November 18 is the 322nd day of the year (323rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 43 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events[link]

• 326 – The old St. Peter's Basilica is consecrated.
• 401 – The Visigoths, led by king Alaric I, cross the Alps and invade northern Italy.
• 1105 – Maginulfo is elected the Antipope as Sylvester IV.
• 1210 – Pope Innocent III excommunicates Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV
• 1302 – Pope Boniface VIII issues the Papal bull Unam sanctam (One Faith).
• 1307 – William Tell shoots an apple off his son's head.
• 1421 – A seawall at the Zuiderzee dike in the Netherlands breaks, flooding 72 villages and killing about 10,000 people. This event will be known as Sint-Elisabethsvloed.
• 1493 – Christopher Columbus first sights the island now known as Puerto Rico.
• 1494 – French King Charles VIII occupies Florence, Italy.
• 1601 – Tiryaki Hasan Pasha, provincial governor of Ottoman Empire, utterly defeats Habsburg forces, commanded by Ferdinand the Archduke of Austria during the Siege of Nagykanizsa.
• 1626 – St. Peter's Basilica is consecrated.
• 1686 – Charles Francois Felix operates on King Louis XIV of France's anal fistula after practicing the surgery on several peasants.
• 1730 – Frederick II (known as Frederick the Great), King of Prussia, is granted a royal pardon and released from confinement.
• 1803 – The Battle of Vertières, the last major battle of the Haitian Revolution, is fought, leading to the establishment of the Republic of Haiti, the first black republic in the Western Hemisphere.
• 1809 – In a naval action during the Napoleonic Wars, French frigates defeat British East Indiamen in the Bay of Bengal.
• 1863 – King Christian IX of Denmark decides to sign the November constitution that declares Schleswig to be part of Denmark. This is seen by the German Confederation as a violation of the London Protocol and leads to the German–Danish war of 1864.
• 1865 – Mark Twain's short story The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County is published in the New York Saturday Press.
• 1883 – American and Canadian railroads institute five standard continental time zones, ending the confusion of thousands of local times.
• 1903 – The Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty is signed by the United States and Panama, giving the United States exclusive rights over the Panama Canal Zone.
• 1904 – General Esteban Huertas steps down after the government of Panama fears he wants to stage a coup.
• 1905 – Prince Carl of Denmark becomes King Haakon VII of Norway.
• 1909 – Two United States warships are sent to Nicaragua after 500 revolutionaries (including two Americans) are executed by order of José Santos Zelaya.
• 1916 – World War I: First Battle of the Somme – in France, British Expeditionary Force commander Douglas Haig calls off the battle which started on July 1, 1916.
• 1918 – Latvia declares its independence from Russia.
• 1926 – George Bernard Shaw refuses to accept the money for his Nobel Prize, saying, "I can forgive Alfred Nobel for inventing dynamite, but only a fiend in human form could have invented the Nobel Prize".
• 1928 – Release of the animated short Steamboat Willie, the first fully synchronized sound cartoon, directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks, featuring the third appearances of cartoon characters Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse. This is also considered by the Disney corporation to be Mickey's birthday.
• 1929 – 1929 Grand Banks earthquake: off the south coast of Newfoundland in the Atlantic Ocean, a Richter magnitude 7.2 submarine earthquake, centered on Grand Banks, breaks 12 submarine transatlantic telegraph cables and triggers a tsunami that destroys many south coast communities in the Burin Peninsula.
• 1930 – Soka Kyoiku Gakkai, a Buddhist association later renamed Soka Gakkai, is founded by Japanese educators Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and Josei Toda.
• 1938 – Trade union members elect John L. Lewis as the first president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
• 1940 – World War II: German leader Adolf Hitler and Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano meet to discuss Benito Mussolini's disastrous invasion of Greece.
• 1940 – New York City's "Mad Bomber" George Metesky places his first bomb at a Manhattan office building used by Consolidated Edison.
• 1943 – World War II– Battle of Berlin: 440 Royal Air Force planes bomb Berlin causing only light damage and killing 131. The RAF loses nine aircraft and 53 air crew.
• 1947 – The Ballantyne's Department Store fire in Christchurch, New Zealand, kills 41; it is the worst fire disaster in the history of New Zealand.
• 1949 – The Iva Valley Shooting occurs after the coal miners of Enugu in Nigeria go on strike over withheld wages; 21 miners are shot dead and 51 are wounded by police under the supervision of the British colonial administration of Nigeria.
• 1961 – United States President John F. Kennedy sends 18,000 military advisors to South Vietnam.
• 1963 – The first push-button telephone goes into service.
• 1970 – U.S. President Richard Nixon asks the U.S. Congress for $155 million USD in supplemental aid for the Cambodian government.
• 1978 – In Jonestown, Guyana, Jim Jones led his Peoples Temple cult to a mass murder-suicide that claimed 918 lives in all, 909 of them in Jonestown itself, including over 270 children. Congressman Leo J. Ryan is murdered by members of the Peoples Temple hours earlier.
• 1987 – Iran-Contra Affair: the U.S. Congress issues its final report on the Iran-Contra Affair.
• 1987 – King's Cross fire: in London, 31 people die in a fire at the city's busiest underground station, King's Cross St Pancras.
• 1988 – War on Drugs: U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs a bill into law allowing the death penalty for drug traffickers.
• 1991 – Shiite Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon release Anglican Church envoys Terry Waite and Thomas Sutherland.
• 1991 – After an 87-day siege, the Croatian city of Vukovar capitulates to the besieging Yugoslav People's Army and allied Serb paramilitary forces.
• 1993 – In the United States, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is ratified by the House of Representatives.
• 1993 – In South Africa, 21 political parties approve a new constitution.
• 1999 – In College Station, Texas, 12 are killed and 27 injured at Texas A&M University when the 59-foot-tall (18 m) Aggie Bonfire, under construction for the annual football game against the University of Texas, collapses at 2:42am.
• 2002 – Iraq disarmament crisis: United Nations weapons inspectors led by Hans Blix arrive in Iraq.
• 2003 – In the United Kingdom, the Local Government Act 2003, repealing controversial anti-gay amendment Section 28, becomes effective.

