Osun Defender History Corner: February 18 In Focus

Today, on the history corner, we take a trip in the realm of flashback and recall some events that marked this day.

February 18, 3102 BC

According to some calculations, this date marks the start of the Kali Yuga, the last of the four stages (or ages) the world goes through as part of the cycle of Yugas described in Hindu cosmology.

February 18, 1478

George, Duke of Clarence, brother of King Edward IV and King Richard III of England, was executed for treason.

February 18, 1546

Martin Luther, German theologian and leader of the Protestant Reformation, died in Eisleben, Germany.

February 18, 1766

James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde, Irish general and statesman, died.

February 18, 1861

In Montgomery, Alabama, Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as the provisional President of the Confederate States of America.

February 18, 1885

Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” was published in the United States for the first time.

February 18, 1913

Pedro Lascuráin becomes President of Mexico for less than an hour during the “Ten Tragic Days” of the Mexican Revolution.

February 18, 1930

Elm Farm Ollie becomes the first cow to fly in an airplane and also the first cow to be milked in an airplane.

February 18, 1943

The Nazis arrested the members of the White Rose resistance group in Munich, Germany.

February 18, 1965

Gambia becomes independent from the United Kingdom.

February 18, 1970

The Chicago Seven defendants were found not guilty of conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

February 18, 1972

The California Supreme Court in the United States invalidated the state’s death penalty and commuted the sentences of all death row inmates to life imprisonment.

February 18, 2001

FBI agent Robert Hanssen was arrested and charged with spying for Russia for more than 15 years.

February 18, 2003

Nearly 200 people died in a nightclub fire in West Warwick, Rhode Island, USA.

February 18, 2010

WikiLeaks published the first of hundreds of thousands of classified documents disclosed by the American soldier Chelsea Manning.

February 18, 2011

The unrest in Libya began, leading to the eventual overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime.

February 18, 2013

A meteor exploded over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, injuring over 1,500 people and causing extensive damage.

February 18, 2015

Egypt launched airstrikes against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) targets in Libya, in retaliation for the beheading of Egyptian Coptic Christians.

February 18, 2019

Pope Francis defrocked former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick after the Vatican found him guilty of sexual abuse.

February 18, 2021

NASA’s Perseverance rover successfully landed on Mars, beginning its mission to search for signs of past life and collect samples for future return to Earth.

Please note that these are just a few historical events that happened on February 18. History is full of numerous other significant events on this day, ranging from politics and warfare to cultural and scientific milestones.