August 18
August 18 is the 230th day of the year (231st in leap years ) in the Gregorian Calendar . There are 135 days remaining.
Events
293 BC - Oldest known Roman temple to Venus founded, institution of Vinalia Rustica begins.
1587 - Virginia Dare , granddaughter of Gov. John White of the Colony of Roanoke , becomes the first English child born in the Americas .
1590 - John White , the governor of the Colony of Roanoke , returns from a supply-trip to England and finds his settlement deserted.
1864 - American Civil War : Battle of Weldon Railroad - Forces under Union General Ulysses S. Grant try to cut a vital Confederate supply-line into Petersburg, Virginia , by attacking the Weldon Railroad forcing the Confederates to use wagons.
1877 - Asaph Hall discovers Phobos .
1903 - German engineer Karl Jatho flew with his self-made motored gliding airplane , four months before the first flight of the Wright Brothers .
1904 - Chris Watson resigns as Prime Minister of Australia and is succeded by George Reid .
1920 - 19th Amendment to US constitution is passed, guaranteeing women's suffrage .
1938 - The Thousand Islands Bridge , connecting the United States with Canada , is dedicated by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt .
1941 - Holocaust : Adolf Hitler orders an temporary halt to the systematic euthanasia (Aktion T4) of mentally ill and handicapped persons due to protests within Germany . However, graduates of the Aktion T4 program were then transferred to the concentration camps, where they continued in their trade.
1958 - Vladimir Nabokov 's controversial novel Lolita 1963 - American civil rights movement : James Meredith becomes the first black person to graduate from the University of Mississippi .
1965 - Vietnam War : Operation Starlite begins - 5,500 United States Marines destroy a Viet Cong stronghold on the Van Tuong peninsula in Quang Ngai Province in the first major American ground battle of the war. The Marines were tipped-off by a Viet Cong deserter who said that there was an attack planned against the US base at Chu Lai .
1971 - Vietnam War : Australia and New Zealand decide to withdraw their troops from Vietnam .
1976 - In North Korea at Panmunjom, two US soldiers are killed while trying to chop down part of a tree in the DMZ which had obscured their view.
1983 - Hurricane Alicia hits the Texas coast, killing 22 and causing over USD $1 billion in damage (1983 dollars).
1989 - Leading presidential hopeful Luis Carlos Galán is assassinated near Bogotá in Colombia .
1991 - Collapse of the Soviet Union : Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is put under house arrest while he was vacationing in the Crimea . The coup was led by eight high-ranking hard-liners (the coup would collapse in less than 72 hours).
1992 - Wang Laboratories files for bankruptcy.
1992 - NBA basketball player Larry Bird announces his retirement after winning an Olympic gold medal as a member of the Dream Team Births
1587 - Virginia Dare , first English child born in North America (d. 1588 )
1750 - Antonio Salieri , composer (d. 1825 )
1774 - Meriwether Lewis , explorer (d. 1809 )
1830 - Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria (d. 1916 )
1890 - Walther Funk , German Nazi politician (d. 1960 ).
1896 - Jack Pickford , actor, Hollywood's first "bad boy", (d. 1933 )
1904 - Max Factor , cosmetics entrepreneur (d. 1996 )
1917 - Caspar Weinberger , former United States Secretary of Defense
1918 - Walter Joseph Hickel , former Governor of Alaska , former US Secretary of the Interior
1920 - Bob Kennedy , MLB player and manager (d. 2005 )
1922 - Shelley Winters , actress
1925 - Brian Aldiss , writer
1927 - Rosalynn Carter , First Lady
1928 - Marge Schott , former owner of MLB 's Cincinnati Reds (d. 2004 )
1932 - William R. Bennett , Premier of British Columbia
1933 - Roman Polanski , director, actor
1934 - Vincent Bugliosi , prosecuting attorney in the Charles Manson case
1934 - Roberto Clemente , baseball Hall of Famer (d. 1972 )
1935 - Rafer Johnson , American decathlete
1935 - Sir Howard Morrison , New Zealand entertainer
1937 - Robert Redford , actor, director
1943 - Martin Mull , comedian, actor
1943 - Carl Wayne , singer (d. 2004 )
1945 - Barbara Harris , singer, formerly of the group the Toys
1952 - Elayne Boosler , comedienne
1952 - Patrick Swayze , actor
1953 - Louie Gohmert , American politician
1955 - Dr. Taher ElGamal , American-Egyptian Scientist
1957 - Carole Bouquet , French actress
1957 - Denis Leary , comedian, actor
1958 - Madeleine Stowe , actress
1960 - Fat Lever , NBA player
1969 - Edward Norton , actor
1969 - Christian Slater , actor
1970 - Malcolm-Jamal Warner , actor
1990 - Evan Perrotta, musician
1992 - Frances Cobain , daughter of Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love
Deaths
472 - Ricimer , Roman general
849 - Walafrid Strabo , German monk and theologian
1227 - Genghis Khan , Mongol leader
1276 - Pope Adrian V
1503 - Pope Alexander VI (b. 1431 )
1559 - Pope Paul IV (b. 1476 )
1765 - Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1708 )
1809 - Matthew Boulton , pioneering industrialist and member of the Lunar Society (b. 1728 )
1815 - Chauncey Goodrich , U.S. Senator from Connecticut (b. 1759 )
1850 - Honoré de Balzac , French writer (b. 1799 )
1940 - Walter P. Chrysler , American automobile mogul (b. 1875 )
1949 - Paul Mares , jazz musician (b. 1900 )
1963 - Clifford Odets , American playwright (b. 1906 )
1981 - Anita Loos , American screenwriter, playwright and author (b. 1889 )
1983 - Nikolaus Pevsner , art historian (b. 1902 )
1990 - Grethe Ingmann , Danish singer and Eurovision Song Contest winner (b. 1938 )
1998 - Persis Khambatta , Indian actress (b. 1950 )
2004 - Elmer Bernstein , American film composer (b. 1922 )
Holidays and observances
External links
August 17 - August 19 - July 18 - September 18 -- listing of all days
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