August 18 is the 230th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 135 days remain until the end of the year.
We have some interesting facts & historic events all about August 18th, including areas in religion, crime, health and more.
Keep reading for more interesting facts about August 18th in history!
Table of Contents
Global Celebrations
- National Pinot Noir Day
- National Mail Order Catalog Day
- National Bad Poetry Day
- Serendipity Day
Historic Events
What Happened On This Day – August 18
2005: Indonesia suffers a Massive Power Outage
Thought to be one of the biggest power outages in recent history, the Java-Bali outage affected about 100 million people. Electricity was restored to most areas within 6 hours.
1958: Lolita is First Published in the US
The highly controversial novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabakov detailed an adult man’s obsession over 12-year-old Dolores Haze, who he secretly calls Lolita.
1920: The State of Tennessee Passes the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution
This action by the Tennessee legislature brought the number of states passing the 19th amendment to 36 and provided the necessary majority to ratify the amendment, which extended universal suffrage to women.
1877: Martian Moon Phobos is Discovered
One of the two natural satellites of Mars, Phobos, was discovered by American astronomer Asaph Hall. Hall also discovered Deimos, the other Martian Moon. Named after the Greek God of fear, Phobos orbits only 3700 miles from the surface of Mars, making it the Moon to orbit closest to its planet in the Solar System. Because of this, Phobos completes an orbit around Mars in 7 hours and 39 minutes.
1612: The Pendle witch trials begin
11 people – 9 women and 2 men – are tried for practicing witch craft in one of UK’s most well documented and followed witch trials. The trial lasts for two days and 10 of the accused are found guilty and executed on August 20.
Famous Birthdays
Births On This Day, August 18
1983: Cameron White, Australian cricketer
1962: Felipe Calderón, Mexican politician, 56th President of Mexico
1933: Roman Polanski, French/Polish director, producer, writer, actor
1910: Herman Berlinski, Polish/American composer
1750: Antonio Salieri, Italian composer
Heartbreaking Deaths
Deaths On This Day, August 18
2009: Kim Dae-jung, South Korean politician, 8th President of South Korea Nobel laureate
1990: B. F. Skinner, American psychologist, author
1945: Subhas Chandra Bose, Indian politician, activist
1850: Honoré de Balzac, French author, playwright
1227: Genghis Khan, Emperor
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