November 18
November 18 is the 322nd day of the year (323rd in leap years), with 43 remaining.
Events
- 1095 - The Council of Clermont began. The council was called by Pope Urban II to discuss sending the First Crusade to the Holy Land.
- 1302 - Pope Boniface VIII issued the Papal bull Unam sanctam ("The One Holy"), which historians consider one of the most extreme statements of Papal spiritual supremacy ever made.
- 1307 - According to legend, William Tell shoots an apple off his son's head.
- 1421 - A seawall at the Zuider Zee dike breaks, flooding 72 villages and killing about 10,000 people in the Netherlands.
- 1477 - William Caxton produces "Dictes or Sayengis of the Philosophres", the first English book printed on a printing press.
- 1493 - Christopher Columbus first sights what is now Puerto Rico. He will land on it the following day and name it San Juan Batista.
- 1626 - St. Peter's Basilica is consecrated
- 1686 - Charles Francois Felix operates on King of France Louis XIV's anal fistula after practicing the surgery on several peasants.
- 1865 - Mark Twain's story The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County is published in the New York Saturday Press.
- 1883 - American and Canadian railroads institute five standard continental time zones, ending the confusion of thousands of local times.
- 1903 - The Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty is signed by the United States and Panama, giving the Americans exclusive rights over the Panama Canal Zone.
- 1904 - General Esteban Huertas steps down after the government of Panama fears he wants to stage a coup. The Panamanian army is disbanded the next day.
- 1905 - Prince Carl of Denmark becomes King Haakon VII of Norway.
- 1909 - Two United States warships are sent to Nicaragua after 500 revolutionaries (including two Americans) are executed by order of dictator José Santos Zelaya.
- 1916 - World War I: First Battle of the Somme ends - In France, British Expeditionary Force commander Douglas Haig calls off the battle which started on July 1, 1916.
- 1918 - Latvia declares its independence from Russia.
- 1926 - George Bernard Shaw refuses to accept the money for his Nobel Prize, saying, "I can forgive Alfred Nobel for inventing dynamite, but only a fiend in human form could have invented the Nobel Prize."
- 1928 - Release of the animated short Steamboat Willie, the first fully synchronized sound cartoon, directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks, featuring the second appearances of Cartoon stars Mickey and Minnie Mouse.
- 1929 - 1929 Grand Banks earthquake: Off the south coast of Newfoundland in the Atlantic Ocean, a Richter magnitude 7.2 submarine earthquake centered on Grand Banks, breaks 12 submarine transatlantic telegraph cables and triggers a tsunami that destroys many south coast communities in the Burin Peninsula area.
- 1938 - Trade union members elect John L. Lewis as the first president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
- 1940 - World War II: German leader Adolf Hitler and Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano meet to discuss Benito Mussolini's disastrous invasion of Greece.
- 1943 - World War II: 440 Royal Air Force planes bomb Berlin causing only light damage and killing 131. The RAF lost nine aircraft and 53 aviators.
- 1959 - William Wyler's film Ben-Hur premieres at Loew's Theater in New York City.
- 1962 - Niels Bohr, Danish physicist, dies at the age of 77.
- 1970 - US President Richard Nixon asks the U.S. Congress for US$155 million in supplemental aid for the Cambodian government (US$85 million was for military assistance in order to help prevent the overthrow of the government of Premier Lon Nol by the Khmer Rouge and North Vietnam).
- 1970 - Singer Jerry Lee Lewis divorces his third wife, Myra Gail, after 12 years.
- 1971 - Hard rock band Led Zeppelin release an untitled album, often dubbed "Led Zeppelin IV," featuring "Rock & Roll," "Stairway to Heaven" and other classic songs.
- 1978 - Jonestown mass suicide: In Jonestown, Guyana, Jim Jones leads his People's Temple in a mass murder-suicide; 913 die, including 276 children.
- 1982 - Duk Koo Kim died unexpectedly from injuries sustained during a 14-round match against Ray Mancini in Las Vegas, prompting reforms in the sport of boxing.
- 1985 - Calvin and Hobbes, a comic strip by Bill Watterson, was first published.
- 1987 - Iran-Contra scandal: The U.S. Congress issues its final report on the Iran-Contra affair, stating that US President Ronald Reagan bore "ultimate responsibility" for wrongdoing by his aides and his administration exhibited "secrecy, deception, and disdain for the law."
- 1987 - King's Cross fire: In London, 31 people die in a fire at the city's busiest underground station at King's Cross St Pancras.
- 1988 - War on Drugs: US President Ronald Reagan signs a bill into law providing the death penalty for murderous drug traffickers.
- 1990 - Chris Eubank defeats Nigel Benn in arguably the greatest British boxing match ever.
- 1991 - Shiite Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon set Anglican Church envoys Terry Waite and Thomas Sutherland free.
- 1991 - After the 3-month siege, the Croatian city of Vukovar is invaded by Serbians
- 1993 - In South Africa, 21 political parties approve a new constitution.
- 1996 - World-renowned bird expert Tony Silva is sentenced to seven years in prison without parole for leading an illegal parrot smuggling ring.
- 1997 - Gary Glitter is arrested in the United Kingdom on child porn charges.
- 1998 - Alice McDermott wins the National Book Award with her novel Charming Billy.
- 1999 - In College Station, Texas, 12 are killed and 28 injured at Texas A&M University when a huge bonfire under construction collapses.
- 1999 - In Jasper, Texas, 24-year old Shawn Allen Berry is sentenced to life in prison, becoming the third person convicted in the racially-motivated dragging death of James Byrd, Jr..
