June 18

Events

*618 - Coronation of the Chinese governor Li Yuan as Emperor Gaozu of Tang, the new Emperor of China, initiating three centuries of the Tang Dynasty's rule over China.
*1178 - Five Canterbury monks see what was possibly the Giordano Bruno crater being formed. It is believed that the current oscillations of the moon's distance (on the order of metres) are a result of this collision.
*1264 - The Parliament of Ireland meets at Castledermot in County Kildare, the first definitively known meeting of this Irish legislature.
*1429 - French forces under the leadership of Joan of Arc defeat the main English army under Sir John Fastolf at the Battle of Patay. This turns the tide of the Hundred Years' War.
*1767 - Samuel Wallis, an English sea captain, sights Tahiti and is considered the first European to reach the island.
*1778 - American Revolutionary War: British troops abandon Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
*1812 - War of 1812: The U.S. Congress declares war on the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
*1815 - Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Waterloo leads to Napoleon Bonaparte abdicating the throne of France for the second and final time.
*1858 - Charles Darwin receives a paper from Alfred Russel Wallace that includes nearly identical conclusions about evolution as Darwin's own. This prompts Darwin to publish his theory.
*1873 - Susan B. Anthony is fined $100 for attempting to vote in the 1872 presidential election.
*1887 - The Reinsurance Treaty between Germany and Russia is signed.
*1900 - Empress Dowager Longyu of China orders all foreigners killed, including foreign diplomats and their families.
*1908 - Japanese immigration to Brazil begins when 781 people arrive in Santos aboard the Kasato-Maru ship
*1923 - Checker Taxi puts its first taxi on the streets.
*1928 - Aviator Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly in an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean (she was a passenger; Wilmer Stutz was the pilot and Lou Gordon the mechanic).
*1930 - Groundbreaking ceremonies for the Franklin Institute held.
*1940 - Appeal of June 18 by Charles de Gaulle.
* 1940 - "Finest Hour" speech by Winston Churchill.
*1945 - William Joyce (Lord Haw-Haw) is charged with treason.
*1946 - Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia, a Socialist calls for a Direct Action Day against the Portuguese in Goa. A road is named after this date in Panjim.
*1953 - The Republic of Egypt is declared and the monarchy is abolished.
* 1953 - A United States Air Force C-124 crashes and burns near Tokyo, Japan killing 129.
*1954 - Pierre Mendès-France becomes Prime Minister of France.
*1959 - Governor of Louisiana Earl K. Long is committed to a state mental hospital; he responds by having the hospital's director fired and replaced with a crony who proceeds to proclaim him perfectly sane.
*1965 - Vietnam War: The United States uses B-52 bombers to attack National Liberation Front guerrilla fighters in South Vietnam.
*1972 - Staines air disaster - 118 killed as plane crashes 2 minutes after take off from London Heathrow Airport.
*1979 - SALT II is signed by the United States and the Soviet Union.
*1981 - The AIDS epidemic is formally recognized by medical professionals in San Francisco, California.
*1983 - Space Shuttle program: STS-7, Astronaut Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space.
*1984 - A major clash between about 5,000 police and a similar number of miners takes place at Orgreave, South Yorkshire, during the 1984-1985 UK miners' strike
*1996 - Ted Kaczynski, suspected of being the Unabomber, is indicted on ten criminal counts.
*2001 - Protests occur in Manipur over the extension of the ceasefire between Naga insurgents and the government of India.
*2006 - The first Kazakh space satellite, KazSat is launched.

