Today December 18th 2009 this day in history Read more below to view events, deaths, births, Holidays observances and video clips. Last database updated: Jan 17th, 2009
Events
218 BC – Second Punic War: Battle of the Trebia – Hannibal s Carthaginian forces defeat those of the Roman Republic.
1271 – Kublai Khan renames his empire Yuan (? yuán), officially marking the start of the Yuan Dynasty of Mongolia and China.
1620 – The Mayflower lands in present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts with 102 Pilgrims on board.
1642 – Abel Tasman becomes first European to land in New Zealand.
1777 – The United States celebrates its first Thanksgiving, marking the recent victory by the Americans over General John Burgoyne in the Battle of Saratoga in October.
1787 – New Jersey becomes the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
1793 – Surrender of the frigate La Lutine by French royalists to Lord Hood; renamed HMS Lutine, she later becomes a famous treasure wreck.
1862 – American Civil War: In the Battle of Lexington, General Nathan Bedford Forrest defeats a Union force under Colonel Robert Ingersoll.
1878 – John Kehoe, the last of the Molly Maguires is executed in Pennsylvania.
1888 – Richard Wetherill and his brother in-law discover the ancient Indian ruins of Mesa Verde.
1898 – Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat sets the new land speed record going 39.245 mph (63.159 km/h), in a Jeantaud electric car. This is the first recognized land speed record.
1900 – The Upper Ferntree Gully to Gembrook Narrow-gauge (2 ft 6 in or 762 mm) Railway (now the Puffing Billy Railway) in Victoria, Australia is opened for traffic.
1912 -The Piltdown Man, later discovered to be a hoax, is found in the Piltdown Gravel Pit, by Charles Dawson.
1915 – U.S. President Woodrow Wilson marries Edith Bolling Galt Wilson.
1916 – World War I: The Battle of Verdun ends when German forces under Chief of Staff Erich Von Falkenhayn are defeated by the French and suffer 337,000 casualties.
1932 – The Chicago Bears defeat the Portsmouth Spartans 9-0 in the first ever NFL Championship Game. Because of a blizzard, the game was moved from Wrigley Field to the Chicago Stadium, the field measuring 80 yards (73 m) long.
1935 – The Lanka Sama Samaja Party is founded in Ceylon.
1944 – World War II: 77 B-29 Superfortress and 200 other aircraft of U.S. Fourteenth Air Force bomb Hankow, China, a Japanese supply base.
1961 – Indonesia invades Netherlands New Guinea.
1966 – Saturn s moon Epimetheus is discovered by Richard L. Walker.
1969 – Capital punishment in the United Kingdom: Home Secretary James Callaghan s motion to make permanent the Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965, which had temporarily suspended capital punishment in England, Wales and Scotland for murder (but not for all crimes) for a period of five years, is carried by both the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
1971 – Capitol Reef National Park was established in Utah.
1972 – Vietnam War: President Richard Nixon announces that the United States will engage North Vietnam in Operation Linebacker II, a series of Christmas bombings, after peace talks collapsed with North Vietnam on the 13th.
1973 – Soviet Soyuz Programme: Soyuz 13, crewed by cosmonauts Valentin Lebedev and Pyotr Klimuk, is launched from Baikonur in the Soviet Union.
1987 – Larry Wall releases the first version of the Perl programming language.
1989 – The European Community and the Soviet Union sign an agreement on trade and commercial and economic cooperation.
1996 – The Oakland, California school board passes a resolution officially declaring Ebonics a language or dialect.
1997 – HTML 4.0 is published by the World Wide Web Consortium.
1999 – NASA launches into orbit the Terra platform carrying five Earth Observation instruments, including ASTER, CERES, MISR, MODIS and MOPITT.
2002 – 2003 California recall: Then Governor of California Gray Davis announces that the state would face a record budget deficit of $35 billion, roughly double the figure reported during his reelection campaign one month earlier.
