On this day in History - Dec. 18

• 431 BC- Fidias was born. Greek sculptor.
• 218 BC - Second Punic War: Battle of the Trebia, Hannibal's first great victory over the Roman Republic.
• 0821 - Theodulf dies. Bishop of Orléans.
• 1133 - Hildebert dies. French writer.
• 1271 - Kublai Khan renames his empire "Yuan" (元 yuán), officially marking the start of the Yuan Dynasty of China.
• 1290 - Magnus I of Sweden, dies; king of Sweden 1275-1290 (b. 1240)
• 1352 - Innocent VI is elected Pope.
• 1442 - Pierre Cauchon dies (b. 1371). French Catholic bishop.
• 1495 - King Alphonso II of Naples dies (b. 1448)
• 1507 - Ouchi Yoshitaka was born (d. 1551). Japanese warlord.
• 1577 - Anna dies at 32. Duchess of Saxon / Wife of Prince Willem of Orange.
• 1602 - Simonds d'Ewes was born (d. 1650). English antiquarian and politician.
• 1610 - Charles du Fresne, sieur du Cange was born (d. 1688). French philologist.
• 1620 - Heinrich Roth was born (d. 1668). German Sanskrit scholar.
• 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 - Francisco de Melo dies at 54. Portuguese-Spanish earl of Assumar.
• 1661 - Christopher Polhem was born (d. 1751). Swedish scientist and inventor.
• 1662 - James Douglas, 2nd Duke of Queensberry was born (d. 1711). Scottish politician.
• 1692 - Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff dies (b. 1626). German statesman.
• 1709 - Tsarina Elizaveta Petrovna was born in Moscow. Russian politician.
• 1724 - Louise of Great Britain was born (d. 1751). Queen of Frederick V of Denmark
• 1725 - Johann Salomo Semler was born (d. 1791). German historian and Bible commentator
• 1737 - Antonio Stradivari dies in Cremona, Italy. Renowned Italian violin maker
• 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.
• 1787 - Francis William Drake dies (b. 1724). British Admiral and Governor of Newfoundland.
• 1787 - Soame Jenyns dies (b. 1704). English writer.
• 1793 - Surrender of the frigate La Lutine by French royalists to Lord Hood; renamed HMS Lutine, she later becomes a famous treasure wreck.
• 1799 - Jean-Étienne Montucla dies (b. 1725). French mathematician.
• 1803 - Johann Gottfried Herder dies (b. 1744). German writer.
• 1812 - Napoleon Bonaparte arrives in Paris after his disastrous campaign in Russia.
• 1825 - Charles Griffin (general) was born (d.1876). American general.
• 1835 - Lyman Abbott was born (d. 1922). American author
• 1843 - Thomas Graham, Lord Lynedoch dies (b. 1748). British Viceroy of India.
• 1847 - Augusta Holmès was born (d. 1903). French composer.
• 1848 - Bernard Bolzano dies. Bohemian mathematician and philosopher.
• 1855 - Adolfo Lutz was born (d. 1940). Brazilian physician.
• 1856 - Joseph John Thomson was born (d. 1940). British physicist. Nobel Prize in Physics.
• 1862 - General Ulysses S. Grant issued General Order No. 11, expelling Jews from Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky.
• 1863 - Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria was born (d. 1914)
• 1865 - Francisco Manuel da Silva dies (b. 1791). Brazilien composer.
• 1865 - Slavery was abolished in the United States with the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.
• 1868 - Santino Maria da Silva Coutinho was born (d. 1939). Brazilian bishop.
• 1869 - Louis Moreau Gottschalk dies (b. 1829). American composer and pianist.
• 1870 - Saki (Hector Hugh Munro) was born (d. 1916). British writer.
• 1873 - Francis Burton Harrison was born (d. 1957). American political figure.
• 1878 - Josef Stalin (Ioseb Jughashvili) was born (d. 1953). Leader of the Soviet Union
• 1879 - Paul Klee was born (d. 1940). Swiss-born painter and graphic artist.
• 1880 - Michel Chasles dies (b. 1793). French mathematician.
