July 18
64 - A great fire began that ultimately destroyed most of Rome. The emperor Nero blamed it on Christians and thus began the first Roman persecution of them.
1536 - The English Parliament passed an act declaring the authority of the pope void in England.
1863 - During the Civil War, Union troops spearheaded by the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, made up of Black soldiers, charged Confederate-held Fort Wagner on Morris Island, South Carolina. The Confederates were able to repel the Northerners, who suffered heavy losses; the 54th’s commander, Col. Robert Gould Shaw, was among those who were killed.
1918 - South African anti-apartheid leader and president Nelson Mandela was born in the village of Mvezo.
1925 - The first volume of Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" was published.
1936 - The Spanish Civil War began.
1944 - Hideki Tojo was removed as Japanese premier and war minister because of setbacks suffered by his country in World War II.
1947 - President Harry S. Truman signed the Presidential Succession Act into law which placed the Speaker of the House and the Senate president pro tempore next in line of succession after the vice president for the U.S. presidency.
1964 - Nearly a week of rioting erupted in New York’s Harlem neighborhood following the fatal police shooting of a Black teenager, James Powell, two days earlier.
1994 - A bomb hidden in a van destroyed a Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, killing 85.
2005 - An nrepentant Eric Rudolph was sentenced in Birmingham, Alabama, to life in prison for an abortion clinic bombing that killed an off-duty police officer and maimed a nurse.
2013 - Detroit became the largest U.S. city to file for bankruptcy, with its finances ravaged and its neighborhoods hollowed out by a long, slow decline in population and auto manufacturing.
Birthdays
23 - Hailie Deegan (race car driver)
27 - Noah Lyles (track & field athlete)
30 - Taylor Russell (actor)
33 - Micaela Riera (actress)
34 - Mandy Rose (professional wrestler/model)
34 - Canelo Alvarez (boxer)
38 - Christon Gray (singer)
38 - Amber Kacherian (actress)
39 - Chace Crawford (actor)
42 - Priyanka Chopra (actress)
44 - Kristen Bell (actress)
48 - Elsa Pataky (actress/model)
49 - M.I.A. (singer)
53 - Penny Hardaway (basketball player)
55 - Elizabeth Gilbert (author)
57 - Vin Diesel (actor)
60 - Wendy Williams (TV host)
63 - Elizabeth McGovern (actress)
67 - Nick Faldo (golfer)
70 - Ricky Skaggs (musician)
73 - Margo Martindale (actress)
74 - Richard Branson (entrepreneur)
83 - Martha Reeves (singer)
84 - Joe Torre (baseball manager)
84 - James Brolin (actor)
95 - Dick Button (figure skater/sportscaster)
==================================
Today in Sports History - July 18
1921 - Babe Ruth establishes a new MLB career home run record with his 139th.
1927 - Ty Cobb records his 4,000th career hit. (He would reach 4,191 before he retired in 1928.)
1960 - National League owners vote to add new franchises in Houston and New York.
1970 - Ron Hunt of the San Francisco Giants was hit by a pitch for the record 119th time in his career.
1970 - Willie Mays becomes the 10th player in MLB history with 3,000 hits.
1976 - Fourteen-year-old Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci earned the first perfect score, a 10, at the Olympic Games in Montreal and went no to score six more 10s and would win three gold medals.
1982 - Tom Watson wins his fourth British Open.
1994 - The New York Jets sign American soccer star Tony Miola as a placekicker.
1999 - New York Yankees pitcher David Cone threw the 16th perfect game in MLB history in a 6-0 win over the Montreal Expos.
2018 - Kawhi Leonard is traded to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poltl and a protected 2019 first round draft pick.
2020 - Canadian officials said the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team would not be able to play its home games in Toronto during the shortened 2020 season because it wasn’t safe for players to travel back and forth from the United States. (The Blue Jays would play “home” games in the ballpark of their minor league affiliate in Buffalo, N.Y.)
