Editing August 18 (section)

==Events==
===Pre-1600===
* [[684]] &ndash; [[Battle of Marj Rahit (684)|Battle of Marj Rahit]]:<ref>{{cite book|author=David James|title=Early Islamic Spain: The History of Ibn Al-Qutiyah|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F6d9AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA79|date=25 February 2009|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-02531-2|pages=79}}</ref> [[Umayyad]] partisans defeat the supporters of [[Ibn al-Zubayr]] and cement Umayyad control of [[al-Sham|Syria]].
*[[AD 707|707]] &ndash; [[Empress Genmei|Princess Abe]] accedes to the imperial Japanese throne as [[Empress Genmei]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jien |title=The Future and the Past: A translation and study of the Gukanshō, an interpretive history of Japan written in 1219 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |year=1979 |isbn=9780520034600 |location=Berkeley, California |page=271 |language=en |translator-last=Brown |translator-first=Delmer M. |translator-last2=Ichirō |translator-first2=Ishida}}</ref>
*[[1304]] &ndash; The [[Battle of Mons-en-Pévèle]] is fought to a draw between the [[Kingdom of France|French]] army and the [[County of Flanders|Flemish]] militias.<ref>{{cite book|author=J. F. Verbruggen|title=The Battle of the Golden Spurs (Courtrai, 11 July 1302): A Contribution to the History of Flanders' War of Liberation, 1297-1305|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gD5rjC_9Q08C&pg=PA55|year=2002|publisher=Boydell & Brewer|isbn=978-0-85115-888-4|pages=55}}</ref>
*[[1487]] &ndash; The [[Siege of Málaga (1487)|Siege of Málaga]] ends with the taking of the city by [[Kingdom of Castile|Castilian]] and [[Kingdom of Aragon|Aragonese]] forces.
*[[1492]] &ndash; The first [[grammar]] of the [[Spanish language]] (''[[Gramática de la lengua castellana]]'') is presented to [[Isabella I of Castile|Queen Isabella I]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Hardman-De-Bautista|first=M.J.|title=A Thousand and One Years of the Spanish Language|journal=The Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress|date=Fall 1983|page=350}}</ref>
*[[1572]] &ndash; The [[Huguenot]] [[Henry IV of France|King Henry III of Navarre]] marries the [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] [[Margaret of Valois]], ostensibly to reconcile the feuding [[Protestantism|Protestants]] and [[Catholic Church|Catholics]] of [[Kingdom of France|France]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The history of France, from the earliest period|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CKak4Olp-SQC&pg=PA94|year=1852|pages=94}}</ref>
*[[1590]] &ndash; [[John White (colonist and artist)|John White]], the governor of the [[Roanoke Colony]], returns from a supply trip to England and finds his settlement deserted.<ref>{{cite book|last=Coogan|first=Timothy C.|chapter=1590 - Lost Colony of Roanoke|title=Disasters, Accidents, and Crises in American History: A Reference Guide to the Nation's Most Catastrophic Events|editor-last=Campbell|editor-first=Ballard C.|location=New York|publisher=Facts On File|date=2008|isbn=9780816066032|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VitlO1mWxzAC|page=6}}</ref>
===1601–1900===
*[[1612]] &ndash; The trial of the [[Pendle witches]], one of England's most famous witch trials, begins at [[Lancaster, Lancashire|Lancaster]] [[Assizes]].
*[[1634]] &ndash; [[Urbain Grandier]], accused and convicted of sorcery, is burned alive in [[Loudun]], France.
*[[1721]] &ndash; The city of [[Shamakhi]] in [[Safavid Shirvan]] [[Sack of Shamakhi|is sacked]].{{sfn|Kazemzadeh|1991|p=316}}{{sfn|Mikaberidze|2011|page=761}}
*[[1783]] &ndash; A [[1783 Great Meteor|huge fireball meteor]] is seen across Great Britain as it passes over the east coast.
