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On this day -- March 18
By Wikipedia
Mar 18, 2005
March 18 is the 77th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (78th in leap years). There are 288 days remaining.
Events
- 37 - The Roman Senate annuls Tiberius' will and proclaims Caligula emperor.
- 1229 - Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor declares himself King of Jerusalem during the Sixth Crusade.
- 1438 - Albert II of Habsburg becomes King of Germany.
- 1673 - John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton sells his part of New Jersey to the Quakers.
- 1766 - American Revolution: The British Parliament repeals the Stamp Act, which was very unpopular in the British colonies.
- 1850 - American Express is founded by Henry Wells & William Fargo.
- 1865 - American Civil War: The Congress of the Confederate States of America adjourns for the last time.
- 1874 - Hawaii signs a treaty with the United States granting exclusive trading rights.
- 1909 - Einar Dessau uses a short-wave radio transmitter becoming the first to broadcast as a ham radio operator.
- 1913 - George I of Greece is assassinated.
- 1915 - World War I: Three battleships are sunk during a failed British & French naval attack on the Dardanelles.
- 1921 - The second Peace of Riga between Poland and Soviet Union. Despite the recent Polish successes, Soviets annex Ukraine and Belarus. Government of Ukraine emigrates to France. Famine kills millions of Russians.
- 1922 - In India, Mohandas Gandhi is sentenced to six years in prison for civil disobedience. He would serve only 2 years.
- 1925 - The Tri-State Tornado hits the Midwestern states of Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana, killing 695 people.
- 1937 - A natural gas explosion at a school in New London, Texas kills 298, mostly children).
- 1937 - Spanish Civil War: Spanish Republican forces hand theItalian forces a grave defeat at the Battle of Guadalajara.
- 1938 - Mexico nationalizes all foreign-owned oil properties within its borders.
- 1940 - World War II: Axis powers - Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini meet at Brenner Pass in the Alps and agree to form an alliance against France and the United Kingdom.
- 1945 - World War II: 1,250 American bombers attack Berlin.
- 1953 - An earthquake hits western Turkey killing 250.
- 1959 - American President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a bill into law allowing for Hawaiian statehood, which would become official on August 21.
- 1961 - In Cannes, France, Jean-Claude Pascal wins the sixth Eurovision Song Contest for Luxembourg singing "Nous les amoureux" (We the lovers).
- 1962 - France and Algeria sign an agreement ending the Algerian War.
- 1962 - In Luxembourg, Isabelle Aubret wins the seventh Eurovision Song Contest for France singing "Un premier amour" (A first love).
- 1965 - Cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov, leaving his spacecraft Voskhod 2 for 12 minutes, becomes the first person to walk in space.
- 1968 - Gold standard: The U.S. Congress repeals the requirement for a gold reserve to back US currency.
- 1970 - Lon Nol ousts Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia.
- 1971 - A landslide at Chungar, Peru crashes into Lake Yanahuani killing 200.
- 1974 - Oil embargo crisis: Most OPEC nations end a five-month oil embargo against the United States, Europe and Japan.
- 1980 - In Russia, a Vostok rocket explodes on its launch pad during a fueling operation, killing 50.
- 1989 - In Egypt, a 4,400-year-old mummy is found in the Pyramid of Cheops.
- 1990 - 12 paintings, collectively worth $100 million, are stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts. This is the largest art theft in US history.
- 1992 - Microsoft ships Windows 3.1.
- 1997 - The tail of a Russian An-24 charter plane breaks off while en-route to Turkey causing the plane to crash and killing all 50 on board. This leads to the grounding of all An-24s.
- 2000 - 2000 Taiwanese presidential election: Chen Shui-bian is elected President of the Republic of China.
Births
- 1782 - John Calhoun, Vice President of the United States (d. 1850)
- 1837 - Grover Cleveland, President of the United States (d. 1908)
- 1840 - William Cosmo Monkhouse, poet, critic (d. 1901)
- 1844 - Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, composer (d. 1908)
- 1858 - Rudolf Diesel, inventor of the compression ignition engine (d. 1913)
- 1869 - Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1940)
- 1872 - Anna Held, actress & singer, (d. 1918)
- 1877 - Edgar Cayce, psychic (d. 1945)
- 1882 - Gian Francesco Malipiero, composer
- 1886 - Edward Everett Horton, actor (d. 1970)
- 1899 - Jean Goldkette, jazz musician (d. 1962)
- 1903 - O. E. Plauen, illustrator and cartoonist (d. 1944)
- 1904 - Sreèko Kosovel, Slovenian poet (d. 1926)
- 1905 - Thomas Townsend Brown, scientist (d. 1985)
- 1905 - Robert Donat, actor (d. 1958)
- 1910 - Chiang Ching-kuo, President of the Republic of China (d. 1988)
- 1918 - Al Benton, Major League Baseball player (d. 1968)
- 1922 - Egon Bahr, politician
- 1926 - Peter Graves, actor
- 1927 - George Plimpton, writer (d. 2003)
- 1932 - John Updike, author
- 1936 - Frederik Willem de Klerk, South African politician
- 1938 - Charley Pride, country musician
- 1941 - Wilson Pickett, singer
- 1949 - Alex Higgins, North Irish snooker player
- 1950 - Brad Dourif, actor
- 1959 - Luc Besson, producer, writer, director
- 1960 - Richard Biggs, actor (Days of Our Lives, Babylon 5) (d. 2004)
- 1963 - Vanessa Williams, actress, singer, Miss America
- 1964 - Bonnie Blair, Olympic gold medalist in speed skating
- 1964 - Irene Cara, actress, singer
- 1970 - Queen Latifah, singer, actress
- 1973 - Max Barry, author
- 1980 - Alexei Yagudin, figure skater
Deaths
- 978 - King Edward the Martyr of England, (b. c. 962)
- 1227 - Pope Honorius III
- 1584 - Ivan IV of Russia
- 1745 - Sir Robert Walpole, Prime Minister of Britain, (b. 1676)
- 1835 - Christian Gunther von Bernstorff, Danish and Prussian statesman and diplomat, (b. 1769)
- 1947 - William C. Durant, automobile pioneer, founder of General Motors
- 1964 - Sigfrid Edström, Swedish sports official, (b. 1870)
- 1965 - King Farouk I of Egypt, (b. 1920)
- 1977 - Marien Ngouabi, President of the Republic of the Congo, (b. 1938)
- 1978 - Leigh Brackett, science fiction author, (b. 1915)
- 2001 - John Phillips, musician (The Mamas and the Papas), (b. 1935)
- 2002 - R.A. Lafferty, science fiction writer (b. 1914)
- 2003 - Adam Osborne, computer pioneer, (b. 1939)
- 2003 - Karl Kling, car racing driver
- 2003 - Alan Keith, BBC radio show host
- 2004 - Harrison McCain, Canadian Businessman
Holidays and observances
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