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.
• 1707 - Charles Wesley was born (d. 1788). English Methodist hymnist.
• 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.
• 1829 - Jean-Baptiste Lamarck dies (b. 1744). French scientist.
• 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.
• 1851 - Graciano Lopez Jaena was born (d. 1896). Filipino hero, orator and satirist.
• 1855 - Adolfo Lutz was born (d. 1940). Brazilian physician.
• 1856 - Sir Joseph John Thomson was born (d. 1940). British physicist. Nobel Prize in Physics.
• 1860 - Edward MacDowell was born (d. 1908). American composer and pianist.
• 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 - The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified by Georgia, fulfilling the two-thirds requirement for ratification, and banning slavery in the United States.
• 1865 - Francisco Manuel da Silva dies (b. 1791). Brazilian composer.
• 1867 - José Rodrigues de Carvalho was born in Alagoinha, Paraíba (d. 20 Jan 1935). Brazilian journalist and poet.
• 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.
• 1907 - Christopher Fry was born in Bristol (d. 2005). English playwright.
• 1908 - Paul Siple was born (d. 1969). American Antarctic explorer.
• 1910 - Abe Burrows was born (d. 1985). American playwright.
• 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 composer Leoš Janáček, premiered in Brno, Czechoslovakia.
• 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. American baseball player.
• 1930 - Moose Skowron was born. American baseball player.
• 1931 - Allen Klein was born. American rock and roll business manager.
• 1931 - Alison Plowden was born (d. 2007). British historian.
• 1932 - The Chicago Bears defeated the Portsmouth Spartans 9-0 in the first ever NFL Championship Game. Because of a blizzard, the game was moved from Wrigley Field to the Chicago Stadium, the field measuring 60 yards long.
• 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.
• 1933 - Arthur Leigh Allen was born (d. 1992). Suspected Zodiac serial killer.
• 1934 - Boris Volynov was born. Soviet 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). English 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.
• 1941 - Wadada Leo Smith was born. American trumper and composer.
• 1943 - Keith Richards was born. English 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. Canadian ice hockey 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.
• 1946 - Onésimo Teotónio Almeida was bon in Pico da Pedra, S. Miguel, Azores. Portuguese writer.
• 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
• 1949 - David A. Johnston was born. American volcanologist first to report 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.
• 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)
• 1953 - Khas-Magomed Hadjimuradov was born. Chechen bard.
• 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 - Charles Oakley was born. American basketball player.
• 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 - Mick Collins was born. American musician (The Gories, The Dirtbombs).
• 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).
• 1966 - Mille Petrozza was born. German singer (Kreator)
• 1966 - Makiko Esumi was born. Japanese actress.
• 1966 - Tara Browne dies (b. 1945). British socialite.
• 1967 - Toine van Peperstraten was born. Dutch sports journalist.
• 1968 - Alejandro Sanz was born. Spanish singer.
• 1968 - Casper Van Dien was born. American actor.
• 1968 - Rachel Griffiths was born. Australian actress.
• 1969 - Capital punishment in the United Kingdom: Home Secretary James Callaghan's motion to make permanent the Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965, which had temporarily suspended capital punishment in England, Wales and Scotland for murder (but not for all crimes) for a period of five years, is carried by both the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
• 1969 - Akira Iida was born. Japanese racing driver.
• 1969 - Cañizares was born. Spanish football player (goal-keeper).
• 1969 - Justin Edinburgh was born. English footballer.
• 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 was born. 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 - Noriko Matsueda was born. Japanese composer.
• 1971 - Bobby Jones dies (b. 1902). American golfer.
• 1971 - Diana Lynn dies (b. 1926). American actress.
• 1972 - The United States began its heaviest bombing of North Vietnam at that time during the Vietnam War. (The bombardment ended 12 days later).
• 1972 - DJ Lethal was born. Latvian DJ (House of Pain & Limp Bizkit)
• 1972 - Raymond Herrera was born. American drummer Fear Factory and businessman
• 1973 - The Soyuz 13 was launched from Baikonur in the Soviet Union.
• 1973 - Allama Rasheed Turabi dies (b. 1908). Pakistani scholar, orator and philosopher.
• 1974 - Kari Byron was born. American artist and television personality
• 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. Dominican baseball player.
• 1977 - Ryan Scott Ottney was born. American comic book writer.
• 1977 - Francisco Rolão Preto dies (b. in Gavião on 12 Feb.1893). Portuguese National- Sindicalist and one of the founders of Integralismo Lusitano.
• 1978 - Dominica is admitted as member of United Nations.
• 1978 - Ali Curtis was born. American footballer.
• 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 - João Freire was born. Portuguese writer and sociologist.
• 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 - Tara Conner was born. 2006 Miss USA
• 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 - Larry Wall releases the first version of the Perl programming language.
• 1987 - Perl 1.000 is released by Larry Wall
• 1987 - Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan's future president, marries Asif Ali Zardari
• 1987 - Ayaka was born. Japanese singer
• 1987 - Fernando Jara was born. Panamanian-American jockey
• 1987 - Miki Ando was born. Japanese figure skater
• 1987 - Brazil: President José Sarney forbiddes the captures of whales
• 1987 - Konrad "Conny" Plank dies (b. 1940). German record producer and musician.
• 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.
• 1989 - Ashley Benson was born. American actress.
• 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.
• 1993 - Charizma dies (b. 1973). American rapper.
• 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 - The Oakland, California school board passes a resolution officially declaring "Ebonics" a language or dialect.
• 1996 - Yulii Borisovich Khariton dies (b. 1904). Russian physicist.
• 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 - 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.
• 1999 - Robert Bresson dies (b. 1907). French film director.
• 2000 - George W. Bush received 271 votes in the delayed Electoral College balloting.
• 2000 - Randolph Apperson Hearst dies (b. 1915). Son of W. Randolph Hearst and father of Patty.
• 2000 - Kirsty MacColl dies (b. 1959). British singer and songwriter.
• 2001 - Dimitris Dragatakis dies (b. 1914). Greek composer.
• 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
• 2002 - Wayne Owens dies (b. 1937). Former U.S. Congressman (D-UT).
• 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.
• 2006 - Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld resigns, Robert Gates is sworn in as the new Secretary of Defense.
• 2006 - Cannavaro is elected the 2006 best World football player by FIFA.
• 2006 - Joseph Barbera dies (b. 1911). American cartoonist.
• 2006 - Ruth Bernhard dies (b. 1905). American photographer.
• 2006 - Mike Dickin dies (b. 1943). British radio broadcaster.
• 2006 - Shaukat Siddiqui dies (b. 1923). Pakistani author, journalist and political activist.
• R.C. Saints - Gatianus of Tours, O Adonai, Our Lady of Expectation
• Feast of Epona (during Saturnalia) - Roman Empire
• Republic Day in Niger (1958)
• International Migrants Day
• Greek Orthodox Church – Feast of Sebastian the Martyr