# What happened on October 18 in history?

**Date:** October 18  
**Events recorded:** 50  
**Years spanned:** 33 – 2019  
**Full page:** https://thisday.info/events/october/18/

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## Featured Event

**2003** — Bolivian gas conflict: Bolivian President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada is forced to resign and leave Bolivia.

[Read more on Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolivian_gas_conflict)

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## Events on this date

- **33** — Heartbroken by the deaths of her sons Nero and Drusus, and banished to the island of Pandateria by Tiberius, Agrippina the Elder dies of self-inflicted starvation. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AD_33))
- **320** — Pappus of Alexandria, Greek philosopher, observes an eclipse of the Sun and writes a commentary on The Great Astronomer (Almagest). ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pappus_of_Alexandria))
- **614** — King Chlothar II promulgates the Edict of Paris (Edictum Chlotacharii), a sort of Frankish Magna Carta that defends the rights of the Frankish nobles while it excludes Jews from all civil employment in the Frankish Kingdom. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlothar_II))
- **629** — Dagobert I is crowned King of the Franks. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagobert_I))
- **1009** — The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a Christian church in Jerusalem, is completely destroyed by the Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, who hacks the Church's foundations down to bedrock. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Holy_Sepulchre))
- **1016** — The Danes defeat the English in the Battle of Assandun. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danes))
- **1081** — The Normans defeat the Byzantine Empire in the Battle of Dyrrhachium. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normans))
- **1166** — Michael the Syrian, one of the most important Syriac historians, is consecrated as Syriac Orthodox Patriarch at the Mor Bar Sauma Monastery. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_the_Syrian))
- **1281** — Pope Martin IV excommunicates King Peter III of Aragon for usurping the crown of Sicily (a sentence renewed on 7 May and 18 November 1282). ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Martin_IV))
- **1356** — Basel earthquake, the most significant historic seismological event north of the Alps, destroys the town of Basel, Switzerland. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1356_Basel_earthquake))
- **1540** — Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto's forces destroy the fortified town of Mabila in present-day Alabama, killing Tuskaloosa. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hernando_de_Soto))
- **1561** — In Japan the fourth Battle of Kawanakajima is fought between the forces of Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen, resulting in a draw. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan))
- **1565** — Ships belonging to the Matsura clan of Japan fail to capture the Portuguese trading carrack in the Battle of Fukuda Bay, the first recorded naval battle between Japan and the West. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsura_clan))
- **1597** — King Philip II of Spain sends his third and final armada against England, but it ends in failure due to storms. The remaining ships are captured or sunk by the English. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_II_of_Spain))
- **1599** — Michael the Brave, Prince of Wallachia, defeats the Army of Andrew Báthory in the Battle of Șelimbăr, leading to the first recorded unification of the Romanian people. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_the_Brave))
- **1630** — Frendraught Castle in Scotland, the home of James Crichton of Frendraught, burns down. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frendraught_Castle))
- **1648** — Boston shoemakers form the first American labor organization. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_union))
- **1748** — Signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ends the War of the Austrian Succession. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Aix-la-Chapelle_(1748)))
- **1775** — African-American poet Phillis Wheatley is freed from slavery. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Americans))
- **1775** — American Revolutionary War: The Burning of Falmouth (now Portland, Maine). ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolutionary_War))
- **1779** — American Revolutionary War: The Franco-American Siege of Savannah is lifted. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Savannah_(1779)))
- **1851** — Herman Melville's Moby-Dick is first published as The Whale by Richard Bentley of London. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Melville))
- **1860** — The Second Opium War finally ends at the Convention of Peking with the ratification of the Treaty of Tientsin, an unequal treaty. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Opium_War))
- **1867** — United States takes possession of Alaska after purchasing it from Russia for $7.2 million. Celebrated annually in the state as Alaska Day. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_Purchase))
- **1887** — Johannes Brahms conducts the premiere of his Double Concerto, composed for violinist Joseph Joachim and cellist Robert Hausmann. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Brahms))
- **1898** — The United States takes possession of Puerto Rico from Spain. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rico))
- **1900** — Count Bernhard von Bülow becomes chancellor of Germany. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernhard_von_B%C3%BClow))
- **1912** — First Balkan War: King Peter I of Serbia issues a declaration "To the Serbian People", as his country joins the war. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Balkan_War))
- **1914** — The Schoenstatt Apostolic Movement is founded in Germany. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schoenstatt_Apostolic_Movement))
- **1921** — The Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic is formed as part of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimea_in_the_Soviet_Union))
- **1922** — The British Broadcasting Company (later Corporation)  is founded by a consortium, to establish a nationwide network of radio transmitters to provide a national broadcasting service. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Broadcasting_Company))
- **1929** — The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council overrules the Supreme Court of Canada in Edwards v. Canada when it declares that women are considered "Persons" under Canadian law. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judicial_Committee_of_the_Privy_Council))
- **1944** — World War II: Soviet Union begins the liberation of Czechoslovakia from Nazi Germany. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II))
- **1944** — World War II: The state funeral of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel takes place in Ulm, Germany. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erwin_Rommel))
- **1945** — The USSR's nuclear program receives plans for the United States plutonium bomb from Klaus Fuchs at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union))
- **1945** — A group of the Venezuelan Armed Forces, led by Mario Vargas, Marcos Pérez Jiménez and Carlos Delgado Chalbaud, stages a coup d'état against president Isaías Medina Angarita, who is overthrown by the end of the day. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuela))
- **1945** — Argentine military officer and politician Juan Perón marries actress Eva Duarte. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentina))
- **1954** — Texas Instruments announces the Regency TR-1, the first mass-produced transistor radio. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regency_TR-1))
- **1963** — Félicette, a black and white female Parisian stray cat, becomes the first cat launched into space. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%A9licette))
- **1967** — The Soviet probe Venera 4 reaches Venus and becomes the first spacecraft to measure the atmosphere of another planet. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union))
- **1977** — German Autumn: A set of events revolving around the kidnapping of Hanns Martin Schleyer and the hijacking of a Lufthansa flight by the Red Army Faction (RAF) comes to an end when Schleyer is murdered and various RAF members allegedly commit suicide. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Autumn))
- **1978** — Based on the world's first children's art museum, the Henrik Igityan National Centre for Aesthetics opened in Yerevan. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrik_Igityan_National_Centre_for_Aesthetics))
- **1979** — The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) begins allowing people to have home satellite earth stations without a federal government license. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Communications_Commission))
- **1989** — The Space Shuttle Atlantis launches on STS-34 to deploy the Jupiter-bound Galileo space probe. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Atlantis))
- **1991** — The Supreme Council of Azerbaijan adopts a declaration of independence from the Soviet Union. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azerbaijan))
- **1992** — Merpati Nustantara Airlines Flight 5601 crashes into Mount Papandayan near the town of Garut in West Java, Indonesia, killing 31. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merpati_Nusantara_Airlines_Flight_5601))
- **2003** — Bolivian gas conflict: Bolivian President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada is forced to resign and leave Bolivia. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolivian_gas_conflict))
- **2007** — Karachi bombing: A suicide attack on a motorcade carrying former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto kills 139 and wounds 450 more. Bhutto herself is uninjured. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Karsaz_bombing))
- **2019** — NASA Astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch take part in the first all-female spacewalk when they venture out of the International Space Station to replace a power controller. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_Astronaut_Corps))
- **2019** — Riots in Chile's capital Santiago escalate into open battles, with attacks reported at nearly all of the city's 164 Metro stations. President Sebastián Piñera later announces a 15-day state of emergency in the capital. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Outburst_(Chile)))

