymond Rougeau, Canadian professional wrestler
• 1956 - Ted Gärdestad, Swedish singer (d. 1997)
• 1957 - Marita Koch, German athlete
• 1957 - Vanna White, American game show presenter
• 1958 - Giovanni Lavaggi, Italian racing driver
• 1958 - Gar Samuelson, American drummer (d. 1999)
• 1960 - Carol McGiffin, British TV and radio presenter
• 1960 - Greta Scacchi, Australian actress
• 1960 - Andy Moog, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1962 - Julie Strain, American actress
• 1963 - Henry Winter, English football journalist
• 1964 - Matt Dillon, American actor
• 1964 - Paul Hanley, British musician (The Fall, Tom Hingley and the Lovers)
• 1965 - Dr. Dre, American rapper
• 1965 - Gregory Scott Johnson, American murderer (d. 2005)
• 1966 - Guy Ferland, American television director
• 1967 - Roberto Baggio, Italian footballer
• 1967 - Tracey Edmonds, American film and television producer
• 1967 - Harry Van Barneveld, Belgian judoka
• 1968 - Molly Ringwald, American actress
• 1969 - Alexander Mogilny, Russian ice hockey player
• 1969 - Jason Sutter, American drummer (Smash Mouth, American Hi-Fi)
• 1970 - Raine Maida, Canadian musician (Our Lady Peace)
• 1970 - Susan Egan, American actress
• 1971 - Constantin Popa, Romanian-Israeli basketball player
• 1971 - Merritt Gant, American thrash metal guitarist
• 1973 - Claude Makélélé, French footballer
• 1974 - Jamey Carroll, American baseball player
• 1974 - Julia Butterfly Hill, American environmental activist
• 1974 - Ruby Dhalla, Canadian politician
• 1974 - Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Russian tennis player
• 1975 - Sarah Brown, American actress
• 1975 - Keith Gillespie, Irish footballer
• 1975 - Gary Neville, English footballer
• 1976 - Chanda Rubin, tennis star
• 1976 - Leilani Munter, American race car driver
• 1977 - Ike Barinholtz, American actress
• 1977 - Kátia, Brazilian footballer
• 1977 - Sean Watkins, American guitarist and songwriter
• 1977 - Chrissie Wellington, British triathlete
• 1978 - Josip Šimunić, Croatian footballer
• 1980 - Regina Spektor, Russian-born singer and songwriter
• 1980 - Nikolai Antropov, Kazakh ice hockey player
• 1981 - Andrei Kirilenko, Russian basketball player
• 1981 - Ivan Sproule, Irish footballer
• 1981 - Kim Jae Won, South Korean actor
• 1981 - Alex Rios, American baseball player
• 1983 - Juelz Santana, American rapper
• 1983 - Jermaine Jenas, English footballer
• 1983 - Jason Maxiell, American basketball player
• 1984 - Buddy Nielsen, American singer (Senses Fail)
• 1985 - Anton Ferdinand, English footballer
• 1985 - Lee Boyd Malvo, American serial killer
• 1986 - Marc Torrejón, Spanish footballer
• 1988 - Maiara Walsh, American actress
• 1988 - Shane Lyons, actor and private chef
• 1990 - Nao Kudo, Japanese gravure idol

