18 November: On This Day In History | What Special Day Is Today?

18 November: In a year, the 18th of November is the 322^nd day as per the Georgian Calendar. In a leap year, it is the 323^rd day of the year.

What special day is today? This day has its distinctiveness and importance in history.

Let’s explore people who have carved a niche for themselves on 18^th November. We may also need to scan through the events that happened today.

18 November: On This Day In History | What Special Day Is Today?

What Happened Today? On This Day in History: 18 November

Art & Artists

- 1477 – Publication of England’s first book with the date was by William Caxton, an extraordinary printer.
- 1928 – Launch of Walt Disney’s Steamboat Willie. World’s first sound-enabled animated film that featured the (to be) iconic cartoon character Mickey Mouse.
- 1959 – World premiere of the biblical movie Ben-Hur which won a record 11 Academy Awards. It is one of the most successful Hollywood movies ever produced.

Science & Technology

- 1883 – American and Canadian railroads established five standard continental divisions of time zones.
- 1963 – Launch of the first push-button telephones in America.

Leaders & Politics

- 1905 – Prince Charles of Denmark won the election to become the king of Norway as Haakon VII.
- 1918 – Latvia became an independent nation (from Russia).
- 1971 – Oman became an independent nation (from the United Kingdom).

People & Society

- 1626 – Consecration of Saint Peter’s Basilicasituated in Vatican City. It was rebuilt (replaced) on an earlier basilica.
- 1910 – March of hundreds of suffragettesto the British Parliament.
- 2009 – Robert C. Byrd, the illustrated American politician (Democratic). He was a member of either the House of Representatives or the Senate. In total, he was a member of congress for a long 56 years and 319 days.

Disasters: Natural & Man-made

- 1421 – A dike broke in the Grote Hollandse Waard (Netherlands) which killed 10,000 people and flooded 72 villages.
- 1947 – The Ballantyne’s Department Store (Christchurch, New Zealand) caught fire that killed 41.
- 1978 – The Jonestown massacre (an enormous act of murder-suicide) took place where 918 died.

Discoveries & Explorations

- 1493 – Christopher Columbus became the first explorer to sight Puerto Rico Island.
- 1923 – Alan B. Shepard, Jr. born on this date became the first U.S. astronaut to travel in space.
- 2013 – Launch of the MAVEN probe to the Red Planet Mars by NASA.

Leisure & Sports

- 1990 – Tennis star Andre Agassi clinched a title in an ATP Tour World Championship.
- 2015 – Death of the great Jonah Lomu, a football player from New Zealand rugby union. He is possibly the first global icon in the game.

Birth Anniversaries (18 November)

- 1882 – Amelita Galli-Curci (Italy)
- 1882 – Wyndham Lewis (English writer and artist)
- 1953 – Alan Moore (British writer)
- 1940 – Qaboos bin Said (Sultan of Oman)
- 1939 – Margaret Atwood (Canadian author)
- 1836 – W.S. Gilbert (English playwright and humorist)

Death Anniversaries (18 November)

- 1941 – John Christian Watson (Prime minister of Australia)
- 1977 – Trent Barrett (Australian rugby league player)
- 1986 – Gia Carangi (American model) (b. 1960)
- 2013 – Thomas Howard (American football player)
- 2013 – S. R. D. Vaidyanathan (Indian nadaswaram player and composer)

What Special Day is Today: (18 November)

- European Antibiotic Awareness Day
- Day of Army and Victory (Haiti)
- Independence Day (Morocco)
- National Day (Oman)
- Proclamation Day of the Republic of Latvia
- Remembrance Day of the Sacrifice of Vukovar in 1991 (Croatia)

Conclusion

The factual story of the day (18 November) covers the entire globe and a lot of well-known personalities. The day has remained a silent observer of what happened on this day in history.

Providing our readers with authentic facts and figures, for each day, is what boosts us here.

We would love to hear from you. We request you drop your feedback on the article. If you have any rare information like the above, then do share it with us.

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