On this day: 18 December
Events, births and deaths on 18 December. Every date is checked against Wikidata.
Years ago today
1 year ago2025
- Deaths · Nandó dos Santos
- Deaths · Rodrigo Borja Cevallos
- Deaths · Osman Hadi
10 years ago2016
- Deaths · Zsa Zsa Gabor
100 years ago1926
Within 10 years of that
- 1932 · Deaths · Eduard Bernstein
- 1916 · Births · Betty Grable
- 1936 · Deaths · Andrija Mohorovičić
1000 years ago1026
Within 100 years of that
- 1075 · Deaths · Edith of Wessex
Events · 21
- 1499(Julian date)Rebellion of the Alpujarras — 1499–1501 series of uprisings
- 1622Battle of Mbumbi — 1622 battle between Portuguese Angola and the Kingdom of Kongo
- 1787New Jersey — state of the United States of America
- 18671867 Keelung earthquake — Earthquake and tsunami affecting Taiwan
- 1935Lanka Equal Society Party — Sri Lankan Trotskyist political party
- 1939Battle of the Heligoland Bight — 1939 first major aerial battle of the Second World War
- 1939Battle of Kunlun Pass — 1939 battle
- 19631963 Moscow protest — protests by African students on Red Square
- 1972Operation Linebacker II — 1972 USAF strategic bombing campaign against North Vietnam
- 1977SA de Transport Aérien Flight 730 — 1977 aviation accident
- 1978Chinese economic reform — reforms allowing more free markets in China since Deng Xiaoping
- 1979Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women — international bill of rights for women
- 1995Caungula air disaster — 1995 plane crash of a Trans Service Airlift L-188C near Cahungula, Lunda Norte, Angola
- 2005Chad–Sudan Conflict — 2005–2010 civil war
- 20062006–07 Southeast Asian floods — 2006-07 floods in Southeast Asia region
- 2006
- 2010Tunisian revolution — intensive campaign of civil resistance in Tunisia
- 20172017 Washington train derailment — train derailment in the United States that occurred on December 18, 2017
- 2019first impeachment of Donald Trump — 2019 United States presidential impeachment
- 20222022 FIFA World Cup Final — 2022 FIFA World Cup match
- 20232023 Serbian election protests — demonstrations in Belgrade since December 2023
Births · 60
- 1610Charles du Fresne, sieur du Cange — French philologist (1610–1688)
- 1626Christina of Sweden — Queen of Sweden, ruled from 1632 until abdication in 1654 (1626–1689)
- 1661Christopher Polhem — Swedish inventor (1661-1751)
- 1707Charles Wesley — English Methodist and hymn writer (1707-1788)
- 1856Joseph John Thomson — British physicist (1856-1940)
- 1860Edward MacDowell — American composer (1860–1908)
- 1863Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria — heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary (1863–1914)
- 1870Saki — British writer
- 1878Joseph Stalin — politician and leader of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics from 1924 to 1953
- 1879
- 1886Ty Cobb — American baseball player (1886–1961)
- 1888Gladys Cooper — British actress (1888-1971)
- 1890Edwin Howard Armstrong — American electrical engineer and inventor (1890–1954)
- 1899Peter Wessel Zapffe — Norwegian philosopher, mountaineer, and author (1899–1990)
- 1904George Stevens — American film director, producer, screenwriter and cinematographer (1904–1975)
- 1908Celia Johnson — English actress (1908–1982)
- 1911Jules Dassin — American film director (1911–2008)
- 1913Willy Brandt — German politician (SPD), chancellor of West Germany (1969–1974) and Nobel Peace Prize laureate
- 1913Alfred Bester — American author (1913–1987)
- 1916Betty Grable — American actress and pin-up girl (1916–1973)
- 1917Ossie Davis — American actor, director, poet, playwright, writer, and social activist (1917-2005)
- 1929Józef Glemp — Catholic cardinal, Primate of Poland (1981–2009)
- 1939Harold E. Varmus — American scientist
- 1939Michael Moorcock — English writer, editor, critic (born 1939)
- 1940Lei Feng — Chinese soldier and communist icon (1940–1962)
Deaths · 60
- 1075(Julian date)Edith of Wessex — 11th-century Queen of England
- 1290(Julian date)Magnus III of Sweden — King of Sweden from 1275 to 1290
- 1442(Julian date)Pierre Cauchon — French bishop, prosecutor of Joan of Arc
- 1495(Julian date)Alfonso II of Naples — King of Naples (1448-1495)
- 1577(Julian date)Anna of Saxony — Dutch princess (1545-1577)
- 1737Antonio Stradivari — Italian stringed instrument maker (1643/1649-1737)
- 1799Jean-Étienne Montucla — French mathematician (*1725 – †1799)
- 1803Johann Gottfried Herder — German philosopher, theologian, poet (1744–1803)
- 1829Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck — French naturalist (1744-1829)
- 1843Thomas Graham, 1st Baron Lynedoch — British Army general (1748-1843)
- 1848Bernard Bolzano — Bohemian mathematician and priest (1781–1848)
- 1864José Justo Corro — President of Mexico (1794-1864)
- 1869Louis Moreau Gottschalk — American musician and composer (1829-1869)
- 1880Michel Chasles — French mathematician (1793–1880)
- 1892Richard Owen — English biologist and paleontologist (1804–1892)
- 1919John Alcock — British captain in the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force (1892-1919)
- 1932Eduard Bernstein — German politician and theorist (1850–1932)
- 1936Andrija Mohorovičić — Croatian seismologist (1857–1936)
- 1943Ludwig von Reuter — German admiral (1869–1943)
- 1952Ernst Stromer — German paleontologist (1870–1952)
- 1969Charles Dvorak — US athletics competitor (1878–1969)
- 1971Bobby Jones — American amateur golfer and lawyer (1902–1971)
- 1971Diana Lynn — American actress (1926-1971)
- 1972Neilia Hunter — American teacher and first wife of Joe Biden (1942–1972)
- 1975Theodosius Dobzhansky — geneticist and evolutionary biologist (1900-1975)
Dates verified against Wikidata (CC0). Titles and descriptions come from Wikidata.