July 18

Events

• 477 BC - Battle of the Cremera as part of the Roman–Etruscan Wars. Veii ambushes and defeats the Roman army.
• 387 BC - Roman-Gaulish Wars: Battle of the Allia: A Roman army is defeated by raiding Gauls, leading to the subsequent sacking of Rome.
• 362 - Roman–Persian Wars: Emperor Julian arrives at Antioch with a Roman expeditionary force and stays there for nine months to launch a campaign against the Persian Empire.
• 452 - Sack of Aquileia: After an earlier defeat on the Catalaunian Plains, Attila lays siege to the metropolis of Aquileia and eventually destroys it.
• 645 - Chinese forces under general Li Shiji besiege the strategic fortress city of Anshi during the Goguryeo–Tang War.
• 1195 - Battle of Alarcos: Almohad forces defeat the Castilian army of Alfonso VIII and force its retreat to Toledo.
• 1290 - King Edward I of England issues the Edict of Expulsion, banishing all Jews from England; this was Tisha B'Av on the Hebrew calendar, a day that commemorates many Jewish calamities.
• 1334 - The bishop of Florence blesses the first foundation stone for the new campanile of the Florence Cathedral, designed by the artist Giotto di Bondone.
• 1389 - France and England agree to the Truce of Leulinghem, inaugurating a 13-year peace, the longest period of sustained peace during the Hundred Years' War.
• 1391 - Tokhtamysh–Timur war: Battle of the Kondurcha River: Timur defeats Tokhtamysh of the Golden Horde in present-day southeast Russia.
• 1507 - In Brussels, Prince Charles I, is crowned Duke of Burgundy and Count of Flanders, a year after inheriting the title.
• 1555 - The College of Arms is reincorporated by Royal charter signed by Queen Mary I of England and King Philip II of Spain.
• 1806 - A gunpowder magazine explosion in Birgu, Malta, kills around 200 people.
• 1812 - The Treaties of Orebro end both the Anglo-Russian and Anglo-Swedish Wars.
• 1841 - Coronation of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil.
• 1857 - Louis Faidherbe, French governor of Senegal, arrives to relieve French forces at Kayes, effectively ending El Hajj Umar Tall's war against the French.
• 1862 - First ascent of Dent Blanche, one of the highest summits in the Alps.
• 1863 - American Civil War: Second Battle of Fort Wagner: One of the first formal African American military units, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, supported by several white regiments, attempts an unsuccessful assault on Confederate-held Battery Wagner.
• 1870 - The First Vatican Council decrees the dogma of papal infallibility.
• 1872 - The Ballot Act 1872 in the United Kingdom introduced the requirement that parliamentary and local government elections be held by secret ballot.
• 1914 - The U.S. Congress forms the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps, giving official status to aircraft within the U.S. Army for the first time.
• 1925 - Adolf Hitler publishes Mein Kampf.
• 1936 - On the Spanish mainland, a faction of the army supported by fascists, rises up against the Second Spanish Republic in a coup d'état starting the 3-year-long Civil War, resulting in the longest dictatorship in modern European history.
• 1942 - World War II: During the Beisfjord massacre in Norway, 15 Norwegian paramilitary guards help members of the SS to kill 288 political prisoners from Yugoslavia.
• 1942 - The Germans test fly the Messerschmitt Me 262 using its jet engines for the first time.
• 1944 - World War II: Hideki Tōjō resigns as Prime Minister of Japan because of numerous setbacks in the war effort.
• 1966 - Human spaceflight: Gemini 10 is launched from Cape Kennedy on a 70-hour mission that includes docking with an orbiting Agena target vehicle.
• 1966 - A racially charged incident in a bar sparks the six-day Hough riots in Cleveland, Ohio; 1,700 Ohio National Guard troops intervene to restore order.
• 1968 - Intel is founded in Mountain View, California.
• 1976 - Nadia Comăneci becomes the first person in Olympic Games history to score a perfect 10 in gymnastics at the 1976 Summer Olympics.