Births
1507 – Ouchi Yoshitaka, Japanese warlord (d. 1551)
1602 – Simonds d Ewes, English antiquarian and politician (d. 1650)
1610 – Charles du Fresne, sieur du Cange, French philologist (d. 1688)
1620 – Heinrich Roth, German Sanskrit scholar (d. 1668)
1661 – Christopher Polhem, Swedish scientist and inventor (d. 1751)
1662 – James Douglas, 2nd Duke of Queensberry, Scottish politician (d. 1711)
1707 – Charles Wesley, English Methodist hymnist (d. 1788)
1725 – Johann Salomo Semler, German historian and Bible commentator (d. 1791)
1778 – Joseph Grimaldi, English clown (d. 1837)
1786 – Carl Maria von Weber, German composer (d. 1826)
1825 – Charles Griffin, American general (d. 1876)
1835 – Lyman Abbott, American author (d. 1922)
1847 – Augusta Holmès, French composer (d. 1903)
1849 – Henrietta Edwards, Canadian women’s rights activist (d. 1931)
1851 – Graciano Lopez Jaena, Filipino orator and satirist (d. 1896)
1856 – Sir J. J. Thomson, English physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1940)
1860 – Edward MacDowell, American composer and pianist (d. 1908)
1863 – Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria (d. 1914)
1870 – Saki, English writer (d. 1916)
1873 – Francis Burton Harrison, American political figure (d. 1957)
1878 – Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union (d. 1953)
1879 – Paul Klee, Swiss-born painter (d. 1940)
1886 – Ty Cobb, American baseball player (d. 1961)
1888 – Dame Gladys Cooper, English actress (d. 1971)
1888 – Robert Moses, American public works official (d. 1981)
1890 – Edwin Armstrong, American inventor (d. 1954)
1897 – Fletcher Henderson, American arranger and composer (d. 1952)
1899 – Peter Wessel Zapffe, Norwegian author and philosopher (d. 1990)
1904 – George Stevens, American film director (d. 1975)
1907 – Bill Holland, American auto racer (d. 1984)
1908 – Paul Siple, American Antarctic explorer (d. 1969)
1910 – Abe Burrows, American playwright (d. 1985)
1911 – Jules Dassin, American film director (d. 2008)
1912 – Benjamin O. Davis Jr., American General (d. 2002)
1913 – Alfred Bester, American author (d. 1987)
1913 – Willy Brandt, Chancellor of Germany, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1992)
1913 – Ray Meyer, American basketball coach (d. 2006)
1916 – Douglas Fraser, Scottish-born American trade unionist (d. 2008)
1916 – Betty Grable, American actress (d. 1973)
1917 – Ossie Davis, American actor and activist (d. 2005)
1927 – Ramsey Clark, U.S. Attorney General
1927 – Roméo LeBlanc, 25th Governor General of Canada
1928 – Józef Glemp, Polish cardinal
1929 – Gino Cimoli, American baseball player
1929 – Józef Cardinal Glemp, Cardinal-Archbishop Emeritus of Warsaw
1930 – Moose Skowron, American baseball player
1931 – Allen Klein, American rock and roll business manager
1931 – Alison Plowden, English historian (d. 2007)
1932 – Roger Smith, American actor
1933 – Arthur Leigh Allen, American suspected serial killer (d. 1992)
1933 – Lonnie Brooks, American blues musician
1934 – Boris Volynov, Soviet cosmonaut
1935 – Jacques Pépin, French chef
1936 – Malcolm Kirk, English professional wrestler (d. 1987)
1938 – Chas Chandler, English musician (The Animals) (d. 1996)
1938 – Joel Hirschhorn, American songwriter and composer (d. 2005)
1938 – Roger E. Mosley, American actor
1939 – Michael Moorcock, English author
1939 – Harold E. Varmus, American scientist, Nobel laureate
1940 – Bramwell Morrison, member of Sharon, Lois & Bram
1941 – Wadada Leo Smith, American trumpeter and composer
1942 – Harvey Atkin, Canadian actor
1943 – Keith Richards, English guitarist (The Rolling Stones)
1943 – Alan Rudolph, American film director and screenwriter
1945 – Jean Pronovost, Canadian ice hockey player
1946 – Steve Biko, South African anti-apartheid activist (d. 1977)
1946 – Steven Spielberg, American film director