Births[link]

• 1522 – Lamoral, Count of Egmont, Flemish general and statesman (d. 1568)
• 1630 – Empress Eleanor Gonzaga of the Holy Roman Empire (d. 1686)
• 1647 – Pierre Bayle, French philosopher (d. 1706)
• 1727 – Philibert Commerçon, French naturalist (d. 1773)
• 1736 – Carl Friedrich Christian Fasch, German composer and harpsichordist (d. 1800)
• 1756 – Thomas Burgess, English author, philosopher and religious figure (d. 1837)
• 1772 – Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia (d. 1806)
• 1774 – Princess Wilhelmine of Prussia, Queen of the Netherlands (d. 1837)
• 1785 – Sir David Wilkie, Scottish painter (d. 1841)
• 1786 – Carl Maria von Weber, German composer (d. 1826)
• 1787 – Louis-Jacques Daguerre, French inventor and photographer (d. 1851)
• 1804 – Alfonso Ferrero la Marmora, Italian general and statesman (d. 1878)
• 1810 – Asa Gray, American botanist (d. 1888)
• 1832 – Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, Finnish-born Swedish explorer (d. 1901)
• 1836 – Sir W. S. Gilbert, British dramatist (d. 1911)
• 1839 – August Kundt, German physicist (d. 1894)
• 1856 – Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia (d. 1929)
• 1861 – Dorothy Dix, American journalist (d. 1951)
• 1874 – Clarence Day, American writer (d. 1935)
• 1880 – Naum Torbov, Bulgarian architect (d. 1952)
• 1882 – Amelita Galli-Curci, Italian soprano (d. 1963)
• 1882 – Jacques Maritain, French philosopher (d. 1973)
• 1883 – Carl Vinson, American politician (d. 1981)
• 1886 – Ferenc Münnich, Hungarian Communist politician (d. 1967)
• 1889 – Stanislav Kosior, Polish-born Soviet politician (d. 1939)
• 1897 – Patrick Blackett, British physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1974)
• 1898 – Joris Ivens, Dutch filmmaker (d. 1989)
• 1899 – Eugene Ormandy, Hungarian-born American violinist and conductor (d. 1985)
• 1901 – George Gallup, American statistician and pollster (d. 1984)
• 1901 – V. Shantaram, Indian filmmaker and actor (d. 1984)
• 1904 – Jean Paul Lemieux, Quebec painter (d. 1990)
• 1906 – Klaus Mann, German writer (d. 1949)
• 1906 – George Wald, American scientist, Nobel laureate (d. 1997)
• 1906 – Alec Issigonis, Greek-born British car designer (d. 1988)
• 1907 – Gustav Nezval, Czech actor (d. 1998)
• 1907 – Compay Segundo, Cuban guitarist, singer and composer (Buena Vista Social Club) (d. 2003)
• 1908 – Imogene Coca, American actress and comedian (d. 2001)
• 1909 – Johnny Mercer, American lyricist (d. 1976)
• 1911 – Attilio Bertolucci, Italian poet and writer (d. 2000)
• 1912 – Hilda Nickson, née Hilda Pressley, British novelist (d. 1977)
• 1913 – Endre Rozsda, French surrealist painter (d. 1999)
• 1914 – Haguroyama Masaji, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 36th Yokozuna (d. 1969)
• 1915 – Ken Burkhart, American baseball player and umpire (d. 2004)
• 1917 – Pedro Infante, Mexican actor and singer (d. 1957)
• 1918 – Sir Tasker Watkins, Welsh Victoria Cross recipient and rugby administrator (d. 2007)
• 1919 – Jocelyn Brando, American actress (d. 2005)
• 1919 – Georgia Carroll, American singer, fashion model, and actress (d. 2011)
• 1920 – Mustafa Khalil, 77th Prime Minister of Egypt (d. 2008)
• 1922 – Luis Somoza Debayle, 70th President of Nicaragua (d. 1967)
• 1923 – Anne Sargent, American actress
• 1923 – Alan Shepard, American astronaut (d. 1998)
