February 18

Events

• 1685 - Fort St. Louis[?] is established by a Frenchman at Matagorda Bay[?] thus forming the basis for France's claim to Texas.
• 1841 - The first ongoing filibuster in the United States Senate begins and lasts until March 11.
• 1848 - Battle of Montereau
• 1856 - The American Party (Know-Nothings) convene in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to nominate their first Presidential candidate, former President (Millard Fillmore)
• 1861 - In Montgomery, Alabama Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as the first and only President of the Confederate States of America.
• 1861 - Victor Emmanuel of Savoy becomes King of Italy
• 1878 - The Lincoln County War begins in Lincoln County, New Mexico
• 1885 - Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is published for the first time
• 1929 - First Academy Awards are announced
• 1930 - While studying photographs taken in January, Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto
• 1930 - Elm Farm Ollie[?] becomes the first cow to fly in an airplane and also the first cow to be milked in an airplane.
• 1932 - Japan declares Manzhouguo (Japanese name for Manchuria) independent from China
• 1943 - The Nazis arrest the members of the White Rose movement
• 1948 - Eamon de Valera resigns as Taoiseach of Ireland
• 1953 - The first 3D film[?], Bwana Devil' opens.
• 1953 - Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz sign an $8,000,000 contract to continue the I Love Lucy television series through 1955.
• 1965 - The Gambia becomes independent from the United Kingdom
• 1970 - The Chicago Eight[?] are found not guilty of conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 United States Democratic Party national convention.
• 1972 - The California Supreme Court[?] invalidates the state's death penalty and commutes the sentences of all death row inmates to life in prison.
• 1977 - The Space Shuttle Enterprise test vehicle goes on its maiden "flight" while sitting on top of a Boeing 747.
• 1998 - Two white separatists[?] were arrested in Nevada and accused of plotting a biological attack[?] on New York City subways.
• 2001 - During the Daytona 500 race, NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, known as "The Intimidator" for his agressive driving style, is killed in a crash.

Births

• 1516 - Queen Mary I of England (+ 1558)
• 1745 - Alessandro Volta, physicist, eponym for the unit of the electric potential (+ 1827)
• 1838 - Ernst Mach, Austrian physicist and philosopher
• 1846 - Wilson Barrett, actor
• 1848 - Louis Comfort Tiffany, American glass artist
• 1859 - Sholom Aleichem[?], writer (+ 1916)
• 1867 - Hedwig Courths-Mahler[?], novelist (+ 1950)
• 1887 - Nikos Kazantzakis, poet (+ 1957)
• 1890 - Adolphe Menjou, actor (+ 1963)
• 1892 - Wendell Wilkie, politican, Presidential candidate (+ 1944)
• 1896 - Andre Breton, poet and principal theorist of surrealism
• 1898 - Enzo Ferrari, auto racer, manufacturer (+ 1988)
• 1912 - Heinz Kühn[?], politician (+ 1992)
• 1920 - Jack Palance[?], actor
• 1920 - Bill Cullen[?], game show host (+ 1990)
• 1922 - Helen Gurley Brown[?], editor, publisher
• 1925 - George Kennedy[?], actor
• 1929 - Len Deighton, author
• 1931 - Toni Morrison, writer, winner of the Nobel Prize in literature 1993
• 1931 - Bob St. Clair[?], American football star
• 1931 - Johnny Hart[?], cartoonist
• 1932 - Milos Forman, film director
• 1933 - Yoko Ono, singer, artist, wife of John Lennon
• 1934 - Paco Rabanne[?], fashion designer
• 1938 - Istvan Szabo[?], director
• 1943 - Graeme Garden, writer, comedian, actor
• 1947 - Princess Christina of the Netherlands
• 1947 - Dennis DeYoung[?], musician ("Styx")
• 1950 - John Hughes, director, producer, writer
• 1952 - Juice Newton[?], country music entertainer
• 1954 - John Travolta, actor
• 1957 - Vanna White[?], game show presenter
• 1964 - Matt Dillon[?], actor
• 1965 - Dr. Dre, rap music performer, music producer
• 1967 - Roberto Baggio, Italian football player

Deaths

• 901 - Thabit ibn Qurra, Arab astronomer and mathematician
• 1478 - Duke of Clarence, drowned in wine by Richard III
• 1546 - Martin Luther, religious reformer
• 1564 - Michelangelo Buonarroti, Italian artist
• 1933 - James J. Corbett[?], boxer
• 1957 - Henry Norris Russell, American astronomer
• 1967 - J. Robert Oppenheimer, American physicist
• 2001 - Dale Earnhardt, NASCAR race car driver
• 2001 - Balthus[?], French painter
• 2001 - Eddie Matthews[?], Baseball Hall of Famer

Holidays and observances

• Gambia - National Day

February 17 - February 19 - January 18 - March 18 - Historical anniversaries