December 18
| December 18 in recent years |
| 2023 (Monday) |
| 2022 (Sunday) |
| 2021 (Saturday) |
| 2020 (Friday) |
| 2019 (Wednesday) |
| 2018 (Tuesday) |
| 2017 (Monday) |
| 2016 (Sunday) |
| 2015 (Friday) |
| 2014 (Thursday) |
December 18 is the 352nd day of the year (353rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 13 days remain until the end of the year.
Events
- 218 BC – Second Punic War: Battle of the Trebia – Hannibal's Carthaginian forces defeat those of the Roman Republic.
- 1271 – Kublai Khan renames his empire "Yuan" (元 yuán), officially marking the start of the Yuan Dynasty of Mongolia and China.
- 1642 – Abel Tasman becomes first European to land in New Zealand.
- 1777 – The United States celebrates its first Thanksgiving, marking the recent victory by the Americans over General John Burgoyne in the Battle of Saratoga in October.
- 1787 – New Jersey becomes the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
- 1793 – Surrender of the frigate La Lutine by French Royalists to Lord Hood; renamed HMS Lutine, she later becomes a famous treasure wreck.
- 1878 – John Kehoe, the last of the Molly Maguires is executed in Pennsylvania.
- 1878 – The Al-Thani family become the rulers of the state of Qatar
- 1888 – Richard Wetherill and his brother in-law discover the ancient Indian ruins of Cliff Palace in Mesa Verde.
- 1892 – premiere performance of The Nutcracker Ballet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in St. Petersburg.
- 1898 – Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat sets the first officially recognized land speed record of 39.245 mph (63.159 km/h) in a Jeantaud electric car.
- 1900 – The Upper Ferntree Gully to Gembrook Narrow-gauge (2 ft 6 in or 762 mm) Railway (now the Puffing Billy Railway) in Victoria, Australia is opened for traffic.
- 1912 – The Piltdown Man, later discovered to be a hoax, is announced by Charles Dawson.
- 1916 – World War I: The Battle of Verdun ends when German forces under Chief of Staff Erich Von Falkenhayn are defeated by the French, and suffer 337,000 casualties.
- 1917 – The resolution containing the language of the Eighteenth Amendment to enact Prohibition is passed by the United States Congress.
- 1932 – The Chicago Bears defeat the Portsmouth Spartans 9-0 in the first ever NFL Championship Game. Because of a blizzard, the game is moved from Wrigley Field to the Chicago Stadium, the field measuring 80 yards (73 m) long.
- 1935 – The Lanka Sama Samaja Party is founded in Ceylon.
- 1944 – World War II: 77 B-29 Superfortress and 200 other aircraft of U.S. Fourteenth Air Force bomb Hankow, China, a Japanese supply base.
- 1956 – Japan joins the United Nations.
- 1958 – Project SCORE, the world's first communications satellite, is launched.
- 1966 – Saturn's moon Epimetheus is discovered by Richard L. Walker.
- 1969 – Capital punishment in the United Kingdom: Home Secretary James Callaghan's motion to make permanent the Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965, which had temporarily suspended capital punishment in England, Wales and Scotland for murder (but not for all crimes) for a period of five years.
- 1971 – Capitol Reef National Park is established in Utah.
- 1972 – Vietnam War: President Richard Nixon announces that the United States will engage North Vietnam in Operation Linebacker II, a series of Christmas bombings, after peace talks collapsed with North Vietnam on the 13th.
- 1973 – Soviet Soyuz Programme: Soyuz 13, crewed by cosmonauts Valentin Lebedev and Pyotr Klimuk, is launched from Baikonur in the Soviet Union.
- 1973 – The Islamic Development Bank is founded.
- 1978 – Dominica joins the United Nations.
- 1987 – Larry Wall releases the first version of the Perl programming language.
- 1989 – The European Community and the Soviet Union sign an agreement on trade and commercial and economic cooperation.
- 1996 – The Oakland, California school board passes a resolution officially declaring "Ebonics" a language or dialect.
- 1997 – HTML 4.0 is published by the World Wide Web Consortium.
- 1999 – NASA launches into orbit the Terra platform carrying five Earth Observation instruments, including ASTER, CERES, MISR, MODIS and MOPITT.
- 2002 – 2003 California recall: Then Governor of California Gray Davis announces that the state would face a record budget deficit of $35 billion, roughly double the figure reported during his reelection campaign one month earlier.
