February 18
1546 - Martin Luther, German leader of the Protestant Reformation, died in Eiselben, Germany.
1564 - Italian painter, sculptor and architect Michelangelo Buonarotti, died.
1861 - Jefferson Davis was sworn in as president of the Confederate States of America in Montgomery, Alabama.
1885 - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain was first published.
1930 - Pluto, the ninth planet in our solar system, was discovered by American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh.
1943 - Madame Chiang Kai-shek, wife of the Chinese leader, addressed members of the Senate and then the House, becoming the first Chinese national to address both houses of the U.S. Congress.
1953 - The first 3-D movie, Bwana Devil, opened in New York.
1970 - Five of the Chicago Seven defendants were found guilty of intent to incite a riot at the 1968 Democratic national convention. (The convictions were later overturned.)
1972 - The California Supreme Court struck down the state's death penalty.
1983 - Thirteen people were shot to death at a gambling club in Seattle’s Chinatown in what became known as the Wah Mee Massacre. (Two men were convicted of the killings and are serving life sentences; a third was found guilty of robbery and assault.)
1988 - Anthony M. Kennedy was sworn in as an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court.
1997 - Astronauts on the space shuttle Discovery completed their tune-up of the Hubble Space Telescope after 33 hours of spacewalking; the Hubble was then released using the shuttle’s crane.
2001 - Veteran FBI agent Robert Hanssen was arrested, accused of spying for Russia for more than 15 years. (Hanssen pleaded guilty and is serving life in prison without parole.)
2006 - A Hamas-dominated Palestinian parliament was sworn in.
2011 - The United States vetoed a U.N. resolution that would have condemned Israeli settlements as illegal and called for a halt in all settlement building; the 14 other Security Council members voted in favor of the measure.
2016 - Dallas-based Heritage Auctions said a rare copy of a comic book featuring the first appearance of Spider-Man had been sold to an anonymous collector for $454,100.
2020 - President Donald Trump commuted the 14-year prison sentence of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich for political corruption; Blagojevich left prison hours later and returned home to Chicago. (Trump also issued pardons or clemency to former New York City police commissioner Bernie Kerik, financier Michael Milken, and a long list of others.)
2020 - The Boy Scouts of America filed for bankruptcy protection in the first step toward creating a huge compensation fund for men who were molested as youngsters decades ago by scoutmasters or other leaders; the organization urged victims to come forward.
Birthdays
25 - Karla Jara (model)
29 - Le'Veon Bell (football player)
30 - Malese Jow (actress)
33 - Maiara Walsh (actress)
33 - Sarah Sutherland (actress)
33 - Shane Lyons (actor)
39 - Courtney Act (singer)
44 - Sean Watkins (singer)
44 - Kristoffer Polaha (actor)
44 - Ike Barinholtz (actor)
46 - Sarah Brown (actress)
47 - Jillian Michaels (TV host)
53 - Molly Ringwald (actress)
56 - Dr. Dre (rapper)
57 - Matt Dillon (actor)
61 - Greta Scacchi (actress)
62 - Jayne Atkinson (actress)
64 - Vanna White (game show host)
66 - John Pankow (actor)
67 - John Travolta (actor)
69 - Randy Crawford (singer)
71 - Cybil Shepherd (actress)
80 - Irma Thomas (singer)
88 - Yoko Ono (singer)
=========================================
Today in Sports History - February 18
1909 - Boston Red Sox trade Cy Young, at age 41, to the Cleveland Naps.
1918 - Georges Vezina (Montreal Canadiens) recorded the first shutout in NHL history. The event came in the third month of the NHL's first season.
1922 - Federal judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis resigns to become commissioner of Major League Baseball.
1960 - The eighth Winter Olympic Games opened in Squaw Valley, California.
1965 - Frank Gifford announced his retirement from football for a career in broadcasting.
1984 - The New York Knicks retired Bill Bradley's #24.
1986 - Alvin Robertson of the San Antonio Spurs records the second quadruple-double in NBA history with 20 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 steals in a 120-114 win over the Phoenix Suns.
1995 - John Stockton (Utah Jazz) became the first player to register 10,000 assists.
2001 - Dale Earnhardt Sr. died from injuries sustained in a crash at the Daytona 500 at age 49.
2006 - American Shani Davis won the men's 1,000-meter speedskating in Turin, becoming the first black athlete to win an individual gold medal in Winter Olympic history.
2007 - Kevin Harvick wins the closest finish in Daytona 500 history, edging Mark Martin by 0.02 seconds.
