Summary of the Day ✨ 18 August (18/08)
Iceland held a funeral for its vanished Okjökull glacier as climate change claimed the once 15.5-square-mile ice sheet, while Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf resigned under impeachment threat amid terrorist attacks in Finland and Israel that killed 18 and wounded dozens, and Afghanistan’s Uzbin Valley ambush added to the war’s casualties.
Historical Events 📜
- 2019: One hundred activists, officials, and other concerned citizens in Iceland hold a funeral for Okjökull glacier, which has completely melted after having once covered six square miles (15.5 km2).
- 2017: The Turku terror attack occurs in Finland when a knifeman kills two and injures eight.
- 2011: A terrorist attack on Israel’s Highway 12 near the Egyptian border kills 16 and injures 40.
- 2008: The President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, resigns under threat of impeachment.
- 2008: War of Afghanistan: The Uzbin Valley ambush occurs.
- 2005: A massive power blackout hits the Indonesian island of Java; affecting almost 100 million people, it is one of the largest and most widespread power outages in history.
- 2003: One-year-old Zachary Turner is murdered in Newfoundland by his mother, who was awarded custody despite facing trial for the murder of Zachary’s father. The case was documented in the film Dear Zachary and led to reform of Canada’s bail laws.
- 1993: American International Airways Flight 808 crashes at Leeward Point Field at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, injuring the three crew members.
- 1989: Leading presidential hopeful Luis Carlos Galán is assassinated near Bogotá in Colombia.
- 1983: Hurricane Alicia hits the Texas coast, killing 21 people and causing over US$1 billion in damage (1983 dollars).
- 1977: Steve Biko is arrested at a police roadblock under Terrorism Act No. 83 of 1967 in King William’s Town, South Africa. He later dies from injuries sustained during this arrest, bringing attention to South Africa’s apartheid policies.
- 1976: The Korean axe murder incident in Panmunjom results in the deaths of two US Army officers.
- 1976: The Soviet Union’s robotic probe Luna 24 successfully lands on the Moon.
- 1973: Aeroflot Flight A-13 crashes after takeoff from Baku-Bina International Airport in Azerbaijan, killing 56 people and injuring eight.
- 1971: Vietnam War: Australia and New Zealand decide to withdraw their troops from Vietnam.
Famous Births 👶
- 2006: Summer McIntosh, Canadian swimmer
- 1999: Cassius Stanley, American basketball player
- 1998: Brian To’o, Australian-Samoan rugby league player
- 1998: Clairo, American singer-songwriter
- 1998: Nick Fuentes, American far-right political commentator
- 1997: Josephine Langford, Australian actress
- 1997: Renato Sanches, Portuguese footballer
- 1995: Alīna Fjodorova, Latvian figure skater
- 1995: Parker McKenna Posey, American actress
- 1994: Madelaine Petsch, American actress and YouTuber
- 1994: Morgan Sanson, French footballer
- 1994: Seiya Suzuki, Japanese baseball player
- 1993: Jung Eun-ji, South Korean singer-songwriter
- 1993: Maia Mitchell, Australian actress and singer
- 1992: Elizabeth Beisel, American swimmer
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2024: Ruth Johnson Colvin, American author and educator, founded ProLiteracy Worldwide (born 1916)
- 2024: Alain Delon, French-Swiss actor (born 1935)
- 2024: Phil Donahue, American talk show host and producer (born 1935)
- 2023: Lolita, the second-oldest orca in captivity (born ca. 1966)
- 2023: Al Quie, American politician, 35th Governor of Minnesota (born 1923)
- 2020: Ben Cross, English stage and film actor (born 1947)
- 2018: Denis Edozie, Nigerian Supreme Court judge (born 1935)
- 2018: Kofi Annan, Ghanaian diplomat and seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations (born 1938)
- 2017: Bruce Forsyth, English television presenter and entertainer (born 1928)
- 2017: Zoe Laskari, Greek actress and beauty pageant winner (born 1944)
- 2016: Ernst Nolte, German historian (born 1923)
- 2015: Khaled al-Asaad, Syrian archaeologist and author (born 1932)
- 2015: Roger Smalley, English-Australian pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1943)
- 2015: Suvra Mukherjee, wife of Indian president Pranab Mukherjee (born 1940)
- 2015: Louis Stokes, American lawyer and politician (born 1925)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- Christian feast day:
Agapitus of Palestrina - Christian feast day:
Alberto Hurtado - Christian feast day:
Daig of Inniskeen - Christian feast day:
Evan (or Inan) - Christian feast day:
Fiacre - Christian feast day:
Florus and Laurus - Christian feast day:
Helena of Constantinople (Roman Catholic Church) - Christian feast day:
August 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) - Arbor Day (Pakistan)
- Armed Forces Day (North Macedonia)
- Birthday of Virginia Dare (Roanoke Island)
- Constitution Day (Indonesia)
- Long Tan Day, also called Vietnam Veterans’ Day (Australia)
- National Science Day (Thailand)