Summary of the Day ✨ 18 March (18/03)
Violence erupted across multiple nations as Israel launched extensive airstrikes on Gaza killing hundreds, gunmen attacked Tunisia’s Bardo Museum killing tourists, and a Russian plane crashed en route to Turkey with no survivors. Meanwhile, Russia formally annexed Crimea through a parliamentary treaty, while a deadly nightclub fire in the Philippines claimed over 160 lives.
Historical Events 📜
- 2025: Israel launches widespread aerial bombardments and attacks on the Gaza Strip, killing at least 591 people, including children.
- 2015: The Bardo National Museum in Tunisia is attacked by gunmen. Twenty-four people, almost all tourists, are killed, and at least 50 other people are wounded.
- 2014: The parliaments of Russia and Crimea sign an accession treaty.
- 1997: The tail of a Russian Antonov An-24 charter plane breaks off while en route to Turkey, causing the plane to crash and killing all 50 people on board.
- 1996: A nightclub fire in Quezon City, Philippines kills 162 people.
- 1994: Bosnia’s Bosniaks and Croats sign the Washington Agreement, ending war between the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia and the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and establishing the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- 1990: Germans in the German Democratic Republic vote in the first democratic elections in the former communist dictatorship.
- 1990: In the largest art theft in US history, 12 paintings, collectively worth around $500 million, are stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.
- 1980: A Vostok-2M rocket at Plesetsk Cosmodrome Site 43 explodes during a fueling operation, killing 48 people.
- 1974: Güzel İstanbul, a nude sculpture by Gürdal Duyar in Istanbul, is torn down in the middle of the night.
- 1971: Peru: A landslide crashes into Yanawayin Lake, killing 200 people at the mining camp of Chungar.
- 1970: Lon Nol ousts Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia.
- 1969: The United States begins secretly bombing the Sihanouk Trail in Cambodia, used by communist forces to infiltrate South Vietnam.
- 1968: Gold standard: The U.S. Congress repeals the requirement for a gold reserve to back US currency.
- 1967: The supertanker Torrey Canyon runs aground off the Cornish coast.
Famous Births 👶
- 2002: Brenden Rice, American football player
- 1999: Diogo Dalot, Portuguese footballer
- 1998: Emmanuel Clase, Dominican baseball player
- 1997: Ciara Bravo, American actress
- 1997: Rieko Ioane, New Zealand rugby union player
- 1997: Jordan Whitehead, American football player
- 1997: Ivica Zubac, Croatian basketball player
- 1996: Skal Labissière, Haitian basketball player
- 1995: Irina Bara, Romanian tennis player
- 1995: Julia Goldani Telles, American actress and dancer
- 1994: Kris Dunn, American basketball player
- 1994: Ronnie Stanley, American football player
- 1993: Solo Sikoa, American wrestler
- 1992: Anthony Barr, American football player
- 1992: Trey Mancini, American baseball player
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2025: Kanzi, Bonobo research subject (born 1980)
- 2025: Jessie Hoffman Jr., American convicted murderer (born 1978)
- 2024: Thomas P. Stafford, American Air Force officer, test pilot, and NASA astronaut (born 1930)
- 2020: Alfred Worden, American test pilot, engineer and astronaut (born 1932)
- 2017: Chuck Berry, American guitarist, singer and songwriter (born 1926)
- 2016: Barry Hines, English author and screenwriter (born 1939)
- 2016: Jan Němec, Czech director and screenwriter (born 1936)
- 2016: Tray Walker, American football player (born 1992)
- 2016: Guido Westerwelle, German lawyer and politician, 15th Vice-Chancellor of Germany (born 1961)
- 2015: Zhao Dayu, Chinese footballer and manager (born 1961)
- 2015: Thomas Hopko, American priest and theologian (born 1939)
- 2015: Grace Ogot, Kenyan nurse, journalist, and politician (born 1930)
- 2014: Catherine Obianuju Acholonu, Nigerian author, playwright, and academic (born 1951)
- 2014: Kaiser Kalambo, Zambian footballer, coach, and manager (born 1953)
- 2014: Lucius Shepard, American author and critic (born 1943)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- Anniversary of the Oil Expropriation (Mexico)
- Christian feast day:
Blessed Aimée-Adèle Le Bouteiller - Christian feast day:
Alexander of Jerusalem - Christian feast day:
Anselm of Lucca - Christian feast day:
Cyril of Jerusalem - Christian feast day:
Edward the Martyr - Christian feast day:
Fridianus - Christian feast day:
Salvator - Christian feast day:
March 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) - Flag Day (Aruba)
- Gallipoli Memorial Day (Turkey)
- Men’s and Soldiers’ Day (Mongolia)
- Ordnance Factories’ Day (India)
- Sheelah’s Day (Ireland, Canada, Australia)
- Teacher’s Day (Syria)