September 18

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Events

• 96 - Nerva is proclaimed Roman Emperor after Domitian is assassinated.
• 324 - Constantine the Great decisively defeats Licinius in the Battle of Chrysopolis, establishing Constantine's sole control over the Roman Empire.
• 1180 - Philip Augustus becomes king of France.
• 1454 - In the Battle of Chojnice, the Polish army is defeated by Teutonic army during the Thirteen Years' War.
• 1502 - Christopher Columbus lands at Costa Rica on his fourth, and final, voyage.
• 1544 - Charles V of Germany and Francis I of France sign peace treaty (Truce of Crepy-en-Laonnois)
• 1573 - Spanish attack on Alkmaar.
• 1615 - Thomas Row, the first British messenger came to India.
• 1635 - Emperor Ferdinand II declares war on France.
• 1679 - New Hampshire becomes a county of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
• 1739 - The Treaty of Belgrade is signed, ceding Belgrade to the Ottoman Empire.
• 1759 - The British capture Quebec City.
• 1793 - The first cornerstone of the Capitol building is laid by George Washington.
• 1809 - Royal Opera House in London opens.
• 1810 - First Government Junta in Chile. Though supposed to rule only in the absence of the king, it was in fact the first step towards independence from Spain, and it is commemorated as such.
• 1812 - Fire of Moscow (1812) fades down after destroying more than three quarters of the city. Napoleon returns from Petrovsky Palace to Moscow Kremlin, spared from the fire.
• 1830 - A horse beats the first U.S.-made locomotive in a race near Baltimore.
• 1837 - Tiffany and Co. (first named Tiffany & Young) is founded by Charles Lewis Tiffany and John B. Young in New York City, New York. The store was called a "stationery and fancy goods emporium".
• 1838 - Anti-Corn Law League established by Richard Cobden.
• 1850 - The U.S. Congress passes the Fugitive Slave Act.
• 1851 - The New-York Daily Times, which will become The New York Times, begins publishing.
• 1863 - American Civil War: Battle of Chickamauga.
• 1872 - King Oscar II accedes to the throne of Sweden-Norway.
• 1873 - The Panic of 1873 begins.
• 1879 - Blackpool's illuminations were switched on for the first time.
• 1882 - Pacific Stock Exchange opens.
• 1885 - Riots break out in Montreal to protest compulsory smallpox vaccination.
• 1895 - Booker T Washington delivers "Atlanta Compromise" address.
• 1895 - Daniel David Palmer gives the first chiropractic adjustment.
• 1898 - Fashoda Incident - Lord Kitchener's ships reach Fashoda, Sudan.
• 1906 - A typhoon with tsunami kills an estimated 10,000 people in Hong Kong.
• 1910 - In Amsterdam, 25,000 demonstrate for general suffrage.
• 1911 - Russian Premier Peter Stolypin shot at the Kiev Opera House
• 1911 - All workers go on general strike in Valencia
• 1914 - The Irish Home Rule Act becomes law, but is delayed until after World War I.
• 1914 - World War I: South African troops land in German South West Africa.
• 1919 - The Netherlands gives women the right to vote.
• 1919 - Fritz Pollard becomes the first African-American to play professional football for a major team, the Akron Pros.
• 1922 - Hungary admitted to League of Nations.
• 1927 - Columbia Broadcasting System goes on the air.
• 1928 - Juan de la Cierva makes first autogyro crossing of the English Channel.
• 1931 - The Mukden Incident gives Japan the pretext to invade and occupy Manchuria.
• 1932 - Actress Peg Entwistle commits suicide by jumping from the letter "H" in the Hollywood sign.
• 1934 - USSR admitted to League of Nations.
• 1939 - World War II: Polish government of Ignacy Mościcki flees to Romania.
• 1939 - William Joyce's first Nazi propaganda broadcast.
• 1940 - World War II: Italian troops conquer Sidi Barrani.
• 1942 - Canadian Broadcasting Corporation authorized.
• 1943 - World War II: The Jews of Minsk are massacred at Sobibór.
• 1943 - World War II: Hitler orders deportation of Danish Jews.
• 1944 - World War II: British submarine HMS Tradewind torpedoes Junyō Maru, 5,600 killed.
• 1945 - Gen. Douglas MacArthur moves his command headquarters to Tokyo.
• 1945 - In Gary, Indiana, 1000 whites walk out of schools to protest integration.
• 1947 - The United States Air Force becomes an independent service.
• 1947 - Country singers Ernest Tubb and Roy Acuff perform at Carnegie Hall in New York City, making it the venue's first country performance.
• 1948 - Communist Madiun uprising in Dutch Indies.
