History of the Day for:
February 18
- 1516: Mary I, Queen of England, was born. Queen from 1553, she became known as "Bloody Mary" after her campaign against Protestants in England.
- 1546: Martin Luther, German Augustinian Friar and leader of the 16th century Protestant reformation, died.
- 1564: Michelangelo Buonarotti died. His works included the Sistine Chapel, "The Last Judgment" and the statue of "David."
- 1841: The first continuous filibuster in the U.S. Senate began, lasting until March 11.
- 1861: Jefferson Davis was sworn in as president of the Confederate States of America in Montgomery, Ala.
- 1885: Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" was published in the United States for the first time.
- 1908: U.S. postage stamps were sold for the first time.
- 1913: The famous French painting "Nude Descending a Staircase" was displayed at an armory show in New York City. The work was thought of as America's first exposure to modern art.
- 1930: Clyde William Tombaugh, working with photographic plates at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Ariz., discovered the planet Pluto.
- 1953: "Bwana Devil," the first 3?D movie, opened in New York.
- 1970: the Chicago Seven defendants were found innocent of conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic national convention.
- 1972: The California Supreme Court in the case of People v. Anderson, 6 Cal.3d 628 invalidates the state's death penalty and commutes the sentences of all death row inmates to life in prison.
- 1977: The Space Shuttle Enterprise test vehicle is carried on its maiden "flight" sitting on top of a Boeing 747.
- 1979: Snow fell in the Sahara Desert in southern Algeria for the only recorded time in history.
- 1983: Thirteen people die and one is seriously injured in the Wah Mee Massacre in Seattle, Washington. It is said to be the largest robbery-motivated mass-murder in U.S. history.
- 1991: The IRA explodes bombs in the early morning at both Paddington station and Victoria station in London.
- 1998: Two white separatists are arrested in Nevada and accused of plotting a biological attack on New York City subways.
- 2001: FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested for spying for the Soviet Union. He is ultimately convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
- 2001: Seven time Winston Cup Champion Dale Earnhardt dies as a result of a last lap accident in turn four of the Daytona 500.
- 2003: Nearly 200 people die in the Daegu subway fire in South Korea.
- 2003: Comet C/2002 V1 (NEAT) makes perihelion, seen by SOHO.
- 2004: Up to 295 people, including nearly 200 rescue workers, die near Neyshabur in Iran when a run-away freight train carrying sulfur, petrol and fertilizer catches fire and explodes.