On this day in History - Dec. 18

• 218 BC - Battle of the Trebia, Hannibal's first great victory over the Roman Republic.
• 1290 - Magnus I of Sweden, dies; king of Sweden 1275-1290 (b. 1240)
• 1352 - Innocent VI is elected Pope.
• 1577 - Anna, Duchess of Saxon / Wife of Prince Willem of Orange, dies at 32
• 1621- English parliament accept unanimously, Protestation
• 1626 - Queen Christina of Sweden was born (d. 1689)
• 1642 - Abel Tasman lands at Mohua Golden Bay becoming the first European in New Zealand.
• 1651 - Died this day, Francisco de Melo, Portuguese-Spanish earl of Assumar, aged 54.
• 1709 - Tsarina Elizaveta Petrovna, Russian politician - Born at Moscow
• 1737 - Renowned Italian Violin maker Antonio Stradivari died in Cremona, Italy.
• 1774 - Jews were expelled from Prague, Bohemia and Moravia by the Empress Maria Theresa
• 1776 - North Carolina's Constitution is ratified.
• 1779 - Born this day, Joseph Grimaldi, in England, pantomimist, clown, singer, dancer, acrobat. Created the white faced clown called Joey. Died in 1873. Known as the 'greatest clown in history'.
• 1787 - New Jersey became the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
• 1812 - Napoleon Bonaparte arrives in Paris after his disastrous campaign in Russia.
• 1856 - Joseph John Thomson, was born , Premio Nobel de Física.
• 1862 - General Ulysses S. Grant issued General Order No. 11, expelling Jews from Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky.
• 1865 - Francisco Manuel da Silva, dies., Brazilien composer (n. 1791).
• 1865 -Slavery was abolished with the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.
• 1888 - Born this day, Robert Moses, power broker, (built Long Island and New York City parks and roads).
• 1892 - Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker Suite" premiered at St. Petersburg's Maryinksy Theatre.
• 1879 - Paul Klee , was born; Swiss abstract painter and graphic artist (d. 1940)
• 1886 - Ty Cobb , was born; baseball player (d. 1961)
• 1894 - Women in South Australia become the first in Australia to gain the right to vote and to be elected to Parliament.
• 1912 - Piltdown Man "discovered"
• 1913 - Willy Brandt was born, German German Chancellor (1969-74, Nobel 1971) [d. 1992]
• 1915 - U. S. President Wilson, widowed the year before, marries Edith Bolling Galt
• 1916 - Betty Grable was born , actress (d. 1973)
• 1916 - Durante a Primeira Guerra Mundial, a Batalha de Verdun terminou, após dez meses de combates e a morte de cerca de um milhão de combatentes de ambos os lados
• 1917 - O Congresso norte-americano passa a “lei seca”, uma emenda constitucional que proíbe a venda de bebidas alcoólicas no país.
• 1917 - Soviet regiment (Stalin/Lenin) declares Finland Independent
• 1926 - The Makropulos Affair, an opera by the Czech composer Leoš Janáček, premiered in Brno, the Czech Republic.
• 1926 - La Cámara de Diputados de Guatemala proclama nuevo presidente al general Lazaro Chacón.
• 1929 - Gran exposición de Paul Klee en Berlín, con motivo del 50 aniversario del nacimiento del artista.
• 1932 -Amy Johnson lands in the UK after a pioneering flight of seven days, seven hours and five minutes from South Africa.
• 1935- Eduard Benes é eleito o segundo presidente da Tchecoslováquia, após a renúncia de Tomas Masaryk.
• 1940 - Adolf Hitler signed a secret directive ordering preparations for a Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. Operation Barbarossa was launched in June 1941.
• 1941 - Japanese troops land on Hong Kong .
• 1941 - German submarine U-434 sinks.
• 1943 - Keith Richards was born; British rock singer musician, songwriter (the Rolling Stones) .
• 1945 - Uruguay joins UN.
• 1947 - Steven Spielberg was born, American Film Director ( Jaws; E.T.; The Color Purple; Jurassic Park; Schindler's List ; Amistad; Saving Private Ryan, and many others).
• 1948 Holanda vuelve a ocupar Indonesia, país al que había concedido hacía poco la independencia, ante el caos político allí existente.
• 1955 - Ray Liotta, was born in Newark NJ, actor
• 1956 - Japan was admitted to the United Nations.
• 1957-The Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania became the first civilian nuclear facility to generate electricity in the United States.
• 1958 - Niger becomes independent.
• 1961 - Indonesia invaded New Guinea to annex West Papua, formerly known as Netherlands New Guinea.
• 1962 - Dmitri Shostakovich's 13th Symphony, premieres in Moscow-
• 1963 - Brad Pitt was born, American actor.
• 1964 -"The Pink Panther" cartoon series premieres (Pink Phink)
• 1966 - Saturn's moon Epimetheus was discovered by Richard L. Walker, and then lost for 12 years
• 1966 -Gianluca Pagliuca, was born, Italian actress (Ugly, Dirty & Bad).
• 1968 -Alejandro Sanz was born, singer .
• 1969-The British Parliament abolished the death penalty for murder.
• 1971 - Arantxa Sanchez Vicario was born - Tennis player .
• 1972 - The United States began its heaviest bombing of North Vietnam at that time during the Vietnam War. (The bombardment ended 12 days later).
• 1973 - The Soyuz 13 was launched.
• 1978 - Katie Holmes, American actress (see wallpaper
• 1980 - Christina Aguilera, American singer .
• 1980 - former Soviet Premier Alexei N. Kosygin died at age 76.
• 1980 - Bruce Sprinsteen's concert at Madison Sq Garden.
• 1984 - 73rd Davis Cup: Sweden beats USA in Gothenburg (4-1) .
• 1986 - El pintor Miguel Barceló y el escultor Miguel Navarro reciben el Premio Nacional de Artes Plásticas de España.
• 1986 - El dramaturgo español Antonio Buero Vallejo logra el Premio Cervantes de Literatura.
• 1987 - Perl 1.000 is released by Larry Wall
• 1987 - Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan's future president, marries Asif Ali Zardari
• 1987 - O presidente José Sarney proíbe a pesca da baleia.
• 1988 - El escritor chileno Luis Sepúlveda obtiene el premio "Tigre Juan" de novela, otorgado en España, con "Un viejo que leía novelas de amor".
• 1989- Los presidentes de los cinco países integrantes del Pacto Andino (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú y Venezuela), reunidos en las islas Galápagos, acuerdan reactivar el Pacto y firman un compromiso de paz y cooperación.
• 1995 - Javier Solana Madariaga toma posesión como secretario general de la OTAN. Se trata del décimo dirigente de esta organización.
• 1996 - "Ebonics" was declared a language or dialect by the school board of Oakland, California.
• 1997 - HTML 4.0 is released by the World Wide Web Consortium
• 1999 - Robert Bresson, French film director (b. 1907)
• 1999 El miembro de ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna) Ramón Aldasoro Magunacelaya es extraditado a España por las autoridades judiciales de Estados Unidos. Se trata del primer etarra extraditado por este país
• 2000 -George W. Bush received 271 votes in the delayed Electoral College balloting.
• 2001 - Gilbert Bécaud, French singer dies (b. 1927)
• 2002 - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is the second Lord of the Rings movie to open in theaters.
• 2002 - California Governor Grey Davis announced that the state would face a record budget deficit of $35 billion, roughly double the figure reported during his reelection campaign one month earlier; the budget issue was used to support his 2003 recall from office.
• 2003 - Michael Jackson was formally charged with molesting a cancer-stricken boy at his Neverland Ranch; Jackson has maintained his innocence.