On This Day — 18 September

2000s

2018

Cannabis is legalized in South Africa, through a ruling of the Constitutional Court.

Cannabis

2017

Toy retail chain Toys "R" Us files for bankruptcy protection in the United States and Canada.

Toys "R" Us

2016

The 2016 Uri attack in Jammu and Kashmir, India by terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed results in the deaths of nineteen Indian Army soldiers and all four attackers.

2016 Uri attack

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2015

Two security personnel, 17 worshippers in a mosque, and 13 militants are killed during a Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan attack on a Pakistan Air Force base on the outskirts of Peshawar.

2015 Camp Badaber attack

2014

Scotland votes against independence from the United Kingdom, by 55% to 45%.

2014 Scottish independence referendum

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2011

The 2011 Sikkim earthquake is felt across northeastern India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and southern Tibet.

2011 Sikkim earthquake

2010

Philippe Croizon becomes the first quadruple amputee to swim across the English Channel.

Philippe Croizon

2009

After 72 years on radio and television, CBS Television broadcasts the final episode of Guiding Light, the longest-running soap opera in American history.

CBS

2007

Buddhist monks join anti-government protesters in Myanmar, starting what some call the Saffron Revolution.

Saffron Revolution

2006

The CW Television Network debuts in the US, following the merger of UPN and The WB.

The CW

2001

First mailing of anthrax letters from Trenton, New Jersey in the 2001 anthrax attacks.

Anthrax

1900s

1997

United States media magnate Ted Turner donates US$1 billion to the United Nations.

Ted Turner

1997

The Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention is adopted.

Ottawa Treaty

1992

An explosion rocks Giant Mine at the height of a labor dispute, killing nine replacement workers in Yellowknife, Canada.

Giant Mine

1990

Liechtenstein becomes a member of the United Nations.

Liechtenstein

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1989

An attempted coup d'état against Burkina Faso president Blaise Compaoré is uncovered and foiled.

1989 Burkina Faso coup attempt

1988

The 8888 Uprising in Myanmar comes to an end.

8888 Uprising

1988

General Henri Namphy, president of Haiti, is ousted from power in a coup d'état led by General Prosper Avril.

Henri Namphy

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1988

The Magna Charta Universitatum, asserting key principles essential to the free operation of universities, is signed in Bologna by the rectors of 388 institutions of higher learning, to commemorate the 900th anniversary of the University of Bologna.

Magna Charta Universitatum

1984

Joe Kittinger completes the first solo balloon crossing of the Atlantic.

Joseph Kittinger

1981

The Assemblée Nationale votes to abolish capital punishment in France.

National Assembly (France)

1980

Soyuz 38 carries two cosmonauts (including one Cuban) to the Salyut 6 space station.

Soyuz 38

1977

Voyager I takes the first distant photograph of the Earth and the Moon together.

Voyager 1

1974

Hurricane Fifi strikes Honduras with 110 mph winds, killing 5,000 people.

Hurricane Fifi–Orlene

1973

The Bahamas, East Germany and West Germany are admitted to the United Nations.

The Bahamas

1965

Mel Brooks and Buck Henry's spy-comedy series Get Smart premieres on NBC Television.

Mel Brooks

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1964

The wedding of Constantine II of Greece and Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark takes place in Athens.

Wedding of Constantine II and Princess Anne-Marie

1964

The first television adaptation of Charles Addams's "The Addams Family" premieres on ABC Television.

The Addams Family (1964 TV series)

1962

Burundi, Jamaica, Rwanda and Trinidad and Tobago are admitted to the United Nations.

Burundi

1962

Aeroflot Flight 213 crashes into a mountain near Chersky Airport, killing 32 people.

Aeroflot Flight 213

1961

United Nations Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld dies in an air crash while attempting to negotiate peace in the Katanga region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Dag Hammarskjöld

1960

Fidel Castro arrives in New York City as the head of the Cuban delegation to the United Nations.

Fidel Castro

1958

The Bank of America introduces its first credit card, the BankAmericard (later renamed the VISA Card), in a test market in Fresno County, California.

Bank of America

1955

A four-person landing party, led by Lt.-Cdr. Desmond Scott RN, disembarks from a Royal Navy helicopter and raises the Union Flag on Rockall, claiming the uninhabited Atlantic island for the United Kingdom.

Royal Navy

1954

Finnish president J. K. Paasikivi becomes the first Western head of state to be awarded the highest honor of the Soviet Union, the Order of Lenin.

Juho Kusti Paasikivi

1950

Korean War: U.S. Eighth Army and United Nations forces break out of the Pusan Perimeter in southeast Korea.

Korean War

1950

TV Tupi Difusora, the first television station to broadcast in Brazil, begins transmissions on Channel 3 in São Paulo.

Rede Tupi

1948

Operation Polo is terminated after the Indian Army accepts the surrender of the army of Hyderabad.

Indian annexation of Hyderabad

1948

Margaret Chase Smith of Maine becomes the first woman elected to the United States Senate without completing another senator's term.

Margaret Chase Smith

1947

The National Security Act reorganizes the United States government's military and intelligence services.

National Security Act of 1947

1945

General Douglas MacArthur moves his general headquarters from Manila to Tokyo.

Douglas MacArthur

1944

World War II: The British submarine HMS Tradewind torpedoes Jun'yō Maru, killing 5,600, mostly slave labourers and POWs.

HMS Tradewind

1944

World War II: Operation Market Garden results in the liberation of Eindhoven.

