All Events

Historical Events on December 18

  • Portuguese Empire

    1622

    Portuguese forces score a military victory over the Kingdom of Kongo at the Battle of Mbumbi in present-day Angola.

  • New Jersey

    1787

    New Jersey becomes the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

  • World War I

    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.

  • Chicago Bears

    1932

    The Chicago Bears defeat the Portsmouth Spartans in the first NFL Championship Game.

  • World War II

    1939

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

  • Saturn

    1966

    Saturn's moon Epimetheus is discovered by astronomer Richard Walker.

  • Vietnam War

    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.

  • NASA

    1999

    NASA launches into orbit the Terra platform carrying five Earth Observation instruments, including ASTER, CERES, MISR, MODIS and MOPITT.

  • United Arab Emirates

    2006

    United Arab Emirates holds its first-ever elections.

All Births

Famous Birthdays on December 18

All Deaths

Famous Deaths on December 18

17. December

19. December