• 1923 – Ted Stevens, American politician (d. 2010)
• 1924 – Alexander Mackenzie Stuart, Scottish jurist (d. 2000)
• 1924 – Les Lye, Canadian actor (d. 2009)
• 1925 – Gene Mauch, American baseball manager (d. 2005)
• 1927 – Hank Ballard, American rhythm 'n blues singer and songwriter (d. 2003)
• 1928 – Otar Gordeli, Georgian composer (d. 1994)
• 1928 – Salvador Laurel, Filipino politician (d. 2004)
• 1928 – Sheila Jordan, American jazz singer
• 1929 – Gianna D'Angelo, American soprano
• 1929 – Joey Forman, American comedian and comic actor (d. 1982)
• 1932 – Nasif Estéfano, Argentine racing driver (d. 1973)
• 1932 – Danny McDevitt, American baseball player (d. 2010)
• 1933 – Bruce Conner, American artist and filmmaker (d. 2008)
• 1934 – Vassilis Vassilikos, Greek writer and ambassador
• 1935 – Rudolf Bahro, German dissident (d. 1997)
• 1935 – Rodney Hall, Australian author
• 1936 – Don Cherry, American jazz trumpeter (d. 1995)
• 1936 – Ennio Antonelli, Italian cardinal
• 1939 – Margaret Atwood, Canadian poet, novelist, critic and essayist
• 1939 – Amanda Lear, Hong Kong-born French singer, TV presenter and model
• 1939 – Brenda Vaccaro, American actress
• 1940 – Qaboos bin Said al Said, Sultan of Oman
• 1941 – David Hemmings, British actor (d. 2003)
• 1942 – Linda Evans, American actress
• 1942 – Susan Sullivan, American actress
• 1943 – Leonardo Sandri, Argentine Catholic Cardinal
• 1944 – Wolfgang Joop, German artist and fashion designer
• 1945 – Wilma Mankiller, American tribal chief (d. 2010)
• 1945 – Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka
• 1946 – Alan Dean Foster, American writer
• 1947 – Jameson Parker, American actor
• 1948 – Andrea Marcovicci, American singer and actress
• 1948 – Jack Tatum, American football player (d. 2010)
• 1949 – Ahmed Zaki, Egyptian actor (d. 2005)
• 1950 – Dennis Haskins, American actor
• 1950 – Eric Pierpoint, American actor
• 1950 – Rudy Sarzo, Cuban-born American bassist (Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne's band, Whitesnake, Dio, Blue Öyster Cult)
• 1951 – Justin Raimondo, American author
• 1952 – Peter Beattie, Australian politician
• 1952 – Claudio Capone, Italian-born Scottish voice actor (d. 2008)
• 1952 – Delroy Lindo, British actor
• 1953 – Alan Moore, British comic book writer and novelist
• 1953 – Kevin Nealon, American comedian and actor
• 1954 – Evan Gray, New Zealand cricketer
• 1954 – John Parr, British pop singer
• 1955 – Carter Burwell, American composer
• 1955 – Michael Zimmer, German footballer
• 1956 – Noel Brotherston, Northern Irish footballer (d. 1995)
• 1956 – Warren Moon, American football player
• 1957 – Seán Mac Falls, Irish poet
• 1958 – Daniel Brailovsky, Argentine football manager
• 1958 – Plamen Krastev, Bulgarian hurdler
• 1958 – Oscar Nunez, Cuban-born American actor
• 1959 – Jimmy Quinn, Northern Irish footballer and football manager
• 1959 – Cindy Blackman, American jazz and rock drummer
• 1959 – Ulrich Noethen, German actor
• 1959 – Karla Faye Tucker, first woman to be executed in the United States since 1984 (d. 1998)
• 1960 – Elizabeth Perkins, American actress
• 1960 – Shari Shattuck, American actress and author
• 1960 – Kim Wilde, British singer
• 1961 – Nick Chinlund, American actor
• 1961 – Steven Moffat, Scottish television writer and producer