Births

*1269 - Princess Eleanor of England (d. 1298)
*1318 - Princess Eleanor of Woodstock (d. 1355)
*1466 - Ottaviano Petrucci, Italian printer (d. 1539)
*1511 - Bartolomeo Ammanati, Italian architect and sculptor (d. 1592)
*1517 - Emperor Ogimachi of Japan (d. 1593)
*1552 - Gabriello Chiabrera, Italian poet (d. 1637)
*1667 - Ivan Trubetskoy, Russian field marshal (d. 1750)
*1716 - Joseph-Marie Vien, French painter (d. 1809)
*1757 - Gervasio Antonio de Posadas, Argentine leader (d. 1833)
* 1757 - Ignaz Pleyel, Austrian composer and piano manufacturer (d. 1831)
*1812 - Ivan Goncharov, Russian author (d. 1891)
*1815 - Ludwig Freiherr von und zu der Tann-Rathsamhausen, German general (d. 1881)
*1839 - William Henry Seward, Jr., Union Brigadier General in the American Civil War (d. 1920)
*1845 - Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran, French physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1922)
*1854 - E.W. Scripps, American journalist and publisher (d. 1926)
*1863 - George Essex Evans, Australian poet (d. 1909)
*1868 - Miklós Horthy, Hungarian admiral and regent (d. 1957)
*1870 - Edouard Le Roy, French philosopher and mathematician
*1877 - James Montgomery Flagg, American illustrator (d. 1960)
*1882 - Georgi Dimitrov, Bulgarian Communist leader (d. 1949)
*1884 - Édouard Daladier, French politician (d. 1970)
*1886 - Alexander Wetmore, American ornithologist (d. 1978)
*1891 - Mae Busch, Australian actress (d. 1946)
*1895 - Blanche Sweet, American actress (d. 1986)
* 1895 - Manuela Fernández-Fojaco, Spanish supercentenarian
*1901 - Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicolaievna Romanova of Russia (d. 1918)
*1903 - Jeanette MacDonald, American actress and singer (d. 1965)
* 1903 - Raymond Radiguet, French author (d. 1923)
*1904 - Keye Luke, Chinese-born actor (d. 1991)
* 1904 - Manuel Rosenthal, French conductor and composer (d. 2003)
*1907 - Frithjof Schuon, Swiss metaphysician, poet, and painter (d. 1998)
*1908 - Bud Collyer, American game show host (d. 1969)
* 1908 - Nedra Volz, American actress (d. 2003)
* 1908 - Stanley Knowles, Canadian politician (d. 1997)
*1910 - E.G. Marshall, American actor (d. 1998)
* 1910 - Ray McKinley, jazz drummer and bandleader (d. 1995)
* 1910 - Dick Foran, American actor (d. 1979)
*1913 - Sammy Cahn, American composer (d. 1993)
* 1913 - Sylvia Field Porter, American economist and journalist (d. 1991)
*1915 - Red Adair, American firefighter (d. 2004)
*1916 - Julio César Turbay Ayala, Colombian politician (d. 2005)
*1917 - Richard Boone, American actor (d. 1981)
* 1917 - Arthur Tremblay, Canadian politician (d. 1996)
*1918 - Jerome Karle, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
* 1918 - Franco Modigliani, Italian-born economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2003)
*1920 - Ian Carmichael, English actor
*1922 - Claude Helffer, French pianist (d. 2004)
*1924 - George Mikan, American basketball player (d. 2005)
*1927 - Paul Eddington, English actor (d. 1995)
* 1927 - Eva Bartok, Hungarian-born British actress
*1928 - David T. Lykken, American scientist
*1929 - Jürgen Habermas, German sociologist and philosopher
*1931 - Fernando Henrique Cardoso, President of Brazil from 1995 to 2002
*1932 - Dudley R. Herschbach, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
* 1932 - Geoffrey Hill, English poet
*1934 - Mitsuteru Yokoyama, Japanese manga artist (d. 2004)
*1935 - Hugh McColl, American banker
*1936 - Denny Hulme, New Zealand race car driver and one-time F1 world champion (d. 1992)
*1937 - Wray Carlton, American football player
