Unforgettable Events On This Date February 18 in History

Check out the most unforgettable events that happened on February 18 throughout history. From major historical milestones to pop culture moments, this date has seen it all!

Whether you're a history buff or just curious about what happened on this day in the past, this video will give you a glimpse into the significant events that have shaped our world. Don't forget to share your favorite February 18 fact in the comments below:

1519 Hernán Cortés leaves Cuba for the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico with 11 ships and 500 men
1688 Quakers consider drafting formal protest of slavery in Germantown, Pennsylvania
1804, Ohio University, Chartered by the Ohio legislature as the 1st US land-grant college, is approved as Ohio University at Athens —the 1st university in Ohio; first classes are held in 1809
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 inaugurated at Montgomery, Alabama (US Civil War)
1879 Sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi is awarded a patent for his design for the Statue of Liberty
1885 Mark Twain publishes the "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" in the US
1901 Winston Churchill makes his maiden speech in the British House of Commons.
1903 "In Dahomey" the first African American musical to perform on Broadway opens at the New York Theater, starring George Walker and Bert Williams with music by Will Marion Cook
1930 US astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto
1954 The first Church of Scientology is established in Los Angeles, California
1965 Church deacon Jimmie Lee Jackson is beaten and shot during a peaceful march in Marion, Alabama. His death 8 days later inspires the Selma to Montgomery marches.
1965 Frank Gifford announces his retirement from football for broadcasting
1970 US President Richard Nixon launches the "Nixon doctrine”
1972 California Supreme Court abolishes death penalty
1977 American rock band KISS play their first concert in their hometown venue of Madison Square Garden in New York City
1977 Space Shuttle Enterprise takes its maiden flight affixed atop a Boeing 747 Shuttle Aircraft Carrier
1978 1st Iron Man Triathlon (swim, bike ride, marathon) held, Kona, Hawaii
1979 Mini-series "Roots: Next Generations" premieres on ABC TV
1986 Anti-smoking ad airs for 1st time on TV, featuring Yul Brynner: he died of smoking-induced lung cancer on 10th October 1985
1988 Anthony Kennedy, sworn in as 106th US Supreme Court Justice
2001 FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested for spying for the Soviet Union. He is ultimately convicted and sentenced to life in prison, where he dies
2016 Pope Francis questions US Presidential hopeful Donald Trump's Christianity over his call to build a wall on the Mexican border
2019 16 US states, including California and New York, band together to sue President Donald Trump over his use of emergency powers to build a border wall.
2019 25-year old murder of a woman solved when police in Minnesota run DNA though a genealogy site and find suspect
2019 British parliamentary committee issues scathing report on Facebook, accusing company of breaking privacy laws, calling for new regulations
2020 Boy Scouts of America files for bankruptcy amid hundreds of sexual abuse lawsuits, suspending those claims
2020 President Donald Trump commutes the 14-year sentence of former Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich's corruption conviction
2021 NASA's Perseverance rover successfully lands at Jezero Crater, Mars, on mission to find microfossils [1]
2021 Nearly seven million people required to boil their water in Texas as unusually harsh winter storm in the state continues
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