March 18

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.
• 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.
• 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: British attack on the Dardanelles fails.
• 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 occurred and hit in Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana and killed 695 people.
• 1937 - A natural gas explosion at a school in New London, Texas kills 298 (most are children).
• 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.
• 1944 - World War II: Nazi forces occupy Hungary.
• 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 bill allowing for Hawaiian statehood.
• 1962 - France and Algeria sign an agreement ending the Algerian War.
• 1965 - Cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov becomes the first person to walk in space from spacecraft Voskhod 2.
• 1968 - Gold standard: The United States 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: 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.
• 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 by two thieves posing as police officers from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts. This is the largest art theft in US history and the paintings (as of 2003) have not been recovered.
• 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 killing all 50 on board and later the grounding of all An-24s.
• 2000 - Chen Shui-bian is elected President of the Republic of China (on Taiwan).

Births

• 1782 - John Calhoun, Vice President of the United States, (d. 1850)
• 1837 - Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, (d. 1908)
• 1844 - Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, composer, (d. 1908)
• 1858 - Rudolf Diesel, inventor of the compression ignition engine, (d. 1913)
• 1869 - Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, (d. 1940)
• 1877 - Edgar Cayce, psychic, (d. 1945)
• 1886 - Edward Everett Horton, actor, (d. 1970)
• 1903 - O. E. Plauen, illustrator and cartoonist, (d. 1944)
• 1905 - Robert Donat, actor, (d. 1958)
• 1905 - Thomas Townsend Brown, scientist, (d. 1985)
• 1910 - Chiang Ching-kuo, President of the Republic of China, (d. 1988)
• 1922 - Egon Bahr, politician
• 1926 - Peter Graves, actor
• 1927 - George Plimpton, writer, (d. 2003)
• 1932 - John Updike, author
• 1936 - Frederik Willem de Klerk, South African politician
• 1938 - Charley Pride, country musician
• 1941 - Wilson Pickett, singer
• 1950 - Brad Dourif, actor
• 1959 - Luc Besson, producer, writer, director
• 1963 - Vanessa Williams, actress, singer, Miss America
• 1964 - Irene Cara, actress, singer
• 1964 - Bonnie Blair, Olympic gold medalist in speed skating
• 1970 - Queen Latifah, singer, actress

Deaths

• 978 - King Edward the Martyr of England, (b. c. 962)
• 1745 - Sir Robert Walpole, Prime Minister of Great Britain, (b. 1676)
• 1947 - William Durant, automobile pioneer, founder of General Motors
• 1964 - Sigfrid Edström, Swedish sports official, (b. 1870)
• 1965 - King Farouk I of Egypt, (b. 1920)
• 1977 - Marien Ngouabi, President of The Congo, (b. 1938)
• 1978 - Leigh Brackett, science fiction author, (b. 1915)
• 2001 - John Phillips, musician ("The Mamas and the Papas"), (b. 1935)
• 2003 - Adam Osborne, computer pioneer, (b. 1939)
• 2003 - Karl Kling, car racing driver
• 2003 - Alan Keith, BBC radio show host

Holidays and observances

• Ancient Latvia - Bindus Diena

• According to Donald Rumsfeld, the American war with Iraq began at 1:00 March 21, 2003, not today.

March 17 - March 19 - February 18 - April 18 -- listing of all days

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

Referenced By