What are the important events that happened on March 18? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
March 18: Facts & Myths About This Day
March 18 is the 77th day of the year 2023 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 288 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Saturday.
Under the Julian calendar, this day is March 5, 2023 – a Saturday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?
When this day started, 27,984,960 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 ‘heptacontaheptagon’ day.
Pisces is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Aquamarine is the modern birthstone for this month. Jade is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.
According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 329 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 3,739 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.
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If the Gregorian calendar is not reformed, the March equinox will fall on this day for the first time in AD 4092.
March 18 Historical Events
- 1241 –Mongols overwhelm Polish armies in Kraków in the Battle of Chmielnik and plunder the city.
- 1915 –World War I: Massive naval attack in Battle of Gallipoli. Three battleships are sunk during a failed British and French naval attack on the Dardanelles.
- 1944 –The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Italy kills 26 and causes thousands to flee their homes.
- 1945 –World War II: 1,250 American bombers attack Berlin.
- 1965 –Cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov, leaving his spacecraft Voskhod 2 for 12 minutes, becomes the first person to walk in space.
- 1968 –Gold standard: The U.S. Congress repeals the requirement for a gold reserve to back US currency.
- 1970 –Lon Nol ousts Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia.
- 1989 –In Egypt, a 4,400-year-old mummy is found nearby the Pyramid of Cheops.
- 1996 –A nightclub fire in Quezon City, Philippines kills 162.
- 2002 –U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: Operation Anaconda ends (started on March 2) after killing 500 Taliban and al Qaeda fighters with 11 allied troop fatalities.
Who were born on March 18?
- 1891 –Alice Cullen, Scottish politician (d. 1969)
- 1913 –Werner Mölders, German WWII fighter pilot (d. 1941)
- 1926 –Peter Graves, American actor (d. 2010)
- 1945 –Joy Fielding, Canadian novelist and actress
- 1955 –Jeff Stelling, English sports television presenter
- 1971 –Mariaan de Swardt, South African tennis player
- 1978 –Jonas Wallerstedt, Swedish footballer
- 1983 –Andy Sonnanstine, American baseball player
- 1986 –Bia Figueiredo, Brazilian racing driver
- 1991 –Constantinos Hilas, Greek director and actor
Who died on March 18?
- 1715 –William Fraser, 12th Lord Saltoun. Scottish patriot politician and landowner. (b. 1654)
- 1913 –King George I of Greece (b. 1845)
- 1941 –Henri Cornet, French cyclist (b. 1884)
- 1947 –William C. Durant, American automobile pioneer (b. 1861)
- 1962 –Walter W. Bacon, American politician (b. 1880)
- 1963 –Wanda Hawley, American actress (b. 1895)
- 1964 –Sigfrid Edström, Swedish sports official (b. 1870)
- 1996 –Odysseas Elytis, Greek poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
- 2000 –Eberhard Bethge, German theologian (b. 1909)
- 2001 –John Phillips, American musician (The Mamas & the Papas) (b. 1935)
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