Operation Market Garden

1944

World War II: The Battle of Arracourt begins.

Battle of Arracourt

1943

World War II: Adolf Hitler orders the deportation of Danish Jews.

History of the Jews in Denmark

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1941

World War II: The Soviet Union introduces conscription for all males between the ages of 16 and 50.

1939

World War II: The Polish government of Ignacy Mościcki flees to Romania.

World War II

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1939

World War II: The radio show Germany Calling begins transmitting Nazi propaganda.

Germany Calling

1934

The Soviet Union is admitted to the League of Nations.

Soviet Union

1932

The body of actress Peg Entwistle is discovered by police, two days after her suicide by jumping off of the Hollywoodland sign.

Peg Entwistle

1931

Imperial Japan instigates the Mukden incident as a pretext to invade and occupy Manchuria.

Mukden incident

1928

Juan de la Cierva makes the first Autogyro crossing of the English Channel.

Juan de la Cierva

1927

The Columbia Broadcasting System goes on the air.

CBS

1926

A hurricane devastates Miami, Florida, killing 372 people.

1926 Miami hurricane

1924

The U.S. ends its military occupation of the Dominican Republic, after invading in May 1916 to force the Dominican government to pay its debts to European creditors.

Military Government of Santo Domingo

1922

The Kingdom of Hungary is admitted to the League of Nations.

Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946)

1921

Rif War: In Ajdir, Spanish Morocco, a secessionist group of Berbers led by Abd el-Krim proclaim the Republic of the Rif, in rebellion against the Sultan of Morocco and the Spanish Army. French and Spanish forces suppress the Republic by May 1926.

Rif War

1919

Fritz Pollard becomes the first African American to play professional football for a major team, the Akron Pros.

Fritz Pollard

1919

In the Netherlands, a law granting full voting rights to women is granted royal assent by Queen Wilhelmina.

Netherlands

1915

The Saturday Evening Post publishes the short story "Extricating Young Gussie" by P.G. Wodehouse, featuring the first appearance of Bertie Wooster and his valet Jeeves.

The Saturday Evening Post

1914

The Irish Home Rule Act becomes law, but is delayed until after World War I.

Government of Ireland Act 1914

1910

In Washington, D.C., George Owen Squier demonstrated the first system to allow multiplexing of telephone transmissions, sending a message between two laboratories of the U.S. Signal Corps.

George Owen Squier

1906

The 1906 Hong Kong typhoon kills an estimated 10,000 people.

1906 Hong Kong typhoon

1800s

1898

The Fashoda Incident triggers the last war scare between Britain and France.

Fashoda Incident

1897

Veal Oscar, a dish of veal, seafood, asparagus, and Bernaise sauce, is first served at the Grand Hotel in Stockholm, in honour of the 25th anniversary of the reign of King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway.

Veal Oscar

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1885

Five Chinese people were lynched outside of Pierce City in the Idaho Territory of the United States.

1885 Pierce City lynching

1882

The Pacific Stock Exchange opens.

Pacific Exchange

1879

The Blackpool Illuminations are switched on for the first time.

Blackpool Illuminations

1873

The U.S. bank Jay Cooke & Company declares bankruptcy, contributing to the Panic of 1873.

Jay Cooke & Company

1870

During an expedition to the Wyoming Territory, Henry D. Washburn observes and names the Old Faithful Geyser.

Washburn–Langford–Doane Expedition

1867

The first provincial election for the Nova Scotia Legislative Assembly after Canada's Confederation returns a large majority for the Anti-Confederation Party, led by William Annand, who becomes Premier.

Nova Scotia House of Assembly

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1867

The fourth and current State Constitution of Maryland is ratified by voters.

Constitution of Maryland

1864

American Civil War: John Bell Hood begins the Franklin–Nashville Campaign in an unsuccessful attempt to draw William Tecumseh Sherman back out of Georgia.

John Bell Hood

1863

American Civil War: The Battle of Chickamauga begins between Confederate and Union forces. It involves the second highest amount of casualties for any American Civil War battle apart from Gettysburg.

American Civil War

1862

The Confederate States celebrate for the first and only time a Thanksgiving Day.

Confederate States of America

1860

Second Opium War: Battle of Zhangjiawan: Now heading towards Beijing after having recently occupied Tianjin, the allied Anglo-French force engages and defeats a larger Qing Chinese army at Zhangjiawan.

Second Opium War

1860

Wars of Italian Unification: Battle of Castelfidardo: Royal Sardinian Army defeats forces of the Papal States, resulting in the conquest of Umbria and Marche by the Kingdom of Italy.

Unification of Italy

1851

First publication of The New-York Daily Times, which later becomes The New York Times.

The New York Times

1850

The U.S. Congress passes the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.

Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

1838

The Anti-Corn Law League is established by Richard Cobden.

Anti–Corn Law League

1837

Tiffany & Co. (first named Tiffany & Young) is founded by Charles Lewis Tiffany and Teddy Young in New York City. The store is called a "stationery and fancy goods emporium".

Tiffany & Co.

1812

The 1812 Fire of Moscow dies down after destroying more than three-quarters of the city. Napoleon returns from the Petrovsky Palace to the Moscow Kremlin, spared from the fire.

Fire of Moscow (1812)

1810

First Government Junta in Chile. Though supposed to rule only during the Peninsular War in Spain, it is in fact the first step towards independence from Spain, and is commemorated as such.

Government Junta of Chile (1810)