*[[1809]] &ndash; The [[Senate of Finland]] is established in the [[Grand Duchy of Finland]] after the official adoption of the Statute of the Government Council by Tsar [[Alexander I of Russia]].<ref>Titus Hjelm & George Maude: ''Historical Dictionary of Finland'', p. 296.</ref>
*[[1826]] &ndash; [[Alexander Gordon Laing|Major Gordon Laing]] becomes the first European to enter [[Timbuktu]].<ref>{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Laing, Alexander Gordon}}</ref>
*[[1838]] &ndash; The [[United States Exploring Expedition|Wilkes Expedition]], which would explore the [[Puget Sound]] and Antarctica, weighs anchor at [[Hampton Roads]].
*[[1848]] &ndash; [[Camila O'Gorman]] and Ladislao Gutierrez are executed on the orders of Argentine dictator [[Juan Manuel de Rosas]].
*[[1864]] &ndash; [[American Civil War]]: [[Battle of Globe Tavern]]: [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] forces try to cut a vital [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] supply-line into [[Petersburg, Virginia]], by attacking the [[Wilmington and Weldon Railroad]].
*[[1868]] &ndash; French [[astronomer]] [[Pierre Janssen]] [[Timeline of chemical element discoveries|discovers]] [[helium]].
*[[1870]] &ndash; [[Franco-Prussian War]]: [[Battle of Gravelotte]] is fought.
*[[1877]] &ndash; American [[astronomer]] [[Asaph Hall]] discovers [[Phobos (moon)|Phobos]], one of [[Mars]]’s [[Moons of Mars|moons]].<ref>{{Cite journal |url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu//full/seri/Obs../0001//0000181.000.html |title=Notes: The Satellites of Mars |journal=The Observatory |volume=1 |issue=6 |date=20 September 1877 |pages=181–185 |access-date=4 February 2009 |bibcode = 1877Obs.....1..181. }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu//full/seri/AN.../0091//0000013.000.html |title=Observations of the Satellites of Mars |last=Hall |first=Asaph |journal=Astronomische Nachrichten |volume=91 |issue=2161 |pages=11/12–13/14 |date=17 October 1877 |type=Signed 21 September 1877 |bibcode = 1877AN.....91...11H |doi=10.1002/asna.18780910103 }}</ref><ref name="Morley1989">{{Cite journal |last=Morley |first=Trevor A. |url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu//full/seri/A+AS./0077//0000220.000.html |title=A Catalogue of Ground-Based Astrometric Observations of the Martian Satellites, 1877–1982 |journal=Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement Series |volume=77 |issue=2 |date=February 1989 |pages=209–226 |bibcode=1989A&AS...77..209M }} (Table II, p. 220: first observation of Phobos on 18 August 1877.38498)</ref>
*[[1891]] &ndash; A [[1891 Martinique hurricane|major hurricane]] strikes [[Martinique]], leaving 700 dead.
===1901–present===
*[[1903]] &ndash; German engineer [[Karl Jatho]] allegedly flies his self-made, motored gliding [[airplane]] four months before the first flight of the [[Wright brothers]].
*[[1917]] &ndash; A [[Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917|Great Fire]] in [[Thessaloniki]], Greece, destroys 32% of the city leaving 70,000 individuals homeless.
*[[1920]] &ndash; The [[Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]] is ratified, guaranteeing women's [[suffrage]].
*[[1923]] &ndash; The [[1923 WAAA Championships|first British Track and Field championships for women]] are held in London, Great Britain.
*[[1933]] &ndash; The [[Volksempfänger]] is first presented to the German public at a [[IFA Berlin|radio exhibition]]; the presiding Nazi Minister of Propaganda, [[Joseph Goebbels]], delivers an accompanying speech heralding the radio as the ‘eighth great power’.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bytwerk |first=Randall |date=1999 |title=Goebbels on Radio (1933) |url=https://research.calvin.edu/german-propaganda-archive/goeb56.htm |access-date=18 August 2022 |website=German Propaganda Archive}}</ref>
*[[1937]] &ndash; A lightning strike starts the [[Blackwater Fire of 1937]] in [[Shoshone National Forest]], killing 15 firefighters within three days and prompting the [[United States Forest Service]] to develop their [[smokejumper]] program.<ref>{{cite web|title=Staff Ride to the Blackwater Fire|publisher=Wildland Fire Leadership Development Program|url=http://www.fireleadership.gov/toolbox/staffride/library_staff_ride5.html|access-date=June 29, 2013|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130630035137/http://www.fireleadership.gov/toolbox/staffride/library_staff_ride5.html|archive-date=2013-06-30|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*[[1938]] &ndash; The [[Thousand Islands Bridge]], connecting New York, United States, with [[Ontario]], Canada, over the [[Saint Lawrence River]], is dedicated by U.S. President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]].