• 1948 - Margaret Chase Smith becomes the first woman elected to the US Senate without completing another senator's term when she defeats Democratic opponent Adrian Scolten.
• 1948 - Ralph Bunche confirmed as acting UN mediator for Palestine and Israel.
• 1948 - Yoni Abramski, 12-year-old Israeli boy, shot and killed by Jordanian sniper in Jerusalem.
• 1959 - Vanguard 3 launched into Earth orbit.
• 1960 - Fidel Castro arrives in New York City as the head of the Cuban delegation to the United Nations.
• 1961 - U.N. Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld dies in a plane crash while attempting to negotiate peace in the war-torn Katanga region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• 1962 - Rwanda, Burundi and Jamaica admitted to the United Nations.
• 1963 - The last game at the Polo Grounds is played.
• 1964 - Constantine II of Greece marries Danish princess Anne-Marie.
• 1964 - North Vietnamese Army begins infiltration of South Vietnam.
• 1967 - Esporte Clube Santo André, of Brazil, is founded.
• 1970 - Jimi Hendrix found dead in his basement in London.
• 1972 - First Ugandans expelled by Idi Amin arrive in the UK.
• 1973 - East and West Germany are admitted to the United Nations.
• 1974 - Hurricane Fifi strikes Honduras with 110 mph winds, killing 5,000 people.
• 1975 - Patty Hearst is arrested after a year on the FBI Most Wanted List.
• 1976 - Mao Tse Tung's funeral takes place in Beijing.
• 1977 - Voyager I takes 1st space photograph of Earth & Moon together.
• 1978 - Leaders of Israel and Egypt reach a settlement for the Middle East at Camp David.
• 1980 - Soyuz 38 carries 2 cosmonauts (1 Cuban) to Salyut 6 space station.
• 1981 - Assemblée Nationale votes to abolish capital punishment in France
• 1982 - Christian militia begin massacre of 600 Palestinians in Lebanon.
• 1983 - Rock band Kiss unmasks for the first time in an appearance on MTV to coincide with the release of new album Lick It Up.
• 1984 - Joe Kittinger completes first solo balloon crossing of the Atlantic.
• 1987 - Ronald Reagan announces joint destruction of nuclear warheads by USA and USSR.
• 1988 - End of pro-democracy uprisings in Myanmar after a bloody military coup by the State Law and Order Restoration Council. Thousands, mostly monks and civilians (primarily students) were killed by the Tatmadaw.
• 1989 - Hurricane Hugo hits Puerto Rico, killing six.
• 1990 - Liechtenstein becomes a member of the United Nations.
• 1991 - Yugoslavia began a naval blockade of 7 Adriatic port cities.
• 1992 - An explosion rocks Giant Mine at the height of a labour dispute, killing 9 replacement workers.
• 1997 - U.S. media magnate Ted Turner donates USD $1 billion to the United Nations.
• 1997 - Voters in Wales vote yes (50.3%) on a referendum on Welsh autonomy.
• 1998 - ICANN is formed.
• 2001 - First mailing of anthrax letters from Trenton, New Jersey in the 2001 anthrax attacks.
• 2002 - The body of missing schoolgirl Amanda Dowler is found in Yateley heath in Hampshire, ending a six-month search.
• 2003 - Hurricane Isabel makes landfall in the U.S.
• 2003 - The UK's Local Government Act 2003, repealing Section 28, receives Royal Assent.
• 2004 - Ford put Jaguar Racing and Cosworth up for sale.
• 2006 - Right wing protesters riot the buliding of the Hungarian Television in Budapest, Hungary, one day after an audio tape was made public, on which Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány admitted he and his party lied during the 2006 general elections.