• 1961 – Jan Kuehnemund, American hard rock guitarist
• 1962 – Kirk Hammett, American guitarist (Metallica)
• 1962 – Jamie Moyer, American baseball player
• 1962 – Bart Bryant, American golfer
• 1963 – Len Bias, American basketball player (d. 1986)
• 1963 – Dante Bichette, American baseball player
• 1963 – Peter Schmeichel, Danish footballer
• 1963 – Joost Zwagerman, Dutch writer
• 1964 – Rita Cosby, American journalist
• 1965 – Tim DeLaughter, American singer and songwriter (Tripping Daisy, The Polyphonic Spree)
• 1967 – Tom Gordon, American baseball player
• 1967 – Jocelyn Lemieux, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1967 – Gavin Peacock, British Football player
• 1968 – Barry Hunter, Northern Irish footballer and manager
• 1968 – Romany Malco, American actor and music producer
• 1968 – Gary Sheffield, American baseball player
• 1968 – Owen Wilson, American actor and film-writer
• 1969 – Sam Cassell, American basketball player
• 1969 – Ahmed Helmi, Egyptian actor
• 1969 – Duncan Sheik, American singer and songwriter
• 1970 – Elizabeth Anne Allen, American actress
• 1970 – Mike Epps, American comedian
• 1970 – Megyn Kelly, American television news anchor
• 1970 – Johan Liiva, Swedish vocalist (Arch Enemy)
• 1970 – Peta Wilson, Australian actress
• 1972 – Jessi Alexander, American country music singer and songwriter
• 1972 – Jeroen Straathof, Dutch skater
• 1973 – Nic Pothas, South African cricket wicket-keeper
• 1974 – Chloë Sevigny, American actress
• 1975 – Shawn Camp, American baseball player
• 1975 – Anthony McPartlin, British actor, television presenter
• 1975 – Dirk Müller, German race car driver
• 1975 – Pastor Troy, American rapper
• 1975 – Jason Williams, American basketball player
• 1975 – David Ortiz, Professional Baseball Player
• 1976 – Sage Francis, American musician
• 1976 – Paulo César Pérez, Argentine footballer
• 1976 – Shagrath, Norwegian singer (Dimmu Borgir)
• 1976 – Matt Welsh, Australian swimmer
• 1976 – Mona Zaki, Egyptian actress
• 1977 – Trent Barrett, Australian rugby league footballer
• 1977 – Charles A. Lee, American athlete
• 1977 – Fabolous, American rapper
• 1978 – Damien Johnson, Northern Irish footballer
• 1980 – Luke Chadwick, English footballer
• 1980 – Minori Chihara, Japanese voice actress and singer
• 1980 – François Duval, Belgian rally driver
• 1980 – Denny Hamlin, American race car driver
• 1980 – Dustin Kensrue, American singer (Thrice)
• 1980 – Junichi Okada, Japanese singer (V6)
• 1980 – Mathew Baynton, English actor and writer
• 1981 – Shin Ji, Korean singer
• 1981 – Gian Magdangal, Filipino singer and actor
• 1981 – Nasim Pedrad, Iranian-born American comedienne
• 1981 – Vittoria Puccini, Italian actress
• 1981 – Christina Vidal, American actress
• 1982 – Greg Estandia, American football player
• 1983 – Travis Buck, American baseball player
• 1983 – Jon Johansen, Norwegian software developer
• 1984 – Ryohei Chiba, Japanese singer (W-inds)
• 1984 – Johnny Christ, American bassist (Avenged Sevenfold)
• 1985 – Christian Siriano, American fashion designer
• 1986 – Nic Sampson, New Zealand actor
• 1987 – Jake Abel, American actor
• 1988 – Montanna Thompson, English actress
• 1991 – Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, Thai tennis player
• 1992 – Nathan Kress, American actor
• 1992 – Steven Skrzybski, German footballer

