What are the important events that happened on August 18? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
August 18: Facts & Myths About This Day
August 18 is the 231st day of the year 2024 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 135 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Sunday.
Under the Julian calendar, this day is August 5, 2024 – a Sunday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?
When this day started, 1,723,939,200 seconds has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.
Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘dihectatriacontahenagon’ day.
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Leo is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Peridot is the modern birthstone for this month. Diamond is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.
According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 164 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.
The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,258 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.
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August 18 Historical Events
- 1590 –John White, the governor of the Colony of Roanoke, returns from a supply trip to England and finds his settlement deserted.
- 1634 –Urbain Grandier, accused and convicted of sorcery, is burned alive in Loudun, France.
- 1783 –A huge fireball meteor is seen across the United Kingdom as it passes over the east coast.
- 1877 –Asaph Hall discovers Martian moon Phobos.
- 1903 –German engineer Karl Jatho allegedly flies his self-made, motored gliding airplane four months before the first flight of the Wright Brothers.
- 1950 –Julien Lahaut, the chairman of the Communist Party of Belgium is assassinated by far-right elements.
- 1958 –Brojen Das from Bangladesh swims across the English Channel in a competition, as the first Bangali as well as the first Asian to ever do it. He became first among 39 competitors.
- 1965 –Vietnam War: Operation Starlite begins – United States Marines destroy a Viet Cong stronghold on the Van Tuong peninsula in the first major American ground battle of the war.
- 1977 –Steve Biko is arrested at a police roadblock under the Terrorism Act No 83 of 1967 in King William’s Town, South Africa. He would later die of the injuries sustained during this arrest bringing attention to South Africa’s apartheid policies.
- 1983 –Hurricane Alicia hits the Texas coast, killing 22 people and causing over USD $1 billion in damage (1983 dollars).
Who were born on August 18?
- 1920 –Bob Kennedy, baseball player (d. 2005)
- 1931 –Hans van Mierlo, Dutch politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister (d. 2010)
- 1932 –William R. Bennett, Premier of British Columbia
- 1934 –Ronnie Carroll, British singer
- 1955 –Taher ElGamal, Egyptian scientist
- 1966 –Gustavo Charif, Argentine artist
- 1970 –Jessica Hsuan, Hong Kong actress
- 1971 –Jacob Vargas, American actor
- 1980 –Rob Nguyen, Australian racing driver
- 1992 –Riko Narumi, Japanese actress
Who died on August 18?
- 1613 –Giovanni Artusi, Italian composer
- 1683 –Charles Hart, English actor (b. 1625)
- 1809 –Matthew Boulton, English manufacturer and engineer (b. 1728)
- 1940 –Walter P. Chrysler, American automobile executive (b. 1875)
- 1990 –Grethe Ingmann, Danish singer (b. 1938)
- 1994 –Martin Cahill, The General, infamous Dublin criminal (b. 1949)
- 1998 –Nelly’s, Greek photographer (b. 1899)
- 2006 –Jamie Astaphan, Caribbean-born physician (b. 1946)
- 2007 –Michael Deaver, Reagan Administration Deputy White House Chief of Staff (b. 1938)
- 2009 –Kim Dae-jung,15th President of South Korea (b. 1925)
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