1229 The Sixth Crusade was launched in 1218 led by the Holy Roman emperor, Frederick II. He succeeded in recovering Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Nazareth by negotiation with al-Kamil, the sultan of Egypt, on February 18, 1229 and had himself crowned King of Jerusalem in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The Pope, however, was upset, as he'd been hoping for Muslim blood. He called for a crusade against the Crusader but this elicited little response.
1294 The Mongol emperor Kublai Khan became increasingly despondent after the death of his favorite wife and the failure of his military campaign in Japan. Kublai turned to food and drink for comfort, became grossly overweight through the traditional meat-rich Mongol diet and suffered with gout and diabetes. He tried every medical treatment available, from Korean shamans to Vietnamese doctors, but to no avail. Kublai weakened steadily, and on February 18, 1294, he died aged 78.
1516 Mary I of England was born on February 18, 1516 at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, London. She was the only child of King Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, to survive infancy. A precocious child, at the age of four-and-a-half, Mary entertained a visiting French delegation with a performance on the virginals (a type of harpsichord). By the age of nine, Mary could read and write Latin.
1546 Martin Luther died on February 18, 1546 in his small hometown of Eisleben, where he was born. After many years of unceasing work his body had given up, his insistence on going on a journey to mediate in a quarrel between the Counts of Mansfield in the winter being the final nail in the coffin. There had been a cold snap and on the way home he caught a chill, soon became seriously ill and a few days later died.
1564 The artist Michelangelo died in Rome on February 18, 1564, at the age of 88. Despite having a faith, Michelangelo refused to have a priest at his deathbed as throughout his life he'd distrusted dogma and hierarchy. On his deathbed, Michelangelo told his friends "My soul I resign to God, my body to the Earth, my worldly goods to my next of kin." His body was taken from Rome for interment at the Basilica of Santa Croce in his beloved Florence.
1606 In 1602 Pope Paul V put Carlo Maderna in charge of the building of the new St Peter's basilica in Rome. On February 18, 1606, workmen began to pull down the remainder of the old basilica. It was decided what was needed was a Latin Cross plan as that was the symbol of the death of Jesus. Madena's design created a huge space with an elongated nave in the form of a Latin cross. The completion of St Peter's was delayed until 1626 due to its immense cost, size, and other factors.
1678 The non-conformist preacher John Bunyan's Christian allegory Pilgrim's Progress was published on February 18, 1678. An allegory based on Bunyan's own spiritual life, it was partly written by the author during his time in Bedford jail for preaching without a licence. Pilgrim's Progress has been translated in over 100 languages and for the next 150 years following its publication, Bunyan's books, like the Bible, were found in every English home.
1745 The city of Surakarta, Central Java was founded on the banks of Bengawan Solo River on February 18, 1745, and became the capital of the Kingdom of Surakarta. Surakarta is the birthplace of the current President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo. He served as Mayor of Surakarta from 2005 to 2012.
1873 Vasil Levski, the national hero of Bulgaria, was executed in Sofia on February 18, 1873 by Ottoman authorities for his efforts to establish an independent Bulgarian republic. The 1876 April Uprising was a key point in modern Bulgarian history. It led to the Russo-Turkish War and the liberation of Bulgaria from domination as an independent part of the Ottoman Empire. The independence of Bulgaria was proclaimed in 1908.
1885 Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was first published on February 18, 1885.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was written by Twain about the growing friendship between a runaway slave Jim and the narrator Huckleberry, the scrapes they get onto the river and the characters they meet. The real Huckleberry Finn, who was a sort of 19th century Forest Gump, was Tom Blankensap, a childhood friend, whose father was the town drunk.
1895 On February 18, 1895, the Marquess of Queensberry left his calling card at Oscar Wilde's club, the Albemarle, inscribed: "For Oscar Wilde, posing somdomite" [sic]. Wilde initiated a private prosecution against Queensberry for libel. During the trial Wilde's true relationship with Queensberry's son, Lord Alfred "Bosie" Douglas, came to light. This led to the Irishman's own arrest and trial for gross indecency with men. Wilde was convicted and sentenced to two years' hard labor.
1906 John Batterson Stetson, the founder of the the John B. Stetson Company, died on February 18, 1906. His Stetson hat had become the best-known headgear in the West. The high-crowned, wide-brimmed felt hats protected cowboy and ranchers eyes from the sun and their necks from the rain and could also double up as a water bucket. At his death Stetson left an industrial plant employing 3,500, with production of two million hats a year.