- 2001 - The Nintendo GameCube is released in North America
- 2002 - Iraq disarmament crisis: United Nations weapons inspectors led by Hans Blix arrive in Iraq.
- 2003 - The Local Government Act 2003, repealing the controversial anti-gay amendment Section 28, becomes effective.
- 2003 - Special Extended DVD Edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is released.
- 2004 - Russia officially ratifies the Kyoto Protocol.
Births
- 9 - Vespasian, Roman Emperor (d. 79)
- 709 - Konin, Emperor of Japan
- 1647 - Pierre Bayle, French philosopher (d. 1706)
- 1785 - David Wilkie, Scottish artist (d. 1841)
- 1786 - Carl Maria von Weber, German composer (d. 1826)
- 1787 - Louis-Jacques Daguerre, French inventor and photographer (d. 1851)
- 1832 - Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, Swedish explorer (d. 1901)
- 1836 - Sir William S. Gilbert, English dramatist (d. 1911)
- 1836 - Cesare Lombroso, Italian psychiatrist and founder of criminology (d. 1909)
- 1856 - Nikolai Nikolaevich Romanov, Grand Duke of Russia (d. 1929)
- 1860 - Ignacy Paderewski, Polish pianist, composer (d. 1941)
- 1861 - Dorothea Dix, journalist and activist (d. 1951)
- 1874 - Clarence Day, American author (d. 1935)
- 1882 - Jacques Maritain, French philosopher (d. 1973)
- 1883 - Carl Vinson, U.S. Congressman (d. 1981)
- 1891 - Gio Ponti, Italian architect and designer (d. 1979)
- 1897 - Patrick Blackett, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1974)
- 1898 - Joris Ivens, filmmaker (d. 1989)
- 1899 - Eugene Ormandy, conductor (d. 1985)
- 1901 - George Gallup, statistician and opinion pollster (d. 1984)
- 1906 - Klaus Mann, publicist, dramatist and narrator (d. 1949)
- 1906 - George Wald, American chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1997)
- 1907 - Compay Segundo, Cuban musician (Buena Vista Social Club) (d. 2003)
- 1908 - Imogene Coca, actress, comedienne (d. 2001)
- 1909 - Johnny Mercer, lyricist (d. 1976)
- 1916 - Amelita Galli-Curci, soprano (d. 1963)
- 1923 - Alan Shepard, astronaut (d. 1998)
- 1925 - Gene Mauch, baseball manager (d. 2005)
- 1927 - Hank Ballard, American musician (d. 2003)
- 1930 - J. G. Ballard, British author
- 1935 - Rudolf Bahro, dissident (d. 1997)
- 1935 - Alain Barrière, French musician
- 1936 - Hank Ballard, musician (d. 2003)
- 1939 - Margaret Atwood, writer
- 1939 - Brenda Vaccaro, actress
- 1940 - Qaboos ibn Sa’id, Sultan of Oman
- 1941 - Gary Bettenhausen, race car driver
- 1941 - David Hemmings, English actor (d. 2003)
- 1942 - Linda Evans, actress
- 1944 - Susan Sullivan, actress
- 1946 - Alan Dean Foster, author
- 1948 - Andrea Marcovicci, singer, actress
- 1948 - Jack Tatum, American football star
- 1950 - Jameson Parker, actor
- 1950 - Eric Pierpoint, actor
- 1953 - Alan Moore, comic book writer, novelist
- 1954 - John Parr, British pop singer
- 1956 - Warren Moon, Canadian football and American football star
- 1958 - Laura Miller, mayor of Dallas, Texas
- 1960 - Kim Wilde, singer
- 1962 - Kirk Hammett, American guitarist (Metallica)
- 1963 - Dante Bichette, baseball player
- 1963 - Peter Schmeichel, Legendary Manchester United Goalkeeper
- 1966 - Jorge Camacho, poet in Spanish and Esperanto
- 1968 - Owen Wilson, actor (Rushmore, Zoolander, The Royal Tenenbaums)
- 1969 - Sam Cassell, NBA basketball player
- 1975 - David Ortiz, Major League Baseball All-Star
- 1983 - Jon Johansen, Norwegian software developer
Deaths
- 1724 - Bartolomeu de Gusmão, Portuguese naturalist (b. 1685)
- 1814 - William Jessop, civil engineer
- 1886 - Chester A. Arthur, 21st President of the United States
- 1889 - William Allingham, Irish author (b. 1824 or 1828)
- 1922 - Marcel Proust, French novelist
- 1941 - Walther Nernst, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1864)
- 1941 - Chris Watson, third Prime Minister of Australia
- 1952 - Paul Eluard, French poet (b. 1895)
- 1953 - Frank Olson, American scientist (suicide)
- 1962 - Niels Bohr, Danish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1885)
- 1965 - Henry A. Wallace, Vice President of the United States
- 1969 - Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., American politician
- 1976 - Man Ray, artist
- 1978 - Jim Jones, American cult leader (suicide)
- 1978 - Leo Ryan, U.S. Congressman
- 1982 - Duk Koo Kim, boxer
- 1986 - Gia Carangi, supermodel (one of the first women in America to die of AIDS)
- 1987 - Jacques Anquetil, cyclist (cancer)
- 1994 - Cab Calloway, band leader
- 1999 - Paul Bowles, novelist
- 2002 - James Coburn, American actor
- 2003 - Michael Kamen, American composer (b. 1948)
Holidays and observances
- Latvia - Independence Day (1918)
- In Catholicism, the feast of St. Odo of Cluny, St Romanus of Antioch, St Mawes, and St Rose Philippine Duchesne
External links
November 17 - November 19 - October 18 - December 18 -- listing of all days