Did you know
Chelsea Manning was convicted by court-martial in July 2013 of violations of the Espionage Act and other offenses.
February 18 in History
2010 — WikiLeaks publishes the first of hundreds of thousands of classified documents disclosed by the soldier now known as Chelsea Manning
February 18 spans 51 recorded events across recorded history, from 3102 BC to 2021. Below is a curated digest of the most significant moments tied to this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Historical Events
51 events
3102 BC – 2021
Today in history
More major events on February 18
The featured story and these ranked highlights form a quick summary. Every recorded event remains available in the chronology below.
- 1954 The first Church of Scientology is established in Los Angeles. Source
- 1781 Fourth Anglo-Dutch War: Captain Thomas Shirley opens his expedition against Dutch colonial outposts on the Gold Coast of Africa (present-day Ghana). Source
- 1861 In Montgomery, Alabama, Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as the provisional President of the Confederate States of America. Source
Did you know
She was imprisoned from 2010 until 2017, when President Barack Obama commuted her sentence.
Did you know
Manning disclosed to WikiLeaks nearly 750,000 classified, or unclassified but sensitive, military and diplomatic documents.
Did you know
Chelsea Manning is a trans woman who said in 2013 that she had had a female gender identity since childhood.
Did you know
Manning was a former United States Army soldier before being convicted and imprisoned for her actions.
-3102
Kali Yuga, the fourth and final yuga of Hinduism, starts with the death of Krishna.
Last of four yugas (ages) in Hindu cosmology
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.
1228–1229 attempted conquest of the Holy Land
1268
The Battle of Wesenberg is fought between the Livonian Order and Dovmont of Pskov.
Part of the Northern Crusades
1332
Amda Seyon I, Emperor of Ethiopia begins his campaigns in the southern Muslim provinces.
Emperor of Ethiopia from 1314 to 1344
1637
Eighty Years' War: Off the coast of Cornwall, England, a Spanish fleet intercepts an important Anglo-Dutch merchant convoy of 44 vessels escorted by six warships, destroying or capturing 20 of them.
c. 1566/1568–1648 war in Habsburg Netherlands
1735
The ballad opera called Flora, or Hob in the Well went down in history as the first opera of any kind to be produced in North America (Charleston, S.C.)
1781
Fourth Anglo-Dutch War: Captain Thomas Shirley opens his expedition against Dutch colonial outposts on the Gold Coast of Africa (present-day Ghana).
War between Great Britain and Dutch Republic, 1780–1784
1791
Congress passes a law admitting the state of Vermont to the Union, effective 4 March, after that state had existed for 14 years as a de facto independent largely unrecognized state.
Process of states joining the United States
1797
French Revolutionary Wars: Sir Ralph Abercromby and a fleet of 18 British warships invade Trinidad.
1792–1802 wars
1814
1861
In Montgomery, Alabama, Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as the provisional President of the Confederate States of America.
Capital city of Alabama, United States
1861
With Italian unification almost complete, Victor Emmanuel II of Piedmont, Savoy and Sardinia assumes the title of King of Italy.
1848–1870 consolidation of Italian states
1873
Bulgarian revolutionary leader Vasil Levski is executed by hanging in Sofia by the Ottoman authorities.
Country in Southeastern Europe
1878
John Tunstall is murdered by outlaw Jesse Evans, sparking the Lincoln County War in Lincoln County, New Mexico.
English-American rancher (1853–1878)
1885
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is published in the United States.
1885 novel by Mark Twain
1900
Second Boer War: Imperial forces suffer their worst single-day loss of life on Bloody Sunday, the first day of the Battle of Paardeberg.
1899–1902 war in South Africa
1906
Édouard de Laveleye forms the Belgian Olympic Committee in Brussels.
Belgian engineer, financier, and writer (1854–1938)
1911
The first official flight with airmail takes place from Allahabad, United Provinces, British India (now India), when Henri Pequet, a 23-year-old pilot, delivers 6,500 letters to Naini, about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) away.
Service which transports mail by air
1915
U-boat Campaign: The Imperial German Navy institutes unrestricted submarine warfare in the waters around Great Britain and Ireland.
WWI German naval campaign to attack Allied trade routes (1914–18)
1930
While studying photographs taken in January, Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto.
1st month in the Julian and Gregorian calendars
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.
