February 18 in History

Historical Events on February 18

1229

The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor signs a ten-year truce with al-Kamil, regaining Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem with neither military engagements nor support from the papacy.
1268

The Livonian Order is defeated by Dovmont of Pskov in the Battle of Rakvere.
1332

Amda Seyon I, Emperor of Ethiopia begins his campaigns in the southern Muslim provinces.
1478

George, Duke of Clarence, convicted of treason against his older brother Edward IV of England, is executed in private at the Tower of London.
1637

Eighty Years' War: Off the coast of Cornwall, England, a Spanish fleet intercepts an important Anglo-Dutch merchant convoy of 44 vessels escorted by six warships, destroying or capturing 20 of them.
1745

The city of Surakarta, Central Java is founded on the banks of Bengawan Solo River, and becomes the capital of the Sunanate of Surakarta Hadiningrat.
1766

A mutiny by captive Malagasy begins at sea on the slave ship Meermin, leading to the ship's destruction on Cape Agulhas in present-day South Africa and the recapture of the instigators.
1781

Fourth Anglo-Dutch War: Captain Thomas Shirley opens his expedition against Dutch colonial outposts on the Gold Coast of Africa (present-day Ghana).
1791

Congress passes a law admitting the state of Vermont to the Union, effective 4 March, after that state had existed for 14 years as a de facto independent largely unrecognized state.
1797

French Revolutionary Wars: Sir Ralph Abercromby and a fleet of 18 British warships invade Trinidad.
1814

Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Montereau.
1861

In Montgomery, Alabama, Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as the provisional President of the Confederate States of America.
1861

With Italian unification almost complete, Victor Emmanuel II of Piedmont, Savoy and Sardinia assumes the title of King of Italy.
1865

American Civil War: Union forces under Major General William T. Sherman set the South Carolina State House on fire during the burning of Columbia.
1873

Bulgarian revolutionary leader Vasil Levski is executed by hanging in Sofia by the Ottoman authorities.
1878

John Tunstall is murdered by outlaw Jesse Evans, sparking the Lincoln County War in Lincoln County, New Mexico.
1885

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is published in the United States.
1900

Second Boer War: Imperial forces suffer their worst single-day loss of life on Bloody Sunday, the first day of the Battle of Paardeberg.
1906

Édouard de Laveleye forms the Belgian Olympic Committee in Brussels.
1911

The first official flight with airmail takes place from Allahabad, United Provinces, British India (now India), when Henri Pequet, a 23-year-old pilot, delivers 6,500 letters to Naini, about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) away.
1930

While studying photographs taken in January, Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto.
1930

Elm Farm Ollie becomes the first cow to fly in a fixed-wing aircraft and also the first cow to be milked in an aircraft.
1932

The Empire of Japan declares a puppet state of Manzhouguo (the obsolete Chinese name for Manchuria) independent from the Republic of China and installed former Chinese Emperor Aisin Gioro Puyi as Chief Executive of the State.
1938

Second Sino-Japanese War: During the Nanking Massacre the Nanking Safety Zone International Committee is renamed "Nanking International Rescue Committee" and the safety zone in place for refugees falls apart.
1942

World War II: The Imperial Japanese Army begins the systematic extermination of perceived hostile elements among the Chinese in Singapore.
1943

World War II: The Nazis arrest the members of the White Rose movement.
1943

World War II: Joseph Goebbels delivers his Sportpalast speech.
1946

Sailors of the Royal Indian Navy mutiny in Bombay harbour, from where the action spreads throughout the Provinces of British India, involving 78 ships, twenty shore establishments and 20,000 sailors
1947

First Indochina War: The French gain complete control of Hanoi after forcing the Viet Minh to withdraw to mountains.
1954

The first Church of Scientology is established in Los Angeles.
1955

Operation Teapot: Teapot test shot "Wasp" is successfully detonated at the Nevada Test Site with a yield of 1.2 kilotons. Wasp is the first of fourteen shots in the Teapot series.
1957

Kenyan rebel leader Dedan Kimathi is executed by the British colonial government.
1957

Walter James Bolton becomes the last person legally executed in New Zealand.
1965

The Gambia becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
1970

The Chicago Seven are found not guilty of conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
1972

The California Supreme Court in the case of People v. Anderson, (6 Cal.3d 628) invalidates the state's death penalty and commutes the sentences of all death row inmates to life imprisonment.
1977

The Space Shuttle Enterprise test vehicle is carried on its maiden "flight" on top of a Boeing 747.
1983

Thirteen people die and one is seriously injured in the Wah Mee massacre in Seattle. It is said to be the largest robbery-motivated mass-murder in U.S. history.
1991

The IRA explodes bombs in the early morning at Paddington station and Victoria station in London.
2001

FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested for spying for the Soviet Union. He is ultimately convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.
2001

Seven-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt dies in an accident during the Daytona 500.
2001

Sampit conflict: Inter-ethnic violence between Dayaks and Madurese breaks out in Sampit, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, ultimately resulting in more than 500 deaths and 100,000 Madurese displaced from their homes.
2003

Nearly 200 people die in the Daegu subway fire in South Korea.
2004

Up to 295 people, including nearly 200 rescue workers, die near Nishapur, Iran when a runaway freight train carrying sulfur, petrol and fertilizer catches fire and explodes.
2007

WikiLeaks publishes the first of hundreds of thousands of classified documents disclosed by the soldier now known as Chelsea Manning.
2013

Armed robbers steal a haul of diamonds worth $50 million during a raid at Brussels Airport in Belgium.
2014

At least 76 people are killed and hundreds are injured in clashes between riot police and demonstrators in Kiev, Ukraine.

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