On This Day: 18 October

18 October in world history

• 2019Protests in Santiago that started 11 days prior escalated into open battle against the Chilean national police, forcing President Sebastián Piñera to declare a state of emergency.
• 1993Nihilism, the first professional runway show from the British designer Alexander McQueen, was staged in London.
• 1977German Autumn: A set of events revolving around the kidnapping of Hanns Martin Schleyer and the hijacking of a Lufthansa flight by the Red Army Faction (RAF) comes to an end when Schleyer is murdered and various RAF members allegedly commit suicide.
• 1968At the Summer Olympics in Mexico City, American athlete Bob Beamon achieved a distance of 8.90 m (29.2 ft) in the long jump event, setting a world record that stood for 23 years.
• 1967The Soviet probe Venera 4 reaches Venus and becomes the first spacecraft to measure the atmosphere of another planet.
• 1963The first cat in space, later known as Félicette, launched aboard a French Véronique rocket.
• 1945A group of the Venezuelan Armed Forces, led by Mario Vargas, Marcos Pérez Jiménez and Carlos Delgado Chalbaud, stages a coup d'état against president Isaías Medina Angarita, who is overthrown by the end of the day.
• 1945Argentine military officer and politician Juan Perón marries actress Eva Duarte.
• 1945The USSR's nuclear program receives plans for the United States plutonium bomb from Klaus Fuchs at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
• 1944World War II: Soviet Union begins the liberation of Czechoslovakia from Nazi Germany.
• 1929The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council overrules the Supreme Court of Canada in Edwards v. Canada when it declares that women are considered "Persons" under Canadian law.
• 1860The Second Opium War finally ends at the Convention of Peking with the ratification of the Treaty of Tientsin, an unequal treaty.
• 1775American Revolutionary War: In an act of retaliation against ports that supported Patriot activities in the early stages of the war, the Royal Navy destroyed what is now Portland, Maine.
• 1599Michael the Brave, Prince of Wallachia, defeats the Army of Andrew Báthory in the Battle of Șelimbăr, leading to the first recorded unification of the Romanian people.
• 1587Filipino sailors disembarked from the Manila galleon Nuestra Señora de Buena Esperanza in what is now Morro Bay, California, the first documented instance of Asians in the Americas.
• 1565The first recorded naval battle between Europeans and the Japanese occurred when a flotilla of samurai attacked two Portuguese trade vessels at the Battle of Fukuda Bay in Nagasaki.
• 1561In Japan the fourth Battle of Kawanakajima is fought between the forces of Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen, resulting in a draw.
• 1081Byzantine–Norman wars: Robert Guiscard led an invasion of the Byzantine Empire, capturing Dyrrhachium in present-day Albania.

Born on 18 October

• 1998Janalynn Castelino, Italian-Indian singer-songwriterIndia
• 1984Freida Pinto, Indian actress and modelIndia
• 1965Zakir Naik, Indian Islamic preacher; founder and president of the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF)India
• 1904A. J. Liebling, American journalist and author (died 1963)
• 1595Edward Winslow, American Pilgrim leader (died 1655)
• 1130Zhu Xi, Chinese philosopher (died 1200)

Died on 18 October

• 1983Diego Abad de Santillán, Spanish economist and author (born 1897)
• 1976Viswanatha Satyanarayana, Indian poet and author (born 1895)India
• 1956Yoshio Markino, Japanese painter and author (born 1869)
• 1911Alfred Binet, French psychologist and author (born 1857)

Frequently asked questions

What happened on 18 October in history?

2019: Protests in Santiago that started 11 days prior escalated into open battle against the Chilean national police, forcing President Sebastián Piñera to declare a state of emergency. 1993: Nihilism, the first professional runway show from the British designer Alexander McQueen, was staged in London. 1977: German Autumn: A set of events revolving around the kidnapping of Hanns Martin Schleyer and the hijacking of a Lufthansa flight by the Red Army Faction (RAF) comes to an end when Schleyer is murdered and various RAF members allegedly commit suicide. 1968: At the Summer Olympics in Mexico City, American athlete Bob Beamon achieved a distance of 8.90 m (29.2 ft) in the long jump event, setting a world record that stood for 23 years.

Which famous people were born on 18 October?

Janalynn Castelino, Italian-Indian singer-songwriter (1998); Freida Pinto, Indian actress and model (1984); Zakir Naik, Indian Islamic preacher; founder and president of the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) (1965); A. J. Liebling, American journalist and author (died 1963) (1904).

Which day is observed on 18 October?

Alaska Day (Alaska, United States); Day of Restoration of Independence (Azerbaijan), celebrates the independence of Azerbaijan from the Soviet Union in 1991.; Necktie Day (Croatia); Persons Day (Canada); World Menopause Day.