First cow to fly in an airplane
1932
The Empire of Japan creates the independent state of Manzhouguo (the obsolete Chinese name for Manchuria) free from the Republic of China and installed former Chinese Emperor Puyi as Chief Executive of the State.
Japanese nation state from 1868 to 1947
1938
Second Sino-Japanese War: During the Nanking Massacre, the Nanking Safety Zone International Committee is renamed "Nanking International Rescue Committee", and the safety zone in place for refugees falls apart.
1937–1945 conflict in East Asia
1942
World War II: The Imperial Japanese Army begins the systematic extermination of perceived hostile elements among the Chinese in Singapore.
Global conflict (1939–1945)
1943
World War II: The Nazis arrest the members of the White Rose movement.
German fascist ideology
1943
World War II: Joseph Goebbels delivers his Sportpalast speech.
German Nazi propaganda minister (1897–1945)
1945
World War II: American and Brazilian troops kick off Operation Encore in Northern Italy, a successful limited action in the Northern Apennines that prepares for the western portion of the Allied Spring offensive.
1945 Allied offensive in World War II
1946
Sailors of the Royal Indian Navy mutiny in Bombay harbour, from where the action spreads throughout the Provinces of British India, involving 78 ships, twenty shore establishments and 20,000 sailors
(1612–1947) military force
1947
First Indochina War: The French gain complete control of Hanoi after forcing the Viet Minh to withdraw to the mountains.
1946–1954 French colonial war in Indochina
1954
The first Church of Scientology is established in Los Angeles.
American organization and business
1955
Operation Teapot: Teapot test shot "Wasp" is successfully detonated at the Nevada Test Site with a yield of 1.2 kilotons.
Wasp is the first of fourteen shots in the Teapot series.
1957
Kenyan rebel leader Dedan Kimathi is executed by the British colonial government.
Country in East Africa
1957
Walter James Bolton becomes the last person legally executed in New Zealand.
New Zealand farmer and murderer (1888–1957)
1965
1970
The Chicago Seven are found not guilty of conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
Defendants in a 1969–70 trial
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 imprisonment.
1977
The Xinjiang 61st Regiment Farm fire started during Chinese New Year when a firecracker ignited memorial wreaths of the late Mao Zedong, killing 694 personnel.
It remains the deadliest fireworks accident in the world.
1977
A thousand armed soldiers raid Kalakuta Republic, the commune of Nigerian singer Fela Kuti, leading to the death of Funmilayo Anikulapo Kuti.
Fela Kuti's communal compound
1977
The Space Shuttle Enterprise test vehicle is carried on its maiden "flight" on top of a Boeing 747.
Space Shuttle test vehicle, used for glide tests
1979
Richard Petty wins a then-record sixth Daytona 500 after leaders Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough crash on the final lap of the first NASCAR race televised live flag-to-flag.
American racing driver (born 1937)
1983
Thirteen people die and one is seriously injured in the Wah Mee massacre in Seattle.
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 Paddington station and Victoria station in London.
Paramilitary force active from 1969 to 2005
2001
FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested for spying for the Soviet Union.
He is ultimately convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.
2001
Sampit conflict: Inter-ethnic violence between Dayaks and Madurese breaks out in Sampit, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, ultimately resulting in more than 500 deaths and 100,000 Madurese displaced from their homes.
2001 inter-ethnic violence throughout Central Kalimantan, Indonesia
2003
192 people die when an arsonist sets fire to a subway train in Daegu, South Korea.
2003 subway arson in Daegu, South Korea
2004
Up to 295 people, 182 of which being rescue workers, die near Nishapur, Iran, when a runaway freight train carrying sulfur, petrol and fertilizer catches fire and explodes.
City in Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran
2013
Armed robbers steal a haul of diamonds worth $50 million during a raid at Brussels Airport in Belgium.
2013 diamond heist
2014
Revolution of Dignity: At least 76 people are killed and hundreds are injured in clashes between riot police and demonstrators in Kyiv, Ukraine.
2014 revolution in Ukraine
2018
Iran Aseman Airlines Flight 3704 crashes in the Dena sub-range in the Zagros Mountains of Iran, Resulting in 66 Deaths
2018 aviation accident in Iran
2021
Perseverance, a Mars rover designed to explore Jezero crater on Mars, as part of NASA's Mars 2020 mission, lands successfully.
NASA Mars rover deployed in 2021