March 18
| March 18 in recent years |
| 2024 (Monday) |
| 2023 (Saturday) |
| 2022 (Friday) |
| 2021 (Thursday) |
| 2020 (Wednesday) |
| 2019 (Monday) |
| 2018 (Sunday) |
| 2017 (Saturday) |
| 2016 (Friday) |
| 2015 (Wednesday) |
March 18 is the 77th day of the year (78th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 288 days remain until the end of the year.
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.
- 1241 – Kraków is ravaged by Mongols.
- 1314 – Jacques de Molay, the 23rd and the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, is burned at the stake.
- 1438 – Albert II of Habsburg becomes King of Germany.
- 1608 – Susenyos is formally crowned Emperor of Ethiopia.
- 1673 – John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton sells his part of New Jersey to the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers.
- 1766 – American Revolution: The British Parliament repeals the Stamp Act, which had been very unpopular in the British colonies.
- 1781 – Charles Messier rediscovers global cluster M92.
- 1793 – The first republican state in Germany, the Republic of Mainz, is declared by Andreas Joseph Hofmann.
- 1834 – Six farm labourers from Tolpuddle, Dorset, England are sentenced to be transported to Australia for forming a trade union.
- 1850 – American Express is founded by Henry Wells and William Fargo.
- 1865 – American Civil War: The Congress of the Confederate States of America adjourns for the last time.
- 1871 – Declaration of the Paris Commune; President of the French Republic, Adolphe Thiers, orders evacuation of Paris.
- 1874 – Hawaii signs a treaty with the United States granting exclusive trading rights.
- 1893 – Former Governor General Lord Stanley pledges to donate a silver challenge cup, later named after him, as an award for the best hockey team in Canada; originally presented to amateur champions, the Stanley Cup has been awarded to the top pro team since 1910, and since 1926, only to National Hockey League teams.
- 1906 – Traian Vuia flies the first self-propelled heavier-than-air aircraft in Europe.
- 1913 – King George I of Greece is assassinated in the recently liberated city of Thessaloniki.
- 1915 – World War I: Massive naval attack in Battle of Gallipoli. Three battleships are sunk during a failed British and French naval attack on the Dardanelles.
- 1921 – The second Peace of Riga between Poland and Soviet Union.
- 1922 – In India, Mohandas Gandhi is sentenced to six years in prison for civil disobedience. He would serve only 2 years.
- 1922 – The first public celebration of Bat mitzvah, for the daughter of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, is held in New York City.
- 1923 – Mathrubhumi one of the largest Malayalam daily started to publish from Kozhikode in Kerala.
- 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 defeat the Italians at the Battle of Guadalajara.
- 1937 – The human-powered aircraft, Pedaliante, flies 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) outside Milan.
- 1938 – Mexico nationalizes all foreign-owned oil properties within its borders.
- 1940 – World War II: Axis Powers – Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini meet at the Brenner Pass in the Alps and agree to form an alliance against France and the United Kingdom.
- 1944 – The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Italy kills 26 and causes thousands to flee their homes.
- 1945 – World War II: 1,250 American bombers attack Berlin.
- 1946 – Diplomatic relations between Switzerland and the Soviet Union are established.
- 1948 – Soviet consultants have left Yugoslavia in first sign of Tito-Stalin split.
- 1953 – An earthquake hits western Turkey, killing 250.
- 1959 – President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a bill into law allowing for Hawaiian statehood, which would become official on August 21.
- 1962 – The Evian Accords put an end to the Algerian War of Independence, which began in 1954.
- 1965 – Cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov, leaving his spacecraft Voskhod 2 for 12 minutes, becomes the first person to walk in space.
- 1967 – The supertanker Torrey Canyon runs aground off the Cornish coast.
- 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 – At Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia, 50 people are killed by an explosion of a Vostok-2M rocket on its launch pad during a fueling operation.
- 1989 – In Egypt, a 4,400-year-old mummy is found nearby the Pyramid of Cheops.
- 1990 – In the largest art theft in US history, 12 paintings, collectively worth around $300 million, are stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts.
- 1996 – A nightclub fire in Quezon City, Philippines kills 162.
- 1997 – The tail of a Russian Antonov An-24 charter plane breaks off while en-route to Turkey causing the plane to crash and killing all 50 on board and leading to the grounding of all An-24s.
- 2003 – FBI agents raid the corporate headquarters of HealthSouth Corporation in Birmingham, Alabama on suspicion of massive corporate fraud led by the company's top executives.
- 2003 – British Sign Language is recognised as an official British language.
