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On this day in history - Today, February, 18

Today in History

  • 1930 Pluto is discovered

    Clyde W. Tombaugh discovered the dwarf planet when sifting through photographs taken a month earlier

  • 1943 The Gestapo arrests German resistance fighter Sophie Scholl and other White Rose activists

    21-year-old student Scholl and her fellow campaigners were executed for having distributed flyers cr

  • 1954 The first Church of Scientology is established

    Despite many controversies, Scientology has gained thousands of members since its inception.

  • 1977 The Space Shuttle takes off on its maiden flight

    The “Enterprise” was mounted on a Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft; the first free flight took pl

  • 1978 Hawaii hosts the first Ironman Triathlon

    Contestants have to swim 2.4 miles (3.86 km), bike 112 miles (180.25 km) and complete a marathon run

Illustration of stork, signifying birth

Births On This Day,
February, 18

  • 1974 Yevgeny Kafelnikov

    Russian tennis player

  • 1967 Roberto Baggio

    Italian footballer

  • 1954 John Travolta

    American actor, singer, producer

  • 1933 Yoko Ono

    Japanese/American singer-songwriter

  • 1838 Ernst Mach

    Austrian physicist

Illustration of tombstone, signifying death

Deaths On This Day,
February, 18

  • 1967 J. Robert Oppenheimer

    American physicist

  • 1906 John Batterson Stetson

    American businessman, founded the John B. Stetson Company

  • 1564 Michelangelo

    Italian painter, sculptor

  • 1546 Martin Luther

    German monk, priest, leader of the Protestant Reformation

  • 1294 Kublai Khan

    Mongolian Emperor