- 2005 – The civil war in Chad begins when rebel groups, allegedly backed by neighbouring Sudan, launch an attack in Adré.
- 2006 – The first of a series of floods strikes Malaysia. The death toll of all flooding is at least 118, with over 400,000 people displaced.
- 2006 – United Arab Emirates holds its first-ever elections.
- 2010 – Governmental protests begin in Tunisia, beginning the 2010-2011 Middle East and North Africa protests
Births
- 1507 – Ōuchi Yoshitaka, Japanese warlord (d. 1551)
- 1602 – Simonds d'Ewes, English antiquarian and politician (d. 1650)
- 1610 – Charles du Fresne, sieur du Cange, French philologist (d. 1688)
- 1620 – Heinrich Roth, German Sanskrit scholar (d. 1668)
- 1661 – Christopher Polhem, Swedish scientist and inventor (d. 1751)
- 1662 – James Douglas, 2nd Duke of Queensberry, Scottish politician (d. 1711)
- 1707 – Charles Wesley, English Methodist hymnist (d. 1788)
- 1725 – Johann Salomo Semler, German historian and Bible commentator (d. 1791)
- 1734 – Jean-Baptiste Rey, French conductor and composer (d. 1810)
- 1778 – Joseph Grimaldi, English clown (d. 1837)
- 1825 – Charles Griffin, American general (d. 1876)
- 1825 – John S. Harris, American politician (d. 1906)
- 1835 – Lyman Abbott, American author (d. 1922)
- 1847 – Augusta Holmès, French composer (d. 1903)
- 1849 – Henrietta Edwards, Canadian women’s rights activist (d. 1931)
- 1851 – Graciano López Jaena, Filipino orator and satirist (d. 1896)
- 1856 – Sir J. J. Thomson, English physicist and Nobel laureate (d. 1940)
- 1860 – Edward MacDowell, American composer and pianist (d. 1908)
- 1861 – Lionel Monckton, English composer for the musical theatre (d. 1924)
- 1863 – Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria (d. 1914)
- 1870 – Saki, English writer (d. 1916)
- 1873 – Francis Burton Harrison, American political figure (d. 1957)
- 1878 – Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union (d. 1953)
- 1879 – Paul Klee, Swiss-born painter (d. 1940)
- 1882 – Richard Maury, American naturalized Argentine engineer (d. 1950)
- 1886 – Ty Cobb, American baseball player (d. 1961)
- 1888 – Dame Gladys Cooper, English actress (d. 1971)
- 1888 – Robert Moses, American public works official (d. 1981)
- 1890 – Edwin Armstrong, American inventor (d. 1954)
- 1897 – Fletcher Henderson, American arranger and composer (d. 1952)
- 1899 – Peter Wessel Zapffe, Norwegian author and philosopher (d. 1990)
- 1904 – George Stevens, American film director (d. 1975)
- 1907 – Bill Holland, American auto racer (d. 1984)
- 1907 – Lawrence Lucie, American jazz guitarist (d. 2009)
- 1908 – Paul Siple, American Antarctic explorer (d. 1969)
- 1908 – Celia Johnson, English actress (d. 1982)
- 1910 – Abe Burrows, American playwright (d. 1985)
- 1910 – Eric Tindill, New Zealand rugby and cricket international player and referee/umpire (d. 2010)
- 1911 – Jules Dassin, American film director (d. 2008)
- 1912 – Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., American General (d. 2002)
- 1913 – Alfred Bester, American author (d. 1987)
- 1913 – Willy Brandt, Chancellor of Germany, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1992)
- 1913 – Ray Meyer, American basketball coach (d. 2006)
- 1916 – Douglas Fraser, Scottish-born American trade unionist (d. 2008)
- 1916 – Betty Grable, American actress (d. 1973)
- 1917 – Ossie Davis, American actor and activist (d. 2005)
- 1920 – Robert Leckie, American marine and author (d. 2001)
- 1927 – Ramsey Clark, 66th U.S. Attorney General
- 1927 – Roméo LeBlanc, 25th Governor General of Canada (d. 2009)
- 1928 – Mirza Tahir Ahmad, Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (d. 2003)
- 1929 – Gino Cimoli, American baseball player
- 1929 – Józef Cardinal Glemp, Cardinal-Archbishop Emeritus of Warsaw
- 1930 – Moose Skowron, American baseball player
