18 February

Notable Births

Manu Bhaker

b. 2002

Indian sport shooter (born 2002)

Tanguy Coulibaly

b. 2001

French footballer (born 2001)

Jaime Jaquez Jr.

b. 2001

American-Mexican basketball player (born 2001)

Zakaria Aboukhlal

b. 2000

Footballer (born 2000)

Giacomo Raspadori

b. 2000

Italian footballer (born 2000)

Vernon (rapper)

b. 1998

South Korean and American rapper (born 1998)

DK (singer)

b. 1997

South Korean singer (born 1997)

Tyler Dorsey

b. 1996

American-Greek basketball player (born 1996)

Nathan Aké

b. 1995

Dutch footballer (born 1995)

J-Hope

b. 1994

South Korean rapper (born 1994)

Paul Zipser

b. 1994

German basketball player (born 1994)

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

b. 1993

American basketball player (born 1993)

Le'Veon Bell

b. 1992

American football player (born 1992)

Martin Marinčin

b. 1992

Slovak ice hockey player (born 1992)

Monica Aksamit

b. 1990

American saber fencer

Didi Gregorius

b. 1990

Curaçaoan baseball player (born 1990)

Cody Hodgson

b. 1990

Canadian ice hockey player (born 1990)

Bryan Oviedo

b. 1990

Costa Rican footballer (born 1990)

Roman Neustädter

b. 1988

German-Russian footballer (born 1988)

Nasir al-Din al-Tusi

b. 1201

Persian astronomer (1201–1274)

Notable Deaths

Borislav Paravac

d. 2026

Bosnian Serb politician (1943–2026)

Gene Hackman

d. 2025

American actor (1930–2025)

Hurricane (dog)

d. 2025

American Secret Service canine (2009–2025)

Flavio Bucci

d. 2020

Italian actor (1947–2020)

Alessandro Mendini

d. 2019

Italian designer and architect (1931–2019)

Elchanan Heilprin

d. 2015

Slovak-born English rabbi (1921–2015)

Mavis Gallant

d. 2014

Canadian writer (1922–2014)

Maria Franziska von Trapp

d. 2014

Member of Trapp Family Singers (1914–2014)

Balthus

d. 2001

French artist (1908–2001)

Dale Earnhardt

d. 2001

American racing driver (1951–2001)

Ngaio Marsh

d. 1982

New Zealand crime writer and theatre director (1895–1982)

Jack Northrop

d. 1981

Aircraft industrialist and designer, founder of Northrop Corporation

Andy Devine

d. 1977

American actor (1905–1977)

Dragiša Cvetković

d. 1969

Yugoslav politician

J. Robert Oppenheimer

d. 1967

American theoretical physicist (1904–1967)

Grigory Nelyubov

d. 1966

Soviet cosmonaut

Gertrude Vanderbilt (actress)

d. 1960

American stage actress (1885-1960)

Gustave Charpentier

d. 1956

French composer (1860–1956)

David King Udall

d. 1938

American politician (1851–1938)

James J. Corbett

d. 1933

American boxer (1866–1933)

On This Day in History

All 51 ›

2021

Perseverance, a Mars rover designed to explore Jezero crater on Mars, as part of NASA's Mars 2020 mission, lands successfully.

Perseverance (rover)

2018

Iran Aseman Airlines Flight 3704 crashes in the Dena sub-range in the Zagros Mountains of Iran, Resulting in 66 Deaths

Iran Aseman Airlines Flight 3704

2014

Revolution of Dignity: At least 76 people are killed and hundreds are injured in clashes between riot police and demonstrators in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Revolution of Dignity

2013

Armed robbers steal a haul of diamonds worth $50 million during a raid at Brussels Airport in Belgium.

Brussels Airport diamond heist

2010

WikiLeaks publishes the first of hundreds of thousands of classified documents disclosed by the soldier now known as Chelsea Manning.

WikiLeaks

2004

Up to 295 people, 182 of which being rescue workers, die near Nishapur, Iran, when a runaway freight train carrying sulfur, petrol and fertilizer catches fire and explodes.

Nishapur

2003

192 people die when an arsonist sets fire to a subway train in Daegu, South Korea.

Daegu subway fire

2001

FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested for spying for the Soviet Union. He is ultimately convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Federal Bureau of Investigation

📅

2001

Sampit conflict: Inter-ethnic violence between Dayaks and Madurese breaks out in Sampit, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, ultimately resulting in more than 500 deaths and 100,000 Madurese displaced from their homes.

Sampit conflict

1991

The IRA explodes bombs in the early morning at Paddington station and Victoria station in London.

Provisional Irish Republican Army

1983

Thirteen people die and one is seriously injured in the Wah Mee massacre in Seattle. It is said to be the largest robbery-motivated mass-murder in U.S. history.

Wah Mee massacre

1979

Richard Petty wins a then-record sixth Daytona 500 after leaders Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough crash on the final lap of the first NASCAR race televised live flag-to-flag.

Richard Petty

📅

1977

The Xinjiang 61st Regiment Farm fire started during Chinese New Year when a firecracker ignited memorial wreaths of the late Mao Zedong, killing 694 personnel. It remains the deadliest fireworks accident in the world.

Xinjiang 61st Regiment Farm fire

📅

1977

A thousand armed soldiers raid Kalakuta Republic, the commune of Nigerian singer Fela Kuti, leading to the death of Funmilayo Anikulapo Kuti.

Kalakuta Republic

1977

The Space Shuttle Enterprise test vehicle is carried on its maiden "flight" on top of a Boeing 747.

Space Shuttle Enterprise

1972

The California Supreme Court in the case of People v. Anderson, (6 Cal.3d 628) invalidates the state's death penalty and commutes the sentences of all death row inmates to life imprisonment.

Supreme Court of California