• 1881 - Emilio Carrere was born in Madrid. Writer
• 1886 - Ty Cobb was born (d. 1961). American baseball player.
• 1888 - Robert Moses was born (d. 1981). American public works who supervised the construction of many New York landmarks, including the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and Shea Stadium.
• 1888 - Dame Gladys Cooper was born (d. 1971). British actress.
• 1890 - Edwin Armstrong was born (d. 1954). American inventor.
• 1892 - The first performance of Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker is held at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg.
• 1894 - Women in South Australia become the first in Australia to gain the right to vote and to be elected to Parliament.
• 1897 - Fletcher Henderson was born (d. 1952). American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer.
• 1900 - The Upper Ferntree Gully to Gembrook Narrow-gauge (2 ft 6 in or 762 mm) Railway (now the Puffing Billy Railway) in Victoria, Australia opened for traffic.
• 1904 - George Stevens was born (d. 1975). American film director, producer, writer and cinematographer.
• 1907 - Bill Holland was born (d. 1984). American auto racer.
• 1911 - Jules Dassin was born. American film director
• 1912 - Benjamin O. Davis Jr. was born (d. 2002). American General.
• 1912 - Piltdown Man "discovered"
• 1913 - Ray Meyer was born (d. 2006). Former head coach of DePaul University men's basketball team.
• 1913 - Willy Brandt was born (d. 1992). German German Chancellor (1969-74), Nobel Peace Prize-winner in 1971.
• 1913 - Alfred Bester was born (d. 1987). American author.
• 1915 - U. S. President Woodrow Wilson, widowed the year before, marries Edith Bolling Galt
• 1916 - Betty Grable was born (d. 1973). American actress.
• 1916 - Douglas Fraser was born. British-born trade unionist
• 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
• 1917 - Ossie Davis was born (d. 2005). American actor.
• 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.
• 1927 - Ramsey Clark was born. U.S. Attorney General
• 1927 - Romeo LeBlanc was born. 25th Governor General of Canada
• 1928 - Józef Glemp was born. Polish cardinal.
• 1929 - Gran exposición de Paul Klee en Berlín, con motivo del 50 aniversario del nacimiento del artista.
• 1929 - Gino Cimoli was born. Baseball player.
• 1930 - Moose Skowron was born. Baseball player
• 1931 - Allen Klein was born. Rock and roll business manager
• 1932 - Amy Johnson lands in the UK after a pioneering flight of seven days, seven hours and five minutes from South Africa.
• 1932 - Beau Jack defeated Tippy Larkin in New York City, winning the World Lightweight Boxing Championship.
• 1934 - Boris Volynov was born. Soviet-born cosmonaut
• 1935 - Eduard Benes é eleito o segundo presidente da Tchecoslováquia, após a renúncia de Tomas Masaryk.
• 1935 - The Lanka Sama Samaja Party is founded in Sri Lanka.
• 1935 - Jacques Pépin was born. French chef.
• 1936 - Malcolm Kirk was born (d. 1987). Wrestler.
• 1936 - Andrija Mohorovičić dies (b. 1857). Austro-Hungarian-born Yugoslav seismologist.
• 1938 - Roger E. Mosley was born. American actor.
• 1938 - Joel Hirschhorn was born (d. 2005). American songwriter and composer.
• 1938 - Chas Chandler was born (d. 1996). English musician (The Animals).
• 1939 - Michael Moorcock was born. British author
• 1939 - Harold E. Varmus was born. American scientist and Nobel Prize laureate
• 1940 - Adolf Hitler signed a secret directive ordering preparations for a Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. Operation Barbarossa was launched in June 1941.
• 1940 - Bramwell Morrison was born. Member of children's musical group Sharon, Lois & Bram
• 1941 - Japanese troops land on Hong Kong .
• 1941 - German submarine U-434 sinks.
• 1943 - Keith Richards was born. British rock singer musician, songwriter and guitarist (the Rolling Stones).
• 1944 - World War II 77 B-29 Superfortress and 200 other aircraft of U.S. fourteenth Air Force bomb Hankow China, a Japanese supply base.