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## Notable births on October 18

- **2000** — **Sophie Thatcher** — American actress ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Thatcher))
- **1998** — **Janalynn Castelino** — Italian-Indian singer-songwriter ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janalynn_Castelino))
- **1996** — **Terance Mann** — American basketball player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terance_Mann))
- **1994** — **Enhō Akira** — Japanese sumo wrestler ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enh%C5%8D_Y%C5%ABya))
- **1994** — **Pascal Wehrlein** — German-Mauritian race car driver ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal_Wehrlein))
- **1993** — **Ivan Cavaleiro** — Portuguese footballer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Cavaleiro))
- **1992** — **John John Florence** — American surfer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_John_Florence))
- **1992** — **Barry Keoghan** — Irish actor ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Keoghan))
- **1991** — **Roly Bonevacia** — Dutch footballer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roly_Bonevacia))
- **1991** — **Tyler Posey** — American actor and musician ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyler_Posey))

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## Notable deaths on October 18

- **2025** — **Sam Rivers** — American bassist (born 1977) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Rivers_(bassist)))
- **2025** — **Yang Chen-Ning** — Chinese theoretical physicist (born 1922) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Chen-Ning))
- **2025** — **Lia Smith** — American diver and transgender rights advocate. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_of_Lia_Smith))
- **2024** — **Yehuda Bauer** — Israeli historian of the Holocaust (born 1926) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yehuda_Bauer))
- **2024** — **Ginés González García** — Argentine politician and physician (born 1945) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gin%C3%A9s_Gonz%C3%A1lez_Garc%C3%ADa))
- **2022** — **Harvey Wollman** — American politician, 26th Governor of South Dakota (born 1935) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Wollman))
- **2021** — **Colin Powell** — American military leader and statesman, 65th Secretary of State (born 1937) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Powell))
- **2020** — **René Felber** — 81st President of the Swiss Confederation (born 1933) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Felber))
- **2019** — **Rui Jordão** — Angolan-born Portuguese footballer (born 1952) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rui_Jord%C3%A3o))
- **2018** — **Lisbeth Palme** — Swedish child psychologist, former chairwoman of UNICEF (born 1931) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisbeth_Palme))

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## About this page

This is a machine-readable Markdown summary of [thisday.info/events/october/18/](https://thisday.info/events/october/18/).  
Historical data is sourced from [Wikipedia/Wikimedia](https://www.wikipedia.org) under [CC BY-SA](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/).  
Editorial framing and site content © thisday.info.