December 18 facts for kids

December 18 is the 352nd day of the year (353rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 13 days remain until the end of the year.

Every day holds special moments in history! On December 18th, many interesting things have happened around the world. From big battles and important laws to the birth of famous people and the invention of new technologies, this date has seen it all. Let's explore some of the exciting events and notable individuals connected to December 18th.

Historical Events on December 18th

Important Moments Before 1600

• 1118 – The city of Zaragoza in Spain was taken over by King Alfonso I of Aragon. He won it from the Almoravid rulers.
• 1271 – Kublai Khan officially named his huge empire "Yuan." This marked the beginning of the Yuan dynasty in Mongolia and China.
• 1499 – A rebellion started in Alpujarras, Spain. This happened because people were being forced to change their religion.

Events from 1601 to 1900

• 1622 – Portuguese soldiers won a battle against the Kingdom of Kongo in what is now Angola. This was the Battle of Mbumbi.
• 1655 – The Whitehall Conference in England decided that there was no law stopping Jewish people from returning to England. They had been forced to leave in 1290.
• 1777 – The United States celebrated its very first Thanksgiving holiday. This was to celebrate the American rebels' victory over British General John Burgoyne at Saratoga.
• 1787 – New Jersey became the third state to approve the U.S. Constitution. This was a big step for the new country.
• 1793 – A French ship called La Lutine was given to the British. It was renamed HMS Lutine and later became a famous shipwreck with lots of treasure.
• 1833 – The national song of the Russian Empire, "God Save the Tsar!", was performed for the first time.
• 1854 – The government in the Province of Canada ended the old seigneurial system. This was a system where land was owned by lords.
• 1865 – The Thirteenth Amendment was officially adopted in the US. This important amendment made slavery illegal everywhere in the United States.
• 1867 – A strong earthquake (magnitude 7.0) hit off the coast of Taiwan. It caused a tsunami and sadly, at least 580 people lost their lives.
• 1878 – The Al-Thani family became the official rulers of the state of Qatar.
• 1892 – The famous ballet The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was performed for the first time in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
• 1898 – Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat set the first official land speed record. He drove an electric car at about 39 miles per hour (63 km/h).

Modern Events: 1901 to Today

• 1916 – World War I: The long and difficult Battle of Verdun ended. French forces pushed the Germans back, stopping their attacks.
• 1917 – The United States Congress passed a resolution for the Eighteenth Amendment. This amendment would later lead to Prohibition, making alcohol illegal.
• 1932 – The Chicago Bears won the NFL Championship. They defeated the Portsmouth Spartans in the first NFL playoff game ever.
• 1935 – The Lanka Sama Samaja Party was started in Ceylon.
• 1939 – World War II: The Battle of the Heligoland Bight took place. This was the first major air battle of the war.
• 1944 – World War II: American bombers dropped many bombs on a supply base in Hankow, China. This was part of the response to a Japanese attack.
• 1944 – The Supreme Court of the United States made a decision in the case of Korematsu v. United States. This decision supported the government's order to put almost all Japanese Americans into special camps during the war.
• 1957 – A very strong tornado (F5) completely destroyed the town of Sunfield, Illinois.
• 1958 – Project SCORE, the world's first communications satellite, was launched into space. This was a big step for talking across the globe.
• 1966 – Saturn's moon Epimetheus was discovered by astronomer Richard Walker.
• 1972 – Vietnam War: President Richard Nixon announced a series of bombings called Operation Linebacker II. This happened after peace talks with North Vietnam failed.
• 1973 – Soviet Soyuz Programme: The Soyuz 13 spacecraft was launched. It carried two cosmonauts, Valentin Lebedev and Pyotr Klimuk, from Baikonur in the Soviet Union.
• 1977 – SA de Transport Aérien Flight 730 crashed near Madeira Airport in Portugal. Sadly, 36 people died in the accident.
• 1981 – The Russian Tu-160 bomber had its first flight. It is the world's largest combat aircraft and the largest supersonic aircraft ever built.
• 1995 – A Lockheed L-188 Electra plane crashed in Jamba, Cuando Cubango, Angola. This tragic accident killed 141 people.
• 1999 – NASA launched the Terra platform into orbit. This satellite carries five instruments to study Earth.
• 2002 – Governor of California Gray Davis announced that the state would have a huge budget problem. The deficit was about $35 billion.
• 2005 – The Chadian Civil War began. Rebel groups, reportedly supported by Sudan, attacked in Adré.
• 2006 – The first of many floods hit Malaysia. Over 118 people died, and more than 400,000 people had to leave their homes.
• 2006 – The United Arab Emirates held its first-ever elections.
• 2015 – Kellingley Colliery, the last deep coal mine in Great Britain, closed down.
• 2017 – An Amtrak Cascades passenger train derailed near DuPont, Washington. Six people died, and 70 others were hurt.
• 2018 – A meteor exploded over the Bering Sea. Its force was more than 10 times stronger than the atomic bomb that hit Hiroshima in 1945.
• 2019 – The United States House of Representatives voted to impeach Donald Trump for the first time.
• 2022 – Argentina won the 2022 FIFA World Cup final. They beat France 4–2 in a penalty shootout after the game ended in a 3–3 draw.

