Did you know
In 1920, The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing women's suffrage. This featured entry focuses on the immediate decision and its direct historical impact.
August 18 in History
1920 — The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing women's suffrage
August 18 spans 51 recorded events across recorded history, from 684 to 2019. Below is a curated digest of the most significant moments tied to this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Historical Events
51 events
684 – 2019
Today in history
More major events on August 18
The featured story and these ranked highlights form a quick summary. Every recorded event remains available in the chronology below.
- 1945 Sukarno takes office as the first president of Indonesia, following the country's declaration of independence the previous day. Source
- 1963 Civil rights movement: James Meredith becomes the first African American to graduate from the University of Mississippi. Source
- 1838 The Wilkes Expedition, which would explore the Puget Sound and Antarctica, weighs anchor at Hampton Roads. Source
- 1965 Vietnam War: Operation Starlite begins: United States Marines destroy a Viet Cong stronghold on the Van Tuong peninsula in the first major American ground battle of the war. Source
Did you know
The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the United States and its states from denying the right to vote to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex, in effect recognizing the right of women to vote. This helps explain why the event mattered beyond the initial announcement.
Did you know
The amendment was the culmination of a decades-long movement for women's suffrage in the United States, at both the state and national levels, and was part of the worldwide movement towards women's suffrage and part of the wider women's rights movement. This clarifies the institutional and public response around the event.
Did you know
The first women's suffrage amendment was introduced in Congress in 1878. This shows how the event shaped policy and public communication in the same period.
Did you know
However, a suffrage amendment did not pass the House of Representatives until May 21, 1919, which was quickly followed by the Senate, on June 4, 1919. This helps explain why the event mattered beyond the initial announcement.
684
Battle of Marj Rahit: Umayyad partisans defeat the supporters of Ibn al-Zubayr and cement Umayyad control of Syria.
Early battle of the Second Fitna
The Battle of Marj Rahit was one of the early battles of the Second Fitna.
707
Princess Abe accedes to the imperial Japanese throne as Empress Genmei.
Calendar year
Year 707 (DCCVII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.
1304
The Battle of Mons-en-Pévèle is fought to a draw between the French army and the Flemish militias.
1304 battle of the Franco-Flemish War
The Battle of Mons-en-Pévèle was fought on 18 August 1304 between the French and the Flemish. The French were led by their king, Philip IV.
1487
The Siege of Málaga ends with the taking of the city by Castilian and Aragonese forces.
Part of the Reconquista of Spain
The 1487 siege of Málaga was an action during the Reconquest of Spain in which the Catholic Monarchs of Spain conquered the city of Mālaqa from the Emirate of Granada. The siege lasted about four months.
1492
The first grammar of the Spanish language (Gramática de la lengua castellana) is presented to Queen Isabella I.
Structural rules of a language
In linguistics, grammar is the system of rules that governs how a natural language is structured and used, as evidenced by its speakers or writers. Grammar rules may concern the use of clauses, phrases, and words.
1572
The Huguenot King Henry III of Navarre marries the Catholic Margaret of Valois, ostensibly to reconcile the feuding Protestants and Catholics of France.
Historical religious group of French Protestants
The Huguenots are a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism.
1590
John White, the governor of the Roanoke Colony, returns from a supply trip to England and finds his settlement deserted.
English governor of the Roanoke Colony (1587 to 1590)
John White was an English colonial governor, explorer, artist, and cartographer.
1612
The trials of the Pendle witches and Samlesbury witches, one of England's most famous witch trials, begin at the Lancaster Assizes.
English witch hunt and trial in 1612
The trials of the Pendle witches in 1612 are among the most famous witch trials in English history, and some of the best recorded of the 17th century.
1634
Father Urbain Grandier, accused and convicted of sorcery, is burned alive in Loudun, France.
French Catholic priest convicted of witchcraft and burned at the stake in 1634
Urbain Grandier was a French Catholic priest who was burned at the stake after being convicted of witchcraft, following the events of the so-called "Loudun possessions".
1721
The city of Shamakhi in Safavid Shirvan is sacked.
City in Azerbaijan
Shamakhi is a city in Azerbaijan and the administrative centre of the Shamakhi District. The city's estimated population as of 2010 was 31,704.
1783
A huge fireball meteor is seen across Great Britain as it passes over the east coast.
Bolide observed on 18 August 1783
The 1783 Great Meteor was a meteor procession observed on 18 August 1783 from the British Isles, at a time when such phenomena were not well understood.
1809
The Senate of Finland is established in the Grand Duchy of Finland after the official adoption of the Statute of the Government Council by Tsar Alexander I of Russia.
Historical government body in Finland from 1816 to 1918
The Senate of Finland combined the functions of cabinet and supreme court in the Grand Duchy of Finland from 1816 to 1917 and in independent Finland from 1917 to 1918.
1826
Major Gordon Laing becomes the first European to enter Timbuktu.
Scottish explorer (1794–1826)
Major Alexander Gordon Laing was a Scottish explorer and the first European to reach Timbuktu, arriving there via the north-to-south route in August 1826. He was killed five weeks after he departed Timbuktu.
