February 18

February 18 is the 49th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are
316 days remaining (317 in leap years).

Events

   * 1685 - Fort St. Louis is established by a Frenchman at Matagorda Bay
     thus forming the basis for France's claim to Texas.
   * 1841 - The first ongoing filibuster in the United States Senate begins
     and lasts until March 11.
   * 1848 - Battle of Montereau
   * 1856 - The American Party (Know-Nothings) convene in Philadelphia,
     Pennsylvania to nominate their first Presidential candidate, former
     President (Millard Fillmore)
   * 1861 - In Montgomery, Alabama Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as the
     first and only President of the Confederate States of America.
   * 1861 - Victor Emmanuel of Savoy becomes King of Italy
   * 1878 - The Lincoln County War begins in Lincoln County, New Mexico
   * 1885 - Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is published for the
     first time
   * 1929 - First Academy Awards are announced
   * 1930 - While studying photographs taken in January, Clyde Tombaugh
     discovers Pluto
   * 1930 - Elm Farm Ollie becomes the first cow to fly in an airplane and
     also the first cow to be milked in an airplane.
   * 1932 - Japan declares Manzhouguo (Japanese name for Manchuria)
     independent from China
   * 1943 - The Nazis arrest the members of the White Rose movement
   * 1948 - Eamon de Valera resigns as Taoiseach of Ireland
   * 1953 - The first 3D film, Bwana Devil' opens.
   * 1953 - Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz sign an $8,000,000 contract to
     continue the I Love Lucy television series through 1955.
   * 1965 - The Gambia becomes independent from the United Kingdom
   * 1970 - The Chicago Eight are found not guilty of conspiring to incite
     riots at the 1968 United States Democratic Party national convention.
   * 1972 - The California Supreme Court invalidates the state's death
     penalty and commutes the sentences of all death row inmates to life in
     prison.
   * 1977 - The Space Shuttle Enterprise test vehicle goes on its maiden
     "flight" while sitting on top of a Boeing 747.
   * 1998 - Two white separatists were arrested in Nevada and accused of
     plotting a biological attack on New York City subways.
   * 2001 - During the Daytona 500 race, NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, known
     as "The Intimidator" for his aggressive driving style, is killed in a
     crash.

Births

   * 1516 - Queen Mary I of England (+ 1558)
   * 1745 - Alessandro Volta, physicist, eponym for the unit of the electric
     potential (+ 1827)
   * 1838 - Ernst Mach, Austrian physicist and philosopher
   * 1846 - Wilson Barrett, actor
   * 1848 - Louis Comfort Tiffany, American glass artist
   * 1859 - Sholom Aleichem, writer (+ 1916)
   * 1867 - Hedwig Courths-Mahler, novelist (+ 1950)
   * 1887 - Nikos Kazantzakis, poet (+ 1957)
   * 1890 - Adolphe Menjou, actor (+ 1963)
   * 1892 - Wendell Wilkie, politican, Presidential candidate (+ 1944)
   * 1896 - Andre Breton, poet and principal theorist of surrealism
   * 1898 - Enzo Ferrari, auto racer, manufacturer (+ 1988)
   * 1912 - Heinz KŸhn, politician (+ 1992)
   * 1920 - Jack Palance, actor
   * 1920 - Bill Cullen, game show host (+ 1990)
   * 1922 - Helen Gurley Brown, editor, publisher
   * 1925 - George Kennedy, actor
   * 1929 - Len Deighton, author
   * 1931 - Toni Morrison, writer, winner of the Nobel Prize in literature
     1993
   * 1931 - Bob St. Clair, American football star
   * 1931 - Johnny Hart, cartoonist
   * 1932 - Milos Forman, film director
   * 1933 - Yoko Ono, singer, artist, wife of John Lennon
   * 1934 - Paco Rabanne, fashion designer
   * 1938 - Istvan Szabo, director
   * 1943 - Graeme Garden, writer, comedian, actor
   * 1947 - Princess Christina of the Netherlands
   * 1947 - Dennis DeYoung, musician ("Styx")
   * 1949 - Gary Ridgway, accused of being the Green River Killer
   * 1950 - John Hughes, director, producer, writer
   * 1952 - Juice Newton, country music entertainer
   * 1954 - John Travolta, actor
   * 1957 - Vanna White, game show presenter
   * 1964 - Matt Dillon, actor
   * 1965 - Dr. Dre, rap music performer, music producer
   * 1967 - Roberto Baggio, Italian football player

Deaths

   * 901 - Thabit ibn Qurra, Arab astronomer and mathematician
   * 1478 - Duke of Clarence, drowned in wine by Richard III
   * 1546 - Martin Luther, religious reformer
   * 1564 - Michelangelo Buonarroti, Italian artist
   * 1933 - James J. Corbett, boxer
   * 1957 - Henry Norris Russell, American astronomer
   * 1967 - J. Robert Oppenheimer, American physicist
   * 2001 - Dale Earnhardt, NASCAR race car driver
   * 2001 - Balthus, French painter
   * 2001 - Eddie Matthews, Baseball Hall of Famer

Holidays and observances

   * Gambia - National Day