Tukuk-OS📅 August 18
20 events · 12 births · 12 deaths
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What happened on August 18? Below are the notable events chosen by Wikipedia’s editors for this date, followed by celebrated births, deaths and the observances recognised around the world.
Events
- 2017 — Two people were fatally stabbed and eight others wounded by a rejected asylum seeker in an Islamist terrorist attack in Turku, Finland.
- 2008 — Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf resigned under pressure from a movement to impeach him.
- 1983 — Hurricane Alicia made landfall near Galveston, Texas, causing $3 billion in damage and 21 fatalities.
- 1966 — Vietnam War: Members of the 6th Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment were surrounded by a much larger Viet Cong unit at the Battle of Long Tan (helicopter pictured), but held them off for several hours until reinforcements arrived.
Vietnam War6th Battalion, Royal Australian RegimentRoyal Australian Regiment
- 1964 — East German Communist Party member Hildegard Trabant was killed while attempting to cross the Berlin Wall.
Socialist Unity Party of GermanyHildegard TrabantRepublikflucht
- 1948 — Australia won the fifth Test of the 1948 Ashes series, becoming the first Test cricket team to go undefeated in England, earning them the nickname "The Invincibles".
Fifth Test, 1948 Ashes seriesTest cricketAustralian cricket team in England in 1948
- 1945 — World War II: Amid a Soviet invasion of Japanese-held Sakhalin, Japanese police massacred 18 Koreans in Kamishisuka.
- 1940 — Second World War: During the Battle of Britain, the Luftwaffe made an all-out effort to destroy RAF Fighter Command, with both sides combined losing more aircraft on this day than at any other point during the campaign.
- 1937 — A lightning strike started the Blackwater Fire (pictured) in Shoshone National Forest, Wyoming, consuming 1,700 acres (7 km2) of old-growth forest and killing 15 firefighters.
Blackwater Fire of 1937Shoshone National ForestOld-growth forest
- 1920 — The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, guaranteeing women's suffrage in the country.
Nineteenth Amendment to the United States ConstitutionConstitution of the United StatesWomen's suffrage in the United States
- 1919 — Russian Civil War: British motor torpedo boats raided the Bolshevik Baltic Fleet's home base of Kronstadt, sinking a depot ship and damaging a battleship.
- 1891 — A hurricane struck the Caribbean island of Martinique, killing about 700 people, injuring at least 1,000 others, and causing severe damage.
- 1877 — American astronomer Asaph Hall discovered Phobos, the larger of Mars's two moons, six days after discovering Deimos, the smaller one.
- 1864 — American Civil War: At the Battle of Globe Tavern, Union forces attempted to sever the Weldon Railroad during the siege of Petersburg.
American Civil WarBattle of Globe TavernUnion (American Civil War)
- 1823 — At least 9,000 enslaved people rebelled in the British colony in Demerara-Essequibo (in present-day Guyana), demanding emancipation.
- 1783 — A meteor procession blazed across the night sky over Great Britain.
- 1612 — The trials of the Pendle and Samlesbury witches (statue pictured), among the most famous of England's witch trials, began at the assizes in Lancaster.
- 1590 — John White, governor of the Roanoke Colony, the first English settlement in North America (located in present-day North Carolina), returned after a three-year absence to find it deserted (depicted).
John White (colonist and artist)Roanoke ColonyNorth Carolina
- 1487 — Reconquista: After a four-month siege, the Catholic Monarchs of Spain conquered the city of Málaga from the Emirate of Granada.
- 684 — Second Fitna: Umayyad partisans defeated the supporters of Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr near Damascus, cementing Umayyad control of Syria.
Births
- 2006 — Summer McIntosh, Canadian swimmer
- 2004 — Kevin McGonigle, American baseball player
- 2002 — Bart Verbruggen, Dutch footballer
- 1999 — Cassius Stanley, American basketball player
- 1998 — Brian To'o, Australian-Samoan rugby league player
- 1998 — Clairo, American singer-songwriter
- 1998 — Nick Fuentes, American far-right political commentator
- 1997 — Josephine Langford, Australian actress
- 1997 — Renato Sanches, Portuguese footballer
- 1995 — Alīna Fjodorova, Latvian figure skater
- 1995 — Parker McKenna Posey, American actress
- 1994 — Madelaine Petsch, American actress and YouTuber
Deaths
- 2026 — Bill Rasmussen, American sports director, co-founded ESPN (born 1932)
- 2024 — Ruth Johnson Colvin, American author and educator, founded ProLiteracy Worldwide (born 1916)
- 2024 — Alain Delon, French-Swiss actor (born 1935)
- 2024 — Phil Donahue, American talk show host and producer (born 1935)
- 2023 — Lolita, the second-oldest orca in captivity (born ca. 1966)
- 2023 — Al Quie, American politician, 35th Governor of Minnesota (born 1923)
- 2020 — Ben Cross, English stage and film actor (born 1947)
- 2018 — Denis Edozie, Nigerian Supreme Court judge (born 1935)
- 2018 — Kofi Annan, Ghanaian diplomat and seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations (born 1938)
- 2017 — Bruce Forsyth, English television presenter and entertainer (born 1928)
- 2017 — Zoe Laskari, Greek actress and beauty pageant winner (born 1944)
- 2016 — Ernst Nolte, German historian (born 1923)
Observances & holidays
- Christian feast day: Agapitus of Palestrina
- Christian feast day: Alberto Hurtado
- Christian feast day: Daig of Inniskeen
- Christian feast day: Evan (or Inan)
- Christian feast day: Fiacre
- Christian feast day: Florus and Laurus
- Christian feast day: Helena of Constantinople (Roman Catholic Church)
- Christian feast day: August 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Arbor Day (Pakistan)
- Armed Forces Day (North Macedonia)
- Birthday of Virginia Dare (Roanoke Island)
- Constitution Day (Indonesia)
- Long Tan Day, also called Vietnam Veterans' Day (Australia)
- National Science Day (Thailand)
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