• 1945 - Uruguay joins UN.
• 1945 - Jean Pronovost was born. National Hockey League player
• 1946 - Steven Spielberg was born. American, Academy Award-winning film director (Jaws; E.T.; The Color Purple; Jurassic Park; Schindler's List ; Amistad; Indiana Jones series, Saving Private Ryan and many others).
• 1946 - Steve Biko was born (d. 1977). South African anti-apartheid activist.
• 1948 - Holanda vuelve a ocupar Indonesia, país al que había concedido hacía poco la independencia, ante el caos político allí existente.
• 1948 - Bill Nelson was born. British musician (Be Bop Deluxe)
• 1948 - Laurent Voulzy was born. French singer and composer
• 1950 - Gillian Armstrong was born. Australian film director
• 1950 - Leonard Maltin was born. American film critic
• 1950 - Randy Castillo was born (d. 2002). American drummer.
• 1953 - Elliot Easton was born. American guitarist (The_Cars)
• 1955 - Ray Liotta was born in Newark NJ. American actor
• 1955 - Victor Brecheret dies (b. 1895). Brazilian sculptor.
• 1956 - Japan was admitted to the United Nations.
• 1956 - Ron White was born. American comedian
• 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.
• 1960 - Kazuhide Uekusa was born. Japanese economist
• 1961 - Indonesia invaded New Guinea to annex West Papua, formerly known as Netherlands New Guinea.
• 1961 - Brian Orser was born. Canadian figure skater
• 1962 - Dmitri Shostakovich's 13th Symphony, premieres in Moscow.
• 1963 - Australia's Ron Clarke set a 10000 meters world record in 28 minutes, 15.6 seconds.
• 1963 - Brad Pitt was born. American actor.
• 1963 - Karl Dorrell was born. American Football coach
• 1964 -"The Pink Panther" cartoon series premieres (Pink Phink)
• 1964 - Steve Austin was born. American professional wrestler
• 1964 - Don Beebe was born. American Football player
• 1964 - Robson Green was born. British actor and singer
• 1965 - Tommy Davidson was born. American actor
• 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).
• 1967 - Toine van Peperstraten was born. Dutch sports journalist.
• 1968 - Casper Van Dien was born. American actor
• 1968 - Alejandro Sanz was born. Singer .
• 1969 - The British Parliament abolished the death penalty for murder.
• 1969 - Cañizares was born. Spanish football player (goal-keeper)
• 1970 - DMX (Earl Simmons) was born. American rapper and actor
• 1970 - Miles Marshall Lewis was born. American author
• 1970 - Cowboy Troy (Troy Coleman) was born. American rapper
• 1970 - Rob Van Dam was born. American professional wrestler
• 1970 - Anthony Catanzaro, American male fitness model and bodybuilder
• 1970 - Johnny Yeo was born. British artist
• 1971 - Arantxa Sánchez Vicario was born. Spanish tennis player
• 1971 - Barkha Dutt was born. Indian Journalist
• 1971 - Diana Lynn dies (b. 1926). American actress.
• 1972 - DJ Lethal (Leor Dimant) was born. American DJ (House of Pain & Limp Bizkit)
• 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 from Baikonur in the Soviet Union.
• 1973 - Raymond Herrera was born. American drummer (Fear Factory)
• 1974 - Peter Boulware was born. American Football player
• 1974 - Knut Euroboy Schreiner was born. Norwegian musician (Turbonegro)
• 1974 - Harry Hooper dies (b. 1887). American baseball player.
• 1975 - Trish Stratus was born. Canadian professional wrestler.
• 1975 - Masaki Sumitani was born. Japanese comedian.
• 1975 - Theodosius Dobzhansky dies (b. 1900). Ukrainian geneticist.
• 1976 - Koyuki (Koyuki Kato) was born. Japanese actress and model.
• 1977 - José Acevedo was born. Baseball player.
• 1977 - Ryan Scott Ottney was born. American comic book writer.
• 1978 - Dominica is admitted as member of United Nations.