* 1937 - John D. Rockefeller IV, U.S. Senator
* 1937 - Vitali Zholobov, Soviet cosmonaut
*1938 - Kevin Murray, Australian rules footballer
*1939 - Lou Brock, American baseball player
* 1939 - Jean-Claude Germain, French Canadian author, journalist and historian
*1940 - Michael Sheard, British actor (d. 2005)
*1941 - Delia Smith, English cook and television presenter
*1942 - Roger Ebert, American film reviewer
* 1942 - Sir Paul McCartney, English singer and songwriter (The Beatles)
* 1942 - Hans Vonk, Dutch conductor (d. 2004)
* 1942 - Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa
* 1942 - Carl Radle, American bass guitarist (d. 1980)
*1943 - Raffaella Carrà, Italian singer
*1944 - Sandy Posey, American singer
*1946 - Russell Ash, British author
* 1946 - Fabio Capello, Italian football coach
* 1946 - Bruiser Brody, professional wrestler (d. 1988)
*1948 - Éva Marton, Hungarian operatic soprano
*1949 - Chris Van Allsburg, American author and illustrator
* 1949 - Prince Lincoln Thompson, Jamaican musician (d. 1999)
* 1949 - Lech Kaczyński, Polish president, 2005-present
* 1949 - Jarosław Kaczyński, Polish prime minister, twin brother of Lech Kaczyński
*1950 - Jackie Leven aka Sir Vincent Lone Scottish singer and songwriter
*1952 - Isabella Rossellini, Italian actress
* 1952 - Carol Kane, American actress
*1956 - Brian Benben, American actor
*1957 - Miguel Ángel Lotina, Spanish football manager
*1960 - Ralph Brown, British actor
*1961 - Andrés Galarraga, baseball player
* 1961 - Alison Moyet, English pop singer
*1963 - Bruce Smith, American football player
*1962 - Mitsuharu Misawa, Japanese professional wrestler
* 1963 - Dizzy Reed, aka Darren Arthur Reed keyboardist for (former) Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver
*1964 - Uday Hussein, Iraqi leader (d. 2003)
*1965 - Kim Dickens, American actress and model
*1966 - Kurt Browning, Canadian figure skater
*1967 - Pasquale Bruno, Italian American entrepreneur
*1969 - Pål Pot Pamparius, Norwegian musician (Turbonegro)
* 1969 - Vito LoGrasso, American professional wrestler
* 1969 - Christopher Largen, American author
*1970 - Greg Yaitanes, American television and film director
*1971 - Nathan Morris, American singer (Boyz II Men)
* 1971 - Jason McAteer, England-born Irish footballer
*1972 - Michal Yannai, Israeli actress and model.
*1973 - Alexandros Papadimitriou, Greek hammer thrower
* 1973 - Eddie Cibrian, American actor
* 1973 - Julie Depardieu, French actress
*1974 - Vincenzo Montella, Italian footballer
*1975 - Martin St. Louis, Canadian hockey player
* 1975 - Aleksandrs Koliņko, Latvian footballer
* 1975 - Marie Gillain, Belgian actress
* 1975 - Jemma Griffiths, Welsh singer-songwriter
* 1975 - Jamel Debbouze, French actor and producer
*1976 - Alana de la Garza, American actress
* 1976 - Witte Wartena, Dutch artist
* 1976 - Blake Shelton, American Country Singer
* 1978 - Wang Liqin, Chinese table tennis player
*1980 - Antonio Gates, American football player
* 1980 - Tara Platt, American actress
* 1980 - Ivana Wong, Hong Kong singer and songwriter
* 1980 - Craig Mottram, Australian middle distance runner
*1981 - Teresa Cormack, New Zealand murder victim (d. 1987)
* 1981 - Ella (Jiahua) Chen, member of the Taiwanese girl-group S.H.E
*1982 - Sean Conant, Irish-American artist
*1984 - Mateus, Angolan footballer
* 1984 - Janne Happonen, Finnish skijumper
*1986 - Richard Gasquet, French tennis player
*1989 - Renee Olstead, American singer and actress
*1991 - Willa Holland, American actress
*2006 - Countess Zaria of Orange-Nassau, Jonkvrouwe van Amsberg