*[[1940]] &ndash; [[World War II]]: [[The Hardest Day]] air battle, part of the [[Battle of Britain]], takes place. At that point, it is the largest aerial engagement in history with heavy losses sustained on both sides.
*[[1945]] &ndash; [[Sukarno]] takes office as the [[List of Presidents of Indonesia|first president of Indonesia]], following the country's declaration of independence the previous day.
*  1945   &ndash; [[Soviet-Japanese War]]: [[Battle of Shumshu]]: Soviet forces land at Takeda Beach on [[Shumshu|Shumshu Island]] and launch the [[Battle of Shumshu]]; the [[Soviet Union]]’s [[Invasion of the Kuril Islands]] commences.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hasegawa |first=Tsuyoshi |title=Racing the Enemy: Stalin, Truman, and the Surrender of Japan |publisher=Belknap Press |year=2005 |isbn=9780674022416 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |page=261 |language=en}}</ref>
*[[1949]] &ndash; [[1949 Kemi strike]]: Two protesters die in the scuffle between the police and the strikers' protest procession in [[Kemi|Kemi, Finland]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.palkkatyolainen.fi/pt99/p990907-p2.html |title=Kemin lakosta puoli vuosisataa |publisher=Palkkatyöläinen |date=7 September 1999 |language=fi |accessdate=11 April 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927222436/http://www.palkkatyolainen.fi/pt99/p990907-p2.html |archivedate=September 27, 2007 }}</ref>
*[[1950]] &ndash; [[Julien Lahaut]], the chairman of the Communist Party of Belgium, is assassinated. The Party newspaper blames royalists and [[Rexist Party|Rexists]].
*[[1958]] &ndash; [[Vladimir Nabokov]]'s controversial novel ''[[Lolita]]'' is published in the United States.
*  1958   &ndash; [[Brojen Das]] from [[Bangladesh]] swims across the [[English Channel]] in a competition as the first [[Bengalis|Bengali]] and the first Asian to do so, placing first among the 39 competitors.
*[[1963]] &ndash; [[Civil rights movement]]: [[James Meredith]] becomes the first African American to graduate from the [[University of Mississippi]].
*[[1965]] &ndash; [[Vietnam War]]: [[Operation Starlite]] begins: [[United States Marine Corps|United States Marines]] destroy a [[Viet Cong]] stronghold on the Van Tuong peninsula in the first major American ground battle of the war.
*[[1966]] &ndash; Vietnam War: The [[Battle of Long Tan]] ensues after a patrol from the [[6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment]] clashes with a [[Viet Cong]] force in [[Phước Tuy Province]].
*[[1971]] &ndash; Vietnam War: Australia and New Zealand decide to withdraw their troops from [[Vietnam]].
*[[1973]] &ndash; [[Aeroflot Flight A-13]] crashes after takeoff from [[Heydar Aliyev International Airport|Baku-Bina International Airport]] in Azerbaijan, killing 56 people and injuring eight.<ref name="Ranter 1973">{{cite web |last=Ranter |first=Harro |date=1973-08-18 |title=ASN Aircraft accident Antonov 24B CCCP-46435 Baku-Bina International Airport (BAK) |url=https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19730818-0 |access-date=2018-02-11 |website=Aviation Safety Network}}</ref>
*[[1976]] &ndash; The [[Korean axe murder incident]] in Panmunjom results in the deaths of two US Army officers.