1838
The Wilkes Expedition, which would explore the Puget Sound and Antarctica, weighs anchor at Hampton Roads.
American exploring and surveying expedition, 1838 to 1842
The United States Exploring Expedition of 1838–1842 was an exploring and surveying expedition of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding lands conducted by the United States.
1864
American Civil War: Battle of Globe Tavern: Union forces try to cut a vital Confederate supply-line into Petersburg, Virginia, by attacking the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad.
1861–1865 conflict in the United States
The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy, which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded from the Union to preserve slavery in the United States.
1868
French astronomer Pierre Janssen discovers helium.
Scientist in the field of astronomy
An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth.
1870
Franco-Prussian War: Battle of Gravelotte is fought.
War from 1870 to 1871
The Franco-Prussian War, occasionally known as the Franco-German War, and sometimes referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between France and the North German Confederation led by Prussia.
1877
American astronomer Asaph Hall discovers Phobos, one of Mars's moons.
Scientist in the field of astronomy
An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth.
1891
A major hurricane strikes Martinique, leaving 700 dead.
Category 3 Atlantic hurricane
The 1891 Martinique hurricane, also known as Hurricane San Magín, was an intense major hurricane that struck the island of Martinique and caused massive damage.
1903
German engineer Karl Jatho allegedly flies his self-made, motored gliding airplane four months before the first flight of the Wright brothers.
19/20th-century German aviation pioneer
Karl Jatho was a German inventor and aviation pioneer, performer and public servant of the city of Hanover.
1917
A Great Fire in Thessaloniki, Greece, destroys 32% of the city leaving 70,000 individuals homeless.
1917 fire which destroyed two-thirds of Thessaloniki, Greece
The Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917 destroyed two thirds of the city of Thessaloniki, the second-largest city in Greece, leaving more than 70,000 homeless.
1923
The first British Track and Field championships for women are held in London, Great Britain.
British athletics event
The 1923 WAAA Championships were the first national track and field championships for women in the United Kingdom. The tournament was held on 18 August 1923, at the Oxo Sport Grounds in Downham, Lewisham in South London.
1933
The Volksempfänger is first presented to the German public at a radio exhibition; the presiding Nazi Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, delivers an accompanying speech heralding the radio as the 'eighth great power'.
Standardized simple radio receiver type made in Nazi Germany
The Volksempfänger was a range of low-cost vacuum tube radio receivers produced in Germany during the 1930s.
1937
A lightning strike starts the Blackwater Fire of 1937 in Shoshone National Forest, killing 15 firefighters within three days and prompting the United States Forest Service to develop their smokejumper program.
Fire in Shoshone National Forest
On August 18, 1937, a lightning strike started the Blackwater Fire in Shoshone National Forest, approximately 35 miles (56 km) west of Cody, Wyoming, United States.
1938
The Thousand Islands Bridge, connecting New York, United States, with Ontario, Canada, over the Saint Lawrence River, is dedicated by U.S.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The Thousand Islands International Bridge is an American-maintained international bridge system over the Saint Lawrence River connecting northern New York in the United States with southeastern Ontario in Canada.
1940
World War II: The Hardest Day air battle, part of the Battle of Britain, takes place.
At that point, it is the largest aerial engagement in history with heavy losses sustained on both sides.
World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers.
1945
Sukarno takes office as the first president of Indonesia, following the country's declaration of independence the previous day.
President of Indonesia from 1945 to 1967
Sukarno was an Indonesian statesman, activist, and revolutionary who served as the first president of Indonesia from 1945 to 1967.
1945
Soviet-Japanese War: Battle of Shumshu: Soviet forces land at Takeda Beach on Shumshu Island and launch the Battle of Shumshu; the Soviet Union's Invasion of the Kuril Islands commences.
1945 Soviet invasion of Manchukuo
The Soviet–Japanese War was a campaign of the Second World War that began with the Soviet invasion of Manchuria following the Soviet declaration of war against Japan on 8 August 1945.
1949
1949 Kemi strike: Two protesters die in the scuffle between the police and the strikers' protest procession in Kemi, Finland.
The 1949 Kemi strike was a strike in July–August 1949 by the workers of Kemi Oy in the Northern Finnish town of Kemi.
1950
Julien Lahaut, the chairman of the Communist Party of Belgium, is assassinated.
The Party newspaper blames royalists and Rexists.
Julien-Victor Lahaut was a Belgian politician and trade unionist who served as chairman of the Communist Party of Belgium from 1945 to 1950.
1958
Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel Lolita is published in the United States.
Russian and American novelist (1899–1977)
Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov, also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin, was a Russian and American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist.
1958
Brojen Das from Bangladesh swims across the English Channel in a competition as the first Bengali and the first Asian to do so, placing first among the 39 competitors.
Bangladeshi swimmer
Brojen Das was a Bangladeshi swimmer who was the first Asian to swim across the English Channel and the first person to cross it six times.
1963
Civil rights movement: James Meredith becomes the first African American to graduate from the University of Mississippi.