- 2005 – Terri Schiavo's feeding tube is removed at the request of her husband.
Births
- 1395 – John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter, English military leader (d. 1447)
- 1496 – Mary Tudor, daughter of Henry VII of England and queen consort of Louis XII of France (d. 1533)
- 1555 – François, Duke of Anjou (d. 1584)
- 1590 – Manuel de Faria e Sousa, Portuguese historian and poet (d. 1649)
- 1602 – Jacques de Billy, French mathematician (d. 1679)
- 1603 – Simon Bradstreet, Massachusetts Bay colonist (d. 1693)
- 1634 – Marie-Madeleine Pioche de la Vergne, comtesse de la Fayette, French writer (d. 1693)
- 1640 – Philippe de la Hire, French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1719)
- 1657 – Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni, Italian composer (d. 1743)
- 1679 – Matthew Decker, English merchant and writer (d. 1759)
- 1685 – Ralph Ersine, Scottish minister (d. 1752)
- 1690 – Christian Goldbach, Prussian mathematician (d. 1764)
- 1701 – Niclas Sahlgren, Swedish merchant and philanthropist (d. 1776)
- 1780 – Milos Obrenovic, Leader of The Second Serbian Uprising and Prince of Serbia (d. 1860)
- 1782 – John C. Calhoun, 7th Vice President of the United States (d. 1850)
- 1813 – Christian Friedrich Hebbel, German writer (d. 1864)
- 1814 – Jacob Bunn, Illinois industrialist, financier, and friend of Abraham Lincoln (d. 1897).
- 1823 – Antoine Eugène Alfred Chanzy, French general (d. 1883)
- 1828 – William Randal Cremer, English politician and pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1908)
- 1837 – Grover Cleveland, 22nd and 24th President of the United States (d. 1908)
- 1840 – William Cosmo Monkhouse, English poet and critic (d. 1901)
- 1842 – Stéphane Mallarmé, French poet (d. 1898)
- 1844 – Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian composer (d. 1908)
- 1848 – Nathanael Herreshoff, American naval architect (d. 1938)
- 1848 – Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, daughter of Queen Victoria (d. 1939)
- 1858 – Rudolf Diesel, German inventor (d. 1913)
- 1869 – Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1940)
- 1872 – Anna Held, Polish actress and singer (d. 1918)
- 1874 – Nikolai Berdyaev, Russian philosopher (d. 1948)
- 1877 – Edgar Cayce, American psychic (d. 1945)
- 1877 – Clem Hill, Australian cricketer (d. 1945)
- 1882 – Gian Francesco Malipiero, Italian composer (d. 1973)
- 1884 – Bernard Cronin, Australian author and journalist (d. 1968)
- 1886 – Edward Everett Horton, American actor (d. 1970)
- 1891 – Alice Cullen, Scottish Politician (d. 1969)
- 1898 – Jake Swirbul, American aircraft manufacturer (d. 1960)
- 1893 – Costante Girardengo, Italian cyclist (d. 1978)
- 1893 – Wilfred Owen, British poet (d. 1918)
- 1893 – Jean Goldkette, Greek-born jazz musician (d. 1962)
- 1901 – William H. Johnson, African-American artist of the Harlem Renaissance (d. 1970)
- 1904 – Srečko Kosovel, Slovenian poet (d. 1926)
- 1905 – Robert Donat, English actor (d. 1958)
- 1905 – Thomas Townsend Brown, American scientist (d. 1985)
- 1907 – John Zachary Young, British biologist (d. 1997)
- 1909 – Ernest Gallo, American winemaker (d. 2007)
- 1911 – Smiley Burnette, American singer and songwriter (d. 1967)
- 1913 – René Clément, French film director and screenwriter (d. 1996)
- 1913 – Werner Mölders, German WWII fighter pilot (d. 1941)
- 1913 – Reinhard Hardegen, German U-Boat commander
- 1915 – Richard Condon, American novelist (d. 1996)
