Some of the significant events which took place on July 18 taken from the leaf of History:
64- Great Fire of Rome begins under the Emperor Nero
1857 – The universities of Calcutta, Mumbai and Madras are established.
1918 – Mandela was born on 18 July 1918 in the village of Mvezo in Umtata, then part of South Africa’s Cape Province. In later years he became known by his clan name, Madiba. He left his body on 5 December 2013. He was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, political leader, and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country’s first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. His Government worked with full force to dismantle the legacy of apartheid by tackling institutionalized racism and worked for reconciliation among different races. Nelson Mandela was an African nationalist and socialist, he served as President of the African National Congress (ANC) party from 1991 to 1997.
In recognition of the former South African President’s contribution to the culture of peace and freedom, UN General Assembly declares 18 July “Nelson Mandela International Day”. For 67 long years in service of humanity, Nelson Mandela devoted his life to the service of humanity. He served as a human rights lawyer, a prisoner of conscience, an international peacemaker and the first democratically elected president of a free South Africa. On 18 July every year, we invite you to mark Nelson Mandela International Day by making a difference in your communities. Everyone has the ability and the responsibility to change the world for the better! Mandela Day is an occasion for all to take action and inspire change.
1925 – Adolf Hitler publishes Mein Kampf (original title was the catchy “Four and a Half Years (of Struggle) Against Lies, Stupidity and Cowardice”)
1936- Spanish Civil War: General Francisco Franco issues manifesto and leads an uprising in the Spanish army stationed in Morocco
2012 – Kim Jong -un is officially appointed Supreme Leader of North Korea and given the rank of Marshal in the Korean People’s Army
1976- Nadia Comăneci becomes the first gymnast in Olympic Games history to score a perfect 10 score (total 7) at Montreal Games
1976 – Nadia Comaneci Perfect 10: The first perfect 10 ever recorded in Olympic gymnastics was achieved up by Romania’s 4-foot-11, 88-pound Nadia Comaneci on the women’s uneven parallel bars.
1922 – U.S.A. Mineworkers Strike: President Harding has put in place plans to break the stranglehold of the mineworkers strike which is now effecting power stations and electricity across the country. Mines will begin operating with strikebreakers protected by federal troops.
1925 – Germany Mein Kampf: Nazi leader Adolf Hitler publishes the first volume of his personal manifesto, Mein Kampf which was a bitter and turgid narrative filled with anti-Semitic outpourings, disdain for morality, worship of power, and the blueprints for his plan of Nazi world domination.
1936 – Spanish Civil War: The Spanish Civil War starts as a revolt by right wing Spanish military officers in Morocco which spreads to mainland Spain. From the Canary Islands, General Francisco Franco broadcasts a message calling for all army officers to join the uprising and overthrow Spain’s leftist Republican government.
1944 – Hideki Tojo is removed as Japan’s premier and war minister.
1947 – The India Independence Act 1947 comes into force. The India Independence Act 1947 was given the royal assent and came into force. This act divided the British India into two new dominions – India and Pakistan. Pakistan came into being on August 14, 1947 and India on August 15 the same year.
1947 – U.K. Parliament approves British Cabinet Mission report on India, but Churchill says that the mission goes too far in offering India independence outside the commonwealth.
1948 – France Juan Manuel Fangio: 1948 – Possibly one of the greatest racing drivers (Juan Manuel Fangio) from Argentina started his career making his Formula One debut finishing 12th at the Grand Prix de l’ACF in France. He went on to win five Formula One titles.
1981 – Ireland Hunger Strike Protest: 1981 – 10,000 take part in a march through Dublin in support of republican hunger strikers in the Maze Prison, Northern Ireland. The march was marred when protesters protest outside the British Embassy and begin fighting with police protecting the embassy who then charged protesters leaving more than 200 needing hospital treatment.
1984 – U.S.A. McDonalds Murders: 21 people were shot dead and 19 injured in a San Ysidro, California McDonald’s by James Oliver Huberty who had told his wife as he was leaving with 3 guns (A 9mm Uzi semi-automatic, Winchester pump-action twelve-gauge shotgun, a 9mm Browning HP) that he was “hunting humans”. The killings only ended when he was fatally shot by a SWAT team sniper.
1984 – England Dockers Strike: With the dockers strike now in its 10th day Truckers stuck on both sides of the English Channel are blockading the passenger ferry ports in protest at the strike. The Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher is expected to declare a nationwide state of emergency later this week if the dock workers and miners’ strike do not end and bring in troops to keep the country running.
1987 – Amitabh Bacchan, the most popular Bollywood actor, resigns his Lok Sabha seat.
1994 – Munis Raja, famous educationist and former chancellor of Delhi University passes away.
2006 – Iraq Japan Withdraws Troops: This day marks the final withdraw of Japanese troops from Iraq. The Japanese troops could only contribute on humanitarian and reconstruction fronts during their stay in Iraq because of their constitution, which disallows the use of force in international disputes. Some Japanese believed that their involvement in the Iraq war violated their constitution, which was created by the United States in 1947 after World War II.
2007 – Brazil Plane Crash Sao Paulo: A plane crashed in Sao Paulo, Brazil on this day, killing up to 200 people. None of the 186 passengers on the plane survived as the plane crashed after losing control on the wet runway, hitting a fuel depot, exploding on impact.
2008 – After deliberation, Nepal’s assembly was unable to elect a president on this day. This particular election was important because it came only months after the country abolished its monarchy. The lack of consensus also caused further delay within the assembly itself, because they need a president there to swear in a new prime minister.
2009 – The crew of the space shuttle Endeavour reached the International Space Station on this day. The addition of Endeavour’s crew to the orbit made that the greatest number of astronauts ever together in orbit, at a total of thirteen.
2012 – Laszlo Csatary, a ninety-seven year old suspected Nazi war criminal was detained and put under house arrest in Budapest. Csatary was a Hungarian police officer who the Simon Wiesenthal Center believed took part in the deportation of 15,700 Jews from the city of Kosice to the Auschwitz death camp.
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