Vintage News · Odd history for October 18

What Happened On October 18

Q: What happened on October 18?

1565: The first recorded naval battle between Europeans and the Japanese occurred when a flotilla of samurai attacked two Portuguese trade vessels at the Battle of Fukuda Bay in Nagasaki. 320: Pappus of Alexandria, one of the last great Greek mathematicians of antiquity, observed an eclipse that allowed historians to calculate the approximate dates of his life. 1599: Michael the Brave, Prince of Wallachia, defeats the Army of Andrew Báthory in the Battle of Șelimbăr, leading to the first recorded unification of the Romanian people. 1565: Ships belonging to the Matsura clan of Japan fail to capture the Portuguese trading carrack in the Battle of Fukuda Bay, the first recorded naval battle between Japan and the West. 1963: The first cat in space, later known as Félicette, launched aboard a French Véronique rocket. 1963: Félicette, a black and white female Parisian stray cat, becomes the first cat launched into space. 1587: Filipino sailors disembarked from the Manila galleon Nuestra Señora de Buena Esperanza in what is now Morro Bay, California, the first documented instance of Asians in the Americas. 1356: The most significant earthquake to have occurred in Central Europe in recorded history destroyed Basel, Switzerland. 1851: Herman Melville's Moby-Dick is first published as The Whale by Richard Bentley of London. 1281: Pope Martin IV excommunicates King Peter III of Aragon for usurping the crown of Sicily (a sentence renewed on 7 May and 18 November 1282).

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10 odd things that happened on October 18

1565 First ever
The first recorded naval battle between Europeans and the Japanese occurred when a flotilla of samurai attacked two Portuguese trade vessels at the Battle of Fukuda Bay in Nagasaki.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
320 Oddly true
Pappus of Alexandria, one of the last great Greek mathematicians of antiquity, observed an eclipse that allowed historians to calculate the approximate dates of his life.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1599 First ever
Michael the Brave, Prince of Wallachia, defeats the Army of Andrew Báthory in the Battle of Șelimbăr, leading to the first recorded unification of the Romanian people.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1565 First ever
Ships belonging to the Matsura clan of Japan fail to capture the Portuguese trading carrack in the Battle of Fukuda Bay, the first recorded naval battle between Japan and the West.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1963 First ever
The first cat in space, later known as Félicette, launched aboard a French Véronique rocket.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1963 First ever
Félicette, a black and white female Parisian stray cat, becomes the first cat launched into space.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1587 First ever
Filipino sailors disembarked from the Manila galleon Nuestra Señora de Buena Esperanza in what is now Morro Bay, California, the first documented instance of Asians in the Americas.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1356 Oddly true
The most significant earthquake to have occurred in Central Europe in recorded history destroyed Basel, Switzerland.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1851 First ever
Herman Melville's Moby-Dick is first published as The Whale by Richard Bentley of London.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1281 Oddly true
Pope Martin IV excommunicates King Peter III of Aragon for usurping the crown of Sicily (a sentence renewed on 7 May and 18 November 1282).
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Observed today

