Summary of the Day ✨ 18 October (18/10)
NASA made history with the first all-female spacewalk as astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch repaired equipment on the International Space Station, while global turmoil erupted with deadly riots in Chile forcing a state of emergency, a suicide attack on Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto that killed 139, Bolivian President Sánchez de Lozada’s resignation amid gas conflict, and a plane crash in Indonesia claiming 31 lives.
Historical Events 📜
- 2019: NASA Astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch take part in the first all-female spacewalk when they venture out of the International Space Station to replace a power controller.
- 2019: Riots in Chile’s capital Santiago escalate into open battles, with attacks reported at nearly all of the city’s 164 Metro stations. President Sebastián Piñera later announces a 15-day state of emergency in the capital.
- 2007: Karachi bombing: A suicide attack on a motorcade carrying former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto kills 139 and wounds 450 more. Bhutto herself is uninjured.
- 2003: Bolivian gas conflict: Bolivian President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada is forced to resign and leave Bolivia.
- 1992: Merpati Nustantara Airlines Flight 5601 crashes into Mount Papandayan near the town of Garut in West Java, Indonesia, killing 31.
- 1991: The Supreme Council of Azerbaijan adopts a declaration of independence from the Soviet Union.
- 1989: The Space Shuttle Atlantis launches on STS-34 to deploy the Jupiter-bound Galileo space probe.
- 1979: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) begins allowing people to have home satellite earth stations without a federal government license.
- 1978: Based on the world’s first children’s art museum, the Henrik Igityan National Centre for Aesthetics opened in Yerevan.
- 1977: German Autumn: A set of events revolving around the kidnapping of Hanns Martin Schleyer and the hijacking of a Lufthansa flight by the Red Army Faction (RAF) comes to an end when Schleyer is murdered and various RAF members allegedly commit suicide.
- 1967: The Soviet probe Venera 4 reaches Venus and becomes the first spacecraft to measure the atmosphere of another planet.
- 1963: Félicette, a black and white female Parisian stray cat, becomes the first cat launched into space.
- 1954: Texas Instruments announces the Regency TR-1, the first mass-produced transistor radio.
- 1945: The USSR’s nuclear program receives plans for the United States plutonium bomb from Klaus Fuchs at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
- 1945: A group of the Venezuelan Armed Forces, led by Mario Vargas, Marcos Pérez Jiménez and Carlos Delgado Chalbaud, stages a coup d’état against president Isaías Medina Angarita, who is overthrown by the end of the day.
Famous Births 👶
- 2000: Sophie Thatcher, American actress
- 1998: Janalynn Castelino, Italian-Indian singer-songwriter
- 1996: Terance Mann, American basketball player
- 1994: Enhō Akira, Japanese sumo wrestler
- 1994: Pascal Wehrlein, German-Mauritian race car driver
- 1993: Ivan Cavaleiro, Portuguese footballer
- 1992: John John Florence, American surfer
- 1992: Barry Keoghan, Irish actor
- 1991: Roly Bonevacia, Dutch footballer
- 1991: Tyler Posey, American actor and musician
- 1991: Toby Regbo, English actor
- 1991: Zohran Mamdani, American politician, mayor of New York City
- 1990: Drew Crawford, American basketball player
- 1990: Brittney Griner, American basketball player
- 1990: Bristol Palin, American public speaker and reality television personality
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2025: Sam Rivers, American bassist (born 1977)
- 2025: Yang Chen-Ning, Chinese theoretical physicist (born 1922)
- 2025: Lia Smith, American diver and transgender rights advocate.
- 2024: Yehuda Bauer, Israeli historian of the Holocaust (born 1926)
- 2024: Ginés González García, Argentine politician and physician (born 1945)
- 2022: Harvey Wollman, American politician, 26th Governor of South Dakota (born 1935)
- 2021: Colin Powell, American military leader and statesman, 65th Secretary of State (born 1937)
- 2020: René Felber, 81st President of the Swiss Confederation (born 1933)
- 2019: Rui Jordão, Angolan-born Portuguese footballer (born 1952)
- 2018: Lisbeth Palme, Swedish child psychologist, former chairwoman of UNICEF (born 1931)
- 2018: Abdel Rahman Swar al-Dahab, 5th President of the Sudan (born 1934)
- 2017: Marino Perani, Italian football player and manager (born 1939)
- 2015: Robert Dickerson, Australian painter (born 1924)
- 2015: Gamal El-Ghitani, Egyptian journalist and author (born 1945)
- 2015: Robert W. Farquhar, American engineer (born 1932)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- Alaska Day (Alaska, United States)
- Christian feast day:
Asclepiades of Antioch - Christian feast day:
Isaac Jogues - Christian feast day:
Luke the Evangelist - Christian feast day:
Peter of Alcantara, can also be celebrated on October 19. - Christian feast day:
October 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) - Day of Restoration of Independence (Azerbaijan), celebrates the independence of Azerbaijan from the Soviet Union in 1991.
- Necktie Day (Croatia)
- Persons Day (Canada)
- World Menopause Day