- 1917 – Frederika of Hanover, queen of the Hellenes (d. 1981)
- 1918 – Al Benton, American baseball player (d. 1968)
- 1918 – Bob Broeg, American sports writer (d. 2005)
- 1919 – Christopher Challis, British cinematographer
- 1920 – Jack Warden, American actor (d. 2006)
- 1922 – Egon Bahr, German politician
- 1922 – Fred Shuttlesworth, American civil rights movement leader
- 1923 – Andy Granatelli, American motorsports entrepreneur
- 1926 – Peter Graves, American actor
- 1926 – Dick Littlefield, American baseball player (d. 1997)
- 1927 – John Kander, American songwriter
- 1927 – George Plimpton, American writer and actor (d. 2003)
- 1928 – Julia Mullock, Princess of Korea
- 1928 – Miguel Poblet, Spanish cyclist
- 1928 – Fidel V. Ramos, 12th President of the Philippines
- 1929 – John Macurdy, American bass
- 1930 – Pat Halcox, British musician
- 1931 – John Fraser, Scottish-born stage, film and television actor
- 1931 – John Mollo, British costume designer
- 1932 – John Updike, American author (d. 2009)
- 1934 – Roy Chapman, English footballer and manager (d. 1983)
- 1935 – Ole Barndorff-Nielsen, Danish mathematician
- 1936 – Frederik Willem de Klerk, President of South Africa, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- 1937 – Mark Donohue, American race car driver (d. 1975)
- 1937 – Rudi Altig, German cyclist
- 1938 – Charley Pride, American musician
- 1938 – Carl Gottlieb, American screenwriter and actor
- 1938 – Shashi Kapoor, Indian actor
- 1938 – Timo Mäkinen, Finnish race car driver
- 1939 – Ron Atkinson, English former footballer and manager
- 1939 – Giannis Markopoulos, Greek composer
- 1939 – Kenny Lynch, British entertainer
- 1941 – Wilson Pickett, American singer (d. 2006)
- 1941 – John W. Derr, American politician
- 1942 – Albert Van Vlierberghe, Belgian cyclist (d. 1991)
- 1943 – Kevin Dobson, American actor
- 1943 – Toula Grivas, Greek actress
- 1944 – Dick Smith, Australian Adventurer and Businessman
- 1944 – Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, Israeli military leader and politician
- 1945 – Joy Fielding, Canadian novelist and actress
- 1945 – Hiroh Kikai, Japanese photographer
- 1945 – Michael Reagan, American radio host and adopted son of Ronald Reagan
- 1946 – Martyn Griffiths, British racing driver
- 1946 – Michel Leclère, French racing driver
- 1947 – B.J. Wilson, English drummer (d. 1990)
- 1947 – Patrick Chesnais, French actor
- 1947 – Patrick Barlow, English actor, comedian and playwright
- 1947 – Roger Kenneth Evans, English politician
- 1947 – Heather Ryan, American model and Playmate of the Month
- 1948 – Guy Lapointe, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1948 – Lockwood Phillips, American radio host
- 1948 – Brian Lloyd, Welsh footballer
- 1949 – Alex Higgins, Northern Irish snooker player
- 1949 – Åse Kleveland, Norwegian singer and politician
- 1949 – Hannu Siitonen, Finnish athlete
- 1950 – Brad Dourif, American actor
- 1950 – Rodney Milburn, American athlete (d. 1997)
- 1950 – Eiji Okuda, Japanese actor and film director
- 1950 – Larry Perkins, Australian racing driver
- 1950 – John Hartman, American drummer (Doobie Brothers
- 1951 – Bill Frisell, American jazz musician
- 1951 – Ben Cohen, American co-founder of Ben & Jerry's ice cream
- 1952 – Mike Webster, American football player (d. 2002)
- 1952 – Will Durst, American political satirist
- 1955 – Francis G. Slay, Mayor of St. Louis, Mo.
