Today In History - March 18

417 St. Zosimus begins his reign as Catholic Pope
731 St. Gregory III begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1123 The first Latern Council (9th ecumenical council) opens in Rome
1167 Battle of El-Babein, Egypt: Franks under Amalrik Vs Syrians
1190 Crusaders kill 57 Jews in Bury St. Edmonds England
1229 German emperor Frederick II crowns himself king of Jerusalem
1438 Albrecht II von Habsburg becomes King of Germany
1532 English parliament bans payments by English church to Rome
1541 Hernan de Soto observes the first recorded flood in America, the Mississippi River
1582 Prince Willem of Orange injured in attack at Antwerp
1583 Dutch States General and Anjou sign treaty
1673 Lord Berkley sells his half of New Jersey to the Quakers
1754 Duke of Newcastle becomes English premier
1766 Britain repeals the Stamp Act
1773 Oliver Goldsmith' "She Stoops to Conquer," premieres in London
1793 2nd Battle at Neerwinden: Austria army beats France
1810 "Converse," first U.S. opera, premieres in New York
1813 David Melville, Newport, Rhode Island, patents apparatus for making coal gas
1818 Congress approves first pensions for government service
1834 The first railroad tunnel in U.S. completed, in Pennsylvania (275 m long)
1835 Charles Darwin departs Santiago Chile on his way to Portillo Pass
1847 The first Dutch public telegram
1850 Henry Wells and William Fargo form American Express in Buffalo
1858 Dutch Van der Brugghen government resigns
1859 Vera Cruz besieged by Miramon (Cons) in Mexican War of Reform
1864 Dale Dike on Humber River crumbles drowning some 240
1865 Battle of Wilson's raid to Selma, Alabama
1865 Congress of Confederate States of American adjourns for last time
1870 The first U.S. National Wildlife Preserve, Lake Meritt in Oakland California
1871 Communards revolt in Paris
1877 President Hayes appoints Frederick Douglass marshal of Washington D.C.
1881 Barnum and Bailey's Greatest Show on Earth opens (MSG)
1890 The first U.S. state naval militia is organized in Massachusetts
1891 Britain is linked to the continent by Telephone
1892 Lord Stanley presents silver challenge cup for hockey (Stanley Cup)
1895 200 blacks leave Savannah, Georgia for Liberia
1899 Phoebe, a moon of Saturn is discovered by Pickering
1900 Ajax (Amsterdam Football Club), forms
1902 Enrico Caruso becomes first well-known performer to make a record
1902 Schonberg's "Verklarte Nacht," premieres in Vienna
1909 Einar Dessau of Denmark makes first ham radio broadcast
1910 The first opera by an U.S. composer (Converse) performed at the Met, New York City
1911 North Dakota enacts a hail insurance law
1914 White Wolf gang beats government army in Jingdezhen China
1915 Failed British attack in Dardanelles
1915 French battleship Bouvet explodes, 640 killed
1918 Socialist Youth AJC organizes in Amsterdam
1919 Order of DeMolay forms in Kansas City
1920 Greece adopts the Gregorian calendar
1921 2nd Peace of Riga, Poland enlarged
1921 Steamer "Hong Koh" runs aground off Swatow China killing 1,000
1922 British magistrates in India sentence Mohandas K. Gandhi to 6 years in prison for disobedience
1922 The first intercollegiate indoor polo championship (Princeton vs Yale)
1922 WBT-AM in Charlotte North Carolina begins radio transmissions
1929 Dmitri Shostakovitch' "The new Babylon," premieres in Leningrad
1930 Boston Bruins win record 20th NHL home game
1931 The first electric shavers go on sale in U.S. from Schick
1931 Juan Bautista Aznar becomes premier of Spain
1933 Radio Clube de Mocambique's, first radio transmission
1933 U.S. Ladies Figure Skating championship won by Maribel Vinson
1933 U.S. Mens Figure Skating championship won by Roger Turner
1937 Gas explosion in school in New London Texas: 294 die
1938 Mexico takes control of foreign-owned oil properties
1938 New York first requires serological blood tests of pregnant women
1938 President Cardena of Mexico nationalizes U.S. and British oil companies
1940 Mussolini joins Hitler in Germany's war against France and Britain
1942 2 black players, Jackie Robinson and Nate Moreland, request a tryout with the Chicago White Sox
1942 Illegal Free Netherlands announces boycott of theaters
1943 James Oglethorpe (U.S.) and Terkolei (Neth), torpedoed and sinks
1943 Red Army evacuates Belgorod
1944 2,500 women trample guards and floorwalkers to purchase 1,500 alarm clocks announced for sale in a Chicago, Illinois department store
1944 Nazi Germany occupies Hungary
1945 1,250 U.S. bombers attacks Berlin
1945 Maurice "Rocket" Richard becomes the first NHLer to score 50 goals
1945 U.S. Task Force 58 attacks targets on Kiushu
1948 France and Great Britain and Benelux sign Treaty of Brussels
1948 Philips begins experimental TV broadcasting
1949 NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, treaty ratified
1949 WGAL TV channel 8 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania (NBC) begins broadcasting
1950 CCNY beats Bradley 69-61 for the NIT championship
1951 Pat O'Sullivan wins LPGA Titleholders Golf Championship
1952 Communist offensive in Korea
1952 The first plastic lens for cataract patients fitted (Philadelphia)
1953 The 15th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Indiana beats Kansas 69-68
1953 The Boston Braves move to Milwaukee
1953 Earthquake strikes West Turkey, 250 people die
1953 KGNC (now KAMR) TV channel 4 in Amarillo, Texas (NBC) begins broadcasting
1953 NL approves Boston Braves move to Milwaukee (first shift since 1903)
1955 I Hatojama recognized as premier of Japan
1957 WTWV (now WTVA) TV channel 9 in Tupelo-Columbus, MS (NBC) begins
1958 Dodgers announces mascot/clown Emmett Kelly will not perform in 1958
1959 Boston Celtic's Bill Sharman begins record of 56 straight free-throws
1959 President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs Hawaii statehood bill
1961 Poppin' Fresh Pillsbury Dough Boy introduced
1962 Algerian War ends after 7 years (250,000 people die), Ben Bella flees
1962 Dmitri Shostakovitch becomes member of Supreme Soviet of U.S.S.R.
1963 "Tovarich" opens at Broadway Theater New York City for 264 performances
1963 France performs underground nuclear test at Ecker Algeria
1963 Supreme Court's Miranda Decision; defendants must have lawyers
1963 WGSF TV channel 28 in Newark, OH (PBS) begins broadcasting
1965 "Do I Hear a Waltz?" opens at 46th St. Theater New York City for 220 performances
1965 Rolling Stones fined 5 pounds each for public urination
1965 U.S.S.R. launches Voshkod 2; Alexei Leonov makes first spacewalk (20 mins)
1966 "Pousse Cafe" opens at 46th St. Theater New York City for 3 performances
1966 General Suharto forms government in Indonesia
1966 Scott Paper begins selling paper dresses for $1
1967 Beatles' "Penny Lane," single goes #1
1967 Oil tanker Torrey Canyon hits a rock and spills oil
1968 Congress repeals requirement for a gold reserve
1968 WVER TV channel 28 in Rutland, VT (PBS) begins broadcasting
1968 WVTA TV channel 41 in Windsor, VT (PBS) begins broadcasting
1969 "Come Summer" opens at Lunt Fontanne Theater New York City for 7 performances
1970 Cambodia military coup under Gen Lon Nol, prince Sihanuk flees
1970 KAEC TV channel 19 in Lufkin, Texas (ABC) suspends broadcasting
1970 Mail service is paralyzed by the first major postal strike
1970 NFL selects Wilson as official football and scoreboard as official time
1971 200 die in landslide into Lake Yanahuani, Chungar Peru
1972 AIAW first basketball champs, Immaculata beats West Chester State 52-48
1972 China PR performs nuclear test at Lop Nor PRC
1972 Cornell NCAA hockey team shut out for first time in 225 games (Boston U)
1972 Memphis' Larry Miller sets ABA record of 67 pts in a game
1973 Sandra Haynie wins LPGA Orange Blossom Golf Classic
1974 Most Arab oil producing nations end embargo against US
1975 Kurds end fight against Iraqi army
1977 Clash releases their first recording "White Riot"
1977 U.S. restricts citizens from visiting Cuba, Vietnam, North Korea and Cambodia
1977 Vietnam hands over MIA to U.S.
1978 250,000 attend rock concert California Jam II in Ontario California
1978 Pakistani former premier Ali Bhutto sentenced to death
1979 "On the 20th Century" closes at St. James Theater New York City after 460 performances
1979 Battles between Kurds and Iranians break in Sananday, Iran
1979 Joanne Carner wins LPGA Honda Civic Golf Classic
1980 Vostok rocket exploded on launch pad while being refueled, killing 50
1981 Buffalo Sabres sets NHL record of 9 goals in 1 period (vs Toronto)
1982 Singer Teddy Pendergrass' spinal cord severed in a car accident
1984 Chris Johnson wins LPGA Tucson Conquistadores Golf Open
1985 Capital Cities Communications Inc. acquires ABC
1985 Commissioner Peter Ueberroth reinstates Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle
1986 Treasury Department announces plans to alter paper money
1987 Gerber survey find most popular names for newborns (Jessica and Matthew)
1987 U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1989 27th space shuttle mission, STS-29 (Discovery 8), returns to Earth
1989 California Quake amusement ride opens at Universal Studios
1989 Dino Ciccarelli sets Washington Capitals record of 7 pts in a game
1990 32-day lockout by baseball owners ends
1990 A Tampa little leaguer, dies, after being struck by a pitch
1990 Biggest U.S. art robbery: over $100 millions at Gardner Museum, Boston
1990 Colleen Walker wins Circle K Tucson LPGA Golf Open
1990 The first free elections in East Germany, Conservatives beat Communists
1991 Apple computer head Steve Jobs weds Laurene Powell
1991 Mike Tyson beats Razor Ruddock in the 7th round
1991 Philadelphia '76ers retires Wilt Chamberlain's #13 jersey
1991 Reggie Miller (Indiana) ends NBA free throw streak of 52 games
1992 Donna Summer gets a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame
1992 Leona Helmsley sentence to 4 years for tax evasion
1992 Zimbabwe beat England by 9 runs in World Cup at Albury
1993 Eddie Murphy marries Nicole Mitchell in New York City
1993 Sri Lanka beat England in Test match by 5 wickets
1994 South Africa Goldstone committee reveals existence of secret police
1994 Space shuttle STS-62 (Columbia 16), lands
1994 Zsa Zsa Gabor files for bankruptcy
1995 Michael Jordan announces he is ending his 17 month NBA retirement
1995 Spanish princess Elena (31) weds Jaime de Marichalar y Saenez Tejada
1995 STS 67 (Endeavour 8) lands after 16 days
1996 50,000 swimmers raise 15 million for charity during BT's Swimathon '96
1997 Russian AN-24 plane crashes in Turkey, 50 die

Today In History - March 18

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