*  1976   &ndash; The [[Soviet Union]]’s robotic probe ''[[Luna 24]]'' successfully lands on the [[Moon]].<ref name="solarsystem.nasa">{{citation-attribution|1=[http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/profile.cfm?Print=0&Sort=Nation&MCode=Luna_24&Nation=USSR&Display=ReadMore&FIELDNAMES= Solar System Exploration: USSR: Luna 24] {{web archive|url=http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/profile.cfm?Print=0&Sort=Nation&MCode=Luna_24&Nation=USSR&Display=ReadMore&FIELDNAMES=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150430002507/http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/profile.cfm?Print=0&Sort=Nation&MCode=Luna_24&Nation=USSR&Display=ReadMore&FIELDNAMES=|url-status=dead|archive-date=2015-04-30 |date=30 April 2015}} solarsystem.nasa.gov NASA Retrieved: 16 November 2016}}</ref>
*[[1977]] &ndash; [[Steve Biko]] is arrested at a police roadblock under Terrorism Act No. 83 of 1967 in [[King William's Town]], South Africa. He later dies from injuries sustained during this arrest, bringing attention to South Africa's [[apartheid]] policies.
*[[1983]] &ndash; [[Hurricane Alicia]] hits the [[Texas]] coast, killing 21 people and causing over US$1 billion in damage (1983 dollars).
*[[1989]] &ndash; Leading presidential hopeful [[Luis Carlos Galán]] is assassinated near [[Bogotá]] in [[Colombia]].
*[[1993]] &ndash; [[American International Airways Flight 808]] crashes at [[Leeward Point Field]] at [[Guantanamo Bay Naval Base]] in [[Guantánamo Bay]], [[Cuba]], injuring the three crew members.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ranter |first=Harro |title=ASN Aircraft accident McDonnell Douglas DC-8-61 N814CK Guantánamo NAS (NBW) |url=https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19930818-0 |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=aviation-safety.net |publisher=[[Aviation Safety Network]]}}</ref>
*[[2003]] &ndash; One-year-old [[Murder of Zachary Turner|Zachary Turner]] is murdered in [[Newfoundland]] by his mother, who was awarded custody despite facing trial for the murder of Zachary's father. The case was documented in the film ''[[Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father|Dear Zachary]]'' and led to reform of Canada's bail laws.<ref>[https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/after-canadian-mother-killed-herself-and-their-only-grandchild-u-s-couple-started-10-year-fight-to-change-canadas-bail-laws After Canadian mother killed herself and their only grandchild, U.S. couple started 10-year fight to change Canada's bail laws | National Post<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
*[[2005]] &ndash; A [[2005 Java–Bali blackout|massive power blackout]] hits the [[Indonesia]]n island of [[Java]]; affecting almost 100 million people, it is [[List of major power outages#Largest|one of the largest and most widespread]] power outages in history.
*[[2008]] &ndash; The President of Pakistan, [[Pervez Musharraf]], resigns under [[Movement to impeach Pervez Musharraf|threat of impeachment]].
*  2008   &ndash; War of Afghanistan: The [[Uzbin Valley ambush]] occurs.
*[[2011]] &ndash; A [[2011 southern Israel cross-border attacks|terrorist attack]] on Israel's [[Highway 12 (Israel)|Highway 12]] near the Egyptian border kills 16 and injures 40.<ref name="haaretz1">{{cite news |last=Issacharoff |first=Avi |title=Report: Three Egyptians took part in terrorist attacks on southern Israel |newspaper=Haaretz |url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/report-three-egyptians-took-part-in-terrorist-attacks-on-southern-israel-1.380321}}</ref>
*[[2017]] &ndash; The [[2017 Turku attack|first terrorist attack]] ever sentenced as a crime in Finland kills two and injures eight.
*[[2019]] &ndash; One hundred activists, officials, and other concerned citizens in [[Iceland]] hold a funeral for [[Okjökull|Okjökull glacier]], which has completely melted after having once covered six square miles (15.5&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>).<ref>{{citation|website=Huffington Post.com|date=August 19, 2019|access-date=August 19, 2019|title=Iceland Holds Funeral Honoring Glacier That Melted Away|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/okjokull-glacier-funeral_n_5d5abf64e4b0eb875f271eb3?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000013&section=politics|author=David Moye}}</ref>