• 1978 - Daniel Cleary was born. Canadian ice hockey player.
• 1978 - Katie Holmes was born. American actress (see wallpaper )
• 1979 - Carlos Fernandes was born. Portuguese football player
• 1980 - Christina Aguilera was born. American singer.
• 1980 - Alexei Kosygin dies (b. 1904). Premier of the USSR
• 1980 - Bruce Sprinsteen's concert at Madison Sq Garden.
• 1982 - Dave Luetkenhoelter was born. American bassist (Kutless)
• 1982 - Hans-Ulrich Rudel dies (b. 1916). German pilot.
• 1983 - Ryan Dowling was born. American singer (The Tipplin' Weigh)
• 1983 - Darren Carter was born. English football player
• 1984 - 73rd Davis Cup: Sweden beats USA in Gothenburg (4-1).
• 1985 - Hana Soukupová was born. Czech supermodel.
• 1985 - Xuân Diêu dies (b. 1916). Vietnamese poet.
• 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 - Ivan F. Boesky was sentenced to three years in prison for plotting Wall Street's biggest insider-trading scandal.
• 1987 - Perl 1.000 is released by Larry Wall
• 1987 - Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan's future president, marries Asif Ali Zardari
• 1987 - Miki Ando was born. Japanese figure skater
• 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".
• 1988 - Gemma McCann was born. Ladies gaelic footballer.
• 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.
• 1990 - Anne Revere dies (b. 1903). American actress.
• 1990 - Paul Tortelier dies (b. 1914). French cellist and composer.
• 1991 - George Abecassis dies (b. 1913). British Formula 1 driver.
• 1992 - Mark Goodson dies (b. 1915). American game show producer.
• 1993 - Julio Cesar Chavez retained his WBC super lightweight title with a five-round victory over Britain’s Andy Holligan. It was the 27th time Chavez fought for a title without a loss since 1984, breaking Joe Louis’ record of 26.
• 1993 - Sam Wanamaker dies (b. 1919). American actor.
• 1994 - Roger Apéry dies (b. 1916). French mathematician.
• 1995 - Javier Solana Madariaga toma posesión como secretario general de la OTAN. Se trata del décimo dirigente de esta organización.
• 1995 - Konrad Zuse dies (b. 1910). German engineer and computing pioneer.
• 1996 - "Ebonics" was declared a language or dialect by the school board of Oakland, California.
• 1996 - Yulii Borisovich Khariton, Russian physicist (b. 1904)
• 1997 - HTML 4.0 is released by the World Wide Web Consortium
• 1997 - Chris Farley dies (b. 1964). American actor and comedian.
• 1998 - Lev Demin dies (b. 1926). Soviet-born Russian cosmonaut.
• 1999 - Robert Bresson dies (b. 1907). French film director.
• 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
• 1999 - NASA launches into orbit the Terra platform carrying five Earth Observation instruments, including ASTER, CERES, MISR, MODIS and MOPITT.
• 2000 - George W. Bush received 271 votes in the delayed Electoral College balloting.
• 2000 - Kirsty MacColl dies (b. 1959). British singer and songwriter.
• 2001 - Gilbert Bécaud dies (b. 1927). French singer.
• 2001 - The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in Manhattan, New York City, is damaged by fire.
• 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.
• 2002 - Ray Hnatyshyn dies (b. 1934). Governor-General of Canada
• 2003 - Michael Jackson was formally charged with molesting a cancer-stricken boy at his Neverland Ranch; Jackson has maintained his innocence.
• 2003 - A judge in Seattle sentenced confessed Green River killer Gary Ridgeway to 48 consecutive life terms.
• 2004 - Anthony Sampson dies (b. 1926). British journalist and biographer .
• 2005 - São Paulo FC beating Liverpool FC 1-0 in Yokohama is the winner of FIFA Club World Championship.
• 2005 - Alan Voorhees dies (b. 1922). American engineer and urban planner.
• Feast of Epona (during Saturnalia) - Roman Empire
• Republic Day in Niger (1958)
• International Migrants Day
• Greek Orthodox Church – Feast of Sebastian the Martyr