18
March
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March 18 in History
2006
Mike Rann secures the first Labor majority government in South Australia since 1985 by winning the state election.
2005
Terri Schiavo's feeding tube is removed at the request of her husband.
2003
British Sign Language is recognised as an official British language.
FBI agents raid the corporate headquarters of HealthSouth Corporation in Birmingham, Alabama on suspicion of massive corporate fraud led by the company's top executives.
2002
U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: Operation Anaconda ends (started on March 2) after killing 500 Taliban and al Qaeda fighters with 11 allied troop fatalities.
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 on board and leading to the grounding of all An-24s.
1996
A nightclub fire in Quezon City, Philippines kills 162.
1992
White South Africans vote overwhelmingly in favour, in a national referendum, to end the racist policy of Apartheid.
1990
In the largest art theft in US history, 12 paintings, collectively worth around $300 million, are stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts.
1989
In Egypt, a 4,400-year-old mummy is found nearby the Pyramid of Cheops.
1980
At Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia, 50 people are killed by an explosion of a Vostok-2M rocket on its launch pad during a fueling operation.
1974
Oil embargo crisis: Most OPEC nations end a five-month oil embargo against the United States, Europe and Japan.
1971
In Peru a landslide crashes into Lake Yanahuani, killing 200 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.
1965
Cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov, leaving his spacecraft Voskhod 2 for 12 minutes, becomes the first person to walk in space.
1962
The Evian Accords put an end to the Algerian War of Independence, which began in 1954.
1959
President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a bill into law allowing for Hawaiian statehood, which would become official on August 21.
1953
An earthquake hits western Turkey, killing 250.
1948
Soviet consultants leave Yugoslavia in the first sign of a Tito-Stalin split.
1946
Diplomatic relations between Switzerland and the Soviet Union are established.
1945
World War II: 1,250 American bombers attack Berlin.
1944
The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Italy kills 26 and causes thousands to flee their homes.
1942
The War Relocation Authority is established in the United States to take Japanese Americans into custody.
1940
World War II: Axis Powers
1938
Mexico nationalizes all foreign-owned oil properties within its borders.
1937
The human-powered aircraft, ''Pedaliante'', flies {{convert|1|km|mi}} outside Milan.
Spanish Civil War: Spanish Republican forces defeat the Italians at the Battle of Guadalajara.
The New London School explosion kills three hundred, mostly children.
1925
The Tri-State Tornado hits the Midwestern states of Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana, killing 695 people.
1922
In India, Mohandas Gandhi is sentenced to six years in prison for civil disobedience. He would serve only 2 years.
1921
The second Peace of Riga between Poland and Soviet Union.
1915
World War I: Massive naval attack in Battle of Gallipoli. Three battleships are sunk during a failed British and French naval attack on the Dardanelles.
1913
King George I of Greece is assassinated in the recently liberated city of Thessaloniki.
1906
Traian Vuia flies a heavier-than-air aircraft for 20 meters at 1 meter altitude.
1893
Former Governor General Lord Stanley pledges to donate a silver challenge cup, later named after him, as an award for the best hockey team in Canada; originally presented to amateur champions, the Stanley Cup has been awarded to the top pro team since 1910, and since 1926, only to National Hockey League teams.
1874
Hawaii signs a treaty with the United States granting exclusive trading rights.
1871
Declaration of the Paris Commune; President of the French Republic, Adolphe Thiers, orders evacuation of Paris.
1865
American Civil War: The Congress of the Confederate States of America adjourns for the last time.
1850
American Express is founded by Henry Wells and William Fargo.
1834
Six farm labourers from Tolpuddle, Dorset, England are sentenced to be transported to Australia for forming a trade union.
1793
The first republican state in Germany, the Republic of Mainz, is declared by Andreas Joseph Hofmann.
1766
American Revolution: The British Parliament repeals the Stamp Act.
1673
John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton sells his part of New Jersey to the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers.
1608
Susenyos is formally crowned Emperor of Ethiopia.
1438
Albert II of Habsburg becomes Holy Roman Emperor.
1314
Jacques de Molay, the 23rd and the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, is burned at the stake.
1241
Kraków is ravaged by Mongols.
1229
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor declares himself King of Jerusalem during the Sixth Crusade.
37
The Roman Senate annuls Tiberius's will and proclaims Caligula emperor.