What are the important events that happened on August 18? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

August 18: Facts & Myths About This Day

August 18 is the 230^th day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 135 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Monday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is August 5, 2025 – a Monday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 487,632 hours has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.

Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘dihectatriacontagon’ day.

Leo is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Peridot is the modern birthstone for this month. Diamond is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 183 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.

The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,623 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

August 18 Historical Events

• 1634 –
  Urbain Grandier, accused and convicted of sorcery, is burned alive in Loudun, France.
• 1891 –
  Major hurricane strikes Martinique, leaving 700 dead.
• 1938 –
  The Thousand Islands Bridge, connecting New York State, United States with Ontario, Canada over the St. Lawrence River, is dedicated by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
• 1958 –
  Brojen Das from Bangladesh swims across the English Channel in a competition, as the first Bangali as well as the first Asian to ever do it. He became first among 39 competitors.
• 1958 –
  Vladimir Nabokov’s controversial novel Lolita is published in the United States.
• 1965 –
  Vietnam War: Operation Starlite begins – United States Marines destroy a Viet Cong stronghold on the Van Tuong peninsula in the first major American ground battle of the war.
• 1976 –
  In the Korean Demilitarized Zone at Panmunjeom, the Axe Murder Incident results in the death of two US soldiers.
• 1983 –
  Hurricane Alicia hits the Texas coast, killing 22 people and causing over USD $1 billion in damage (1983 dollars).
• 2005 –
  A Massive power blackout hits the Indonesian island of Java, affecting almost 100 million people, the largest and most widespread power outage in history.
• 2011 –
  The West Memphis Three are released from prison after 18 years in imprisonment.

Who were born on August 18?

• 1834 –
  Marshall Field, American retailer(d. 1906)
• 1900 –
  Glenn Albert Black, American archaeologist (d. 1964)
• 1952 –
  Ricky Villa, Argentine former footballer
• 1962 –
  Felipe Calderón, President of Mexico
• 1966 –
  Kang Soo-yeon, South Korean actress
• 1969 –
  Christian Slater, American actor
• 1969 –
  Everlast, American musician
• 1980 –
  Jeremy Shockey, American football player
• 1983 –
  Michael Montgomery, American football player
• 1988 –
  Jack Hobbs, English footballer

Who died on August 18?

• 353 –
  Decentius, Roman usurper
• 849 –
  Walafrid Strabo, German monk and theologian
• 1430 –
  Thomas de Ros, 9th Baron de Ros, English soldier and politician (drowned) (b. 1406)
• 1503 –
  Pope Alexander VI (b. 1431)
• 1683 –
  Charles Hart, English actor (b. 1625)
• 1944 –
  Ernst Thälmann, Leader of the Communist Party of Germany (b. 1886)
• 1950 –
  Julien Lahaut, Belgian communist politician (b. 1884)
• 2004 –
  Elmer Bernstein, American composer (b. 1922)
• 2006 –
  Jamie Astaphan, Caribbean-born physician (b. 1946)
• 2010 –
  Scott Davis, American Announcer of Track and Field (b. 1943)