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

February 18: Facts & Myths About This Day

February 18 is the 49^th day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 316 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Tuesday.

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

When this day started, 28,997,280 minutes 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 ‘tetracontaenneagon’ day.

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

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 364 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 4,442 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

February 18 Historical Events

• 1478 –
  George, Duke of Clarence, convicted of treason against his older brother Edward IV of England, is executed in private at the Tower of London.
• 1637 –
  Eighty Years’ War: Off the coast of Cornwall, England, a Spanish fleet intercepts an important Anglo-Dutch merchant convoy of 44 vessels escorted by 6 warships, destroying or capturing 20 of them.
• 1745 –
  The city of Surakarta, Central Java is founded on the banks of Bengawan Solo River, and becomes the capital of the Kingdom of Surakarta.
• 1781 –
  Fourth Anglo-Dutch War: Captain Thomas Shirley opened his expedition against Dutch colonial outposts on the Gold Coast of Africa (present-day Ghana).
• 1865 –
  Union forces under Major General William T. Sherman set the South Carolina State House on fire during the burning of Columbia.
• 1958 –
  New Year’s Day in Chinese calendar. Start of the year of the Earth Dog in Chinese astrology.
• 1970 –
  The Chicago Seven are found not guilty of conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
• 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.
• 2001 –
  Inter-ethnic violence between Dayaks and Madurese breaks out in Sampit, Indonesia, that will ultimately result in more than 500 deaths and 100,000 Madurese displaced from their homes.
• 2003 –
  Nearly 200 people die in the Daegu subway fire in South Korea.

Who were born on February 18?

• 1745 –
  Alessandro Volta, Italian physicist (d. 1827)
• 1884 –
  Andrew Watson Myles, Canadian politician (d. 1970)
• 1902 –
  Walter Herbert, German-born conductor and impresario (d. 1975)
• 1922 –
  Helen Gurley Brown, American editor
• 1933 –
  Yoko Ono, Japanese-born American singer and performance artist
• 1934 –
  Audre Lorde, Caribbean poet and activist (d. 1992)
• 1947 –
  Eliot Lance Engel, American politician
• 1950 –
  John Hughes, American film director (d. 2009)
• 1960 –
  Greta Scacchi, Australian actress
• 1974 –
  Carrie Ann Baade, American painter

Who died on February 18?

• 1546 –
  Martin Luther, German religious reformer (b. 1483)
• 1743 –
  Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici, last of the Medicis (b. 1667)
• 1772 –
  Johann Hartwig Ernst, Count von Bernstorff, Danish statesman (b. 1712)
• 1893 –
  Serranus Clinton Hastings, American politician (b. 1814)
• 1938 –
  David King Udall, American politician (b. 1851)
• 1942 –
  Albert Payson Terhune, American author (b. 1872)
• 1957 –
  Henry Norris Russell, American astronomer (b. 1877)
• 1993 –
  Erwin Thiesies, German rugby player and coach (b. 1908)
• 1997 –
  Emily Hahn, American writer (b. 1905)
• 2010 –
  John Babcock, Last known Canadian veteran of World War I (b. 1900)