• 1982 - Two hundred sixty-eight Guatemalan campesinos are slain in the Plan de Sánchez massacre.
• 1984 - McDonald's massacre in San Ysidro, California: In a fast-food restaurant, James Oliver Huberty opens fire, killing 21 people and injuring 19 others before being shot dead by police.
• 1992 - A picture of Les Horribles Cernettes was taken, which became the first ever photo posted to the World Wide Web.
• 1994 - The bombing of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina in Buenos Aires kills 85 people and injures 300.
• 1994 - Rwandan genocide: The Rwandan Patriotic Front takes control of Gisenyi and north western Rwanda, forcing the interim government into Zaire and ending the genocide.
• 1995 - On the Caribbean island of Montserrat, the Soufrière Hills volcano erupts. Over the course of several years, it devastates the island, destroying the capital, forcing most of the population to flee.
• 1996 - Storms provoke severe flooding on the Saguenay River, beginning one of Quebec's costliest natural disasters ever.
• 1996 - Battle of Mullaitivu: The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam capture the Sri Lanka Army's base, killing over 1200 soldiers.
• 2012 - At least seven people are killed and 32 others are injured after a bomb explodes on an Israeli tour bus at Burgas Airport, Bulgaria.
• 2013 - The Government of Detroit, with up to $20 billion in debt, files for the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.
• 2019 - A man sets fire to an anime studio in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Japan, killing at least 35 people and injuring dozens of others.

  Births

• 1013 - Hermann of Reichenau, German composer, mathematician, and astronomer
• 1501 - Isabella of Austria, queen of Denmark
• 1504 - Heinrich Bullinger, Swiss pastor and reformer
• 1534 - Zacharius Ursinus, German theologian
• 1552 - Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor
• 1634 - Johannes Camphuys, Dutch politician, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies
• 1659 - Hyacinthe Rigaud, French painter
• 1670 - Giovanni Bononcini, Italian cellist and composer
• 1702 - Maria Clementina Sobieska, Polish noble
• 1718 - Saverio Bettinelli, Italian poet, playwright, and critic
• 1720 - Gilbert White, English ornithologist and ecologist
• 1724 - Maria Antonia of Bavaria, Electress of Saxony
• 1750 - Frederick Adolf, duke of Östergötland
• 1796 - Immanuel Hermann Fichte, German philosopher and academic
• 1811 - William Makepeace Thackeray, English author and poet
• 1818 - Louis Gerhard De Geer, Swedish lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Sweden
• 1821 - Pauline Viardot, French soprano and composer
• 1837 - Vasil Levski, Bulgarian priest and activist
• 1843 - Virgil Earp, American marshal
• 1845 - Tristan Corbière, French poet
• 1848 - W. G. Grace, English cricketer and physician
• 1853 - Hendrik Lorentz, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1861 - Kadambini Ganguly, Indian physician, one of the first Indian women to obtain a degree
• 1864 - Philip Snowden, 1st Viscount Snowden, English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer
• 1867 - Margaret Brown, American philanthropist and activist
• 1871 - Giacomo Balla, Italian painter
• 1871 - Sada Yacco, Japanese actress and dancer
• 1881 - Larry McLean, Canadian-American baseball player
• 1884 - Alberto di Jorio, Italian cardinal
• 1886 - Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr., American general
• 1887 - Vidkun Quisling, Norwegian military officer and politician, Minister President of Norway
• 1889 - Kōichi Kido, Japanese politician, 13th Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan
• 1890 - Frank Forde, Australian educator and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Australia
• 1892 - Arthur Friedenreich, Brazilian footballer