1908 The first roll of U.S. postage stamps, known as coil stamps, was issued on February 18, 1908. This was in response to requests from businesses that needed large quantities of stamps for mailing purposes, as well as to make the process of affixing stamps to envelopes more efficient. Before the introduction of coil stamps, postage stamps were only available in sheets and had to be separated by hand. The first coil stamps were issued in denominations of 1 cent, 2 cents, and 5 cents, and were sold in rolls of 500 stamps.
1911 The first official flight with air mail took place on February 18, 1911 in British India (now India). Henri Pequet, a 23-year-old pilot, took off from Allahabad, United Provinces and delivered 6,500 letters to Naini, about 6.2 miles away.
1913 Pedro Lascuráin was President of Mexico for 45 minutes on February 18, 1913, which is recognized as the shortest term of any person as president of any country. Lascuráin was forced to resign by the Mexican Congress, which declared his appointment illegal. His brief term as president is now seen as part of the larger political turmoil that plagued Mexico in the early 20th century.
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| Frederick II (left) meets al-Kamil (right) |
1294 The Mongol emperor Kublai Khan became increasingly despondent after the death of his favorite wife and the failure of his military campaign in Japan. Kublai turned to food and drink for comfort, became grossly overweight through the traditional meat-rich Mongol diet and suffered with gout and diabetes. He tried every medical treatment available, from Korean shamans to Vietnamese doctors, but to no avail. Kublai weakened steadily, and on February 18, 1294, he died aged 78.
1516 Mary I of England was born on February 18, 1516 at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, London. She was the only child of King Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, to survive infancy. A precocious child, at the age of four-and-a-half, Mary entertained a visiting French delegation with a performance on the virginals (a type of harpsichord). By the age of nine, Mary could read and write Latin.
1546 Martin Luther died on February 18, 1546 in his small hometown of Eisleben, where he was born. After many years of unceasing work his body had given up, his insistence on going on a journey to mediate in a quarrel between the Counts of Mansfield in the winter being the final nail in the coffin. There had been a cold snap and on the way home he caught a chill, soon became seriously ill and a few days later died.
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| Portrait of Luther by Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1546. |
1564 The artist Michelangelo died in Rome on February 18, 1564, at the age of 88. Despite having a faith, Michelangelo refused to have a priest at his deathbed as throughout his life he'd distrusted dogma and hierarchy. On his deathbed, Michelangelo told his friends "My soul I resign to God, my body to the Earth, my worldly goods to my next of kin." His body was taken from Rome for interment at the Basilica of Santa Croce in his beloved Florence.
1606 In 1602 Pope Paul V put Carlo Maderna in charge of the building of the new St Peter's basilica in Rome. On February 18, 1606, workmen began to pull down the remainder of the old basilica. It was decided what was needed was a Latin Cross plan as that was the symbol of the death of Jesus. Madena's design created a huge space with an elongated nave in the form of a Latin cross. The completion of St Peter's was delayed until 1626 due to its immense cost, size, and other factors.
1678 The non-conformist preacher John Bunyan's Christian allegory Pilgrim's Progress was published on February 18, 1678. An allegory based on Bunyan's own spiritual life, it was partly written by the author during his time in Bedford jail for preaching without a licence. Pilgrim's Progress has been translated in over 100 languages and for the next 150 years following its publication, Bunyan's books, like the Bible, were found in every English home.
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| Title page of Pilgrim's Progress Date: 1678 |
1745 The city of Surakarta, Central Java was founded on the banks of Bengawan Solo River on February 18, 1745, and became the capital of the Kingdom of Surakarta. Surakarta is the birthplace of the current President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo. He served as Mayor of Surakarta from 2005 to 2012.
1873 Vasil Levski, the national hero of Bulgaria, was executed in Sofia on February 18, 1873 by Ottoman authorities for his efforts to establish an independent Bulgarian republic. The 1876 April Uprising was a key point in modern Bulgarian history. It led to the Russo-Turkish War and the liberation of Bulgaria from domination as an independent part of the Ottoman Empire. The independence of Bulgaria was proclaimed in 1908.
1885 Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was first published on February 18, 1885.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was written by Twain about the growing friendship between a runaway slave Jim and the narrator Huckleberry, the scrapes they get onto the river and the characters they meet. The real Huckleberry Finn, who was a sort of 19th century Forest Gump, was Tom Blankensap, a childhood friend, whose father was the town drunk.
