TODAY IN HISTORY ― FEBRUARY 18

February 18 is the 49th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 316 days remaining until the end of the year (317 in leap years). This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Monday, Thursday or Saturday (58 in 400 years each) than on Tuesday or Wednesday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Friday or Sunday (56).

NATIONAL BATTERY DAY   

1129 – Jerusalem re-taken by Christians in peace treaty between Holy Roman Emperor Frederik II and Egyptian ruler Al-Kamil.  

1478 –  George, Duke of Clarence, convicted of treason against his older brother, Edward IV of England, is privately executed in the Tower of London.

1685 – Fort St. Louis is established by a Frenchman at Matagorda Bay, thus forming the basis for France's claim to Texas.

1804 – The first US land-grant college is established as Ohio University, Athens Ohio, is chartered.

1814 – The Battle of Montereau: Victory of the French under Napoleon Bonaparte against Austrians and Württembergers under the King of Württemberg.

1856 – The American Party (Know-Nothings) convenes in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to nominate its first Presidential candidate, former President Millard Fillmore.

1861 – Confederate President Jefferson Davis is inaugurated at Montgomery, AL (US Civil War).

1878 – John Tunstall is murdered by outlaw Jessie Evans, sparking the Lincoln County War in Lincoln County, New Mexico.

1901 – Winston Churchill makes his maiden speech in the British House of Commons.

1908 – The first US postage stamps in rolls are issued.

1922 – Kenesaw Mountain Landis resigns his judgeship to become the first commissioner of major league baseball, for life.

1929 – The first Academy Awards are announced.

1930 – American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto.

1944 – The youngest major league baseball player, pitcher Joe Nuxhall (15), is signed by the Cincinnati Reds.

1948 – After 16 years as head of independent Ireland, Eamon de Valera steps down as the taoiseach, or Irish prime minister, after his Fianna Fail Party fails to win a majority in the Dail Eireann (the Irish assembly).

1960 – Walter O'Malley, LA Dodger owner, purchases Chavez Ravine for $494,000, the site intended for the new Dodgers Stadium.

1967 – On February 18, 1967, J. Robert Oppenheimer, the "father of the atomic bomb," dies in Princeton, New Jersey, at the age of 62.

1970 – The "Chicago Seven" defendants are found innocent of inciting to riot.


1977 – The Space Shuttle Enterprise, piggy-backed on a Boeing 747, goes on it's maiden "flight."


2001 – FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested for spying for the Soviet Union. He was ultimately convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

2001 – A multiple car crash on the last lap of the Daytona 500 race claims the life of legendary NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt.


2003 – Comet C/2002 V1 (NEAT) makes perihelion, seen by SOHO.

2011 – In a Kent, Washington, courtroom, Gary Leon Ridgway pleads guilty to the 1982 aggravated, first-degree murder of his 49th victim, 20-year-old Rebecca Marrero. 


2014 – The 2014 Ukrainian Revolution begins.

TODAY'S BIRTHS

1817 – Lewis Armistead, American general (d. 1863)

1838 – Ernst Mach, Austrian physicist and philosopher, Mach Number (d. 1916)

1848 – Louis Comfort Tiffany, American stained glass artist (d. 1933)

1849 – Alexander Kielland, Norwegian author, playwright, and politician (d. 1906)

1862 – Charles M. Schwab, American businessman, co-founded Bethlehem Steel (d. 1939)

1898 – Enzo Ferrari, Italian race car driver and businessman, founded Ferrari (d. 1988)

1906 – Hans Asperger, Austrian pediatrician and academic, Aspberger'sSyndrome (d. 1980)

1922 – Helen Gurley Brown, American journalist and author (d. 2012)

From Wikipedia and Google (images), ex as noted.