• 1893 - David Ogilvy, 12th Earl of Airlie, Scottish peer, soldier and courtier
• 1895 - Olga Spessivtseva, Russian-American ballerina
• 1895 - Machine Gun Kelly, American gangster
• 1897 - Ernest Eldridge, English race car driver and engineer
• 1898 - John Stuart, Scottish-English actor
• 1899 - Ernst Scheller, German soldier and politician, 8th Mayor of Marburg
• 1900 - Nathalie Sarraute, French lawyer and author
• 1902 - Jessamyn West, American author
• 1902 - Chill Wills, American actor
• 1905 - Robert Elton Brooker, American business executive
• 1906 - S. I. Hayakawa, Canadian-American academic and politician
• 1906 - Clifford Odets, American director, playwright, and screenwriter
• 1908 - Peace Pilgrim, American mystic and activist
• 1908 - Lupe Vélez, Mexican-American actress and dancer
• 1908 - Beatrice Aitchison, American mathematician, statistician, and transportation economist
• 1909 - Bishnu Dey, Indian poet, critic, and academic
• 1909 - Andrei Gromyko, Belarusian-Russian economist and politician, Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs
• 1909 - Mohammed Daoud Khan, Afghan commander and politician, 1st President of Afghanistan
• 1909 - Harriet Nelson, American singer and actress
• 1910 - Diptendu Pramanick, Indian businessman
• 1910 - Mamadou Dia, Senegalese politician; 1st Prime Minister of Senegal
• 1911 - Hume Cronyn, Canadian-American actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1913 - Red Skelton, American actor and comedian
• 1914 - Gino Bartali, Italian cyclist
• 1914 - Oscar Heisserer, French footballer
• 1915 - Carequinha, Brazilian clown and actor
• 1915 - Roxana Cannon Arsht, American judge
• 1915 - Louis Le Bailly, British Royal Navy officer
• 1916 - Charles Kittel, American physicist
• 1917 - Henri Salvador, French singer and guitarist
• 1917 - Paul Streeten, Austrian-born British economics professor
• 1918 - Nelson Mandela, South African lawyer and politician, 1st President of South Africa, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1919 - Lilia Dale, Italian actress
• 1920 - Eric Brandon, English race car driver and businessman
• 1921 - Peter Austin, English brewer, founded Ringwood Brewery
• 1921 - Aaron T. Beck, American psychiatrist and academic
• 1921 - John Glenn, American colonel, astronaut, and politician
• 1921 - Richard Leacock, English-French director and producer
• 1921 - Heinz Bennent, German actor
• 1922 - Thomas Kuhn, American physicist, historian, and philosopher
• 1923 - Jerome H. Lemelson, American engineer and businessman
• 1923 - Michael Medwin, English actor
• 1924 - Inge Sørensen, Danish swimmer
• 1924 - Tullio Altamura, Italian actor
• 1925 - Shirley Strickland, Australian runner and hurdler
• 1925 - Friedrich Zimmermann, German lawyer and politician, German Federal Minister of the Interior
• 1925 - Raymond Jones, Australian Modernist architect
• 1925 - Windy McCall, American baseball relief pitcher
• 1926 - Margaret Laurence, Canadian author and academic
• 1926 - Nita Bieber, American actress
• 1926 - Bernard Pons, French politician and medical doctor
• 1926 - Maunu Kurkvaara, Finnish film director and screenwriter
• 1927 - Mehdi Hassan, Pakistani ghazal singer and playback singer
• 1927 - Kurt Masur, German conductor and educator
• 1927 - Antonio García-Trevijano, Spanish republican, political activist, and author
• 1927 - Keith MacDonald, Canadian politician
• 1927 - Anthony Mirra, American gangster, member of the Bonanno Crime Family
• 1928 - Andrea Gallo, Italian priest and author
• 1928 - Baddiewinkle, American internet personality
• 1929 - Dick Button, American figure skater and actor
• 1929 - Screamin' Jay Hawkins, American R&B singer-songwriter, musician, and actor
• 1932 - Robert Ellis Miller, American director and screenwriter