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| Huckleberry Finn, as depicted by E. W. Kemble in the original 1884 edition of the book |
1895 On February 18, 1895, the Marquess of Queensberry left his calling card at Oscar Wilde's club, the Albemarle, inscribed: "For Oscar Wilde, posing somdomite" [sic]. Wilde initiated a private prosecution against Queensberry for libel. During the trial Wilde's true relationship with Queensberry's son, Lord Alfred "Bosie" Douglas, came to light. This led to the Irishman's own arrest and trial for gross indecency with men. Wilde was convicted and sentenced to two years' hard labor.
1908 The first roll of U.S. postage stamps, known as coil stamps, was issued on February 18, 1908. This was in response to requests from businesses that needed large quantities of stamps for mailing purposes, as well as to make the process of affixing stamps to envelopes more efficient. Before the introduction of coil stamps, postage stamps were only available in sheets and had to be separated by hand. The first coil stamps were issued in denominations of 1 cent, 2 cents, and 5 cents, and were sold in rolls of 500 stamps.
1911 The first official flight with air mail took place on February 18, 1911 in British India (now India). Henri Pequet, a 23-year-old pilot, took off from Allahabad, United Provinces and delivered 6,500 letters to Naini, about 6.2 miles away.
 |
| Allahabad cover flown on the world's first aerial post in 1911 |
1913 Pedro Lascuráin was President of Mexico for 45 minutes on February 18, 1913, which is recognized as the shortest term of any person as president of any country. Lascuráin was forced to resign by the Mexican Congress, which declared his appointment illegal. His brief term as president is now seen as part of the larger political turmoil that plagued Mexico in the early 20th century.
1930 24-year old astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovered the dwarf planet Pluto on February 18, 1930, while studying photographs taken at the Lowell Observatory. After nearly a year of searching, Tombaugh noticed a possible moving object on photographic plates taken the previous month. News of the discovery was telegraphed to the Harvard College Observatory four weeks later.
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| Clyde Tombaugh with his homemade 9-inch telescope |
1930 Elm Farm Ollie was the first cow to fly in an airplane. The flight was part of a promotional campaign for the St. Louis International Air Exposition, which was being held at the time. The organizers of the campaign wanted to demonstrate the safety of commercial air travel and promote the use of airplanes for transporting goods. The milk she produced during her trip in a Ford Trimotor airplane on February 18, 1930 was dropped by parachute over the city of St Louis.
1938 Bob Hope's film The Big Broadcast of 1938 debuted in New York on February 18, 1938. The movie introduced Hope's signature song, "Thanks For The Memory." The song was written by Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin for the film, and it was performed as a duet by Hope and his co-star Shirley Ross.
1965 The British Empire first occupied the Gambia when an expedition led by Augustus Keppel landed there, following the Capture of Senegal in 1758. The Gambia finally broke away from British rule on February 18, 1965. Five years later, the Gambia became a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations, with Dawda Jawara as the first President.
1972 The highest snowfall recorded in a one-year period was 1,224.5 inches (102 feet) between February 19, 1971, and February 18, 1972, at Mount Rainier Park in Washington, United States. This record was set at Paradise Ranger Station, located at 5,426 feet (1,654 meters) on the south slope of Mount Rainier. The station sits within the subalpine zone, known for heavier snowfall compared to lower elevations.
1977 The first experimental orbiter of the Space Shuttle System, Enterprise, was a high-altitude glider, launched from the back of a specially modified Boeing 747. Its first test flight was on February 18, 1977. The first orbiter was originally planned to be named Constitution, but a massive write-in campaign from fans of Star Trek convinced the White House to change its name to Enterprise.
1979 Snow fell in the Sahara Desert on February 18, 1979 for the first time in recorded history. The snowfall was reported in the town of Ain Sefra, which is located in southern Algeria on the northern edge of the Sahara. The snowfall was caused by a combination of cold air moving south from Europe and a low-pressure system in the region, which brought moisture and precipitation to the area. The snow only lasted for a short time, and it quickly melted away as the sun came out and temperatures rose.
1983 Thirteen people died and one was seriously injured in the Wah Mee massacre in Seattle on February 18, 1983. Kwan Fai "Willie" Mak, Wai-Chiu "Tony" Ng, and Benjamin Ng gunned down fourteen people in the Wah Mee gambling club at the Louisa Hotel in Chinatown-International District, Seattle. It is said to be the largest robbery-motivated mass-murder in U.S. history.
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