- 1956 – Ingemar Stenmark, Swedish skier
- 1956 – Deborah Jeane Palfrey, escort agency operator (d. 2008)
- 1957 – György Pazdera, Hungarian bassist (Pokolgép)
- 1957 – Christer Fuglesang, Swedish ESA astronaut
- 1959 – Luc Besson, French producer, writer, and director
- 1959 – Irene Cara, American actress and singer
- 1960 – Richard Biggs, American actor (d. 2004)
- 1960 – Guy Carbonneau, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1960 – James MacPherson, Scottish actor
- 1962 – Thomas Ian Griffith, American actor
- 1962 – James McMurtry, American folk singer and songwriter
- 1962 – Mike Rowe, American television personality
- 1962 – Etsushi Toyokawa, Japanese actor
- 1962 – Brian Fisher, American baseball player
- 1963 – Jeff LaBar, American guitarist
- 1963 – Vanessa L. Williams, American beauty queen, actress, and singer
- 1963 – Keith Brown, English cricketer
- 1964 – Bonnie Blair, American speed skater
- 1964 – Courtney Pine, British jazz saxophonist
- 1964 – Rozalla, Zambian singer
- 1964 – Alex Caffi, Italian racecar driver
- 1964 – Paul Elliott, English footballer
- 1965 – Yoriko Douguchi, Japanese actress
- 1965 – Birgit Clarius, German heptathlete
- 1966 – Jerry Cantrell, American musician
- 1966 – Daniel S. Nevins, American rabbi
- 1967 – Miki Berenyi, English singer (Lush)
- 1967 – Ken Edenfield, American baseball player
- 1968 – Shinichiro Miki, Japanese voice actor
- 1968 – Eudes, duc d'Angoulême, French prince
- 1968 – Paul Marsden, British politician
- 1969 – Vassily Ivanchuk, Ukrainian chess player
- 1969 – Andy Cutting, English folk musician and composer
- 1969 – J. David Shapiro, American screenwriter, actor and director
- 1969 – Shaun Udal, English cricketer
- 1970 – Queen Latifah, American singer and actress
- 1972 – Dane Cook, American comedian and actor
- 1972 – Anja Möllenbeck, German discus thrower
- 1972 – Nathan Quarry, American mixed martial arts fighter
- 1973 – Max Barry, Australian author
- 1973 – Luci Christian, American voice actress
- 1974 – Laure Savasta, French basketball player
- 1975 – Brian Griese, American football player
- 1975 – Tomas Žvirgždauskas, Lithuanian footballer
- 1975 – Sutton Foster, American actress, singer, and dancer
- 1975 – Rodleen Getsic, American musician and civil servant
- 1975 – Kimmo Timonen, Finnish hockey player
- 1976 – Jovan Kirovski, American soccer player
- 1976 – Tomokazu Ohka, Japanese baseball player
- 1976 – Scott Podsednik, American baseball player
- 1976 – Mike Quackenbush, American wrestler
- 1976 – Giovanna Antonelli, Brazilian actress
- 1977 – Danny Murphy, English footballer
- 1977 – Zdeno Chára, Slovak ice hockey player
- 1977 – Devin Lima, American singer
- 1977 – Willy Sagnol, French footballer
- 1977 – Terrmel Sledge, American baseball player
- 1977 – Fernando Rodney, Dominican baseball player
- 1978 – Khalilah Adams, American actress
- 1978 – Yoshie Takeshita, Japanese volleyball player
- 1978 – Jan Bulis, Czech ice hockey player
- 1978 – Jonas Wallerstedt, Swedish footballer
- 1979 – Adam Levine, American singer (Maroon 5)
- 1979 – Brandon Lee, American adult actor
- 1979 – Danneel Harris, American actress
- 1979 – Dramane Coulibaly, Malian footballer
- 1979 – Anthony Maher, American soccer player
- 1980 – Alexei Yagudin, Russian figure skater
- 1980 – Sophia Myles, English actress
- 1980 – Sebastien Frey, French footballer
- 1981 – Jang Nara, Korean singer and actress
- 1981 – Tora Berger, Norwegian biathlete
- 1981 – Kasib Powell, American basketball player
- 1981 – Doug Warren, American Soccer Player
- 1982 – Chad Cordero, American baseball player
- 1982 – Timo Glock, German Formula 1 driver
- 1982 – Pedro Mantorras, Angolan footballer
- 1983 – Andy Sonnanstine, American baseball player
- 1983 – Tomasz Stolpa, Polish footballer
- 1984 – Vonzell Solomon, American singer
- 1984 – Gary Roberts (footballer born 1984), English footballer (Huddersfield Town)
- 1985 – Vince Lia, Australian footballer
- 1985 – Gennaro Esposito, Italian footballer
- 1985 &[[ndash; Marvin Humes, member of boyband JLS
- 1986 – Bia Figueiredo, Brazilian racing driver
- 1986 – Abdennour Cherif El Ouazzani]], Algerian footballer
- 1986 – Kaloyan Ivanov, Bulgarian basketball player
- 1986 – Lykke Li, Swedish singer
- 1987 – Mauro Zárate, Argentinian footballer
- 1987 – Gabriel Mercado, Argentinian footballer
