December 18
December 18 is the 352nd day of the year (353rd in leap years ) in the Gregorian Calendar . There are 13 days remaining.
Events
218 BC - Battle of the Trebia , Hannibal 's first great victory over the Roman Republic .
1352 - Innocent VI is elected Pope .
1642 - Abel Tasman lands at Mohua Golden Bay becoming the first European in New Zealand .
1776 - North Carolina 's Constitution is ratified.
1787 - New Jersey is the third state to ratify the United States Constitution
1865 - Slavery is abolished in the United States , with the passing of the 13th Amendment
1894 - Women in South Australia become the first in Australia to gain the right to vote and to be elected to Parliament.
1912 - Piltdown Man "discovered"
1926 - The Makropulos Affair opera by the Czech composer Leoš Janáček , premiered in Brno , the Czech Republic .
1958 - Niger becomes an autonomous state within the French Community on December 4, 1958, after the establishment of the Fifth French Republic. Following full independence on August 3, 1960, however, membership was allowed to lapse.
1961 - Indonesia invaded New Guinea to annex West Papua , formerly known as Netherlands New Guinea .
1966 - Saturn 's moon Epimetheus was discovered by Richard L. Walker , and then lost for 12 years
1973 - The Soyuz 13 was launched.
1996 - "Ebonics " was declared a language or dialect by the school board of Oakland, California .
1997 - HTML 4.0 is released by the World Wide Web Consortium
2002 - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Lord of the Rings 2002 - California Governor Gray 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.
Births
1507 - Ouchi Yoshitaka , Japanese warlord (d. 1551 )
1626 - Queen Christina of Sweden (d. 1689 )
1714 - Esterházy of Galántha , field marshal (d. 1790 )
1786 - Carl Maria von Weber , German composer (d. 1826 )
1835 - Lyman Abbott , American author (d. 1922 )
1847 - Augusta Holmčs , French composer (d. 1903 )
1863 - Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria (d. 1914 )
1870 - Saki , writer (d. 1916 )
1879 - Paul Klee , Swiss painter and graphic artist (d. 1940 )
1886 - Ty Cobb , American baseball player (d. 1961 )
1888 - Robert Moses , New York public works official (d. 1981 )
1888 - Gladys Cooper , actress (d. 1971 )
1890 - Edwin Armstrong , American inventor (d. 1954 )
1897 - Fletcher Henderson , jazz musician (d. 1952 )
1904 - George Stevens , American director (d. 1975 )
1912 - Benjamin O. Davis Jr. , American general (d. 2002 )
1913 - Alfred Bester , American science fiction author (d. 1987 )
1913 - Willy Brandt , German Chancellor (d. 1992 )
1916 - Betty Grable , actress (d. 1973 )
1917 - Ossie Davis , actor
1927 - Ramsey Clark , U.S. Attorney General during Lyndon B. Johnson 's presidency
1928 - Józef Glemp , cardinal and primate of Poland
1934 - Boris Volynov , cosmonaut
1939 - Michael Moorcock , science fiction author
1943 - Keith Richards , British guitarist (the Rolling Stones )
1946 - Steven Spielberg , movie director
1946 - Steve Biko , South African anti-apartheid activist (d. 1977 )
1948 - Bill Nelson , musician, artist
1950 - Gillian Armstrong , film director
1950 - Leonard Maltin , movie critic
1955 - Ray Liotta , actor
1956 - Ron White , American stand-up comedian
1960 - Kazuhide Uekusa , former Japanese professor at graduate school of Waseda University , economist
1961 - Brian Orser , figure skater
1963 - Brad Pitt , American actor
1964 - Steve Austin , professional wrestler
1964 - Don Beebe , American football player
1964 - Star Cullars , musician (P Funk )
1970 - DMX , rapper
1971 - Arantxa Sánchez Vicario , tennis player
1973 - Miltiadis Paliouras , Canadian , geneticist
1974 - Peter Boulware , American football player
1975 - Trish Stratus , WWE performer
1978 - Katie Holmes , American actress
1980 - Christina Aguilera , American singer
Deaths
821 - Theodulf , bishop of Orléans (b. c.760 )
1290 - Magnus I of Sweden , king of Sweden 1275 -1290 (b. 1240 )
1737 - Antonio Stradivari , Italian violin maker (b. 1644 ?)
1869 - Louis Moreau Gottschalk , American composer, pianist (b. 1829 )
1936 - Andrija Mohorovičić , Croatian seismologist (b. 1857 )
1971 - Bobby Jones , golfer (b. 1902 )
1974 - Harry Hooper , Baseball Hall of Famer (b. 1887 )
1980 - Alexei Kosygin , former Soviet premier
1990 - Paul Tortelier , French musician (b. 1914 )
1991 - George Abecassis , English Formula One driver (b. 1913 )
1992 - Mark Goodson , game show producer (b. 1915 )
1993 - Sam Wanamaker , actor (b. 1919 )
1995 - Konrad Zuse , German engineer and computing pioneer (b. 1910 )
1997 - Chris Farley , American actor, comedian (b. 1964 )
1998 - Lev Demin , cosmonaut (b. 1926 )
1999 - Robert Bresson , French film director (b. 1907 )
2000 - Kirsty MacColl , British musician (b. 1959 )
2001 - Gilbert Bécaud , singer (b. 1927 )
2002 - Ray Hnatyshyn , former Canadian Governor-General (b. 1934 )
Holidays and observances
External links
December 17 - December 19 - November 18 - January 18 -- listing of all days
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