On this day: June 18

Events on June 18

• 656 Ali becomes Caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate. Wikipedia
• 860 Byzantine–Rus' War: A fleet of about 200 Rus' vessels sails into the Bosphorus and starts pillaging the suburbs of the Byzantine capital Constantinople. Wikipedia
• 1391 Tokhtamysh–Timur war: Battle of the Kondurcha River: Timur defeats Tokhtamysh of the Golden Horde in present-day southeast Russia. Wikipedia
• 1633 Charles I is crowned King of Scots at St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh. Wikipedia
• 1778 American Revolutionary War: The British Army abandons Philadelphia. Wikipedia
• 1812 The United States declaration of war upon the United Kingdom is signed by President James Madison, beginning the War of 1812. Wikipedia
• 1815 War of the Seventh Coalition: Napoleon fought and lost his final battle, the Battle of Waterloo, in present-day Belgium. Wikipedia
• 1815 Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Waterloo results in the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte by the Duke of Wellington and Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, forcing Napoleon to abdicate the throne of France for the second and last time. Wikipedia
• 1858 Charles Darwin received a manuscript by fellow naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace on natural selection, which encouraged him to publish his own theory of evolution. Wikipedia
• 1858 Charles Darwin receives a paper from Alfred Russel Wallace that includes nearly identical conclusions about evolution as Darwin's own, prompting Darwin to publish his theory. Wikipedia
• 1907 Most resistance societies in Santiago return to work, bringing an end to the 1907 Chilean general strike. Wikipedia
• 1940 World War II: Charles de Gaulle gave his Appeal of 18 June speech, often considered to be the origin of the French Resistance. Wikipedia
• 1940 World War II: Appeal of 18 June by Charles de Gaulle. Wikipedia
• 1940 World War II: The "Finest Hour" speech is delivered by Winston Churchill. Wikipedia
• 1945 William Joyce ("Lord Haw-Haw") is charged with treason for his pro-German propaganda broadcasting during World War II. Wikipedia
• 1946 Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia, a Socialist, calls for a Direct Action Day against the Portuguese in Goa. Wikipedia
• 1953 The Egyptian revolution of 1952 ends with the overthrow of the Muhammad Ali dynasty and the declaration of the Republic of Egypt. Wikipedia
• 1954 Carlos Castillo Armas led a CIA-sponsored invasion force across the Guatemalan border, beginning the 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état. Wikipedia
• 1965 Vietnam War: The United States Air Force uses B-52 bombers to attack guerrilla fighters in South Vietnam. Wikipedia
• 1967 American musician Jimi Hendrix burned his guitar on stage at the end of a performance at the Monterey International Pop Festival in California. Wikipedia
• 1979 SALT II is signed by the United States and the Soviet Union. Wikipedia
• 1983 Iranian teenager Mona Mahmudnizhad and nine other women were hanged in Shiraz because of their membership in the Baháʼí Faith. Wikipedia
• 1983 Mona Mahmudnizhad, together with nine other women of the Baháʼí Faith, is sentenced to death and hanged in Shiraz, Iran, over her religious beliefs. Wikipedia
• 1998 Propair Flight 420 crashes near Montréal–Mirabel International Airport in Quebec, Canada, killing 11. Wikipedia
• 2006 The first Kazakh space satellite, KazSat-1, is launched. Wikipedia
• 2023 Titan, a submersible operated by OceanGate Expeditions, implodes in the North Atlantic Ocean while attempting to view the wreck of the Titanic, killing all five people on board, including OceanGate co-founder and CEO Stockton Rush. Wikipedia

Born on June 18

• 1332 John V Palaiologos, Byzantine Emperor (died 1391) Wikipedia
• 1799 William Lassell, English astronomer and merchant (died 1880) Wikipedia
• 1812 Ivan Goncharov, Russian journalist and author (died 1891) Wikipedia
• 1816 Hélène Napoleone Bonaparte, French daughter of Napoleon (died 1907) Wikipedia
• 1845 Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran, French physician and parasitologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1922) Wikipedia
• 1868 Miklós Horthy, Hungarian admiral and politician, Regent of Hungary (died 1957) Wikipedia
• 1882 Georgi Dimitrov, Bulgarian compositor and politician, 32nd Prime Minister of Bulgaria (died 1949) Wikipedia
• 1884 Édouard Daladier, French captain and politician, Prime Minister of France (died 1970) Wikipedia
• 1901 Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia (died 1918) Wikipedia
• 1918 Jerome Karle, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2013) Wikipedia
• 1918 Franco Modigliani, Italian-American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2003) Wikipedia
• 1929 Jürgen Habermas, German sociologist and philosopher (died 2026) Wikipedia
• 1931 Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Brazilian sociologist, academic, and politician, 34th President of Brazil Wikipedia
• 1932 Dudley R. Herschbach, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 1942 Paul McCartney, English singer-songwriter and guitarist Wikipedia
• 1942 Thabo Mbeki, South African politician and 2nd President of South Africa Wikipedia
• 1942 Roger Ebert, American journalist, critic, and screenwriter (died 2013) Wikipedia
• 1946 Fabio Capello, Italian footballer and manager Wikipedia
• 1949 Lech Kaczyński, Polish lawyer and politician, 4th President of Poland (died 2010) Wikipedia
• 1949 Jarosław Kaczyński, Polish lawyer and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Poland Wikipedia
• 1952 Isabella Rossellini, Italian actress, director, producer, and screenwriter Wikipedia
• 1989 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, French-born Gabonese footballer Wikipedia

Died on June 18

• 741 Leo III the Isaurian, Byzantine emperor (born 685) Wikipedia
• 1464 Rogier van der Weyden, Flemish painter (born 1400) Wikipedia
• 1902 Samuel Butler, English novelist, satirist, and critic (born 1835) Wikipedia
• 1928 Roald Amundsen, Norwegian pilot and explorer (born 1872) Wikipedia
• 1936 Maxim Gorky, Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright (born 1868) Wikipedia
• 1937 Gaston Doumergue, French politician, 13th President of France (born 1863) Wikipedia
• 1959 Ethel Barrymore, American actress (born 1879) Wikipedia
• 1971 Paul Karrer, Russian-Swiss chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1889) Wikipedia
• 1974 Georgy Zhukov, Russian marshal and politician, Minister of Defence for the Soviet Union (born 1896) Wikipedia
• 2010 José Saramago, Portuguese novelist Nobel Prize laureate (born 1922) Wikipedia
• 2015 Ralph J. Roberts, American businessman, co-founded Comcast (born 1920) Wikipedia
• 2018 XXXTentacion, American rapper (born 1998) Wikipedia
• 2020 Vera Lynn, English singer who was the "Forces' Sweetheart" in World War II (born 1917) Wikipedia
• 2024 Anouk Aimée, French actress (born 1932) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Autistic Pride Day (International) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Bernard Mizeki (Anglican and Episcopal Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Elisabeth of Schönau Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Gregorio Barbarigo Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Leontius, Hypatius and Theodulus Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Marina the Monk (Maronite Church, Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Mark and Marcellian Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Osanna of Mantua Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: June 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Foundation Day (Benguet) Wikipedia
• Human Rights Day (Azerbaijan) Wikipedia
• National Day (Seychelles) Wikipedia
• Queen Mother's Birthday (Cambodia) Wikipedia
• Waterloo Day (United Kingdom) Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “June 18” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.