On this day: July 18

Events on July 18

• 362 Roman–Persian Wars: Emperor Julian arrives at Antioch with a Roman expeditionary force (60,000 men) and stays there for nine months to launch a campaign against the Persian Empire. Wikipedia
• 1290 King Edward I issued an edict to expel all Jews from England. Wikipedia
• 1334 The bishop of Florence blesses the first foundation stone for the new campanile (bell tower) of the Florence Cathedral, designed by the artist Giotto di Bondone. Wikipedia
• 1723 Johann Sebastian Bach directed the first performance of his cantata Erforsche mich, Gott, und erfahre mein Herz in Leipzig. Wikipedia
• 1806 An explosion at a gunpowder magazine in Birgu, Malta, killed an estimated 200 people. Wikipedia
• 1841 Pedro II, the last emperor of Brazil, was crowned at the Old Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro. Wikipedia
• 1863 American Civil War: Led by Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, one of the first African-American military units in the Union Army, spearheaded an assault on Fort Wagner, South Carolina. Wikipedia
• 1899 Newsboys from Long Island City turned over a distribution wagon for the New York Journal, marking the start of the Newsboys' strike of 1899. Wikipedia
• 1925 Adolf Hitler publishes Mein Kampf. Wikipedia
• 1936 Nationalist rebels attempted a coup against the Second Spanish Republic, sparking the Spanish Civil War. Wikipedia
• 1942 The Germans test fly the Messerschmitt Me 262 using its jet engines for the first time. Wikipedia
• 1944 World War II: Hideki Tōjō resigns as Prime Minister of Japan because of numerous setbacks in the war effort. Wikipedia
• 1949 Francisco Javier Arana, the chief of the Guatemalan armed forces, was killed in a shootout with supporters of President Juan José Arévalo. Wikipedia
• 1966 Angered by racism and poverty, African American residents of the Hough neighborhood of Cleveland began to riot for six days. Wikipedia
• 1966 Human spaceflight: Gemini 10 is launched from Cape Kennedy on a 70-hour mission that includes docking with an orbiting Agena target vehicle. Wikipedia
• 1968 Intel is founded in Mountain View, California. Wikipedia
• 1976 At the Olympic Games in Montreal, Nadia Comăneci became the first gymnast to score a perfect 10 for her routine on the uneven bars. Wikipedia
• 1984 Parts of the dismembered body of Swedish prostitute Catrine da Costa were found in Stockholm. Wikipedia
• 1984 A gunman massacred 21 people and injured 15 others at a McDonald's restaurant in the district of San Ysidro of San Diego, California. Wikipedia
• 1989 American actress Rebecca Schaeffer was shot and killed by Robert John Bardo, eventually prompting the passage of anti-stalking laws in California. Wikipedia
• 1994 The bombing of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (Argentine Jewish Community Center) in Buenos Aires kills 85 people (mostly Jewish) and injures 300. Wikipedia
• 1995 Selena's album Dreaming of You, instrumental in popularizing Tejano music, was posthumously released. Wikipedia
• 2012 A suicide bomber attacked an Israeli tour bus at Burgas Airport, Bulgaria, resulting in the military branch of Hezbollah being designated a terrorist organization by the European Union. Wikipedia
• 2014 The conviction of former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who had been found guilty of paying for an underage prostitute, was overturned on appeal. Wikipedia
• 2014 The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant requires Christians to either accept dhimmi status, emigrate from ISIL lands, or be killed. Wikipedia
• 2019 An arson attack at the studio of Kyoto Animation in Japan led to the deaths of 36 people. Wikipedia