• 1933 - Jean Yanne, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1933 - Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Russian poet and playwright
• 1934 - Edward Bond, English director, playwright, and screenwriter
• 1934 - Darlene Conley, American actress
• 1935 - Tenley Albright, American figure skater and physician
• 1935 - Jayendra Saraswathi, Indian guru, 69th Shankaracharya
• 1937 - Roald Hoffmann, Polish chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1937 - Hunter S. Thompson, American journalist and author
• 1938 - John Connelly, English footballer
• 1938 - Ian Stewart, Scottish keyboard player and manager
• 1938 - Paul Verhoeven, Dutch director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1939 - Brian Auger, English rock and jazz keyboard player
• 1939 - Dion DiMucci, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1939 - Jerry Moore, American football player and coach
• 1940 - James Brolin, American actor
• 1940 - Joe Torre, American baseball player and manager
• 1941 - Frank Farian, German songwriter and producer
• 1941 - Lonnie Mack, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1941 - Martha Reeves, American singer and politician
• 1942 - Giacinto Facchetti, Italian footballer
• 1942 - Adolf Ogi, Swiss politician, 84th President of the Swiss Confederation
• 1943 - Joseph J. Ellis, American historian and author
• 1944 - David Hemery, English hurdler and author
• 1945 - Pat Doherty, Irish Republican politician
• 1946 - Kalpana Mohan, Indian actress
• 1946 - John Naughton, Scottish-Irish journalist, author, and academic
• 1947 - Steve Forbes, American publisher and politician
• 1948 - Carlos Colón Sr., Puerto Rican-American wrestler and promoter
• 1948 - Jeanne Córdova, American journalist and activist
• 1948 - Graham Spanier, 16th President of Pennsylvania State University
• 1948 - Hartmut Michel, German biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1949 - Dennis Lillee, Australian cricketer and coach
• 1950 - Richard Branson, English businessman, founded Virgin Group
• 1950 - Jack Dongarra, American computer scientist and academic
• 1950 - Kostas Eleftherakis, Greek footballer
• 1950 - Glenn Hughes, American disco singer and actor
• 1950 - Jack Layton, Canadian political scientist, academic, and politician
• 1950 - Mark Udall, American educator and politician
• 1951 - Elio Di Rupo, Belgian chemist, academic, and politician, 68th Prime Minister of Belgium
• 1951 - Margo Martindale, American actress
• 1954 - Ricky Skaggs, American singer-songwriter, mandolin player, and producer
• 1955 - Bernd Fasching, Austrian painter and sculptor
• 1957 - Nick Faldo, English golfer and sportscaster
• 1957 - Keith Levene, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer
• 1960 - Simon Heffer, English journalist and author
• 1961 - Elizabeth McGovern, American actress
• 1961 - Alan Pardew, English footballer and manager
• 1961 - Pasi Rautiainen, Finnish footballer, coach, and manager
• 1962 - Shaun Micallef, Australian comedian, producer, and screenwriter
• 1963 - Marc Girardelli, Austrian-Luxembourgian skier
• 1963 - Martín Torrijos, Panamanian economist and politician, 35th President of Panama
• 1964 - Wendy Williams, American talk show host
• 1965 - Vesselina Kasarova, Bulgarian soprano
• 1966 - Dan O'Brien, American decathlete and coach
• 1967 - Vin Diesel, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1968 - Grant Bowler, New Zealand-Australian actor
• 1968 - Scott Gourley, Australian rugby player
• 1969 - Elizabeth Gilbert, American author
• 1969 - The Great Sasuke, Japanese wrestler and politician
• 1971 - Penny Hardaway, American basketball player and coach
• 1971 - Sukhwinder Singh, Indian singer-songwriter and actor
• 1974 - Alan Morrison, British poet
• 1975 - Torii Hunter, American baseball player