64 - A great fire began that ultimately destroyed most of Rome. The emperor Nero blamed it on Christians and thus began the first Roman persecution of them.
1536 - The English Parliament passed an act declaring the authority of the pope void in England.
1863 - During the Civil War, Union troops spearheaded by the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, made up of Black soldiers, charged Confederate-held Fort Wagner on Morris Island, South Carolina. The Confederates were able to repel the Northerners, who suffered heavy losses; the 54th’s commander, Col. Robert Gould Shaw, was among those who were killed.
1918 - South African anti-apartheid leader and president Nelson Mandela was born in the village of Mvezo.
1925 - The first volume of Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" was published.
1936 - The Spanish Civil War began.
1944 - Hideki Tojo was removed as Japanese premier and war minister because of setbacks suffered by his country in World War II.
1947 - President Harry S. Truman signed the Presidential Succession Act into law which placed the Speaker of the House and the Senate president pro tempore next in line of succession after the vice president for the U.S. presidency.
1964 - Nearly a week of rioting erupted in New York’s Harlem neighborhood following the fatal police shooting of a Black teenager, James Powell, two days earlier.
1994 - A bomb hidden in a van destroyed a Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, killing 85.
2005 - An nrepentant Eric Rudolph was sentenced in Birmingham, Alabama, to life in prison for an abortion clinic bombing that killed an off-duty police officer and maimed a nurse.
2013 - Detroit became the largest U.S. city to file for bankruptcy, with its finances ravaged and its neighborhoods hollowed out by a long, slow decline in population and auto manufacturing.
Birthdays
23 - Hailie Deegan (race car driver)
27 - Noah Lyles (track & field athlete)
30 - Taylor Russell (actor)
33 - Micaela Riera (actress)
34 - Mandy Rose (professional wrestler/model)
34 - Canelo Alvarez (boxer)
38 - Christon Gray (singer)
38 - Amber Kacherian (actress)
39 - Chace Crawford (actor)
42 - Priyanka Chopra (actress)
44 - Kristen Bell (actress)
48 - Elsa Pataky (actress/model)
49 - M.I.A. (singer)
53 - Penny Hardaway (basketball player)
55 - Elizabeth Gilbert (author)
57 - Vin Diesel (actor)
60 - Wendy Williams (TV host)
63 - Elizabeth McGovern (actress)
67 - Nick Faldo (golfer)
70 - Ricky Skaggs (musician)
73 - Margo Martindale (actress)
74 - Richard Branson (entrepreneur)
83 - Martha Reeves (singer)
84 - Joe Torre (baseball manager)
84 - James Brolin (actor)
95 - Dick Button (figure skater/sportscaster)
==================================
Today in Sports History - July 18
1921 - Babe Ruth establishes a new MLB career home run record with his 139th.
1927 - Ty Cobb records his 4,000th career hit. (He would reach 4,191 before he retired in 1928.)
1960 - National League owners vote to add new franchises in Houston and New York.
1970 - Ron Hunt of the San Francisco Giants was hit by a pitch for the record 119th time in his career.
1970 - Willie Mays becomes the 10th player in MLB history with 3,000 hits.
1976 - Fourteen-year-old Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci earned the first perfect score, a 10, at the Olympic Games in Montreal and went no to score six more 10s and would win three gold medals.
1982 - Tom Watson wins his fourth British Open.
1994 - The New York Jets sign American soccer star Tony Miola as a placekicker.
1999 - New York Yankees pitcher David Cone threw the 16th perfect game in MLB history in a 6-0 win over the Montreal Expos.
2018 - Kawhi Leonard is traded to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poltl and a protected 2019 first round draft pick.
2020 - Canadian officials said the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team would not be able to play its home games in Toronto during the shortened 2020 season because it wasn’t safe for players to travel back and forth from the United States. (The Blue Jays would play “home” games in the ballpark of their minor league affiliate in Buffalo, N.Y.)
