Portal:United States/On this day/February 18

February 18:

Events

• 1841 - The first ongoing filibuster in the United States Senate begins and lasts until March 11.
• 1856 - The American Party (Know-Nothings) convene in Philadelphia to nominate their first Presidential candidate, former President Millard Fillmore.
• 1861 - In Montgomery, Alabama, Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as the provisional President of the Confederate States of America.
• 1865 - Union forces under Major General William T. Sherman set the South Carolina State House on fire during the burning of Columbia.
• 1878 - The Lincoln County War begins in Lincoln County, New Mexico.
• 1885 - Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is published for the first time
• 1929 - First Academy Awards are announced.
• 1930 - Elm Farm Ollie becomes the first cow to fly in a fixed-wing aircraft and also the first cow to be milked in an aircraft.
• 1954 - The first Church of Scientology is established in Los Angeles.
• 1969 - Hawthorne Nevada Airlines Flight 708 disaster kills all on board.
• 1970 - The Chicago Seven are found not guilty of conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
• 1972 - The California Supreme Court in the case of People v. Anderson, 6 Cal.3d 628 invalidates the state's death penalty and commutes the sentences of all death row inmates to life in prison.
• 1977 - The Space Shuttle Enterprise test vehicle goes on its maiden "flight" while sitting on top of a Boeing 747.
• 1983 - Thirteen people die and one is seriously injured in the Wah Mee Massacre in Seattle, said to be the largest robbery-motivated mass-murder in American history.
• 1998 - Two white separatists are arrested in Nevada and accused of plotting a biological attack on New York City subways.
• 2001 - FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested for spying for the Soviet Union. He was ultimately convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
• 2001 - Dale Earnhardt is killed in a crash during the final lap of the Daytona 500, which was won by Michael Waltrip, driving in a car that Earnhardt owned. His son, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. finished second.

Births

• 1848 - Louis Comfort Tiffany, American glass artist (d. 1933)
• 1870 - William Laurel Harris, American mural painter, writer (d. 1924)
• 1890 - Edward Arnold, American actor (d. 1956)
• 1890 - Adolphe Menjou, American actor (d. 1963)
• 1892 - Wendell Willkie, American politician (d. 1944)
• 1907 - Oscar Brodney, American screenwriter (d. 2008)
• 1909 - Wallace Stegner, American writer (d. 1993)
• 1914 - Pee Wee King, American country musician and songwriter (d. 2000)
• 1918 - Jane Loevinger, American psychologist (d. 2008).
• 1919 - Jack Palance, American actor (d. 2006)
• 1920 - Bill Cullen, American game show host (d. 1990)
• 1922 - Helen Gurley Brown, American editor
• 1922 - Allan Melvin, American actor (d. 2008)
• 1927 - John Warner, American politician
• 1930 - Gahan Wilson, American cartoonist
• 1931 - Johnny Hart, American cartoonist (d. 2007)
• 1931 - Toni Morrison, American writer, Nobel laureate
• 1931 - Bob St. Clair, American football player
• 1936 - Jean Auel, American writer
• 1939 - Dal Maxvill, American baseball player
• 1941 - Irma Thomas, American singer
• 1945 - Judy Rankin, American golfer
• 1947 - Dennis DeYoung, American musician (STYX)
• 1947 - Eliot Lance Engel, American politician
• 1948 - Keith Knudsen, American drummer and songwriter (The Doobie Brothers) (d. 2005)
• 1949 - Gary Ridgway, American serial killer
• 1950 - John Hughes, American director
• 1950 - Cybill Shepherd, American actress
• 1952 - Maurice Lucas, American basketball player
• 1952 - Juice Newton, American singer
• 1954 - John Travolta, American actor
• 1957 - Vanna White, American game show presenter
• 1958 - Gar Samuelson, American drummer (d. 1999)
• 1962 - Julie Strain, American actress
• 1964 - Matt Dillon, American actor
• 1965 - Dr. Dre, American rapper
• 1965 - Gregory Scott Johnson, American murderer (d. 2005)
• 1966 - Guy Ferland, American television director
• 1967 - Tracey Edmonds, American film and television producer
• 1968 - Molly Ringwald, American actress
• 1969 - Jason Sutter, American drummer (Smash Mouth, American Hi-Fi)
• 1970 - Susan Egan, American actress
• 1974 - Jamey Carroll, American baseball player
• 1976 - Leilani Munter, American race car driver
• 1977 - Sean Watkins, American guitarist and songwriter
• 1981 - Alex Ríos, American baseball player
• 1983 - Juelz Santana, American rapper
• 1983 - Jason Maxiell, American basketball player
• 1984 - Buddy Nielsen, American singer (Senses Fail)
• 1985 - Lee Boyd Malvo, American serial killer
• 1988 - Maiara Walsh, American actress

Deaths

• 1893 - Serranus Clinton Hastings, American politician (b. 1814)
• 1900 - Clinton L. Merriam, American politician (b. 1824)
• 1902 - Charles Lewis Tiffany, American founder of Tiffany & Co. (b. 1812)
• 1906 - John Batterson Stetson, American manufacturer (b. 1830)
• 1933 - James J. Corbett, American boxer (b. 1866)
• 1938 - David King Udall, American politician (b. 1851)
• 1942 - Albert Payson Terhune, American author (b. 1872)
• 1957 - Henry Norris Russell, American astronomer (b. 1877)
• 1967 - J. Robert Oppenheimer, American physicist (b. 1904)
• 1977 - Andy Devine, American actor (b. 1905)
• 1978 - Maggie McNamara, American actress (b. 1928)
• 1981 - John Knudsen Northrop, American aircraft manufacturer (b. 1895)
• 1993 - Kerry Von Erich, American professional wrestler (b. 1960)
• 1995 - Bob Stinson, American guitarist (b.1959)
• 1997 - Emily Hahn, American writer (b. 1905)
• 1998 - Harry Caray, American baseball broadcaster (b. 1914)
• 1999 - Noam Pitlik, American actor and director (b. 1932)
• 2001 - Dale Earnhardt, American race car driver (b. 1951)
• 2001 - Eddie Mathews, American baseball player (b. 1931)
• 2003 - Johnny Paycheck, American country singer/songwriter (b. 1938)
• 2006 - Richard Bright, American actor (b. 1937)

Holidays and observances

• 2008 - Presidents' Day