1948 – Bill Nelson, English musician (Be Bop Deluxe)
1948 – Laurent Voulzy, French singer and composer
1948 – Edmund Kemper, American serial killer
1949 – David A. Johnston, American volcanologist (d. 1980)
1950 – Gillian Armstrong, Australian film director
1950 – Randy Castillo, American drummer (Ozzy Osbourne) (d. 2002)
1950 – Leonard Maltin, American film critic
1953 – Elliot Easton, American guitarist (The Cars)
1953 – Khas-Magomed Hadjimuradov, Chechen singer-songwriter
1954 – Ray Liotta, American actor
1956 – Ron White, American comedian
1958 – Mario, American-Italian video game character
1960 – Kazuhide Uekusa, Japanese economist
1961 – Brian Orser, Canadian figure skater
1962 – Renaldo Lapuz, Filipino-born American singer
1963 – Karl Dorrell, American football coach
1963 – Greg D Angelo, American musician (White Lion)
1963 – Pauline Ester, French singer
1963 – Allan Kayser, American actor
1963 – Charles Oakley, American basketball player
1963 – Brad Pitt, American actor
1964 – Stone Cold Steve Austin, American professional wrestler
1964 – Don Beebe, American football player
1964 – Robson Green, English actor and singer
1965 – Mick Collins, American musician (The Gories, The Dirtbombs)
1966 – Makiko Esumi, Japanese actress
1966 – Mille Petrozza, German singer (Kreator)
1967 – Toine van Peperstraten, Dutch sports journalist
1968 – Rachel Griffiths, Australian actress
1968 – Alejandro Sanz, Spanish singer
1968 – Casper Van Dien, American actor
1968 – Mark Cooper, Manager of Kettering F.C
1969 – Santiago Cañizares, Spanish footballer
1969 – Justin Edinburgh, English footballer
1969 – Akira Iida, Japanese racing driver
1970 – Anthony Catanzaro, American fitness model
1970 – Cowboy Troy, American rapper
1970 – DMX, American rapper and actor
1970 – Miles Marshall Lewis, American author
1970 – Victoria Pratt, Canadian actress and fitness model
1970 – Rob Van Dam, American professional wrestler
1970 – Johnny Yeo, English artist
1971 – Barkha Dutt, Indian journalist
1971 – Noriko Matsueda, Japanese composer
1971 – Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Spanish tennis player
1972 – Trevor Chowning, American painter
1972 – DJ Lethal, Latvian-born American DJ (House of Pain, Limp Bizkit)
1972 – Raymond Herrera, American drummer (Fear Factory) and businessman
1974 – Peter Boulware, American football player
1974 – Kari Byron, artist and television personality
1974 – Euroboy, Norwegian musician (Turbonegro)
1974 – Bill Duggan, American television actor and host
1975 – Trish Stratus, Canadian professional wrestler
1975 – Masaki Sumitani, Japanese comedian
1975 – David O Doherty, Irish Comedian
1975 – Vincent van der Voort, Darts Player
1976 – Koyuki, Japanese actress and model
1977 – José Acevedo, Dominican baseball player
1977 – Lindsay Armaou, Irish Singer
1978 – Daniel Cleary, Canadian ice hockey player
1978 – Ali Curtis, American soccer player
1978 – Katie Holmes, American actress
1979 – Mamady Sidibe Mali and Stoke City footballer
1979 – Carlos, Portuguese footballer
1979 – Andrew Kepple, American animator
1980 – Christina Aguilera, American singer
1982 – Dave Luetkenhoelter, American bassist (Kutless)
1983 – Darren Carter, English footballer
1983 – Steph Jones, American R&B singer
1985 – Tara Conner, American beauty contestant (Miss USA)
1985 – Hana Soukupová, Czech supermodel
1987 – Miki Ando, Japanese figure skater
1987 – Ayaka, Japanese singer
1987 – Fernando Jara, Panamanian-American jockey
1987 – Rian Dawson, Drummer for All Time Low
1989 – Ashley Benson, American actress
1989 – Ashley Slanina-Davies, English actress
Deaths
821 – Theodulf, Bishop of Orléans
1133 – Hildebert, French writer
1290 – King Magnus I of Sweden (b. 1240)
1442 – Pierre Cauchon, French Catholic bishop (b. 1371)
1495 – King Alphonso II of Naples (b. 1448)
