December 18 in History

Historical Events on December 18

1622 Portuguese forces score a military victory over the Kingdom of Kongo at the Battle of Mbumbi in present-day Angola.

1787 New Jersey becomes the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

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 in the first NFL Championship Game.

1939 World War II: The Battle of the Heligoland Bight, the first major air battle of the war, takes place.

1966 Saturn's moon Epimetheus is discovered by astronomer Richard Walker.

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.

1999 NASA launches into orbit the Terra platform carrying five Earth Observation instruments, including ASTER, CERES, MISR, MODIS and MOPITT.

2006 United Arab Emirates holds its first-ever elections.

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Famous Birthdays on December 18

1878 Joseph Stalin

1946 Steven Spielberg

1980 Christina Aguilera

2001 Billie Eilish

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Famous Deaths on December 18

1111 Al-Ghazali

1980 Alexei Kosygin

2008 Mark Felt

2011 Václav Havel

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