• 2007 - President General Pervez Musharraf announces that he will step down as army chief and restore civilian rule to Pakistan, but only after he is re-elected president
• 2007 - Buddhist monks join anti-government protesters in Myanmar, starting what some call the Saffron Revolution

Births

• 53 - Trajan, Roman Emperor (d. 117)
• 1505 - Maria of Austria, wife of Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia (d. 1558)
• 1587 - Francesca Caccini, Italian composer (d. circa 1640)
• 1643 - Gilbert Burnet, Scottish Bishop of Salisbury (d. 1715)
• 1684 - Johann Gottfried Walther, German composer (d. 1748)
• 1709 - Samuel Johnson, English writer and lexicographer (d. 1784)
• 1718 - Nikita Ivanovich Panin, Russian statesman (d. 1783)
• 1733 - George Read, signer of the United States Declaration of Independence (d. 1798)
• 1750 - Tomas de Iriarte, Spanish writer (d. 1791)
• 1752 - Adrien-Marie Legendre, French mathematician (d. 1833)
• 1765 - Pope Gregory XVI (d. 1846)
• 1779 - Joseph Story, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (d. 1845)
• 1786 - Justinus Kerner, German poet (d. 1862)
• 1812 - Herschel Vespasian Johnson, American politician (d. 1880)
• 1819 - Leon Foucault, French physicist (d. 1868)
• 1837 - Aires de Ornelas e Vasconcelos, (Portuguese) Archbishop of Goa (d. 1880)
• 1838 - Anton Mauve, Dutch artist (d. 1888)
• 1857 - John Hessin Clarke, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (d. 1945)
• 1859 - Lincoln Loy McCandless, American cattle rancher (d. 1940)
• 1858 - Kate Booth, the oldest daughter of William and Catherine Booth (d. 1955)
• 1863 - Hermann Kutter, Swiss theologian (d. 1931)
• 1870 - Clark Wissler, American anthropologist (d. 1947)
• 1875 - Tomas Burgos, Chilean philanthropist (d.1945)
• 1876 - James Scullin, 9th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1953)
• 1883 - Gerald Hugh Tyrwhitt-Wilson, British composer (d. 1950)
• 1889 - Doris Blackburn, Australian politician (d. 1970)
• 1893 - Arthur Benjamin, Australian composer (d. 1960)
• 1893 - William March, American writer (d. 1954)
• 1895 - Tomoji Tanabe, the oldest man in the world as of June 2007
• 1895 - John Diefenbaker, 13th Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1979)
• 1901 - Harold Clurman, American film producer (d. 1980)
• 1905 - Eddie Anderson, American actor (d. 1977)
• 1905 - Agnes de Mille, American choreographer (d. 1993)
• 1905 - Greta Garbo, Swedish actress (d. 1990)
• 1907 - Leon Askin, Austrian actor (d. 2005)
• 1907 - Edwin McMillan, Nobel laureate (d. 1991)
• 1911 - Syd Howe, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1976)
• 1912 - Kurt Lotz, German business executive, second postwar CEO of Volkswagen (d. 2005)
• 1914 - Jack Cardiff, British film director
• 1916 - Rossano Brazzi, Italian singer and actor (d. 1994)
• 1916 - John Jacob Rhodes, Jr., American politician and lawyer (d. 2003)
• 1916 - Frank Bell, British educator (d. 1989)
• 1917 - June Foray, American voice actress
• 1917 - Francis Parker Yockey, author of Imperium (d. 1960)
• 1918 - John Berger, English politician
• 1920 - Jack Warden, American actor (d. 2006)
• 1922 - Grayson Hall, American actress (d. 1985)
• 1922 - Ray Steadman-Allen, English composer
• 1923 - Peter Smithson, English architect (d. 2003)
• 1923 - Queen Anne of Romania
• 1925 - Harvey Haddix, American baseball player (d. 1994)
• 1926 - Bud Greenspan, American film producer
• 1926 - Bob Toski, American golfer
• 1927 - Phyllis Kirk, American actress (d. 2006)
• 1929 - Nancy Littlefield, American film producer (d. 2007)
• 1932 - Nikolai Rukavishnikov, Soviet cosmonaut (d. 2002)
• 1933 - Scotty Bowman, Canadian ice hockey coach
• 1933 - Robert Blake, American actor
• 1933 - Jimmie Rodgers, American singer and composer
• 1933 - Robert Foster Bennett, American senator (Utah)
• 1935 - John Spencer, English former snooker player (d. 2006)
• 1937 - Ralph Backstrom, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1939 - Frankie Avalon, American musician
• 1939 - Jorge Sampaio, former President of Portugal
• 1939 - Fred Willard, American comedian
• 1939 - Harald Heide-Steen Jr., Norwegian actor
• 1944 - Michael Franks, American musician
• 1944 - Charles L. Veach, American astronaut (d. 1995)
• 1944 - Rocío Jurado, Spanish singer and actress (d. 2006)
• 1946 - Nicholas Clay, English actor (d. 2000)