1692 – Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff, German statesman (b. 1626)
1737 – Antonio Stradivari, Italian violin maker (b. 1644)
1787 – Francis William Drake, British Admiral and Governor of Newfoundland (b. 1724)
1787 – Soame Jenyns, English writer (b. 1704)
1799 – Jean-Étienne Montucla, French mathematician (b. 1725)
1803 – Johann Gottfried Herder, German writer (b. 1744)
1829 – Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, French scientist (b. 1744)
1843 – Thomas Graham, Lord Lynedoch, British Viceroy of India (b. 1748)
1848 – Bernard Bolzano, Bohemian mathematician and philosopher (b. 1781)
1869 – Louis Moreau Gottschalk, American composer and pianist (b. 1829)
1880 – Michel Chasles, French mathematician (b. 1793)
1936 – Andrija Mohorovicic, Austro-Hungarian-born Croatian seismologist (b. 1857)
1971 – Bobby Jones, American golfer (b. 1902)
1971 – Diana Lynn, American actress (b. 1926)
1973 – Allama Rasheed Turabi, Pakistani scholar, orator and philosopher (b. 1908)
1974 – Harry Hooper, American baseball player (b. 1887)
1975 – Theodosius Dobzhansky, Ukrainian geneticist (b. 1900)
1980 – Alexei Kosygin, Premier of the USSR (b. 1904)
1982 – Hans-Ulrich Rudel, German pilot (b. 1916)
1985 – Xuân Di?u, Vietnamese poet (b. 1916)
1987 – Conny Plank, German record producer and musician (b. 1940)
1990 – Anne Revere, American actress (b. 1903)
1990 – Paul Tortelier, French cellist and composer (b. 1914)
1991 – George Abecassis, English Formula 1 driver (b. 1913)
1992 – Mark Goodson, American game show producer (b. 1915)
1993 – Charizma, American rapper (b. 1973)
1993 – Sam Wanamaker, American actor (b. 1919)
1994 – Roger Apéry, Greek-French mathematician (b. 1916)
1995 – Konrad Zuse, German engineer and computing pioneer (b. 1910)
1995 – Brian Brockless, English organist (b. 1926)
1996 – Yulii Borisovich Khariton, Russian physicist (b. 1904)
1997 – Chris Farley, American actor and comedian (b. 1964)
1998 – Lev Demin, Soviet cosmonaut (b. 1926)
1999 – Robert Bresson, French film director (b. 1907)
2000 – Stan Fox, American race car driver (b. 1952)
2000 – Randolph Apperson Hearst, son of W. Randolph Hearst and father of Patty (b. 1915)
2000 – Kirsty MacColl, English singer and songwriter (b. 1959)
2001 – Gilbert Bécaud, French singer (b. 1927)
2001 – Dimitris Dragatakis, Greek composer (b. 1914)
2002 – Ray Hnatyshyn, Governor-General of Canada (b. 1934)
2002 – Wayne Owens, former U.S. Congressman (D-Utah) (b. 1937)
2004 – Anthony Sampson, British journalist and biographer (b. 1926)
2005 – Alan Voorhees, American engineer and urban planner (b. 1922)
2006 – Joseph Barbera, American cartoonist (b. 1911)
2006 – Ruth Bernhard, American photographer (b. 1905)
2006 – Mike Dickin, British radio broadcaster (b. 1943)
2006 – Shaukat Siddiqui, Pakistani author, journalist and political activist (b. 1923)
2007 – Gerald Le Dain, Canadian Supreme Court judge (b. 1924)
2007 – Jack Linkletter, American television host, son of Art Linkletter (b. 1937)
2007 – Bill Strauss, American writer on generations, satirist, and founder of the Capitol Steps (b. 1947)
2008 – Majel Barrett, American actress and producer of Star Trek, also the widow of Gene Roddenberry (b. 1932)
2008 – Mark Felt, the infamous Deep Throat, American FBI official and whistle blower during the Watergate Scandal (b. 1932)
Holidays and observances
International Migrants Day
New Jersey Day – A celebration to New Jersey s admission to the union
Roman festivals – Feast of Epona (during Saturnalia)
R.C. Saints – Gatianus of Tours, O Adonai, Our Lady of Expectation
Also see December 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Republic Day (Niger) (autonomous in 1958)
Greek Orthodox Church – Feast of Sebastian the Martyr
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