History of Today 18 July: Important Events, Births and Deaths

Welcome to History of Today 18 July. On this page, you can read important historical events, famous births, notable deaths and general knowledge facts related to 18 July. This information is useful for UPSC, SSC, Banking, Railway, State PSC and other competitive exams.

Last updated on 18 July 2026, 01:00 AM

Important Events on 18 July in History

• 18 Jul 2019: A man sets fire to an anime studio in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Japan, killing 36 people and injuring dozens of others. Read more
• 18 Jul 2014: The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant requires Christians to either accept dhimmi status, emigrate from ISIL lands, or be killed. Read more
• 18 Jul 2013: The Government of Detroit, with up to $20 billion in debt, files for the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. Read more
• 18 Jul 2012: At least seven people are killed and 32 others are injured after a bomb explodes on an Israeli tour bus at Burgas Airport, Bulgaria. Read more
• 18 Jul 2002: A Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer crashes near Estes Park, Colorado, killing both crew members. Read more
• 18 Jul 1996: Storms provoke severe flooding on the Saguenay River, beginning one of Quebec's costliest natural disasters ever. Read more
• 18 Jul 1996: Battle of Mullaitivu: The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam capture the Sri Lanka Army's base, killing over 1,200 soldiers. Read more
• 18 Jul 1995: On the Caribbean island of Montserrat, the Soufrière Hills volcano erupts. Over the course of several years, it devastates the island, destroying the capital, forcing most of the population to flee. Read more
• 18 Jul 1994: The bombing of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (Argentine Jewish Community Center) in Buenos Aires kills 85 people (mostly Jewish) and injures 300. Read more
• 18 Jul 1994: Rwandan genocide: The Rwandan Patriotic Front takes control of Gisenyi and north western Rwanda, forcing the interim government into Zaire and ending the genocide. Read more
• 18 Jul 1992: A picture of Les Horribles Cernettes was taken, which became the first ever photo posted to the World Wide Web. Read more
• 18 Jul 1984: McDonald's massacre in San Ysidro, California: James Oliver Huberty kills 21 people and injures 19 others before being shot dead by police. Read more
• 18 Jul 1982: Two hundred sixty-eight Guatemalan campesinos ("peasants" or "country people") are slain in the Plan de Sánchez massacre. Read more
• 18 Jul 1981: A Canadair CL-44 and Sukhoi Su-15 collide in mid-air near Yerevan, Armenia, killing four. Read more
• 18 Jul 1979: A landslide occurs on the Iliwerung volcano in Indonesia, triggering a tsunami that kills over 530 and leaves 700 missing. Read more
• 18 Jul 1976: Nadia Comăneci becomes the first person in Olympic Games history to score a perfect 10 in gymnastics at the 1976 Summer Olympics. Read more
• 18 Jul 1970: An Antonov An-22 of the Soviet Air Forces crashes into the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 23 aboard. Read more
• 18 Jul 1968: Intel is founded in Mountain View, California. Read more
• 18 Jul 1966: Human spaceflight: Gemini 10 is launched from Cape Kennedy on a 70-hour mission that includes docking with an orbiting Agena target vehicle. Read more
• 18 Jul 1966: A racially charged incident in a bar sparks the six-day Hough riots in Cleveland, Ohio; 1,700 Ohio National Guard troops intervene to restore order. Read more
• 18 Jul 1944: World War II: Hideki Tōjō resigns as Prime Minister of Japan because of numerous setbacks in the war effort. Read more
• 18 Jul 1942: World War II: During the Beisfjord massacre in Norway, 15 Norwegian paramilitary guards help members of the SS to kill 288 political prisoners from Yugoslavia. Read more
• 18 Jul 1942: The Germans test fly the Messerschmitt Me 262 using its jet engines for the first time. Read more
• 18 Jul 1925: Adolf Hitler publishes Mein Kampf. Read more
• 18 Jul 1914: The U.S. Congress forms the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps, giving official status to aircraft within the U.S. Army for the first time. Read more
• 18 Jul 1872: The Ballot Act 1872 in the United Kingdom introduced the requirement that parliamentary and local government elections be held by secret ballot. Read more
• 18 Jul 1870: The First Vatican Council decrees the dogma of papal infallibility. Read more