• 1946 - Otis Sistrunk, American football player
• 1947 - Giancarlo Minardi, Italian motor racing team boss
• 1948 - Ken Brett, American baseball player (d. 2003)
• 1949 - Jim McCrery, American politician
• 1949 - Mo Mowlam, British politician (d. 2005)
• 1949 - Peter Shilton, English footballer
• 1949 - Kerry Livgren, American singer (Kansas)
• 1950 - Shabana Azmi, Indian actress
• 1950 - Darryl Sittler, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1950 - Anna Deavere Smith, American actress and playwright
• 1951 - Benjamin Carson, American neurosurgeon
• 1951 - Darryl Stingley, American football player (d. 2007)
• 1951 - Marc Surer, Swiss motor racing driver
• 1952 - Rick Pitino, American basketball coach
• 1952 - Dee Dee Ramone, American bassist (The Ramones) (d. 2002)
• 1953 - Betsy Boze nee: Vogel, American Academic
• 1954 - Murtaza Bhutto, Pakistani politician (d. 1996)
• 1954 - Takao Doi, Japanese astronaut
• 1954 - Dennis Johnson, American basketball player (d. 2007)
• 1955 - Bob Papenbrook, American voice actor (d. 2006)
• 1956 - Peter Šťastný, Slovak ice hockey player
• 1958 - John Aldridge, Irish footballer
• 1958 - Don Geronimo, Radio personality of the Don & Mike Show
• 1959 - Ryne Sandberg, American baseball player
• 1959 - Ian Arkwright, English footballer
• 1961 - James Gandolfini, American actor
• 1962 - Joanne Catherall, English singer
• 1962 - John Fashanu, English footballer
• 1963 - Rob Brettle, British historian
• 1964 - Marco Masini, Italian singer-songwriter
• 1964 - Holly Robinson Peete, American actress
• 1967 - Ricky Bell, American singer (New Edition, Bell Biv DeVoe)
• 1967 - Tara Fitzgerald, English actress
• 1968 - Toni Kukoč, Croatian basketball player
• 1968 - Cappadonna, American rapper
• 1970 - Darren Gough, English cricketer
• 1970 - Dan Eldon, British photojournalist (d. 1993)
• 1970 - Aisha Tyler, American actress and comedian
• 1971 - Lance Armstrong, American cyclist
• 1971 - Anna Netrebko, Russian opera singer
• 1971 - Jada Pinkett Smith, American model and actress
• 1972 - David Jefferies, British motorcycle racer (d. 2003)
• 1973 - Paul Brousseau, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1973 - James Marsden, American actor
• 1973 - Ami Onuki, Japanese singer (Puffy Amiyumi)
• 1973 - Mark Shuttleworth, South African entrepreneur
• 1974 - Sol Campbell, English footballer
• 1974 - Ticha Penicheiro, Portuguese basketball player
• 1974 - Xzibit, American rapper
• 1975 - Kanstantsin Lukashyk, Belarusian pistol shooter
• 1977 - Li Tie, Chinese footballer
• 1978 - Pilar López de Ayala, Spanish actress
• 1979 - Alison Lohman, American actress
• 1979 - Daniel Aranzubia, Spanish footballer
• 1982 - Lukas Reimann (Swiss politician)
• 1983 - Kevin Doyle, Irish footballer
• 1986 - Keeley Hazell, British model
• 1988 - Annette Obrestad, Norwegian poker player
• 1989 - Anthony Romanelli, Italian film maker

Deaths

• 96 - Domitian, Roman Emperor (b. 51)
• 887 - Pietro I Candiano, Doge of Venice (killed in battle)
• 1180 - King Louis VII of France (b. 1120)
• 1598 - Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Japanese warlord (b. 1536)
• 1630 - Melchior Klesl, Austrian cardinal and statesman (b. 1552)
• 1663 - St Joseph of Cupertino, Italian saint (b. 1603)
• 1675 - Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1604)
• 1721 - Matthew Prior, English poet and diplomat (b. 1664)
• 1722 - André Dacier, French classical scholar (b. 1651)
• 1783 - Leonhard Euler, Swiss mathematician (b. 1707)
• 1783 - Benjamin Kennicott, English churchman and Hebrew scholar (b. 1718)
• 1792 - August Gottlieb Spangenberg, German religious leader (b. 1704)
• 1827 - Robert Pollok, Scottish poet (b. 1789)
• 1830 - William Hazlitt, English essayist (b. 1778)
• 1860 - Joseph Locke, English railway builder and civil engineer (b. 1805)
• 1872 - King Charles XV / Carl IV of Sweden and Norway (b. 1826)
• 1891 - William Ferrel, American mathematician (b. 1817)
• 1896 - Hippolyte Fizeau, French physicist (b. 1819)
• 1905 - George MacDonald, Scottish writer and minister (b. 1824)
• 1911 - Pyotr Stolypin, Russian politician (b. 1862)
• 1924 - Francis Herbert Bradley, British philosopher (b. 1846)
• 1939 - Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, Polish writer, painter, and photographer (b. 1885)
• 1944 - Robert G. Cole American Paratrooper of the 101st, 502nd division (b. 1915)