1954–1968 U.S. social movement
The civil rights movement was a social movement in the United States from 1954 to 1968 which aimed to abolish legalized racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement in the country, which most commonly…
1965
Vietnam War: Operation Starlite begins: United States Marines destroy a Viet Cong stronghold on the Van Tuong peninsula in the first major American ground battle of the war.
1955–1975 war in Southeast Asia
The Vietnam War was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam and their allies.
1966
Vietnam War: The Battle of Long Tan ensues after a patrol from the 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment clashes with a Viet Cong force in Phước Tuy Province.
1966 battle of the Vietnam War
The Battle of Long Tan took place in a rubber plantation near Long Tân, in Phước Tuy Province, South Vietnam, during the Vietnam War.
1971
Vietnam War: Australia and New Zealand decide to withdraw their troops from Vietnam.
Country in Southeast Asia
Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of Mainland Southeast Asia.
1973
Aeroflot Flight A-13 crashes after takeoff from Baku-Bina International Airport in Azerbaijan, killing 56 people and injuring eight.
1973 Antonov An-24 crash in Baku
Aeroflot Flight A-13 was a scheduled Soviet domestic passenger flight from Baku, Azerbaijan to Fort-Shevchenko in Kazakhstan that crashed on 18 August 1973 shortly after takeoff, killing 56 of the 64 passengers and crew…
1976
The Korean axe murder incident in Panmunjom results in the deaths of two US Army officers.
1976 killing in the Joint Security Area
The Panmunjom axe murder incident, also known as the Korean axe atrocity incident, was the killing of two United Nations Command officers, Captain Arthur Bonifas and First Lieutenant Mark Barrett, by North Korean…
1976
The Soviet Union's robotic probe Luna 24 successfully lands on the Moon.
Country in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991
The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from its formation in 1922 until its dissolution in 1991.
1977
Steve Biko is arrested at a police roadblock under Terrorism Act No.
83 of 1967 in King William's Town, South Africa. He later dies from injuries sustained during this arrest, bringing attention to South Africa's apartheid policies.
Bantu Stephen Biko OMSG was a South African anti-apartheid activist.
1983
Hurricane Alicia hits the Texas coast, killing 21 people and causing over US$1 billion in damage (1983 dollars).
Category 3 Atlantic hurricane in 1983
Hurricane Alicia was a small but powerful tropical cyclone that caused significant destruction in the Greater Houston area of Southeast Texas in August 1983.
1989
Leading presidential hopeful Luis Carlos Galán is assassinated near Bogotá in Colombia.
Colombian politician (1943–1989)
Luis Carlos Galán Sarmiento was a Colombian liberal politician and journalist who ran for the Presidency of Colombia on two occasions, the first time for the political movement New Liberalism that he founded in 1979.
1993
American International Airways Flight 808 crashes at Leeward Point Field at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, injuring the three crew members.
1993 aviation accident in Cuba
American International Airways Flight 808 was a cargo flight operated by an American International Airways Douglas DC-8 that crashed on 18 August 1993, while attempting to land at Leeward Point Field at the Guantanamo…
2003
One-year-old Zachary Turner is murdered in Newfoundland by his mother, who was awarded custody despite facing trial for the murder of Zachary's father.
The case was documented in the film Dear Zachary and led to reform of Canada's bail laws.
Zachary Andrew Turner was a Canadian child from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, who was killed by his mother, Shirley Jane Turner, in a murder–suicide.
2005
A massive power blackout hits the Indonesian island of Java; affecting almost 100 million people, it is one of the largest and most widespread power outages in history.
2005 power outage across Java and Bali, Indonesia
The 2005 Java–Bali Blackout was a power outage across Java and Bali on 18 August 2005, affecting some 100 million people.
2008
The President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, resigns under threat of impeachment.
President of Pakistan from 2001 to 2008
Pervez Musharraf was a Pakistani politician and military officer who served as the tenth president of Pakistan from 2001 to 2008.
2008
War of Afghanistan: The Uzbin Valley ambush occurs.
2008 battle during the War in Afghanistan
French International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops were ambushed by Afghan Taliban insurgents, with heavy casualties, in the Uzbin Valley outside the village of Spēṟ Kunday in the Surobi District of Kabul…
2011
A terrorist attack on Israel's Highway 12 near the Egyptian border kills 16 and injures 40.
Series of cross-border attacks
On August 18, 2011, a series of cross-border attacks with parallel attacks and mutual cover was carried out in southern Israel on Highway 12 near the Egyptian border by a squad of presumably twelve militants in four…
2017
The Turku terror attack occurs in Finland when a knifeman kills two and injures eight.
Terrorist attack in Turku, Finland
On 18 August 2017, a mass stabbing took place in Turku, Finland. Two women were killed and eight others were injured before the perpetrator, 22-year-old Abderrahman Bouanane, was detained.
2019
One hundred activists, officials, and other concerned citizens in Iceland hold a funeral for Okjökull glacier, which has completely melted after having once covered six square miles (15.5 km2).
Island country in the Atlantic Ocean
Iceland is a Nordic island country between the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean, located on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between Europe and North America.