Wednesday, December 18, 2013

December 18th in History


1271 - Kublai Khan renames his empire "Yuan" (元 yuán), officially marking the start of the Yuan Dynasty of Mongolia and China.

1642 - Abel Tasman becomes first European to land in New Zealand.

1777 - The United States celebrates its first Thanksgiving, marking the recent victory by the Americans over General John Burgoyne in the Battle of Saratoga in October.

1916 - World War I: The Battle of Verdun ends when German forces under Chief of staff Erich von Falkenhayn are defeated by the French, and suffer 337,000 casualties.

1939 - World War II: The Battle of the Heligoland Bight, the first major air battle of the war, takes place.

1956 - Japan joins the United Nations.

1972 - Vietnam War: President Richard Nixon announces that the United States will engage North Vietnam in Operation Linebacker II, a series of Christmas bombings, after peace talks collapsed with North Vietnam on the 13th.

1978 - Dominica joins the United Nations.

1989 - The European Economic Community and the Soviet Union sign an agreement on trade and commercial and economic cooperation.

2005 - The civil war in Chad begins when rebel groups, allegedly backed by neighbouring Sudan, launch an attack in Adré.

2006 - United Arab Emirates holds its first-ever elections.

2010 -  Governmental protests begin in Tunisia, beginning the Arab Spring

Famous Birthdays:

1825 - Charles Griffin, general

1863 - Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria

1888 - Dame Gladys Cooper, actress

1913 - Willy Brandt, Chancellor of Germany

1928 - Mirza Tahir Ahmad, Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community

1943 - Keith Richards, guitarist

1963 - Brad Pitt, actor

1978 - Katie Holmes, actress

1980 - Christina Aguilera, singer

1989 - Ashley Benson, actress

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