- 1931 – Allen Klein, American rock and roll business manager (d. 2009)
- 1931 – Alison Plowden, English historian (d. 2007)
- 1932 – Roger Smith, American actor
- 1933 – Arthur Leigh Allen, American suspected serial killer (d. 1992)
- 1933 – Lonnie Brooks, American musician
- 1934 – Boris Volynov, Soviet cosmonaut
- 1935 – Jacques Pépin, French chef
- 1936 – Malcolm Kirk, English professional wrestler (d. 1987)
- 1938 – Chas Chandler, English musician (The Animals) (d. 1996)
- 1938 – Joel Hirschhorn, American songwriter and composer (d. 2005)
- 1938 – Roger E. Mosley, American actor
- 1939 – Michael Moorcock, English author
- 1939 – Harold E. Varmus, American scientist and Nobel laureate
- 1940 – Bramwell Morrison, member of Sharon, Lois & Bram
- 1941 – Wadada Leo Smith, American trumpeter and composer
- 1942 – Harvey Atkin, Canadian actor
- 1943 – Keith Richards, English guitarist (The Rolling Stones)
- 1943 – Alan Rudolph, American film director and screenwriter
- 1945 – Jean Pronovost, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1946 – Steve Biko, South African anti-apartheid activist (d. 1977)
- 1946 – Steven Spielberg, American film director
- 1947 – Leonid Yuzefovich, Russian crime fiction writer
- 1948 – Edmund Kemper, American serial killer
- 1948 – Bill Nelson, English musician (Be-Bop Deluxe)
- 1948 – Laurent Voulzy, French singer and composer
- 1949 – David A. Johnston, American volcanologist (d. 1980)
- 1949 – Terry Hertzler, American poet
- 1950 – Gillian Armstrong, Australian film director
- 1950 – Randy Castillo, American drummer (Ozzy Osbourne) (d. 2002)
- 1950 – Sarath Fonseka, former commander of the Sri Lanka Army and a former Chief of Defence of Sri Lanka.
- 1950 – Heinz-Josef Kehr, German footballer
- 1950 – Leonard Maltin, American film critic
- 1952 – John Leventhal, musician, producer, songwriter, and recording engineer, married to Rosanne Cash
- 1953 – Elliot Easton, American guitarist (The Cars)
- 1953 – Khas-Magomed Hadjimuradov, Chechen singer-songwriter
- 1954 – John Booth, British racing driver
- 1954 – Ray Liotta, American actor
- 1956 – Ron White, American comedian
- 1957 – Jonathan Cainer, English astrologer
- 1958 – Geordie Walker, English rock musician and lead guitarist for post-punk band Killing Joke
- 1958 – Julia Wolfe, American composer
- 1960 – Kazuhide Uekusa, Japanese economist
- 1961 – Brian Orser, Canadian figure skater
- 1961 – Leila Steinberg, American poet, artist manager
- 1962 – Renaldo Lapuz, Filipino-born American singer
- 1963 – Norman Brown, American musician
- 1963 – Karl Dorrell, American football coach
- 1963 – Greg D'Angelo, American musician (White Lion)
- 1963 – Pauline Ester, French singer
- 1963 – Allan Kayser, American actor
- 1963 – Charles Oakley, American basketball player
- 1963 – Brad Pitt, American actor
- 1964 – Stone Cold Steve Austin, American professional wrestler
- 1964 – Don Beebe, American football player
- 1964 – Robson Green, English actor and singer
- 1965 – Shawn Christian, American actor
- 1965 – Mick Collins, American musician (The Gories, The Dirtbombs)
- 1965 – Fawna MacLaren, American model and actress
- 1966 – Makiko Esumi, Japanese actress
- 1966 – Mille Petrozza, German singer (Kreator)
- 1966 – Gianluca Pagliuca, Italian footballer
- 1967 – Toine van Peperstraten, Dutch sports journalist
- 1968 – Mario Basler, German footballer
- 1968 – Mark Cooper, English footballer
- 1968 – Rachel Griffiths, Australian actress
- 1968 – Alejandro Sanz, Spanish singer
- 1968 – Casper Van Dien, American actor
- 1968 – Nina Wadia, British actress and comedian
- 1969 – Santiago Cañizares, Spanish footballer
- 1969 – Justin Edinburgh, English footballer
- 1969 – Akira Iida, Japanese racing driver
- 1970 – Anthony Catanzaro, American fitness model