• 1975 - Daron Malakian, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
• 1975 - M.I.A., English rapper and producer
• 1976 - Elsa Pataky, Spanish actress
• 1976 - Go Soo-hee, South Korean actress
• 1977 - Alexander Morozevich, Russian chess player and author
• 1978 - Adabel Guerrero, Argentinian actress, singer, and dancer
• 1978 - Shane Horgan, Irish rugby player and sportscaster
• 1978 - Crystal Mangum, American murderer responsible for making false rape allegations in the Duke lacrosse case
• 1978 - Joo Sang-wook, South Korean actor
• 1978 - Ben Sheets, American baseball player and coach
• 1978 - Mélissa Theuriau, French journalist
• 1979 - Deion Branch, American football player
• 1979 - Joey Mercury, American wrestler and producer
• 1980 - Kristen Bell, American actress
• 1981 - Dennis Seidenberg, German ice hockey player
• 1982 - Ryan Cabrera, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1982 - Priyanka Chopra, Indian actress, singer, and film producer
• 1982 - Carlo Costly, Honduran footballer
• 1983 - Carlos Diogo, Uruguayan footballer
• 1983 - Aaron Gillespie, American singer-songwriter and drummer
• 1983 - Mikk Pahapill, Estonian decathlete
• 1983 - Jan Schlaudraff, German footballer
• 1985 - Chace Crawford, American actor
• 1985 - Panagiotis Lagos, Greek footballer
• 1985 - James Norton, English actor
• 1986 - Natalia Mikhailova, Russian ice dancer
• 1987 - Tontowi Ahmad, Indonesian badminton player
• 1988 - Änis Ben-Hatira, German-Tunisian footballer
• 1988 - César Villaluz, Mexican footballer
• 1989 - Jamie Benn, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1989 - Sebastian Mielitz, German footballer
• 1989 - Yohan Mollo, French footballer
• 1993 - Lee Tae-min, South Korean singer and actor
• 1993 - Michael Lichaa, Australian rugby league player
• 1994 - Nilo Soares, East Timorese footballer
• 1996 - Smriti Mandhana, Indian cricketer
• 1997 - Noah Lyles, American sprinter
• 2001 - Agustina Roth, Argentine BMX rider

  Deaths

• 707 - Emperor Monmu of Japan
• 715 - Muhammad bin Qasim, Umayyad general
• 912 - Zhu Wen, Chinese emperor
• 924 - Abu'l-Hasan Ali ibn al-Furat, Abbasid vizier
• 928 - Stephen II, patriarch of Constantinople
• 984 - Dietrich I, bishop of Metz
• 1100 - Godfrey of Bouillon, Frankish knight
• 1185 - Stefan, first Archbishop of Uppsala
• 1194 - Guy of Lusignan, king consort of Jerusalem
• 1232 - John de Braose, Marcher Lord of Bramber and Gower
• 1270 - Boniface of Savoy, Archbishop of Canterbury
• 1300 - Gerard Segarelli, Italian religious leader, founded the Apostolic Brethren
• 1450 - Francis I, Duke of Brittany
• 1488 - Alvise Cadamosto, Italian explorer
• 1566 - Bartolomé de las Casas, Spanish bishop and historian
• 1591 - Jacobus Gallus, Slovenian composer
• 1608 - Joachim Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg
• 1610 - Caravaggio, Italian painter
• 1639 - Bernard of Saxe-Weimar, German general
• 1650 - Robert Levinz, English Royalist, hanged in London by Parliamentary forces as a spy
• 1695 - Johannes Camphuys, Dutch politician, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies
• 1698 - Johann Heinrich Heidegger, Swiss theologian and author
• 1721 - Jean-Antoine Watteau, French painter
• 1730 - François de Neufville, duc de Villeroy, French general
• 1756 - Pieter Langendijk, Dutch poet and playwright
• 1792 - John Paul Jones, Scottish-American admiral and diplomat
• 1817 - Jane Austen, English novelist
• 1837 - Vincenzo Borg, Maltese merchant and rebel leader
• 1863 - Robert Gould Shaw, American colonel
• 1872 - Benito Juárez, Mexican lawyer and politician, 26th President of Mexico
• 1884 - Ferdinand von Hochstetter, Austrian geologist and academic
• 1887 - Dorothea Dix, American social reformer and activist
• 1890 - Lydia Becker, English journalist, author, and activist, co-founded the Women's Suffrage Journal
