March 18
March 18 is the 77th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (78th in leap years ). There are 288 days remaining.
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 .
1608 - Sissinios formally crowned Emperor of Ethiopia
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.
1871 - President of the French government Thiers orders evacuation of Paris , a socialist government rules the city.
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 : Three battleships are sunk during a failed British & French naval attack on the Dardanelles .
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 hits the Midwestern states of Missouri , Illinois , and Indiana , killing 695 people.
1937 - The New London School explosion kills three hundred, mostly children.
1937 - Spanish Civil War : Spanish Republican forces hand the Italian forces a grave defeat at the Battle of Guadalajara .
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 .
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 a bill into law allowing for Hawaiian statehood, which would become official on August 21 .
1961 - In Cannes , France , Jean-Claude Pascal wins the sixth Eurovision Song Contest for Luxembourg singing "Nous les amoureux" (We the lovers).
1962 - France and Algeria sign an agreement ending the Algerian War .
1962 - In Luxembourg , Isabelle Aubret wins the seventh Eurovision Song Contest for France singing "Un premier amour" (A first love).
1965 - Cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov , leaving his spacecraft Voskhod 2 for 12 minutes, becomes the first person to walk in space .
1968 - Gold standard : The U.S. 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 crisis : 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.
1985 - The first episode of popular soap Neighbours airs on Australian TV.
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 from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts . This is the largest art theft in US history.
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 and killing all 50 on board. This leads to the grounding of all An-24s.
2000 - 2000 Taiwanese presidential election : Chen Shui-bian is elected President of the Republic of China .
2005 - "The Screen Savers " TV show name was changed to Attack of the Show, ending an era of technological television.
2005 - The first ever Muslim Friday prayer, woman led mixed-gender congregation in New York City. This day marks a 1426 year Islamic tradition being broken.
2005 - Terri Schiavo 's feeding tube is removed at the request of her husband, fueling a nationwide debate about her.
Births
1782 - John Calhoun , Vice President of the United States (d. 1850 )
1837 - Grover Cleveland , President of the United States (d. 1908 )
1840 - William Cosmo Monkhouse , poet , critic (d. 1901 )
1842 - Stéphane Mallarmé , French poet (d. 1898 )
1844 - Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov , Russian composer (d. 1908 )
1858 - Rudolf Diesel , German inventor of the compression ignition engine (d. 1913 )
1869 - Neville Chamberlain , Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1940 )
1872 - Anna Held , actress amd singer, (d. 1918 )
1877 - Edgar Cayce , psychic (d. 1945 )
1882 - Gian Francesco Malipiero , Italian composer
1886 - Edward Everett Horton , actor (d. 1970 )
1899 - Jean Goldkette , jazz musician (d. 1962 )
1903 - O. E. Plauen , illustrator and cartoonist (d. 1944 )
1904 - Srečko Kosovel , Slovenian poet (d. 1926 )
1905 - Thomas Townsend Brown , scientist (d. 1985 )
1905 - Robert Donat , actor (d. 1958 )
1909 - Ernest Gallo , American winemaker
1910 - Chiang Ching-kuo , President of the Republic of China (d. 1988 )
1910 - Herman Tarnower , Scarsdale Diet doctor (d. 1980 )
1915 - Richard Condon , American novelist (d. 1996 )
1918 - Al Benton , Major League Baseball player (d. 1968 )
1922 - Egon Bahr , politician
1923 - Andy Granatelli , auto racer
1926 - Peter Graves , actor
1927 - George Plimpton , writer (d. 2003 )
1927 - John Kander , American songwriter
1928 - Fidel V. Ramos , President of the Philippines
1932 - John Updike , author
1936 - Frederik Willem de Klerk , South African politician
1937 - Mark Donohue , American auto racer (d. 1975 )
1938 - Charley Pride , country musician
1941 - Wilson Pickett , singer
1943 - Kevin Dobson , American actor
1949 - Alex Higgins , North Irish snooker player
1950 - Brad Dourif , actor
1951 - Bill Frisell , American jazz musician
1952 - Mike Webster , American football player (d. 2002 )
1959 - Luc Besson , producer, writer, director
1959 - Irene Cara , US actress/singer
1960 - Richard Biggs , actor (Days of Our Lives Babylon 5 2004 )
1963 - Vanessa Williams , actress, singer, Miss America
1964 - Bonnie Blair , Olympic gold medalist in speed skating
1964 - Rozalla , singer
1966 - Jerry Cantrell , American musician (Alice in Chains _
1970 - Queen Latifah , singer, actress
1973 - Max Barry , author
1980 - Alexei Yagudin , figure skater
Deaths
978 - King Edward the Martyr of England , (b. c. 962 )
1227 - Pope Honorius III (b. 1148 )
1584 - Ivan IV of Russia
1745 - Sir Robert Walpole , Prime Minister of Britain , (b. 1676 )
1835 - Christian Gunther von Bernstorff , Danish and Prussian statesman and diplomat, (b. 1769 )
1871 - Augustus De Morgan , Indian-born British mathematician and logician (b.1806 )
1947 - William C. 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 Republic of the Congo , (b. 1938 )
1978 - Leigh Brackett , science fiction author, (b. 1915 )
1986 - Bernard Malamud , American writer
1990 - Robin Harris , American actor, comedian
2000 - Eberhard Bethge , German theologian, archbishop
2001 - John Phillips , musician (The Mamas and the Papas ), (b. 1935 )
2002 - R.A. Lafferty , science fiction writer (b. 1914 )
2003 - Adam Osborne , computer pioneer, (b. 1939 )
2003 - Karl Kling , car racing driver
2003 - Alan Keith , BBC radio show host
2004 - Harrison McCain , Canadian Businessman
Holidays and observances
External links
March 17 - March 19 - February 18 - April 18 -- listing of all days