• 18 Jul 1863: American Civil War: Second Battle of Fort Wagner: One of the first formal African American military units, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, supported by several white regiments, attempts an unsuccessful assault on Confederate-held Battery Wagner. Read more
• 18 Jul 1862: First ascent of Dent Blanche, one of the highest summits in the Alps. Read more
• 18 Jul 1857: Louis Faidherbe, French governor of Senegal, arrives to relieve French forces at Kayes, effectively ending El Hajj Umar Tall's war against the French. Read more
• 18 Jul 1841: Coronation of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil. Read more
• 18 Jul 1812: The Treaties of Orebro end both the Anglo-Russian and Anglo-Swedish Wars. Read more
• 18 Jul 1806: A gunpowder magazine explosion in Birgu, Malta, kills around 200 people. Read more

Famous Births on 18 July

• 18 Jul 2001: Agustina Roth, Argentine BMX rider Agustina Roth is an Argentine BMX rider. Read more
• 18 Jul 2000: Sarah Kinsley, American singer-songwriter Sarah Kinsley is an American singer-songwriter. Throughout her childhood, she performed classical music in youth orchestras and eventually studied music at Columbia University, where she began to produce her own alt pop music. She has continually expressed the importance of her producing every aspect of her music due to the underrepresentation of female producers in the music industry. After her song "The King" had success on TikTok in 2021, she released an extended play (EP) of the same name, which was listed on NME's top debut projects of 2021. Kinsley followed up the project with subsequent EPs, Cypress (2022) and Ascension (2023). In 2024, she released her debut album Escaper. Read more
• 18 Jul 1999: Miro Heiskanen, Finnish ice hockey player Miro Heiskanen is a Finnish professional ice hockey player who is a defenceman and alternate captain for the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL). Ranked in the top 10 eligible European skaters by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau, Heiskanen was picked third overall in the 2017 NHL entry draft by the Stars. Read more
• 18 Jul 1997: Bam Adebayo, American basketball player Edrice Femi "Bam" Adebayo is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats before being selected by the Heat with the 14th overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft. He is a three-time NBA All-Star, a six-time NBA All-Defensive Team honoree, and he helped the Heat reach the NBA Finals in 2020 and 2023. He also won a gold medal with the 2020 and 2024 U.S. Olympic teams. He has achieved the second-highest scoring game by a player in NBA history with 83 points, achieved in a 150–129 win on March 10, 2026, against the Washington Wizards. Read more
• 18 Jul 1997: Noah Lyles, American sprinter Noah Lyles is an American track and field sprinter who competes in various sprint race events. His personal best of 14.67 seconds in the 150 m reportedly set the world record time, and his time of 19.31 seconds in the 200 m is the American record, and makes him the third fastest of all-time. He is an Olympic champion and eight-time World champion. Read more
• 18 Jul 1997: Fionn Whitehead, English actor Fionn Whitehead is an English actor. He portrayed the lead role in the 2017 film Dunkirk and the 2018 film Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. His first acting credit was in the 2016 ITV miniseries Him. Read more
• 18 Jul 1996: Yung Lean, Swedish rapper and singer-songwriter Jonatan Aron Leandoer Håstad, known professionally as Yung Lean, is a Swedish rapper. Yung Lean rose to prominence in 2013 with his song "Ginseng Strip 2002", which went viral on YouTube. Later that same year, he released his debut mixtape, Unknown Death 2002, and the following year, he released his debut studio album, Unknown Memory. Read more
• 18 Jul 1996: Smriti Mandhana, Indian cricketer Smriti Mandhana is an Indian international cricketer and the vice-captain of the Indian women's national team. She was part of the Indian team that won the 2025 Women's Cricket World Cup, the Women's Asia Cup in 2016 and 2022. She also won a gold medal in the 2022 Asian Games, and a silver medal in the 2022 Commonwealth Games representing India. Read more
