January 18 facts for kids

This page tells you about important things that happened on January 18th throughout history. You'll learn about big events, famous people who were born, and notable people who passed away on this day.

Exciting Events in History

Early Times (Before 1600)

• In 474, a seven-year-old boy named Leo II became the Byzantine emperor. He took over from his grandfather, Leo I. Sadly, Leo II died just ten months later.
• A big uprising called the Nika riots happened in Constantinople in 532, but it didn't succeed.
• In 1126, Emperor Huizong of China gave up his throne to his son, Emperor Qinzong.
• A very important wedding took place in 1486. King Henry VII of England married Elizabeth of York. This marriage helped bring together two powerful families, the Lancaster and the York families, after a long conflict.
• In 1586, a huge earthquake hit Honshu, Japan. It was a very strong earthquake, causing a tsunami and tragically killing 8,000 people.

From 1601 to 1900

• The famous privateer Henry Morgan captured Panama in 1670.
• In 1701, Frederick I declared himself King in Prussia in a city called Königsberg.
• The explorer James Cook became the first known European to discover the Hawaiian Islands in 1778. He called them the "Sandwich Islands."
• In 1788, the first ships of the First Fleet arrived at Botany Bay in Australia. These ships carried 736 convicts from Great Britain to start a new colony.
• Modern field hockey began in 1886 when The Hockey Association was formed in England.
• In 1896, the first X-ray generating machine was shown to the public by H. L. Smith. This was a big step in medicine and science!

From 1901 to Today

• A major moment in aviation happened in 1911. Eugene B. Ely successfully landed his aircraft on the deck of the USS Pennsylvania in San Francisco Bay. This was the first time an airplane ever landed on a ship!
• In 1919, the Paris Peace Conference started in Versailles, France, to discuss peace after World War I.
• During World War II, in 1943, the first uprising of Jewish people in the Warsaw Ghetto took place. This was a brave act of resistance.
• In 1958, Willie O'Ree made history as the first Black Canadian player in the National Hockey League. He played for the Boston Bruins.
• Scientists announced in 1977 that they had found a new bacterium that caused the mysterious Legionnaires' disease.
• Also in 1977, Australia experienced its worst rail disaster in Granville, Sydney, which tragically killed 83 people.
• In 1983, the International Olympic Committee gave back Jim Thorpe's Olympic medals to his family. He was a famous athlete who had his medals taken away years before.
• Martin Luther King Jr. Day was officially celebrated in all 50 US states for the first time in 1993.
• The Sierra Leone Civil War was officially declared over in 2002.
• In 2003, a terrible bushfire in Canberra, Australia, killed four people and destroyed over 500 homes.
• The Airbus A380, which is the world's largest commercial airplane, was shown to the public for the first time in 2005 in France.
• In 2018, a bus fire in Kazakhstan tragically killed 52 passengers.
• An oil pipeline explosion near Tlahuelilpan, Mexico, killed 137 people in 2019.
• In 2023, a helicopter crash in Ukraine resulted in 14 deaths, including the country's Interior Minister, Denys Monastyrsky.

Famous Birthdays

Born Before 1600

• 1457 – Antonio Trivulzio, seniore, an important Roman Catholic cardinal.
• 1519 – Isabella Jagiellon, who became the Queen of Hungary.
• 1540 – Catherine, Duchess of Braganza.

Born Between 1601 and 1900

• 1689 – Montesquieu, a famous French lawyer and philosopher.
• 1752 – John Nash, a well-known English architect.
• 1779 – Peter Mark Roget, an English doctor and the person who created Roget's Thesaurus.
• 1782 – Daniel Webster, an important American lawyer and politician.
• 1849 – Edmund Barton, who became the first Prime Minister of Australia.
• 1856 – Daniel Hale Williams, an American surgeon and heart doctor.
• 1867 – Rubén Darío, a famous Nicaraguan poet and journalist.
• 1882 – A. A. Milne, the English author who wrote the beloved Winnie-the-Pooh stories.
• 1892 – Oliver Hardy, an American actor and comedian, famous as half of the duo Laurel and Hardy.

Born From 1901 to Today

• 1904 – Cary Grant, a very popular English-American actor.
• 1911 – Danny Kaye, an American actor, singer, and dancer.
• 1921 – Yoichiro Nambu, a Japanese-American physicist who won the Nobel Prize.
• 1931 – Chun Doo-hwan, who was the 5th President of South Korea.
• 1933 – David Bellamy, an English botanist and author, known for his TV shows about nature.
• 1933 – Ray Dolby, an American engineer who founded Dolby Laboratories, known for sound technology.
• 1937 – John Hume, a Northern Irish educator and politician who won the Nobel Peace Prize.
• 1944 – Paul Keating, who became the 24th Prime Minister of Australia.
• 1947 – Takeshi Kitano, a famous Japanese actor and director.
• 1955 – Kevin Costner, a well-known American actor, director, and producer.
• 1961 – Mark Messier, a legendary Canadian ice hockey player.
• 1969 – Dave Bautista, an American wrestler and actor.
• 1971 – Pep Guardiola, a famous Spanish footballer and manager.
• 1980 – Jason Segel, an American actor and screenwriter.
• 1988 – Angelique Kerber, a top German tennis player.

Notable People Who Passed Away

Passed Away Before 1600

• 474 – Leo I, the Byzantine emperor.
• 1271 – Saint Margaret of Hungary.
• 1471 – Emperor Go-Hanazono of Japan.

Passed Away Between 1601 and 1900

• 1677 – Jan van Riebeeck, a Dutch politician who founded Cape Town.
• 1862 – John Tyler, who was the 10th President of the United States.
• 1873 – Edward Bulwer-Lytton, an English author and politician.

Passed Away From 1901 to Today

• 1936 – Rudyard Kipling, a famous English author and poet who won the Nobel Prize in Literature, known for The Jungle Book.
• 1952 – Curly Howard, an American actor, part of The Three Stooges.
• 1954 – Sydney Greenstreet, an English-American actor.
• 1970 – David O. McKay, an important religious leader.
• 1980 – Cecil Beaton, a famous English fashion designer and photographer.
• 1995 – Adolf Butenandt, a German biochemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
• 2001 – Laurent-Désiré Kabila, who was the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• 2016 – Glenn Frey, an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, famous from the band The Eagles.
• 2023 – David Crosby, a well-known American singer-songwriter.

Holidays and Special Days

• Christian feast day:

* Amy Carmichael (Church of England) * Athanasius of Alexandria (Eastern Orthodox Church) * Confession of Peter (Eastern Orthodox, some Anglican and Lutheran Churches) * Cyril of Alexandria * Deicolus * Margaret of Hungary * Prisca * Volusianus of Tours * January 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Royal Thai Armed Forces Day (Thailand)