January 18th in History

Michael Dobson | January 18

Today in History

  • James Cook becomes the first European to discover the Hawaiian (Sandwich) Islands (1778)
  • The First Fleet arrives in Australia (1788)
  • The X-Ray machine is demonstrated for the first time (1896)
  • The first aircraft lands on a ship (1911)
  • The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising begins (1943)
  • The Boston Strangler is convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment (1967)

Births

  • Montesquieu, lawyer and philosopher (1689)
  • Peter Mark Roget, lexicographer (1779)
  • Austin Dobson, poet (1840)
  • Thomas Watson, assistant to Alexander Graham Bell (1854)
  • A. A. Milne, creator of Winnie the Pooh (1882)
  • Thomas Sopwith, aircraft manufacturer (1888)
  • Oliver Hardy, entertainer (1892)
  • Cary Grant, actor (1904)
  • Danny Kaye, entertainer (1911)
  • Bob Bell, creator of Bozo the Clown (1922)
  • Robert Anton Wilson, writer (1932)
  • Ray Dolby, sound engineer (1933)
  • Bobby Goldsboro, singer-songwriter (1941)
  • Kevin Costner, actor (1955)

Deaths

  • Publius Clodius Pulcher, Roman politician (52 BCE)
  • John Tyler, 10th US President (1862)
  • Edward Buller-Lytton, author (1873)
  • Rudyard Kipling, author (1936)
  • Curly Howard, stooge (1952)
  • Sydney Greenstreet, actor (1954)
  • Goose Tatum, basketball player (1967)
  • Virgil Finlay, artist (1971)
  • Carl Betz, actor (1978)
  • Robert B. Parker, writer (2010)
  • Sargent Shriver, politician (2011)

Holidays and Celebrations

  • Revolution and Youth Day (Tunisia)
  • Armed Forces Day (Thailand)
  • National Day of Service (US)
Informal and made-up holidays include Thesaurus Day and Pro-Life Day.