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December 18 is the 352nd day of the year (353rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 13 days remaining.
Events
- 218 BC - Battle of the Trebia, Hannibal's first great victory over the Roman Republic.
- 1352 - Innocent VI is elected Pope.
- 1642 - Abel Tasman lands at Mohua Golden Bay becoming the first European in New Zealand.
- 1776 - North Carolina's Constitution is ratified.
- 1787 - New Jersey is the third state to ratify the United States Constitution
- 1865 - Slavery is abolished in the United States, with the passing of the 13th Amendment
- 1894 - Women in South Australia become the first in Australia to gain the right to vote and to be elected to Parliament.
- 1912 - Piltdown Man "discovered"
- 1926 - The Makropulos Affair, an opera by the Czech composer Leoš Janáček, premiered in Brno, the Czech Republic.
- 1958 - Niger becomes an autonomous state within the French Community on December 4, 1958, after the establishment of the Fifth French Republic. Following full independence on August 3, 1960, however, membership was allowed to lapse.
- 1961 - Indonesia invaded New Guinea to annex western New Guinea, formerly known as Netherlands New Guinea.
- 1966 - Saturn's moon Epimetheus was discovered by Richard L. Walker, and then lost for 12 years
- 1973 - The Soyuz 13 was launched.
- 1996 - "Ebonics" was declared a language or dialect by the school board of Oakland, California.
- 1997 - HTML 4.0 is released by the World Wide Web Consortium
- 2002 - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is the second Lord of the Rings movie to open in theaters.
- 2002 - California Governor Gray Davis announced that the state would face a record budget deficit of $35 billion, roughly double the figure reported during his reelection campaign one month earlier; the budget issue was used to support his 2003 recall from office.
Births
- 1507 - Ouchi Yoshitaka, Japanese warlord (d. 1551)
- 1620 - Heinrich Roth, German Sanskrit scholar (d. 1668)
- 1626 - Queen Christina of Sweden (d. 1689)
- 1714 - Esterházy of Galántha, field marshal (d. 1790)
- 1786 - Carl Maria von Weber, German composer (d. 1826)
- 1835 - Lyman Abbott, American author (d. 1922)
- 1847 - Augusta Holmès, French composer (d. 1903)
- 1856 - J.J. Thomson, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1940)
- 1863 - Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria (d. 1914)
- 1870 - Saki, writer (d. 1916)
- 1873 - Francis Burton Harrison, American political figure (d. 1957)
- 1879 - Paul Klee, Swiss painter and graphic artist (d. 1940)
- 1886 - Ty Cobb, baseball player (d. 1961)
- 1888 - Robert Moses, American public works official (d. 1981)
- 1888 - Gladys Cooper, actress (d. 1971)
- 1890 - Edwin Armstrong, American inventor (d. 1954)
- 1897 - Fletcher Henderson, jazz musician (d. 1952)
- 1904 - George Stevens, American director (d. 1975)
- 1912 - Benjamin O. Davis Jr., American general (d. 2002)
- 1913 - Alfred Bester, American science fiction author (d. 1987)
- 1913 - Willy Brandt, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1992)
- 1916 - Betty Grable, actress (d. 1973)
- 1917 - Ossie Davis, actor
- 1927 - Ramsey Clark, U.S. Attorney General
- 1928 - Józef Glemp, cardinal and primate of Poland
- 1934 - Boris Volynov, cosmonaut
- 1939 - Michael Moorcock, science fiction author
- 1943 - Keith Richards, British guitarist (the Rolling Stones)
- 1946 - Steven Spielberg, movie director
- 1946 - Steve Biko, South African anti-apartheid activist (d. 1977)
- 1948 - Bill Nelson, musician, artist
- 1950 - Gillian Armstrong, film director
- 1950 - Leonard Maltin, movie critic
- 1955 - Ray Liotta, actor
- 1956 - Ron White, American comedian
- 1960 - Kazuhide Uekusa, Japanese economist
- 1961 - Brian Orser, figure skater
- 1963 - Brad Pitt, American actor
- 1963 - Karl Dorrell, American football coach
- 1964 - Steve Austin, professional wrestler
- 1964 - Don Beebe, American football player
- 1964 - Star Cullars, musician (P Funk)
- 1970 - DMX, rapper
- 1971 - Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Spanish tennis player
- 1973 - Raymond Herrera, Musician (Fear Factory)
- 1974 - Peter Boulware, American football player
- 1975 - Trish Stratus, wrestler
- 1978 - Katie Holmes, American actress
- 1980 - Christina Aguilera, American singer
Deaths
- 821 - Theodulf, Bishop of Orléans
- 1290 - King Magnus I of Sweden (b. 1240)
- 1692 - Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff, German statesman (b. 1626)
- 1737 - Antonio Stradivari, Italian violin maker (b. 1644)
- 1803 - Johann Gottfried Herder, German writer (b. 1744)
- 1869 - Louis Moreau Gottschalk, American composer and pianist (b. 1829)
- 1936 - Andrija Mohorovičić, Croatian seismologist (b. 1857)
- 1971 - Bobby Jones, golfer (b. 1902)
- 1974 - Harry Hooper, Baseball Hall of Famer (b. 1887)
- 1980 - Alexei Kosygin, Soviet premier
- 1982 - Hans-Ulrich Rudel, highly decorated German pilot during World War II (b. 1916).
- 1990 - Paul Tortelier, French musician (b. 1914)
- 1991 - George Abecassis, English race car driver (b. 1913)
- 1992 - Mark Goodson, game show producer (b. 1915)
- 1993 - Sam Wanamaker, actor (b. 1919)
- 1995 - Konrad Zuse, German engineer and computing pioneer (b. 1910)
- 1997 - Chris Farley, American actor and comedian (b. 1964)
- 1998 - Lev Demin, cosmonaut (b. 1926)
- 1999 - Robert Bresson, French film director (b. 1907)
- 2000 - Kirsty MacColl, British musician (b. 1959)
- 2001 - Gilbert Bécaud, singer (b. 1927)
- 2002 - Ray Hnatyshyn, Governor-General of Canada (b. 1934)
Holidays and observances
External links
December 17 - December 19 - November 18 - January 18 -- listing of all days
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