• 1892 - Thomas Cook, English travel agent, founded the Thomas Cook Group
• 1899 - Horatio Alger, American novelist and journalist
• 1916 - Benjamin C. Truman, American journalist and author
• 1925 - Louis-Nazaire Bégin, Canadian cardinal
• 1932 - Jean Jules Jusserand, French author and diplomat, French Ambassador to the United States
• 1937 - Julian Bell, English poet and academic
• 1938 - Marie of Romania
• 1944 - Thomas Sturge Moore, English author, poet, and playwright
• 1947 - Evald Tipner, Estonian footballer and ice hockey player
• 1948 - Herman Gummerus, Finnish historian, academic, and politician
• 1949 - Vítězslav Novák, Czech composer and educator
• 1949 - Francisco Javier Arana, Guatemalan Army colonel and briefly Guatemalan head of state
• 1950 - Carl Clinton Van Doren, American critic and biographer
• 1952 - Paul Saintenoy, Belgian architect and historian
• 1954 - Machine Gun Kelly, American gangster
• 1966 - Bobby Fuller, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1968 - Corneille Heymans, Belgian physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1969 - Mary Jo Kopechne, American educator and secretary
• 1973 - Jack Hawkins, English actor
• 1975 - Vaughn Bodē, American illustrator
• 1981 - Sonja Branting-Westerståhl, Swedish lawyer
• 1982 - Roman Jakobson, Russian–American linguist and theorist
• 1984 - Lally Bowers, English actress
• 1984 - Grigori Kromanov, Estonian director and screenwriter
• 1987 - Gilberto Freyre, Brazilian sociologist, anthropologist, historian, writer, painter, journalist and congressman
• 1988 - Nico, German singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and actress
• 1988 - Joly Braga Santos, Portuguese composer and conductor
• 1989 - Donnie Moore, American baseball player
• 1989 - Rebecca Schaeffer, American model and actress
• 1990 - Karl Menninger, American psychiatrist and author
• 1990 - Yun Posun, South Korean politician, 2nd President of South Korea
• 2001 - Mimi Fariña, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 2002 - Metin Toker, Turkish journalist and author
• 2004 - André Castelot, Belgian-French historian and author
• 2004 - Émile Peynaud, French wine maker
• 2005 - Amy Gillett, Australian cyclist and rower
• 2005 - William Westmoreland, American general
• 2006 - Henry Hewes, American theater writer
• 2007 - Jerry Hadley, American tenor
• 2007 - Kenji Miyamoto, Japanese politician
• 2009 - Henry Allingham, English soldier
• 2009 - Jill Balcon, English actress
• 2012 - Yosef Shalom Eliashiv, Lithuanian-Israeli rabbi and author
• 2012 - Jean François-Poncet, French politician and diplomat, French Minister of Foreign Affairs
• 2012 - Dawoud Rajiha, Syrian general and politician, Syrian Minister of Defense
• 2012 - Assef Shawkat, Syrian general and politician
• 2012 - Hasan Turkmani, Syrian general and politician, Syrian Minister of Defense
• 2012 - Rajesh Khanna, Indian actor
• 2013 - Vaali, Indian poet, songwriter, and actor
• 2013 - Olivier Ameisen, French-American cardiologist and academic
• 2014 - Andreas Biermann, German footballer
• 2014 - João Ubaldo Ribeiro, Brazilian journalist, author, and academic
• 2014 - Dietmar Schönherr, Austrian-Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter
• 2015 - Alex Rocco, American actor
• 2018 - Jonathan Gold, American food critic
• 2018 - Adrian Cronauer, American radio personality

  Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
• *Arnulf of Metz
• *Bartolomé de las Casas
• *Bruno of Segni
• *Camillus de Lellis
• *Eadburh of Bicester
• *Elizabeth Ferard
• *Frederick of Utrecht
• *Goneri of Brittany
• *Gundenis
• *Marina of Aguas Santas
• *Maternus of Milan
• *Minnborinus of Cologne
• *Pambo
• *Philastrius
• *Symphorosa
• *Teneu
• *Theodosia of Constantinople
• *July 18
• Constitution Day
• Nelson Mandela International Day