Skip to content

Home arrow Trivia arrow On this day in history

On this day in History Archives
 
At PaulsQuiz.com we aim to provide you with as much information as we possibly can. That's why we have built our On This Day in History section, to do just that. Our database is forever growing, we're adding more and more events from history to help you write your quiz questions.

Simply enter a date using the drop-down boxes below and click the 'Go' button to display events from the past that ocurred on that day.
 

 
18 January, 2007
The strongest storm in the United Kingdom in 17 years kills 14 people, Germany sees the worst storm since 1999 with 13 deaths. Hurricane Kyrill, causes at least 44 deaths across 20 countries in Western Europe. Other losses include the Container Ship MSC Napoli destroyed by the storm off the coast of Devon, England.
18 January, 2005
A United Nations World Conference on Disaster Reduction in Kobe, Japan begins.
18 January, 2003
A bushfire kills 4 people and destroys more than 500 homes in Canberra, Australia.
18 January, 2002
Sierra Leone Civil War was finally declared over.
18 January, 2000
The Tagish Lake meteorite impacts the Earth.
18 January, 1998
Lewinsky scandal: Matt Drudge breaks the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky affair story on his website The Drudge Report.
18 January, 1997
In north west Rwanda, Hutu militia members kill 3 Spanish aid workers, 3 soldiers and seriously wound one other.
18 January, 1997
Boerge Ousland of Norway becomes the first person to cross Antarctica alone and unaided.
18 January, 1995
Cave paintings and engravings over 17,000 years old are discovered in southern France near Vallon-Pont-dArc.
18 January, 1994
The Cando event, a possible bolide impact in Cando, Spain. Witnesses claim to have seen a fireball in the sky lasting for almost one minute.
18 January, 1993
For the first time, Martin Luther King Day is officially observed in all 50 states.
18 January, 1991
Eastern Air Lines goes out of business after 62 years, citing financial problems.
18 January, 1990
Washington, D.C. Mayor Marion Barry was arrested for drug possession in an FBI sting.
18 January, 1986
An Aerovias aircraft crashes into San Benito Peten jungle in Guatemala (close to the Mayan Ruins of Tikal) resulting in the loss of all 110 passengers, mainly tourists from all over the world, including the Venezuelan politician Aristides Calvani and members of his family.
18 January, 1983
The International Olympic Committee restores Jim Thorpes Olympic medals to his family.
18 January, 1978
The European Court of Human Rights finds the United Kingdom government guilty of mistreating prisoners in Northern Ireland, but not guilty of torture.
18 January, 1977
Scientists identify a previously unknown bacterium as the cause of the mysterious Legionnaires disease.
18 January, 1977
Australias worst rail disaster occurs at Granville, Sydney killing 83.
18 January, 1974
A Disengagement of Forces agreement is signed between the Israeli and Egyptian governments, ending conflict on the Egyptian front of the Yom Kippur War.
18 January, 1969
United Airlines Flight 266 crashes into Santa Monica Bay resulting in the loss of all 32 passengers and six crew members.
18 January, 1967
Albert DeSalvo, the "Boston Strangler," is convicted of numerous crimes and is sentenced to life in prison.
18 January, 1958
Willie ORee, the first African Canadian National Hockey League player, makes his NHL debut.
18 January, 1955
Battle of Yijiangshan occurred.
18 January, 1945
Liberation of the Budapest ghetto by the Red Army.
18 January, 1944
The Metropolitan Opera House in New York City hosts a jazz concert for the first time. The performers were Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Artie Shaw, Roy Eldridge and Jack Teagarden.
18 January, 1944
Soviet forces liberate Leningrad, effectively ending a three year Nazi siege, known as the Siege of Leningrad.
18 January, 1943
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising: The first uprising of Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto.
18 January, 1919
World War I: The Paris Peace Conference opens in Versailles, France.
18 January, 1919
Ignacy Jan Paderewski becomes Prime Minister of the newly independent Poland.
18 January, 1919
Bentley Motors Limited is founded.
18 January, 1916
A 611 gram chondrite type meteorite stikes a house near the village of Baxter in Stone County, Missouri.
18 January, 1915
Japan issues the "Twenty-One Demands" to the Republic of China in a bid to increase its power in East Asia.
18 January, 1913
A Greek flotilla defeats the Ottoman Navy in the Naval Battle of Lemnos during the First Balkan War, securing the islands of the Northern Aegean Sea for Greece.
18 January, 1912
British explorer Robert Falcon Scott arrives at the South Pole only to find that Roald Amundsen, the Norwegian explorer, had preceded them by just over a month.
18 January, 1911
Eugene B. Ely lands on the deck of the USS Pennsylvania stationed in San Francisco harbor, marking the first time an aircraft landed on a ship.
18 January, 1903
President Theodore Roosevelt sends a radio message to King Edward VII: the first transatlantic radio transmission originating in the United States.
18 January, 1896
The X-ray machine is exhibited for the first time.
18 January, 1886
Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England.
18 January, 1884
Dr. William Price attempts to cremate the body of his infant son, Jesus Christ Price, setting a legal precedent for cremation in the United Kingdom.
18 January, 1871
Wilhelm I of Germany is proclaimed the first German Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors of the Palace of Versailles towards the end of the Franco-Prussian War. The empire was known as The Second Reich to the Germans.
18 January, 1861
American Civil War - Georgia joins South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, and Alabama in seceding from the United States.
18 January, 1788
The first elements of the First Fleet carrying 736 convicts from England to Australia arrives at Botany Bay.
18 January, 1778
James Cook is the first known European to discover the Hawaiian Islands, which he names the "Sandwich Islands".
18 January, 1777
Representatives of the New Hampshire Grants declare the independence of the Vermont Republic from Britain.
18 January, 1701
Frederick I becomes King of Prussia.
18 January, 1670
Henry Morgan captures Panama.
18 January, 1562
Pope Pius IV reopens the Council of Trent for its third and final session.
18 January, 1535
Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro founded Lima, the capital of Peru.
18 January, 1520
King Christian II of Denmark and Norway defeats the Swedes at Lake Åsunden.
18 January, 1486
King Henry VII of England marries Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV.

Choose another day in history

January

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15
16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31

February

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15
16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29

March

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15
16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31

April

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15
16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30

May

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15
16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31

June

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15
16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30

July

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15
16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31

August

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15
16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31

September

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15
16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30

October

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15
16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31

November

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15
16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30

December

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15
16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31

Free Questions in Your Inbox

Copyright © 2008 - Paul Abrook and Dave Small
RSS Feed RSS Feed | Free Quiz Questions | Pub Quiz Questions - at our Sister site