February 18th in History

A cover flown on the first official airmail flight

Today in History

  • Vermont becomes a US state (1791)
  • Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as president of the Confederacy (1861)
  • Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is published in the US (1885)
  • The first official airmail flight, from Allahabad to Naini in British India, takes place (1911)
  • The first cow is milked in an aircraft (1930)
  • Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto (1930)
  • The first Church of Scientology opens in Los Angeles (1954)
  • The Chicago Seven are acquitted of incitement to riot (1970)
  • The Space Shuttle Enterprise makes its maiden flight on top of a Boeing 747 (1977)
  • FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested for spying for the Soviet Union (2001)
  • WikiLeaks publishes its first release of classified documents, provided by Bradley (now Chelsey) Manning (2010)

Birthdays

  • Alessandro Volta, inventor of the battery (1745)
  • Lewis Armistead, Confederate general (1817)
  • Ernst Mach, physicist for whom the speed of sound measurement “Mach number” is named (1838)
  • Louis Comfort Tiffany, stained glass artist (1848)
  • Adolphe Menjou, actor (1890)
  • Wendell Wilkie, US presidential candidate (1892)
  • Enzo Ferrari, race car driver who founded Ferrari (1898)
  • Hans Asperger, pediatrician, namesake of Asperger syndrome (1906)
  • Pee Wee King, country musician who wrote “Tennessee Waltz” (1914)
  • Jack Palance, actor (1919)
  • Bill Cullen, game show host (1920)
  • Helen Gurley Brown, author, editor of Cosmopolitan (1922)
  • George Kennedy, actor (1925)
  • Len Deighton, author (1929)
  • Johnny Hart, creator of B. C. and The Wizard of Id (1931)
  • Toni Morrison, author (1931)
  • Yoko Ono, artist and wife of John Lennon (1933)
  • Jean M. Auel, author (1936)
  • John Hughes, filmmaker (1950)
  • Cybill Shepherd, actress (1950)
  • Juice Newton, singer-songwriter (1952)
  • John Travolta, actor (1954)
  • Vanna White, model and game show host (1957)
  • Matt Dillon, actor (1964)
  • Dr. Dre, rapper (1965)
  • Molly Ringwald, actress (1968)

Deaths

  • Timur (Tamerlane), emperor (1405)
  • Martin Luther, theologian and Reformation leader (1546)
  • Michelangelo, sculptor and painter (1564)
  • Charles Lewis Tiffany, founder of Tiffany & Co. (1902)
  • Frank James, criminal, brother of Jesse James (1915)
  • Albert Payson Terhune, author and dog breeder, known for his books about collies (1942)
  • J. Robert Oppenheimer, physicist and Manhattan Project leader (1967)
  • Frank Costello, gangster (1973)
  • Andy Devine, actor (1977)
  • Jack Northrop, aircraft manufacturer (1981)
  • Ngaio Marsh, mystery writer (1982)
  • Harry Caray, sportscaster (1998)
  • Dale Earnhardt, NASCAR driver (2001)
  • Maria Franziska von Trapp, singer (“Louisa” in The Sound of Music) (2014)

Holidays and Celebrations

  • National Democracy Day (Nepal)
  • Dialect Day (Amani Islands, Japan)
  • Independence Day (Gambia)
  • Kurdish Students Union Day (Iraqi Kurdistan)
  • Battery Day (Volta’s Birthday)
  • Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day
  • National Drink Wine Day
  • Pluto Day

February 18 is the 49th day of the year. There are 316 days (317 in leap years) remaining until the end of the year.