- 1987 – Rebecca Soni, American swimmer
- 1987 – Cesare Rickler, Italian footballer
- 1991 – Constantinos Hilas, Greek director and actor
- 1996 – Madeline Carroll, American actress
Deaths
- 978 – King Edward the Martyr of England
- 1227 – Pope Honorius III (b. 1148)
- 1314 – Jacques DeMolay, Frankish noble, the 23rd Grand Master of the Knights Templar (b. 1244)
- 1583 – King Magnus of Livonia (b. 1540)
- 1584 – Tsar Ivan IV of Russia (b. 1530)
- 1675 – Arthur Chichester, 1st Earl of Donegall, Irish soldier (b. 1606)
- 1689 – John Dixwell, English judge (b. 1607)
- 1696 – Robert Charnock, English conspirator
- 1715 – William Fraser, 12th Lord Saltoun. Scottish patriot politician and landowner. (b. 1654)
- 1745 – Sir Robert Walpole, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1676)
- 1746 – Anna Leopoldovna, regent of Russia (b. 1718)
- 1768 – Laurence Sterne, Irish writer (b. 1713)
- 1781 – Anne Robert Turgot, French statesman (b. 1727)
- 1823 – Jean-Baptiste Breval, French composer (b. 1753)
- 1835 – Christian Gunther von Bernstorff, Danish-Prussian statesman and diplomat (b. 1769)
- 1871 – Augustus De Morgan, Indian-born British mathematician and logician (b. 1806)
- 1898 – Matilda Joslyn Gage, American suffragist (b. 1826)
- 1907 – Marcellin Berthelot, French chemist and politician (b. 1827)
- 1913 – King George I of Greece (b. 1845)
- 1918 – Henry Janeway Hardenbergh, American architect (b. 1847)
- 1933 – Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi, Italian prince, mountaineer and explorer (b. 1873)
- 1936 – Eleftherios Venizelos, Former Prime minister of Greece (b. 1864)
- 1939 – Henry Simpson Lunn, English humanitarian and religious leader (b. 1859)
- 1941 – Henri Cornet, French cyclist (b. 1884)
- 1945 – William Grover-Williams, British racing driver (b. 1903)
- 1947 – William C. Durant, American automobile pioneer (b. 1861)
- 1962 – Walter W. Bacon, American politician (b. 1880)
- 1963 – Wanda Hawley, American actress (b. 1895)
- 1964 – Sigfrid Edström, Swedish sports official (b. 1870)
- 1965 – King Farouk I of Egypt (b. 1920)
- 1965 – Jack Quinlan, American sports broadcaster (b. 1927)
- 1969 – Barbara Bates, American film actress (b. 1925)
- 1973 – Lauritz Melchior, Danish-born American opera singer (b. 1890)
- 1975 – Alain Grandbois, Quebec poet (b. 1900)
- 1976 – Giuseppe Genco Russo, Sicilian mafioso (b. 1893)
- 1977 – Marien Ngouabi, Congolese politician (b. 1938)
- 1977 – José Carlos Pace, Brazilian racing driver (b. 1944)
- 1978 – Leigh Brackett, American author (b. 1915)
- 1978 – Peggy Wood, American actress (b. 1892)
- 1980 – Erich Fromm, German psychologist and philosopher (b. 1900)
- 1983 – King Umberto II of Italy, (b. 1904)
- 1983 – Kenneth E. Boulding, English economist (b. 1910)
- 1984 – Charlie Lau, American baseball player (b. 1933)
- 1986 – Bernard Malamud, American writer (b. 1914)
- 1988 – Billy Butterfield, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1917)
- 1990 – Robin Harris, American actor and comedian (b. 1953)
- 1993 – Kenneth Boulding, American economist and activist (b. 1910)
- 1995 – Robin Jacques, British children's book illustrator (b. 1920)
- 1996 – Odysseas Elytis, Greek poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
- 1999 – Elizabeth Huckaby, American educator (b. 1905)
- 2000 – Eberhard Bethge, German theologian (b. 1909)
- 2001 – John Phillips, American musician (The Mamas & the Papas) (b. 1935)
- 2002 – R. A. Lafferty, American science fiction writer (b. 1914)
- 2002 – Gösta Winbergh, Swedish tenor (b. 1943)
- 2003 – Karl Kling, German race car driver (b. 1910)
- 2003 – Adam Osborne, British computer pioneer (b. 1939)
- 2004 – Harrison McCain, Canadian businessman (b. 1927)
- 2006 – Bill Beutel, American journalist (b. 1930)
- 2006 – Michael Attwell, British actor (b. 1943)
- 2006 – Dan Gibson, Canadian photographer (b. 1922)
- 2007 – Bob Woolmer, South African cricketer (b. 1948)
- 2008 – Anthony Minghella, British film director (b. 1954)
- 2008 – Andrew Britton, British-born American novelist (b. 1981)
- 2009 – Natasha Richardson, English actress (b. 1963)
- 2009 – Omid Reza Mir Sayafi, Iranian blogger
Holidays and observances
- Bindus Diena (Ancient Latvia)
- Christian Feast Day
- Flag Day (Aruba)
- Soldiers' Day (Mongolia)
- Gallipoli Memorial Day (Turkey)
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to March 18.