Historical Events on July 18
- 645: Li Shiji leads Chinese forces on an attack of Liaoning during the Goguryeo Tang War.
- 1195: The Castilian Army led by Alfonso VIII is defeated and forced to retreat to Toledo during the Battle of Alarcos by Almohad troops.
- 1290: The Edict of Expulsion is issued by King Edward I of England. This act banished all Jews from England.
- 1389: A 13-year peace is negotiated between England and France and formalized in the Truce of Leulinghem. It’s the longest peace of the 100 Years War.
- 1792: Revolutionary war hero John Paul Jones dies on this day.
- 1806: Over 200 people are killed in Birgu, Malta, when a gunpowder magazine ignites and explodes on this date.
- 1863: An unsuccessful assault on Confederate Battery Wagner is attempted by the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry – one of the first African American military units during the American Civil War.
- 1870: The dogma of papal infallibility is decreed by the First Vatican Council.
- 1872: the Ballot Act of 1872 is introduced in the U.K. This act requires all local government and parliamentary elections to be held using a secret ballot.
- 1914: The Aviation Section of the United States Signal Corps is formed by the United States Congress.
- 1925: Mein Kampf is published by Adolf Hitler.
- 1942: Norwegian paramilitary guards and members of Germany’s SS kill almost 300 political prisoners from Yugoslavia at the Beisfjord Massacre of Norway during World War 2.
- 1942: The Messerschmitt Me 262 is flown for the first time using its jet engines.
- 1944: Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo resigns his position.
Famous Birthdays on July 18
- American gangster Machine Gun Kelly is born in 1895.
- American author Jessamyn West is born in 1902.
- American singer and actress, Harriet Nelson is born in 1909.
- American comedian and actor, Red Skelton is born in 1913.
- South African activist, President and Nobel Prize laureate, Nelson Mandela is born in 1918.
- American psychiatrist Aaron T. Beck is born in 1921
- American Colonel, astronaut and politician, John Glenn is born in 1921.
- American physicist and historian, Thomas Kuhn is born in 1922.
- English actor Michael Medwin is born in 1923.
- English businessman and founder of Virgin Group, Richard Branson is born in 1950.
- American actress Margo Martindale is born in 1951.
- American actress Elizabeth McGovern is born in 1961.