- 1970 – DMX, American rapper and actor
- 1970 – Lucious Harris, American basketball player
- 1970 – Miles Marshall Lewis, American author
- 1970 – Giannis Ploutarhos, Greek singer
- 1970 – Victoria Pratt, Canadian actress and fitness model
- 1970 – Fernando Solabarrieta, Chilean journalist
- 1970 – Cowboy Troy, American rapper
- 1970 – Rob Van Dam, American professional wrestler
- 1970 – Johnny Yeo, English artist
- 1971 – Barkha Dutt, Indian journalist
- 1971 – Noriko Matsueda, Japanese composer
- 1971 – Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Spanish tennis player
- 1972 – Trevor Chowning, American painter
- 1972 – Rah Digga, American rapper
- 1972 – Raymond Herrera, American drummer (Fear Factory) and businessman
- 1972 – DJ Lethal, Latvian-born American DJ (House of Pain, Limp Bizkit)
- 1973 – Leila Arcieri, American actress and model
- 1974 – Peter Boulware, American football player
- 1974 – Bill Duggan, American television actor and host
- 1974 – Euroboy, Norwegian musician (Turbonegro)
- 1975 – Sia Furler. Australian singer
- 1975 – David O'Doherty, Irish comedian
- 1975 – Trish Stratus, Canadian professional wrestler
- 1975 – Masaki Sumitani, Japanese comedian
- 1975 – Vincent van der Voort, Dutch darts player
- 1976 – Koyuki, Japanese actress and model
- 1977 – José Acevedo, Dominican baseball player
- 1977 – Lindsay Armaou, Irish singer
- 1977 – Ryan Scott Ottney, American journalist and comic book writer
- 1978 – Daniel Cleary, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1978 – Ali Curtis, American soccer player
- 1978 – Katie Holmes, American actress
- 1979 – Mamady Sidibe, Malian footballer
- 1979 – Eric Escobar, Puerto Rican professional wrestler
- 1979 – Carlos, Portuguese footballer
- 1980 – Christina Aguilera, American singer
- 1980 – Heinz Inniger, Swiss snowboarder
- 1980 – Benjamin Watson, American football player
- 1981 – Joshua Dallas, American actor
- 1981 – Jens Schmidt, German rugby player
- 1983 – Darren Carter, English footballer
- 1983 – Andy Fantuz, Canadian football player
- 1985 – Tara Conner, American beauty contestant (Miss USA)
- 1985 – Natalie Gal, Russian fashion model
- 1985 – Hana Soukupová, Czech supermodel
- 1986 – François Hamelin, Canadian short track speed skater
- 1986 – Usman Khawaja, Australian cricketer
- 1987 – Miki Ando, Japanese figure skater
- 1987 – Ayaka, Japanese singer
- 1987 – Fernando Jara, Panamanian jockey
- 1987 – Sneha Ullal, Indian actress
- 1989 – Ashley Benson, American actress
- 1989 – Ashley Slanina-Davies, English actress
- 1989 – Emily Atack, English actress
- 1990 – Sierra Kusterbeck, American singer-songwriter and model (VersaEmerge)
- 1990 – James Lawrie, Irish footballer
- 1992 – Bridgit Mendler, American actress and singer
Deaths
- 821 – Theodulf, Bishop of Orléans
- 1133 – Hildebert, French writer (b. 1055)
- 1290 – King Magnus I of Sweden (b. 1240)
- 1442 – Pierre Cauchon, French Catholic bishop (b. 1371)
- 1476 – Vlad III the Impaler (b. 1431)
- 1495 – King Alfonso II of Naples (b. 1448)
- 1591 – Marigje Arriens, Dutch suspected witch (b. ca. 1520)
- 1692 – Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff, German statesman (b. 1626)
- 1737 – Antonio Stradivari, Italian violin maker (b. 1644)
- 1787 – Francis William Drake, British Admiral and territorial governor (b. 1724)
- 1787 – Soame Jenyns, English writer (b. 1704)
- 1799 – Jean-Étienne Montucla, French mathematician (b. 1725)
- 1803 – Johann Gottfried Herder, German writer (b. 1744)
- 1829 – Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, French scientist (b. 1744)
- 1843 – Thomas Graham, Lord Lynedoch, British statesman (b. 1748)
- 1848 – Bernard Bolzano, Bohemian mathematician and priest (b. 1781)
- 1869 – Louis Moreau Gottschalk, American composer and pianist (b. 1829)
- 1880 – Michel Chasles, French mathematician (b. 1793)