[edit] Deaths

• 806 - Tarasius, Patriarch of Constantinople (b. 730)
• 814 - Angilbert, Frankish monk and confidant of Charlemagne
• 901 - Thabit ibn Qurra, Arab astronomer and mathematician (b. 826)
• 999 - Pope Gregory V (b. 972)
• 1139 - Prince Yaropolk II of Kiev (b. 1082)
• 1294 - Kublai Khan, Mongol Emperor (b. 1215)
• 1379 - Albert II of Mecklenburg (b. 1318)
• 1405 - Tamerlane, Mongol Emperor (b. 1336)
• 1455 - Fra Angelico, Italian artist (b. 1395)
• 1478 - George, Duke of Clarence, brother of Kings Edward IV of England and Richard III of England (executed) (b. 1449)
• 1535 - Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, astrologer and alchemist (b. 1486)
• 1546 - Martin Luther, German religious reformer (b. 1483)
• 1564 - Michelangelo Buonarroti, Italian artist (b. 1475)
• 1583 - Antonio Francesco Grazzini, Italian writer (b. 1503)
• 1654 - Jean-Louis Guez de Balzac, French writer (b. 1594)
• 1683 - Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem, Dutch painter (b. 1620)
• 1712 - Louis, duc de Bourgogne, heir to the throne of France (b. 1682)
• 1718 - Pierre Antoine Motteux, French-born English dramatist (b. 1663)
• 1743 - Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici, last of the Medicis (b. 1667)
• 1748 - Otto Ferdinand von Abensberg und Traun, Austrian field marshal (b. 1677)
• 1772 - Johann Hartwig Ernst, Count von Bernstorff, Danish statesman (b. 1712)
• 1778 - Joseph Marie Terray, French statesman (b. 1715)
• 1780 - Kristijonas Donelaitis, Lithuanian poet (b. 1714)
• 1785 - Johnny Appleseed, American environmentalist (b.1774)
• 1788 - John Whitehurst, English clockmaker and scientist (b. 1713)
• 1803 - Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim, German poet (b. 1719)
• 1842 - Thomas Hazlehurst, English soap and alkali manufacturer (b. 1779)
• 1851 - Carl Gustav Jakob Jacobi, German mathematician (b. 1804)
• 1873 - Vasil Levski, Bulgarian Revolutionist (b. 1837)
• 1893 - Serranus Clinton Hastings, American politician (b. 1814)
• 1895 - Karl Abs, German professional wrestler (b. 1851)
• 1900 - Clinton L. Merriam, American politician (b. 1824)
• 1902 - Charles Lewis Tiffany, American founder of Tiffany & Co. (b. 1812)
• 1906 - John Batterson Stetson, American manufacturer (b. 1830)
• 1911 - Billy Murdoch, Australian cricketer (b. 1854)
• 1931 - Milan Šufflay, Croatian politician (b. 1879)
• 1933 - James J. Corbett, American boxer (b. 1866)
• 1938 - David King Udall, American politician (b. 1851)
• 1942 - Albert Payson Terhune, American author (b. 1872)
• 1945 - Ivan Chernyakhovsky, Russian general (b. 1906)
• 1955 - Sadako Sasaki, School student(b. 1944)
• 1956 - Gustave Charpentier, French composer (b. 1860)
• 1957 - Dedan Kimathi, Kenyan rebel leader (b. 1920)
• 1957 - Henry Norris Russell, American astronomer (b. 1877)
• 1964 - Joseph-Armand Bombardier, Quebec inventor and industrialist (b. 1907)
• 1966 - Robert Rossen, American screenwriter, producer, and director (b. 1908)
• 1967 - J. Robert Oppenheimer, American physicist (b. 1904)
• 1967 - Dragiša Cvetković, Kingdom of Yugoslavia prime minister (b. 1893)
• 1973 - Frank Costello, Italian-born gangster (b. 1891)
• 1977 - Andy Devine, American actor (b. 1905)
• 1978 - Maggie McNamara, American actress (b. 1928)
• 1981 - John Knudsen Northrop, American aircraft manufacturer (b. 1895)
• 1982 - Ngaio Marsh, New Zealand author (b. 1895)
• 1993 - Kerry Von Erich, American professional wrestler (b. 1960)
• 1993 - Jacqueline Hill, British actress (b. 1929)
• 1995 - Bob Stinson, American guitarist (b.1959)
• 1997 - Emily Hahn, American writer (b. 1905)
• 1998 - Harry Caray, American baseball broadcaster (b. 1914)
• 1998 - Robbie James, Welsh footballer (b. 1957)
• 1999 - Noam Pitlik, American actor and director (b. 1932)
• 2000 - Willy Maltaite, Belgian comics creator (b. 1927
• 2001 - Balthus, Polish-born painter (b. 1908)
• 2001 - Dale Earnhardt, American race car driver (b. 1951)
• 2001 - Eddie Mathews, American baseball player (b. 1931)
• 2003 - Isser Harel, Israeli Mossad leader (b. 1912)
• 2003 - Johnny Paycheck, American country singer/songwriter (b. 1938)
• 2004 - Jean Rouch, French filmmaker and ethnologist (b. 1917)
• 2006 - Richard Bright, American actor (b. 1937)
• 2008 - Sir Richard Knowles, British politician (b. 1917)
• 2008 - Mihaela Mitrache, Romanian actress, (b. 1955)
• 2008 - Mickey Renaud, Canadian professional ice hockey player (b. 1988)

[edit] Holidays and observances

• Gambian Independence Day
• February 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

[edit] External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada