Historical Events on November 18
- 401: Alaric I leads the Visigoths as the invade Northern Italy by crossing the Alps.
- 1095: Pope Urban II calls for the Council of Clermont to begin. This council would lead to the First Crusade to the Holy Land.
- 1180: Phillip II is crowned King of France.
- 1493: The island that would eventually become known as Puerto Rico is spotted for the first time by Christopher Columbus.
- 1730: Frederick the Great is granted a royal pardon and released from prison.
- 1865: The New York Saturday Press publishes Mark Twain’s short story entitled “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.”
- 1872: 15 women – Susan B. Anthony among them – are arrested for voting illegally in the U.S Presidential election of 1872.
- 1918: Latvia declares itself to be independent from Russia.
- 1928: The Disney Corporation considers this day to be Mickey Mouse’s birthday. It’s also when Steamboat Willie was released.
- 1943: 440 Royal Air Force bombers drop bombs on the city of Berlin. During the attack, the Royal Air Force loses 9 aircraft and over 50 crewmen. There are about 131 German casualties.
- 1963: The push-button telephone is used for the first time.
- 1993: The North American Free Trade Agreement – otherwise known as NAFTA – is approved by the U.S House of Representatives.
- 2003: During the case of Goodridge v. The Department of Public Health, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rules that the state’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional and gives the state 6 months to change the law. This makes the State of Massachusetts the first U.S state to grant marriage rights to same-sex couples.
Famous Birthdays on November 18
- African-American abolitionist Sojourner Truth is born in 1787.
- French physicist and photographer Louis Daguerre is born in 1787.
- American botanist Asa Gray is born in 1810.
- Canadian novelist and poet, Margaret Atwood is born in 1939.
- American actress Brenda Vaccaro is born in 1939.
- American poet and novelist, James Welch is born in 1940.
- American actress Linda Evans is born in 1942.
- American actress Susan Sullivan is born in 1942.