- 1892 – Richard Owen, English biologist (b. 1804)
- 1922 – Carl Meyer, British banker and mining magnate (b. 1851)
- 1927 – Ram Prasad Bismil, Indian Revolutionary (b. 1897)
- 1936 – Andrija Mohorovičić, Austro-Hungarian-born Croatian seismologist (b. 1857)
- 1950 – Johnny Hyde, Russian-born American talent agent (b. 1895)
- 1968 – Joan Tabor, American film and television actress (b. 1932)
- 1971 – Bobby Jones, American golfer (b. 1902)
- 1971 – Diana Lynn, American actress (b. 1926)
- 1973 – Allamah Rasheed Turabi, Pakistani orator and philosopher (b. 1908)
- 1974 – Harry Hooper, American baseball player (b. 1887)
- 1975 – Theodosius Dobzhansky, Ukrainian geneticist (b. 1900)
- 1977 – Michio Nishizawa, Japanese baseball player (b. 1921)
- 1980 – Alexei Kosygin, Soviet politician and Premier (b. 1904)
- 1982 – Hans-Ulrich Rudel, German pilot (b. 1916)
- 1984 – Aris Maliagros, Greek actor (b. 1895)
- 1985 – Xuân Diệu, Vietnamese poet (b. 1916)
- 1987 – Konrad "Conny" Plank, German record producer and musician (b. 1940)
- 1990 – Anne Revere, American actress (b. 1903)
- 1990 – Paul Tortelier, French cellist and composer (b. 1914)
- 1991 – George Abecassis, English Formula 1 driver (b. 1913)
- 1992 – Mark Goodson, American game show producer (b. 1915)
- 1993 – Sam Wanamaker, American actor (b. 1919)
- 1994 – Roger Apéry, Greek-French mathematician (b. 1916)
- 1995 – Brian Brockless, English organist (b. 1926)
- 1995 – Konrad Zuse, German engineer and computing pioneer (b. 1910)
- 1996 – Yulii Borisovich Khariton, Russian physicist (b. 1904)
- 1997 – Chris Farley, American actor and comedian (b. 1964)
- 1998 – Lev Dyomin, Soviet cosmonaut (b. 1926)
- 1999 – Robert Bresson, French film director (b. 1907)
- 2000 – Stan Fox, American race car driver (b. 1952)
- 2000 – Randolph Apperson Hearst, son of William Randolph Hearst; father of Patricia Hearst (b. 1915)
- 2000 – Kirsty MacColl, English singer and songwriter (b. 1959)
- 2001 – Gilbert Bécaud, French singer (b. 1927)
- 2001 – Marcel Mule, French saxophonist (b. 1901)
- 2001 – Dimitris Dragatakis, Greek composer (b. 1914)
- 2002 – Ray Hnatyshyn, Canadian politician (b. 1934)
- 2002 – Wayne Owens, American politician (b. 1937)
- 2004 – Anthony Sampson, British journalist and biographer (b. 1926)
- 2005 – Alan Voorhees, American engineer and urban planner (b. 1922)
- 2006 – Joseph Barbera, American cartoonist (b. 1911)
- 2006 – Ruth Bernhard, American photographer (b. 1905)
- 2006 – Mike Dickin, British radio broadcaster (b. 1943)
- 2006 – Shaukat Siddiqui, Pakistani author and political activist (b. 1923)
- 2007 – Gerald Le Dain, Canadian Supreme Court Justice (b. 1924)
- 2007 – Jack Linkletter, American television host; son of Art Linkletter (b. 1937)
- 2007 – Bill Strauss, American writer (b. 1947)
- 2007 – Alan Wagner, American opera critic (b. 1931)
- 2008 – Majel Barrett, American actress; widow of Gene Roddenberry (b. 1932)
- 2008 – W. Mark Felt, American Watergate figure (b. 1913)
- 2010 – Phil Cavarretta, American baseball player (b. 1916)
- 2010 – Tasso Kavadia, Greek actress (b. 1921)
- 2010 – Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, Italian banker and economist (b. 1940)
- 2010 – James Pickles, English jurist and columnist (b. 1925)
- 2010 – Jacqueline de Romilly, French philologist and classical scholar (b. 1913)
- 2011 – Václav Havel, playwright, philosopher and dissident, last president of Czechoslovakia, and the first president of the Czech Republic (b. 1936)
Holidays and observances
- Christian Feast Day:
- Eponalia, feast of Epona, celebrated during Saturnalia. (Roman Empire)
- International Migrants Day (International)
- National Day (Qatar)
- New Jersey Day (New Jersey)
- Republic Day (Niger)
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to December 18.