On This Day in History

June 18

Historical Events

618 Coronation of the Chinese governor Li Yuan as Emperor Gaozu of Tang, the new Emperor of China, initiating three centuries of the Tang Dynasty's rule over China.

1812 War of 1812 begins as the US declares war against Britain.

'Wellington at Waterloo', by Robert Alexander Hillingford

1815 Battle of Waterloo; 1928 American aviator Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean (as a passenger), landing at Burry Port, Wales.

1940 Winston Churchill gives his "this was their finest hour" speech to the House of Commons urging perseverance in the war after the Dunkirk evacuation and the fall of France.

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Famous Birthdays

Édouard Daladier 1884 - 1970 George Mallory 1886 - 1924

Anastasia Nikolaevna 1901 - 1918 Paul McCartney 82nd Birthday

Also George Mikan, Idriss Déby, Thabo Mbeki (82).

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Famous Deaths

Piet Heyn 1577 - 1629 Roald Amundsen 1872 - 1928

Also Maxim Gorky and Georgy Zhukov.

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Fort Knox-style Security for Folger Library

In 2020 a First Folio of William Shakespeare’s works was sold at auction in New York for nearly ten million dollars. And the Folger Library has 82 of them.

Folger Shakespeare Library