12 History Lessons + 5 Births & 7 Deaths for August 18, 2025
Today’s History:
- 1227 – Genghis Khan, founder of the Mongol Empire, dies in present-day China.
- 1587 – Virginia Dare becomes the first English child born in the Americas, on Roanoke Island.
- 1868 – French astronomer Pierre Janssen discovers helium while observing a solar eclipse.
- 1920 – The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified, granting American women the right to vote.
- 1958 – Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov is published in the U.S., stirring controversy.
- 1963 – James Meredith becomes the first African American to graduate from the University of Mississippi.
- 1969 – After three days, the Woodstock Music & Art Fair officially ends in Bethel, New York.
- 1983 – Hurricane Alicia hits Texas, killing 21 and causing over $2 billion in damage.
- 1989 – Leading Colombian presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galán is assassinated in Soacha.
- 1991 – Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is placed under house arrest during an attempted coup.
- 2005 – Dennis Rader, known as the BTK Killer, is sentenced to 10 consecutive life terms.
- 2008 – Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf resigns to avoid impeachment.
Today’s Birthdays:
- 1933 – Roman Polanski, film director (Chinatown, The Pianist) (92)
- 1957 – Denis Leary, comedian and actor (Rescue Me) (68)
- 1969 – Edward Norton, actor and filmmaker (Fight Club, American History X) (56)
- 1978 – Andy Samberg, comedian and actor (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Lonely Island) (47)
- 1992 – Maia Mitchell, actress and singer (The Fosters, Good Trouble) (33)
Today’s Deaths:
- 1227 – Genghis Khan, Mongol emperor and military strategist (~65)
- 1503 – Pope Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia), controversial Renaissance pope (72)
- 1817 – Jane Austen, beloved English novelist (Pride and Prejudice) (41)
- 1955 – Fernand Léger, French painter and sculptor (74)
- 1964 – J. Frank Dobie, American folklorist and writer (75)
- 1994 – Richard Synge, British biochemist and Nobel laureate (79)
- 2009 – Kim Dae-jung, former President of South Korea and Nobel Peace Prize winner (85)
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