August 18

August 18 is the 230th day of the year (231st in leap years) in the
Gregorian Calendar. There are 135 days remaining.

Events

   * 293 BC - Oldest known Roman temple to Venus founded, institution of
     Vinalia Rustica begins.
   * 1587 - Virginia Dare, granddaughter of Gov. John White of the Colony of
     Roanoke, becomes the first English child born in the Americas.
   * 1590 - John White, the governor of the Colony of Roanoke, returns from
     a supply-trip to England and finds his settlement deserted.
   * 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Weldon Railroad - Forces under
     Union General Ulysses S. Grant try to cut a vital Confederate
     supply-line into Petersburg, Virginia, by attacking the Weldon Railroad
     forcing the Confederates to use wagons.
   * 1920 - 19th Amendment to US constitution is passed, guaranteeing
     women's suffrage.
   * 1938 - The Thousand Islands Bridge, connecting the United States with
     Canada, is dedicated by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
   * 1941 - Holocaust: Adolf Hitler orders an end to the systematic
     euthanasia of mentally ill and handicapped persons due to protests
     within Germany.
   * 1958 - Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel Lolita is published in
     the United States.
   * 1963 - American civil rights movement: James Meredith becomes the first
     black person to graduate from the University of Mississippi.
   * 1965 - Vietnam War: Operation Starlite begins - 5,500 United States
     Marines destroy a Viet Cong stronghold on the Van Tuong peninsula in
     Quang Ngai Province in the first major American ground battle of the
     war. The Marines were tipped-off by a Viet Cong deserter who said that
     there was an attack planned against the US base at Chu Lai.
   * 1971 - Vietnam War: Australia and New Zealand decide to withdraw their
     troops from Vietnam.
   * 1976 - In North Korea at Panmunjom, two US soldiers are killed while
     trying to chop down part of a tree in the DMZ which had obscured their
     view.
   * 1982 - Wang Laboratories files for bankruptcy.
   * 1983 - Hurricane Alicia hits the Texas coast, killing 22 and causing
     over US$1 billion in damage (1983 dollars).
   * 1989 - Leading presidential hopeful Luis Carlos Galan is assassinated
     near Bogota in Columbia.
   * 1991 - Collapse of the Soviet Union: Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev
     is put under house arrest while he was vacationing in the Crimea. The
     coup was led by eight high-ranking hard-liners (the coup will collapse
     in less than 72 hours).
   * 1992 - After 13 years with the Boston Celtics, basketball player Larry
     Bird announces his retirement citing back problems.

Births

   * 1587 - Virginia Dare, first English child born in North America (+
     1588)
   * 1750 - Antonio Salieri, composer (+ 1825)
   * 1774 - Meriwether Lewis, explorer (+ 1809)
   * 1830 - Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria (+ 1916)
   * 1896 - Jack Pickford, actor, Hollywood's first "bad boy", (+ 1933)
   * 1904 - Max Factor, cosmetics entrepreneur (+ 1996)
   * 1917 - Caspar Weinberger, former United States Secretary of Defense
   * 1922 - Shelley Winters, actress
   * 1925 - Brian Aldiss, writer
   * 1927 - Rosalynn Carter, First Lady
   * 1932 - William R. Bennett, Premier of British Columbia
   * 1933 - Roman Polanski, director, actor
   * 1934 - Roberto Clemente, baseball Hall of Famer
   * 1934 - Vincent Bugliosi, prosecuting attorney in the Charles Manson
     case
   * 1935 - Rafer Johnson, Olympic Games gold medalist
   * 1937 - Robert Redford, actor, director
   * 1943 - Martin Mull, comedian, actor
   * 1952 - Patrick Swayze, actor
   * 1952 - Elayne Boosler, comedienne
   * 1957 - Denis Leary, comedian, actor
   * 1958 - Madeleine Stowe, actress
   * 1969 - Christian Slater, actor
   * 1969 - Edward Norton, actor
   * 1970 - Malcolm-Jamal Warner, actor

Deaths

   * 472 - Ricimer, Roman general
   * 1227 - Genghis Khan, Mongol leader
   * 1276 - Pope Adrian V, newly elected pope
   * 1850 - HonorŽ de Balzac, writer
   * 1940 - Walter P. Chrysler, automobile mogul
   * 1963 - Clifford Odets, playwright
   * 1983 - Nikolaus Pevsner, art historian

Holidays and observances

   * Roman Empire - Vinalia Rustica celebrated in honor of Venus
     commemorating the founding of the oldest known temple to her in 293 BC
     on this date.

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