1546 - Martin Luther, German leader of the Protestant Reformation, died in Eiselben, Germany.
1564 - Italian painter, sculptor and architect Michelangelo Buonarotti, died.
1861 - Jefferson Davis was sworn in as president of the Confederate States of America in Montgomery, Alabama.
1885 - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain was first published.
1930 - Pluto, the ninth planet in our solar system, was discovered by American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh.
1943 - Madame Chiang Kai-shek, wife of the Chinese leader, addressed members of the Senate and then the House, becoming the first Chinese national to address both houses of the U.S. Congress.
1953 - The first 3-D movie, Bwana Devil, opened in New York.
1970 - Five of the Chicago Seven defendants were found guilty of intent to incite a riot at the 1968 Democratic national convention. (The convictions were later overturned.)
1972 - The California Supreme Court struck down the state's death penalty.
1983 - Thirteen people were shot to death at a gambling club in Seattle’s Chinatown in what became known as the Wah Mee Massacre. (Two men were convicted of the killings and are serving life sentences; a third was found guilty of robbery and assault.)
1988 - Anthony M. Kennedy was sworn in as an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court.
1997 - Astronauts on the space shuttle Discovery completed their tune-up of the Hubble Space Telescope after 33 hours of spacewalking; the Hubble was then released using the shuttle’s crane.
2001 - Veteran FBI agent Robert Hanssen was arrested, accused of spying for Russia for more than 15 years. (Hanssen pleaded guilty and is serving life in prison without parole.)
2006 - A Hamas-dominated Palestinian parliament was sworn in.
2011 - The United States vetoed a U.N. resolution that would have condemned Israeli settlements as illegal and called for a halt in all settlement building; the 14 other Security Council members voted in favor of the measure.
2016 - Dallas-based Heritage Auctions said a rare copy of a comic book featuring the first appearance of Spider-Man had been sold to an anonymous collector for $454,100.
2020 - President Donald Trump commuted the 14-year prison sentence of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich for political corruption; Blagojevich left prison hours later and returned home to Chicago. (Trump also issued pardons or clemency to former New York City police commissioner Bernie Kerik, financier Michael Milken, and a long list of others.)
2020 - The Boy Scouts of America filed for bankruptcy protection in the first step toward creating a huge compensation fund for men who were molested as youngsters decades ago by scoutmasters or other leaders; the organization urged victims to come forward.
Birthdays
25 - Karla Jara (model)
29 - Le'Veon Bell (football player)
30 - Malese Jow (actress)
33 - Maiara Walsh (actress)
33 - Sarah Sutherland (actress)
33 - Shane Lyons (actor)
39 - Courtney Act (singer)
44 - Sean Watkins (singer)
44 - Kristoffer Polaha (actor)
44 - Ike Barinholtz (actor)
46 - Sarah Brown (actress)
47 - Jillian Michaels (TV host)
53 - Molly Ringwald (actress)
56 - Dr. Dre (rapper)
57 - Matt Dillon (actor)
61 - Greta Scacchi (actress)
62 - Jayne Atkinson (actress)
64 - Vanna White (game show host)
66 - John Pankow (actor)
67 - John Travolta (actor)
69 - Randy Crawford (singer)
71 - Cybil Shepherd (actress)
80 - Irma Thomas (singer)
88 - Yoko Ono (singer)
=========================================
Today in Sports History - February 18
1909 - Boston Red Sox trade Cy Young, at age 41, to the Cleveland Naps.
1918 - Georges Vezina (Montreal Canadiens) recorded the first shutout in NHL history. The event came in the third month of the NHL's first season.
1922 - Federal judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis resigns to become commissioner of Major League Baseball.
1960 - The eighth Winter Olympic Games opened in Squaw Valley, California.
1965 - Frank Gifford announced his retirement from football for a career in broadcasting.
1984 - The New York Knicks retired Bill Bradley's #24.
1986 - Alvin Robertson of the San Antonio Spurs records the second quadruple-double in NBA history with 20 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 steals in a 120-114 win over the Phoenix Suns.
1995 - John Stockton (Utah Jazz) became the first player to register 10,000 assists.
2001 - Dale Earnhardt Sr. died from injuries sustained in a crash at the Daytona 500 at age 49.
2006 - American Shani Davis won the men's 1,000-meter speedskating in Turin, becoming the first black athlete to win an individual gold medal in Winter Olympic history.
2007 - Kevin Harvick wins the closest finish in Daytona 500 history, edging Mark Martin by 0.02 seconds.