2019NASA Astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch take part in the first all-female spacewalk when they venture out of the International Space Station to replace a power controller. Wikipedia →
2019Riots in Chile's capital Santiago escalate into open battles, with attacks reported at nearly all of the city's 164 Metro stations. President Sebastián Piñera later announces a 15-day state of emergency in the capital. Wikipedia →
2007Karachi bombing: A suicide attack on a motorcade carrying former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto kills 139 and wounds 450 more. Bhutto herself is uninjured. Wikipedia →
2003Bolivian gas conflict: Bolivian President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada is forced to resign and leave Bolivia. Wikipedia →
1992Merpati Nustantara Airlines Flight 5601 crashes into Mount Papandayan near the town of Garut in West Java, Indonesia, killing 31. Wikipedia →
1991The Supreme Council of Azerbaijan adopts a declaration of independence from the Soviet Union. Wikipedia →
1989The Space Shuttle Atlantis launches on STS-34 to deploy the Jupiter-bound Galileo space probe. Wikipedia →
1979The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) begins allowing people to have home satellite earth stations without a federal government license. Wikipedia →
1978Based on the world's first children's art museum, the Henrik Igityan National Centre for Aesthetics opened in Yerevan. Wikipedia →
1977German Autumn: A set of events revolving around the kidnapping of Hanns Martin Schleyer and the hijacking of a Lufthansa flight by the Red Army Faction (RAF) comes to an end when Schleyer is murdered and various RAF members allegedly commit suicide. Wikipedia →
1967The Soviet probe Venera 4 reaches Venus and becomes the first spacecraft to measure the atmosphere of another planet. Wikipedia →
1963Félicette, a black and white female Parisian stray cat, becomes the first cat launched into space. Wikipedia →
1954Texas Instruments announces the Regency TR-1, the first mass-produced transistor radio. Wikipedia →
1945The USSR's nuclear program receives plans for the United States plutonium bomb from Klaus Fuchs at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Wikipedia →
1945A group of the Venezuelan Armed Forces, led by Mario Vargas, Marcos Pérez Jiménez and Carlos Delgado Chalbaud, stages a coup d'état against president Isaías Medina Angarita, who is overthrown by the end of the day. Wikipedia →
1945Argentine military officer and politician Juan Perón marries actress Eva Duarte. Wikipedia →
1944World War II: Soviet Union begins the liberation of Czechoslovakia from Nazi Germany. Wikipedia →
1944World War II: The state funeral of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel takes place in Ulm, Germany. Wikipedia →
1929The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council overrules the Supreme Court of Canada in Edwards v. Canada when it declares that women are considered "Persons" under Canadian law. Wikipedia →
1922The British Broadcasting Company (later Corporation) is founded by a consortium, to establish a nationwide network of radio transmitters to provide a national broadcasting service. Wikipedia →
1921The Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic is formed as part of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. Wikipedia →
1914The Schoenstatt Apostolic Movement is founded in Germany. Wikipedia →
1912First Balkan War: King Peter I of Serbia issues a declaration "To the Serbian People", as his country joins the war. Wikipedia →
1900Count Bernhard von Bülow becomes chancellor of Germany. Wikipedia →
1898The United States takes possession of Puerto Rico from Spain. Wikipedia →
1887Johannes Brahms conducts the premiere of his Double Concerto, composed for violinist Joseph Joachim and cellist Robert Hausmann. Wikipedia →
1867United States takes possession of Alaska after purchasing it from Russia for $7.2 million. Celebrated annually in the state as Alaska Day. Wikipedia →
1860The Second Opium War finally ends at the Convention of Peking with the ratification of the Treaty of Tientsin, an unequal treaty. Wikipedia →
1851Herman Melville's Moby-Dick is first published as The Whale by Richard Bentley of London. Wikipedia →
1779American Revolutionary War: The Franco-American Siege of Savannah is lifted. Wikipedia →
1775African-American poet Phillis Wheatley is freed from slavery. Wikipedia →
1775American Revolutionary War: The Burning of Falmouth (now Portland, Maine). Wikipedia →
1748Signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ends the War of the Austrian Succession. Wikipedia →
1648Boston shoemakers form the first American labor organization. Wikipedia →
1630Frendraught Castle in Scotland, the home of James Crichton of Frendraught, burns down. Wikipedia →
1599Michael the Brave, Prince of Wallachia, defeats the Army of Andrew Báthory in the Battle of Șelimbăr, leading to the first recorded unification of the Romanian people. Wikipedia →
1597King Philip II of Spain sends his third and final armada against England, but it ends in failure due to storms. The remaining ships are captured or sunk by the English. Wikipedia →
1565Ships belonging to the Matsura clan of Japan fail to capture the Portuguese trading carrack in the Battle of Fukuda Bay, the first recorded naval battle between Japan and the West. Wikipedia →
1561In Japan the fourth Battle of Kawanakajima is fought between the forces of Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen, resulting in a draw. Wikipedia →
1540Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto's forces destroy the fortified town of Mabila in present-day Alabama, killing Tuskaloosa. Wikipedia →
1356Basel earthquake, the most significant historic seismological event north of the Alps, destroys the town of Basel, Switzerland. Wikipedia →
1281Pope Martin IV excommunicates King Peter III of Aragon for usurping the crown of Sicily (a sentence renewed on 7 May and 18 November 1282). Wikipedia →
1166Michael the Syrian, one of the most important Syriac historians, is consecrated as Syriac Orthodox Patriarch at the Mor Bar Sauma Monastery. Wikipedia →
1081The Normans defeat the Byzantine Empire in the Battle of Dyrrhachium. Wikipedia →
1016The Danes defeat the English in the Battle of Assandun. Wikipedia →
1009The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a Christian church in Jerusalem, is completely destroyed by the Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, who hacks the Church's foundations down to bedrock. Wikipedia →
629Dagobert I is crowned King of the Franks. Wikipedia →
614King Chlothar II promulgates the Edict of Paris (Edictum Chlotacharii), a sort of Frankish Magna Carta that defends the rights of the Frankish nobles while it excludes Jews from all civil employment in the Frankish Kingdom. Wikipedia →
320Pappus of Alexandria, Greek philosopher, observes an eclipse of the Sun and writes a commentary on The Great Astronomer (Almagest). Wikipedia →
33Heartbroken by the deaths of her sons Nero and Drusus, and banished to the island of Pandateria by Tiberius, Agrippina the Elder dies of self-inflicted starvation. Wikipedia →

From The Guardian Archives — On This Day

2023The Guardian
Paul McCartney’s Australian comeback tour awash with love, Lennon tributes and Beatles medleys
The former Beatle delves deep into his songbook for three hours of humour, pyrotechnics and ‘sweet memories’
Read on The Guardian →
2021The Guardian
More than a third of UK music industry workers lost jobs in 2020
UK Music’s annual report says 69,000 people lost work as the pandemic wiped billions off the value of the sector
Read on The Guardian →
2002The New York Times
Straight to Video
Other new titles of interest, some of which may have had a theater release, appeared on television or been on videoca…
Read on NYTimes.com →

Headlines via The Guardian Open Platform · Historic front pages via the NYT Archive API

Facts from Wikipedia On This Day API (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia. Thumbnails CC BY-SA. Headlines via The Guardian Open Platform and the NYT Archive API. Historic pages via Library of Congress Chronicling America. Curated by OddlyTrue.