March 18

March 18 is the 77th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (78th in leap years). There are 288 days remaining.

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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.
• 1608 – Sissinios formally crowned Emperor of Ethiopia
• 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.
• 1871 – President of the French government Thiers orders evacuation of Paris, a socialist government rules the city.
• 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 – The New London School explosion kills three hundred, mostly children.
• 1937 – Spanish Civil War: Spanish Republican forces hand the Italian 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.
• 1985 – The first episode of popular soap Neighbours airs on Australian TV.
• 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.
• 2005 – "The Screen Savers" TV show name was changed to Attack of the Show, ending an era of technological television.
• 2005 – The first ever Muslim Friday prayer, woman led mixed-gender congregation in New York City. This day marks a 1426 year Islamic tradition being broken.
• 2005 – Terri Schiavo's feeding tube is removed at the request of her husband, fueling a nationwide debate about her.

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)
• 1842 – Stéphane Mallarmé, French poet (d. 1898)
• 1844 – Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian composer (d. 1908)
• 1858 – Rudolf Diesel, German inventor of the compression ignition engine (d. 1913)
• 1869 – Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1940)
• 1872 – Anna Held, actress amd singer, (d. 1918)
• 1877 – Edgar Cayce, psychic (d. 1945)
• 1882 – Gian Francesco Malipiero, Italian composer (d. 1973)
• 1886 – Edward Everett Horton, actor (d. 1970)
• 1899 – Jean Goldkette, jazz musician (d. 1962)
• 1903 – O. E. Plauen, illustrator and cartoonist (d. 1944)
• 1904 – Srečko Kosovel, Slovenian poet (d. 1926)
• 1905 – Thomas Townsend Brown, scientist (d. 1985)
• 1905  – Robert Donat, actor (d. 1958)
• 1909 – Ernest Gallo, American winemaker
• 1910 – Chiang Ching-kuo, President of the Republic of China (d. 1988)
• 1910 – Herman Tarnower, Scarsdale Diet doctor (d. 1980)
• 1915 – Richard Condon, American novelist (d. 1996)
• 1918 – Al Benton, Major League Baseball player (d. 1968)
• 1922 – Egon Bahr, politician
• 1923 – Andy Granatelli, auto racer
• 1926 – Peter Graves, actor
• 1927 – George Plimpton, writer (d. 2003)
• 1927 – John Kander, American songwriter
• 1928 – Fidel V. Ramos, President of the Philippines
• 1932 – John Updike, author
• 1936 – Frederik Willem de Klerk, South African politician
• 1937 – Mark Donohue, American auto racer (d. 1975)
• 1938 – Charley Pride, country musician
• 1941 – Wilson Pickett, singer
• 1943 – Kevin Dobson, American actor
• 1949 – Alex Higgins, North Irish snooker player
• 1950 – Brad Dourif, actor
• 1951 – Bill Frisell, American jazz musician
• 1952 – Mike Webster, American football player (d. 2002)
• 1959 – Luc Besson, producer, writer, director
• 1959 – Irene Cara, US actress/singer
• 1960 – Richard Biggs, actor (Days of Our Lives, Babylon 5) (d. 2004)
• 1963 – Vanessa Lynn Williams, actress, singer, Miss America
• 1964 – Bonnie Blair, Olympic gold medalist in speed skating
• 1964 – Rozalla, singer
• 1966 – Jerry Cantrell, American musician (Alice in Chains_
• 1969 – Vassily Ivanchuk, chess player
• 1970 – Queen Latifah, singer, actress
• 1973 – Max Barry, author
• 1980 – Alexei Yagudin, figure skater

Deaths

• 978 – King Edward the Martyr of England
• 1227 – Pope Honorius III (b. 1148)
• 1584 – Ivan IV of Russia (b. 1530)
• 1745 – Sir Robert Walpole, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1676)
• 1835 – Christian Gunther von Bernstorff, Danish and Prussian statesman and diplomat (b. 1769)
• 1871 – Augustus De Morgan, Indian-born British mathematician and logician (b.1806)
• 1947 – William C. Durant, American automobile pioneer
• 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)
• 1986 – Bernard Malamud, American writer (b. 1914)
• 1990 – Robin Harris, American actor and comedian (b. 1953)
• 1996 – Odysseus Elytis, Greek writer (b. 1911)
• 2000 – Eberhard Bethge, German theologian and archbishop
• 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, race car driver
• 2003 – Alan Keith, radio show host
• 2004 – Harrison McCain, Canadian businessman (b. 1927)

Holidays and observances

• Aruba – Flag Day (1976)
• Ancient Latvia – Bindus Diena
• United States – National Biodiesel Day

External links

• BBC: On This Day

March 17 – March 19 – February 18 – April 18 — listing of all days