On This Day: 18 November

18 November in Indian history

• 1809Napoleonic Wars: In the Bay of Bengal, a French frigate squadron captured three ships carrying recruits for the armies of the East India Company.India

18 November in world history

• 2017Cyclone Numa, a rare "medicane", made landfall in Greece to become the worst weather event that the country had experienced since 1977.
• 2013NASA launches the MAVEN probe to Mars.
• 2003With its ruling in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court made the state the first in the U.S. to legalize same-sex marriage.
• 1999Texas A&M University's Aggie Bonfire collapsed, killing 12 people and injuring 27 others, and causing the university to officially declare a hiatus on the 90-year-old annual event.
• 1993In South Africa, 21 political parties approve a new constitution, expanding voting rights and ending white minority rule.
• 1991Croatian War of Independence: The Yugoslav People's Army captured the Croatian city of Vukovar, ending an 87-day siege.
• 1991Shiite Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon release Anglican Church envoys Terry Waite and Thomas Sutherland.
• 1978Jim Jones led more than 900 members of the Peoples Temple to mass murder/suicide in Jonestown, Guyana, hours after some of its members assassinated U.S. Congressman Leo Ryan.
• 1978The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet makes its first flight, at the Naval Air Test Center in Maryland, United States.
• 1970U.S. President Richard Nixon asks the U.S. Congress for $155 million in supplemental aid for the Cambodian government.
• 1961Vietnam War: United States President John F. Kennedy sends 18,000 military advisors to South Vietnam.
• 1940World War II: German leader Adolf Hitler and Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano meet to discuss Benito Mussolini's disastrous Italian invasion of Greece.
• 1929Grand Banks earthquake: Off the south coast of Newfoundland in the Atlantic Ocean, a Richter magnitude 7.2 submarine earthquake, centered on the Grand Banks, breaks 12 submarine transatlantic telegraph cables and triggers a tsunami that destroys many south coa
• 1916World War I: First Battle of the Somme: In France, British Expeditionary Force commander Douglas Haig calls off the battle which started on July 1, 1916.
• 1910In their campaign for women's voting rights, hundreds of suffragettes march to the British Parliament in London. Several are beaten by police, newspaper attention embarrasses the authorities, and the march is dubbed Black Friday.
• 1865"The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" was published, becoming the first great success of American author Mark Twain.
• 1210Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor, was ex­com­mu­ni­cated by Pope Innocent III after Otto commanded him to annul the Concordat of Worms.

Born on 18 November

• 1979Neeti Mohan, Indian playback singerIndia
• 1944Ed Krupp, American astronomer, archaeoastronomer, author, Director Griffith Observatory
• 1927Knowlton Nash, Canadian journalist and author (died 2014)
• 1901V. Shantaram, Indian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1984)India
• 1866Henry Daglish, Australian politician, Premier of Western Australia (died 1920)
• 1856Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia (died 1929)

Died on 18 November

• 2022Tabassum, Indian actress and talk show host (born 1944)India
• 2001Walter Matuszczak, Polish-American football player 1939 All-America, 1941 New York Giants draft (born 1918)
• 1978Jim Jones, American cult leader, founded Peoples Temple (born 1931)
• 1936V. O. Chidambaram Pillai, Indian lawyer and politician (born 1872)India

Frequently asked questions

What happened on 18 November in history?

2017: Cyclone Numa, a rare "medicane", made landfall in Greece to become the worst weather event that the country had experienced since 1977. 2013: NASA launches the MAVEN probe to Mars. 2003: With its ruling in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court made the state the first in the U.S. to legalize same-sex marriage. 1999: Texas A&M University's Aggie Bonfire collapsed, killing 12 people and injuring 27 others, and causing the university to officially declare a hiatus on the 90-year-old annual event.

What happened on 18 November in Indian history?

1809: Napoleonic Wars: In the Bay of Bengal, a French frigate squadron captured three ships carrying recruits for the armies of the East India Company.

Which famous people were born on 18 November?

Neeti Mohan, Indian playback singer (1979); Ed Krupp, American astronomer, archaeoastronomer, author, Director Griffith Observatory (1944); Knowlton Nash, Canadian journalist and author (died 2014) (1927); V. Shantaram, Indian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1984) (1901).

Which day is observed on 18 November?

Day of Army and Victory (Haiti); Independence Day (Morocco), celebrates the independence of Morocco from France and Spain in 1956.; National Day (Oman); Proclamation Day of the Republic of Latvia celebrates the independence of Latvia from Russia in 1918.; Remembrance Day of the Sacrifice of Vukovar in 1991 (Croatia).