Famous Birthdays on December 18th

Born Before 1900

• 1499 – Sebald Heyden, a German expert in music and religion.
• 1505 – Philipp von Hutten, a German explorer.
• 1507 – Ōuchi Yoshitaka, an important Japanese leader.
• 1590 – William Louis, Count of Nassau-Saarbrücken.
• 1626 – Christina, Queen of Sweden, a very powerful queen.
• 1661 – Christopher Polhem, a Swedish physicist and inventor.
• 1707 – Charles Wesley, an English missionary and composer. He wrote many hymns.
• 1824 – John Hall, who became the 12th Prime Minister of New Zealand.
• 1849 – Henrietta Edwards, a Canadian activist and writer.
• 1856 – J. J. Thomson, an English physicist who won the Nobel Prize. He discovered the electron.
• 1863 – Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, whose assassination in 1914 helped start World War I.
• 1878 – Joseph Stalin, a Georgian-Russian marshal and politician. He was a leader of the Soviet Union.
• 1879 – Paul Klee, a famous Swiss-German painter.
• 1886 – Ty Cobb, a legendary American baseball player.
• 1888 – Gladys Cooper, an English actress and singer.
• 1890 – Edwin Howard Armstrong, an American engineer who invented FM radio.

Born After 1900

• 1904 – George Stevens, an American director and producer.
• 1908 – Celia Johnson, an English actress.
• 1913 – Willy Brandt, a German politician who won the Nobel Peace Prize and served as Chancellor of Germany.
• 1916 – Betty Grable, a popular American actress, singer, and dancer.
• 1917 – Ossie Davis, an American actor and activist.
• 1927 – Ramsey Clark, an American lawyer and politician. He was the 66th United States Attorney General.
• 1927 – Roméo LeBlanc, who became the 25th Governor General of Canada.
• 1930 – Moose Skowron, an American baseball player.
• 1935 – Jacques Pépin, a famous French-American chef and author.
• 1938 – Chas Chandler, an English bass player and music producer.
• 1939 – Michael Moorcock, an English author and songwriter.
• 1939 – Harold E. Varmus, an American biologist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
• 1943 – Keith Richards, an English musician, famous for being in The Rolling Stones.
• 1946 – Steve Biko, a South African activist who started the Black Consciousness Movement.
• 1946 – Steven Spielberg, a world-famous American director and producer. He co-founded DreamWorks.
• 1950 – Gillian Armstrong, an Australian director and producer.
• 1950 – Leonard Maltin, an American film historian and critic.
• 1954 – Ray Liotta, an American actor.
• 1961 – Brian Orser, a Canadian figure skater and coach.
• 1963 – Brad Pitt, a well-known American actor and producer.
• 1964 – Stone Cold Steve Austin, a famous American wrestler.
• 1968 – Rachel Griffiths, an Australian actress.
• 1968 – Alejandro Sanz, a popular Spanish singer-songwriter.
• 1970 – DMX, an American rapper and actor.
• 1971 – Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, a Spanish tennis player.
• 1975 – Sia, an Australian singer-songwriter.
• 1975 – Trish Stratus, a Canadian wrestler and actress.
• 1977 – Axwell, a Swedish DJ and record producer, part of Swedish House Mafia.
• 1978 – Katie Holmes, an American actress.
• 1980 – Christina Aguilera, a famous American singer-songwriter and actress.
• 1987 – Miki Ando, a Japanese figure skater.
• 1988 – Lizzie Deignan, an English cyclist.
• 1990 – Victor Hedman, a Swedish ice hockey player.
• 1992 – Bridgit Mendler, an American singer and actress.
• 1995 – Barbora Krejčíková, a Czech tennis player.
• 1997 – Ronald Acuña Jr., a Venezuelan baseball player.
• 2001 – Billie Eilish, a very popular American singer.

Notable People Who Passed Away on December 18th

Deaths Before 1900

• 1075 – Edith of Wessex, a queen of England.
• 1290 – Magnus III of Sweden, a king of Sweden.
• 1495 – Alfonso II of Naples, a king of Naples.
• 1577 – Anna of Saxony, a princess.
• 1645 – Nur Jahan, an empress of the Mughal Empire.
• 1737 – Antonio Stradivari, a famous Italian maker of violins and other instruments.
• 1803 – Johann Gottfried Herder, a German philosopher and poet.
• 1829 – Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, a French biologist known for his ideas on evolution.
• 1869 – Louis Moreau Gottschalk, an American pianist and composer.
• 1892 – Richard Owen, an English biologist who studied animals and fossils.

Deaths After 1900

• 1919 – John Alcock, an English pilot who made the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean.
• 1932 – Eduard Bernstein, a German politician and thinker.
• 1936 – Andrija Mohorovičić, a Croatian scientist who studied weather and earthquakes.
• 1969 – Charles Dvorak, an American pole vaulter who won an Olympic gold medal.
• 1971 – Bobby Jones, a legendary American golfer.
• 1972 – Neilia Hunter Biden, the first wife of Joe Biden.
• 1980 – Alexei Kosygin, a Russian soldier and politician who was a leader of the Soviet Union.
• 1992 – Mark Goodson, an American producer who created popular game shows like Family Feud and The Price Is Right.
• 1995 – Konrad Zuse, a German engineer who designed one of the first computers.
• 1997 – Chris Farley, a popular American comedian and actor.
• 2000 – Kirsty MacColl, a British singer-songwriter.
• 2006 – Joseph Barbera, an American animator and producer who co-founded Hanna-Barbera.
• 2008 – Majel Barrett, an American actress, known for her roles in Star Trek.
• 2011 – Václav Havel, a Czech poet, playwright, and the first President of the Czech Republic.
• 2014 – Virna Lisi, an Italian actress.
• 2016 – Zsa Zsa Gabor, a Hungarian-American actress and socialite.
• 2017 – Kim Jong-hyun, a South Korean singer.
• 2021 – Sayaka Kanda, a Japanese actress and singer.

Holidays and Observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
  • Flannán
  • Gatianus of Tours
  • O Adonai
  • Sebastian (Eastern Orthodox Church)
  • Winibald
  • December 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• International Migrants Day
• National Day (Qatar)
• Republic Day (Niger)
• UN Arabic Language Day (United Nations)

See also

In Spanish: 18 de diciembre para niños