• 18 Jul 1996: Shudufhadzo Musida, Miss South Africa 2020 Shudufhadzo Musida is a South African model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss South Africa 2020. She is the second title holder from the province of Limpopo – the first being Bokang Montjane. She is the first title holder whose first language is Tshivenḓa, and was selected to represent South Africa in Miss World 2022. Musida is the first bald woman to win Miss South Africa. She is a dedicated advocate and spokeswoman for mental health awareness and empowering women and children. Read more
• 18 Jul 1994: Nilo Soares, East Timorese footballer Nilo Soares is an East Timorese footballer who plays as midfielder for Karketu Dili and the Timor-Leste national team. Read more
• 18 Jul 1993: Lee Tae-min, South Korean singer and actor Lee Tae-min, known mononymously as Taemin, is a South Korean singer, dancer, and actor. He debuted as a member of the South Korean boy band Shinee in May 2008 and the supergroup SuperM in 2019, both under SM Entertainment, and has subsequently been labeled by media outlets as the "Idol's Idol" due to the large number of idols citing him as an inspiration. As an actor, Taemin's first role was as Junsu in the 2009 MBC comedy Hilarious Housewives. Read more
• 18 Jul 1993: Michael Lichaa, Australian rugby league player Michael Lichaa is a Lebanon international rugby league footballer who plays as a hooker. Read more
• 18 Jul 1991: Mandy Rose, American wrestler and television personality Amanda Rose Saccomanno is an American professional wrestler, television personality, and fitness and figure competitor. She is best known for her tenure in WWE from 2015 to 2022, where she performed under the ring name Mandy Rose, and was a former NXT Women's Champion and was the leader of the Toxic Attraction stable alongside Jacy Jayne and Gigi Dolin. Rose was also previously a member of the Fire and Desire tag team duo alongside Sonya Deville. Read more
• 18 Jul 1991: Eugenio Suárez, Venezuelan baseball player Eugenio Alejandro Suárez is a Venezuelan professional baseball third baseman for the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Detroit Tigers, Seattle Mariners, and Arizona Diamondbacks. He is a two-time All-Star. He hit 49 home runs, most for a Venezuelan-born player, in both 2019 and 2025. Read more
• 18 Jul 1990: Canelo Álvarez, Mexican boxer Santos Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez Barragán is a Mexican professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in four weight classes, from light middleweight to light heavyweight, including unified titles in three of those weight classes. In 2021, Álvarez became the first boxer in history to become the undisputed super middleweight champion, before becoming a two-time undisputed super middleweight champion in 2025. He also held the Ring magazine super middleweight title from 2020 to 2025. Read more
• 18 Jul 1989: Jamie Benn, Canadian ice hockey player Jamie Randolph Benn is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is a forward and captain for the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL). Read more
• 18 Jul 1989: Sebastian Mielitz, German footballer Sebastian Mielitz is a German professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Werder Bremen II. Read more
• 18 Jul 1989: Yohan Mollo, French footballer Yohan Mollo is a French professional footballer who plays as a winger or right-back for Régional 1 club Berre SpC. Read more
• 18 Jul 1988: Änis Ben-Hatira, German-Tunisian footballer Änis Ben-Hatira is a Tunisian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for German Regionalliga club Hertha BSC II. Between 2012 and 2016 he made 12 appearances for the Tunisia national team scoring one goal. Read more
• 18 Jul 1988: César Villaluz, Mexican footballer César Osvaldo Villaluz Martínez is a former Mexican professional footballer who last played as a midfielder for Cancún. Read more
• 18 Jul 1987: Tontowi Ahmad, Indonesian badminton player Tontowi Ahmad is a retired Indonesian badminton player. He plays for PB. Djarum, a badminton club in Kudus, Central Java and joined the club in 2005. Tontowi Ahmad rose to prominence in the world badminton in 2010 when he paired with the established mixed doubles star Liliyana Natsir. With Natsir he won the 2016 Olympic gold medal in the mixed doubles category. Read more
• 18 Jul 1986: Natalia Mikhailova, Russian ice dancer Natalia Yurievna Mikhailova is a Russian former competitive ice dancer. With Arkadi Sergeev, she is the 2006 World Junior silver medalist. Read more