Born on July 18

• 1552 Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1612) Wikipedia
• 1811 William Makepeace Thackeray, English author and poet (died 1863) Wikipedia
• 1837 Vasil Levski, Bulgarian priest and activist (died 1873) Wikipedia
• 1853 Hendrik Lorentz, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1928) Wikipedia
• 1887 Vidkun Quisling, Norwegian military officer and politician, Minister President of Norway (died 1945) Wikipedia
• 1900 Nathalie Sarraute, French lawyer and author (died 1999) Wikipedia
• 1909 Andrei Gromyko, Belarusian-Russian economist and politician, Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs (died 1989) Wikipedia
• 1918 Nelson Mandela, South African lawyer and politician, 1st President of South Africa, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2013) Wikipedia
• 1921 John Glenn, American colonel, astronaut, and politician (died 2016) Wikipedia
• 1922 Thomas Kuhn, American physicist, historian, and philosopher (died 1996) Wikipedia
• 1933 Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Russian poet and playwright (died 2017) Wikipedia
• 1937 Hunter S. Thompson, American journalist and author (died 2005) Wikipedia
• 1937 Roald Hoffmann, Polish chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 1938 Paul Verhoeven, Dutch director, producer, and screenwriter Wikipedia
• 1942 Giacinto Facchetti, Italian footballer (died 2006) Wikipedia
• 1950 Richard Branson, English businessman, founded Virgin Group Wikipedia
• 1951 Elio Di Rupo, Belgian chemist, academic, and politician, 68th Prime Minister of Belgium Wikipedia
• 1967 Vin Diesel, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter Wikipedia
• 1975 M.I.A., English rapper and producer Wikipedia
• 1975 Daron Malakian, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer Wikipedia
• 1980 Kristen Bell, American actress Wikipedia
• 1982 Priyanka Chopra, Indian actress, singer, and film producer Wikipedia

Died on July 18

• 1100 Godfrey of Bouillon, Frankish knight (born 1016) Wikipedia
• 1194 Guy of Lusignan, king consort of Jerusalem (born c. 1150) Wikipedia
• 1566 Bartolomé de las Casas, Spanish bishop and historian (born c.1484) Wikipedia
• 1610 Caravaggio, Italian painter (born 1571) Wikipedia
• 1721 Jean-Antoine Watteau, French painter (born 1684) Wikipedia
• 1817 Jane Austen, English novelist (born 1775) Wikipedia
• 1872 Benito Juárez, Mexican lawyer and politician, 26th President of Mexico (born 1806) Wikipedia
• 1938 Marie of Romania (born 1875) Wikipedia
• 1968 Corneille Heymans, Belgian physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1892) Wikipedia
• 1982 Roman Jakobson, Russian–American linguist and theorist (born 1896) Wikipedia
• 1988 Nico, German singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and actress (born 1938) Wikipedia
• 1990 Yun Posun, South Korean politician, 2nd President of South Korea (born 1897) Wikipedia
• 2012 Rajesh Khanna, Indian actor (born 1942) Wikipedia
• 2024 Bob Newhart, American comedian and actor (born 1929) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Arnulf of Metz Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Bruno of Segni Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Camillus de Lellis (optional memorial, United States only) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Eadburh (or Edburga) of Bicester Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Elizabeth Ferard (Church of England) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Frederick of Utrecht Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Maternus of Milan Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Pambo Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Philastrius Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Symphorosa Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Theodosia of Constantinople Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: July 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Constitution Day (Uruguay) Wikipedia
• Nelson Mandela International Day Wikipedia

Sources

• Wikipedia — “July 18” — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/July 18” — the anniversaries editors chose for the date and the article each one is about (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikidata — in how many language editions each entry's own article exists, used to fill the lists (CC0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• vacanza/holidays (open-source holiday rules, MIT licence) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-15)

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “July 18” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-15 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. Every anniversary that Wikipedia's editors selected for July 18 stays on the list; the remaining places, up to 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths, go to the entries whose own article — about the event itself, or else the person or thing it is about — appears in the most language editions (counted from Wikidata); an article about a person or thing, which covers far more than one day, counts half. An entry with no article of its own counts, also at half, by the least covered article it links, and one that links only places counts for nothing. Each list runs by year, and the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures, audio and video.