This day in history
Every day is full of amazing anniversaries, ancient and modern! As well as today, you can also look at any other day of the year - click the arrows to select the month, then click a number to select the day.
18 July
Events
- 1100: Godfrey of Bouillon, Defender of the Holy Sepulchre, dies. He is succeeded by his brother, Baldwin I, who takes the title king of Jerusalem.
- 1216: Cencio Savelli is elected Pope Honorius III.
- 1290: King Edward I of England expels the Jews from England.
- 1658: Leopold I, second son of Ferdinand III, is elected Holy Roman Emperor, defeating the candidature of King Louis XIV of France and ending the short interregnum.
- 1870: The Vatican council issues the Declaration of Papal Infallibility, declaring that papal pronouncements on spiritual questions are not questionable.
- 1936: The right-wing Spanish general Francisco Franco leads an army mutiny in Morocco against the Spanish Republican government. Other mutinies break out on the Spanish mainland, marking the start of the Spanish Civil War.
- 1944: General Hideki Tojo is forced to resign as prime minister of Japan following the loss of the Pacific island of Saipan to US forces. He is succeeded by General Kuniaki Koiso.
- 1954: The first jazz festival at Newport, Rhode Island, takes place.
- 1955: Disneyland, created by Walt Disney, opens in Anaheim, California. It is the first theme park in the world.
- 1960: Following the cancellation of the US president Dwight D Eisenhower's visit to Japan in June after riots by Japanese students protesting against a USJapanese treaty, Nobusuke Kishi resigns as Japanese prime minister, and is succeeded by Hayato Ikeda.
- 1965: The first All-African Games sports festival opens in Brazzaville, Congo, with 29 nations competing. Because of political problems the next games are not held until 1973.
- 1993: Having governed Japan since 1955, the Liberal Democrats lose their overall majority in the general elections.
- 1994: The Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front claims victory in the Rwandan civil war; the following day, Pasteur Bizimungu assumes the presidency, with Hutu Faustin Twogiramunga as prime minister.
- 1999: The US Census Bureau reports that the world population has reached 6 billion.
- 2001: The adventure film Jurassic Park III is released in the USA, directed by Joe Johnston, and starring Sam Neill, William H Macy, and Ta Leoni.
- 2004: US golfer Todd Hamilton unexpectedly wins the 133rd British Open tournament at Troon in Ayrshire, Scotland, defeating Ernie Els of South Africa, ranked number two in the world, in a four-hole play-off.
Births and Deaths
- Caravaggio
1610: Caravaggio (real name Michelangelo Merisi), outstanding Italian baroque painter, whose major works include The Supper at Emmaus (159698) and Death of the Virgin (160506), dies in Porto Ercole, Tuscany, Italy (c. 37). - Jane Austen
1817: Jane Austen, English novelist, dies in Winchester, England (41). - Nelson Mandela
1918: Nelson Mandela, South African nationalist, political prisoner, and president from 1994, born in Umtata, Cape of Good Hope, South Africa.
Data provided by Helicon Publishing