Deaths

*1234 - Emperor Chukyo of Japan (b. 1218)
*1291 - King Alfonso III of Aragon (b. 1265)
*1464 - Roger van der Weyden, Flemish painter
*1536 - Henry Fitzroy, (b. 1519) bastard son of Henry VIII
*1588 - Robert Crowley, English printer and poet
*1629 - Piet Hein, Dutch naval commander and folk hero (b. 1577)
*1650 - Christoph Scheiner, German astronomer
*1673 - Jeanne Mance, French Canadian settler (b. 1606)
*1680 - Samuel Butler, English poet (b. 1612)
*1704 - Tom Brown, English satirist (b. 1662)
*1726 - Michel Richard Delalande, French organist and composer (b. 1657)
*1742 - John Aislabie, English politician (b. 1670)
*1749 - Ambrose Philips, English poet (b. 1674)
*1772 - Johann Ulrich von Cramer, German judge and philosopher (b. 1706)
* 1772 - Gerard van Swieten, Dutch-born physician (b. 1700)
*1788 - Adam Gib, Scottish religious leader (b. 1714)
*1794 - François Nicolas Leonard Buzot, French Revolutionary leader (b. 1760)
* 1794 - James Murray, British military officer and administrator (b. 1721)
*1815 - Thomas Picton, British general (killed in battle) (b. 1758)
* 1815 - Guillaume Philibert Duhesme, French general (b. 1766)
*1835 - William Cobbett, English journalist and author (b. 1763)
*1889 - Jacques Damala, Greek military officer and actor (b. 1855)
*1902 - Samuel Butler, English writer (b. 1835)
*1915 - Eufemio Zapata, brother to Mexican revolutionist Emiliano Zapata, killed by Sidronio Comancho
*1916 - Max Immelmann, German flying ace (b. 1890)
*1922 - Jacobus Kapteyn, Dutch astronomer (b. 1851)
*1928 - Roald Amundsen, Norwegian explorer (b. 1872)
*1936 - Maxim Gorky, Russian author (b. 1868)
*1937 - Gaston Doumergue, French statesman (b. 1863)
*1947 - Shigematsu Sakaibara, Japanese admiral (b. 1898)
*1959 - Ethel Barrymore, American actress (b. 1879)
*1963 - Pedro Armendáriz, Mexican actor (b. 1912)
*1967 - Beat Fehr, Swiss racing driver (b. 1942)
* 1967 - Giacomo Russo, Italian racing driver (b. 1937)
*1971 - Thomas Gomez, American actor (b. 1905)
* 1971 - Paul Karrer, Swiss chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1889)
*1973 - Roger Delgado, British actor (b. 1918)
*1974 - Georgy Zhukov, Marshal of the Soviet Union (b. 1896)
* 1974 - Júlio César de Mello e Souza, Brazilian writer (b. 1896)
*1978 - Walter C. Alvarez, American physician (b. 1884)
*1980 - André Leducq, French cyclist (b. 1904)
* 1980 - Terence Fisher, English film director (b. 1904)
*1982 - John Cheever, American author (b. 1912)
* 1982 - Curd Jürgens, German actor (b. 1915)
*1984 - Alan Berg, American radio talk show host
*1985 - Paul Colin, French poster designer (b. 1892)
*1986 - Frances Scott Fitzgerald, Daughter of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Sayre. (b. 1921)
*1989 - I. F. Stone, American journalist (b. 1907)
*1992 - Mordecai Ardon, one of Israel's greatest painters (b. 1896)
* 1992 - Peter Allen, Australian singer and songwriter (b. 1944)
*1997 - Lev Kopelev, Russian writer and dissident (b. 1912)
*2000 - Nancy Marchand, American actress (b. 1928)
*2002 - Jack Buck, American baseball announcer (b. 1924)
*2003 - Larry Doby, American baseball player (b. 1923)
*2005 - Syed Mushtaq Ali, Indian cricketer (b. 1914)
* 2005 - Manuel Sadosky, Argentine mathematician (b. 1914)
*2006 - Vincent Sherman, American film director (b. 1906)
*2007 - Bernard Manning, British comedian (b. 1930)
* 2007 - Georges Thurston, Canadian singer (b. 1951)
*2008 - Jean Delannoy, French actor and director (b. 1908)
*2008 - Tasha Tudor, American illustrator (b. 1915)
*2008 - Miyuki Kanbe, Japanese actor (b. 1984)

Holidays and observances

*Seychelles - National Day
*Autistic Pride Day
*Waterloo Day
*Phi Day:This refers to the Golden Ratio, which is 1.618...
*Saints Leontius, Hypatius and Theodulus
*Saint Elizabeth of Schönau

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/18 BBC: On This Day]
*
* [http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jun&day=18 On This Day in Canada] ----