Deaths[link]

• 1154 – Adélaide de Maurienne, queen consort of King Louis VI of France (b. 1092)
• 1305 – John II, Duke of Brittany (b. 1239)
• 1559 – Cuthbert Tunstall, English churchman (b. 1474)
• 1590 – George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, English statesman (b. 1528)
• 1724 – Bartolomeu de Gusmão, Portuguese naturalist (b. 1685)
• 1785 – Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, French soldier and writer (b. 1725)
• 1797 – Jacques-Alexandre Laffon de Ladebat, French shipbuilder and merchant (b. 1719)
• 1814 – William Jessop, British civil engineer (b. 1745)
• 1852 – Rose Philippine Duchesne French Catholic nun and saint (b. 1769)
• 1886 – Chester A. Arthur, 21st President of the United States (b. 1829)
• 1889 – William Allingham, Irish poet (b. 1824 or 1828)
• 1909 – Renée Vivien, English-born French poet (b. 1877)
• 1922 – Marcel Proust, French novelist (b. 1871)
• 1940 – Ivane Javakhishvili, Georgian historian (b. 1876)
• 1941 – Walther Nernst, German chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1864)
• 1941 – Chris Watson, 3rd Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1867)
• 1941 – Émile Nelligan, Quebec poet (b. 1879)
• 1952 – Paul Eluard, French poet (b. 1895)
• 1962 – Niels Bohr, Danish physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1885)
• 1965 – Henry A. Wallace, 33rd Vice President of the United States (b. 1888)
• 1969 – Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., American businessman (b. 1888)
• 1969 – Ted Heath, British trombonist, and bandleader (b. 1902)
• 1972 – Danny Whitten, American musician (Crazy Horse) (b. 1943)
• 1976 – Man Ray, American-born French photographer and painter (b. 1890)
• 1977 – Kurt Schuschnigg, Austrian politician (b. 1897)
• 1977 – Victor Francen, Belgian actor (b. 1888)
• 1978 – Jim Jones, American cult figure (Peoples Temple) (b. 1931)
• 1978 – Leo Ryan, American politician (b. 1925)
• 1979 – Freddie Fitzsimmons, American baseball player (b. 1901)
• 1980 – Conn Smythe, Canadian ice hockey administrator and racing horse owner (b. 1895)
• 1984 – Mary Hamman, American writer and editor (b. 1907)
• 1986 – Gia Carangi, American model (b. 1960)
• 1987 – Jacques Anquetil, French cyclist (b. 1934)
• 1991 – Gustáv Husák, Slovak-born Czech politician (b. 1913)
• 1994 – Cab Calloway, American bandleader (b. 1907)
• 1994 – Peter Ledger, Australian illustrator (b. 1945)
• 1998 – Tara Singh Hayer, Canadian journalist (b. 1936)
• 1999 – Paul Bowles, American novelist (b. 1910)
• 1999 – Doug Sahm, American musician (Sir Douglas Quintet, Flaco Jiménez) (b. 1941)
• 2002 – James Coburn, American actor (b. 1928)
• 2003 – Michael Kamen, American composer (b. 1948)
• 2004 – Cy Coleman, American composer, songwriter and pianist (b. 1929)
• 2005 – Harold J. Stone, American actor (b. 1911)
• 2009 – Red Robbins, American basketball player (b. 1944)
• 2010 – Brian G. Marsden, British astronomer (b. 1937)

Holidays and observances[link]

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Abhai of Hach (Syriac Orthodox Church)
  • Dedication of the Basilicas of Saints Peter and Paul
  • Juthwara (Roman Catholic Church)
  • Mabyn (Roman Catholic Church and Anglican communion)
  • Rose Philippine Duchesne (Roman Catholic Church)
  • November 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Latvia from Russia in 1918.
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Morocco from France and Spain in 1956.
• National Day (Oman)
• The main day of the Feast of the Virgen de Chiquinquirá or Chinita's Fair (Maracaibo, Venezuela)

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: November 18

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada