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 230^th day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 135 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Monday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is August 5, 2025 – a Monday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 1,755,475,200 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 ‘dihectatriacontagon’ day.

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 183 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 4,623 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

August 18 Historical Events

• 1587 –
  Virginia Dare, granddaughter of governor John White of the Colony of Roanoke, becomes the first English child born in the Americas.
• 1783 –
  A huge fireball meteor is seen across the United Kingdom as it passes over the east coast.
• 1864 –
  American Civil War: Battle of Globe Tavern – Union forces try to cut a vital Confederate supply-line into Petersburg, Virginia, by attacking the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad.
• 1868 –
  French astronomer Pierre Jules César Janssen discovers helium.
• 1920 –
  The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing women’s suffrage.
• 1950 –
  Julien Lahaut, the chairman of the Communist Party of Belgium is assassinated by far-right elements.
• 1966 –
  Vietnam War: the Battle of Long Tan ensues after a patrol from the 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment clashes with a Viet Cong force in Phuoc Tuy Province.
• 1976 –
  In the Korean Demilitarized Zone at Panmunjeom, the Axe Murder Incident results in the death of two US soldiers.
• 2000 –
  A federal jury finds the US EPA guilty of discrimination against Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, later inspiring passage of the No FEAR Act.
• 2005 –
  A Massive power blackout hits the Indonesian island of Java, affecting almost 100 million people, the largest and most widespread power outage in history.

Who were born on August 18?

• 1774 –
  Meriwether Lewis, American explorer (d. 1809)
• 1792 –
  John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1878)
• 1819 –
  Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaievna, Duchess of Leuchtenberg (d. 1876)
• 1949 –
  Rudy Hartono, Indonesian badminton player
• 1976 –
  Bryan Volpenhein, American rower
• 1980 –
  Athina Papayianni, Greek race walker
• 1980 –
  Jeremy Shockey, American football player
• 1980 –
  Kieron Davies, Welsh-born German rugby player
• 1987 –
  Mika Boorem, American actress
• 1994 –
  Jessie Flower, American voice actress

Who died on August 18?

• 849 –
  Walafrid Strabo, German monk and theologian
• 1642 –
  Guido Reni, Italian painter (b. 1575)
• 1645 –
  Eudoxia Streshneva, Tsarina of Mikhail I of Russia (b. 1608)
• 1943 –
  Ali-Agha Shikhlinski, Russian-Azerbaijani general (b. 1865)
• 1949 –
  Paul Mares, American musician (b. 1900)
• 1981 –
  Anita Loos, American screenwriter (b. 1889)
• 1994 –
  Martin Cahill, The General, infamous Dublin criminal (b. 1949)
• 2002 –
  Dean Riesner, American film and television writer (b. 1918)
• 2009 –
  Kim Dae-jung,15th President of South Korea (b. 1925)
• 2010 –
  Benjamin Kaplan, copyright scholar (b. 1911)