• 18 Jul 1985: Chace Crawford, American actor Christopher Chace Crawford is an American actor. He is known for his television portrayals of Nate Archibald on the teen drama series Gossip Girl (2007–2012) and of Kevin / The Deep in the satirical superhero series The Boys (2019–2026) and the resulting franchise. He is also known for starring in the films The Covenant (2006), The Haunting of Molly Hartley (2008), Twelve (2011), and What to Expect When You're Expecting (2012). Read more
• 18 Jul 1985: Panagiotis Lagos, Greek footballer Panagiotis Lagos is a Greek former professional footballer. Lagos had the ability to play in various positions as much as on the wings as on the center, due to the combination of the speed and technique of his play. Read more
• 18 Jul 1985: James Norton, English actor James Geoffrey Ian Norton is an English actor. He is known for roles in the television series Happy Valley (2014–2023), Grantchester (2014–2019), War & Peace (2016), and McMafia (2018). He played the title role in the 2019 film Mr. Jones and played King Harold Godwinson in the 2025 BBC historical mini-series King & Conqueror. He earned a nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the British Academy Television Awards in 2015 for his performance as Tommy Lee Royce in Happy Valley. He is also part of the main cast of House of Guinness (2025-present) and House of the Dragon (2026). Norton has a reputation for portraying villainous or complicated, morally conflicted characters. Read more
• 18 Jul 1984: Ben Askren, American mixed martial artist and boxer Benjamin Michael Askren is an American professional mixed martial artist, professional boxer and Olympic wrestler. He formerly competed in the Welterweight divisions of Bellator Fighting Championships and ONE FC, where he was the longest reigning Bellator Welterweight Champion and longest reigning ONE Welterweight World Champion. He also competed in the welterweight division of the UFC, where he peaked as the #5 ranked welterweight. Read more
• 18 Jul 1983: Mishaal Al-Saeed, Saudi Arabian footballer Mishaal Al-Saeed is a Saudi Arabian football player who currently plays as a defender for Al-Wehda in the Saudi Professional League. Read more
• 18 Jul 1983: Carlos Diogo, Uruguayan footballer Carlos Andrés Diogo Enseñat is a Uruguayan former footballer who played as a right-sided wing-back or midfielder. An ex-international for Uruguay, he is best known for his unsuccessful tenure at Real Madrid. Read more
• 18 Jul 1983: Aaron Gillespie, American singer-songwriter and drummer Aaron Roderick Gillespie is an American musician, best known for being the drummer and clean vocalist for the rock band Underoath, of which he is the only original member. He is also the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the alternative rock band The Almost. He has also worked with the band The Dangerous Summer. Gillespie also maintains his own solo project and released his debut full-length album, Anthem Song, in 2011. From 2013 to 2016, he was the touring drummer for Paramore. Read more
• 18 Jul 1983: Mikk Pahapill, Estonian decathlete Mikk Pahapill is a retired Estonian decathlete. His personal best score is 8398 points, achieved at the 2011 Hypo-Meeting in Götzis. His coach is Remigija Nazarovienė. He won the 2009 European Indoor Championships in heptathlon with 6362 points, which is currently the 10th all-time result. Read more
• 18 Jul 1983: Jan Schlaudraff, German footballer Jan Schlaudraff is a German professional football official and a former player who played as a midfielder and striker. He is the managing director of sports for the Austrian club SKN St. Pölten. Read more
• 18 Jul 1982: Ryan Cabrera, American singer-songwriter and guitarist Ryan Frank Cabrera is an American musician. He began his career as a lead singer for the Dallas band Rubix Groove before pursuing his solo career. Following the 2001 release of independent album Elm St., he released his first major-label album, Take It All Away, on August 17, 2004, which went on to sell over two million copies. Earlier in the year, Cabrera had become known for his up-tempo pop-rock single "On the Way Down". It was then followed by Cabrera's second single, "True"; and his third single "40 Kinds of Sadness". Read more
• 18 Jul 1982: Priyanka Chopra, Indian actress, singer, and film producer Priyanka Chopra Jonas is an Indian actress and film producer. The winner of the Miss World 2000 pageant, she is India's highest-paid actress and her accolades include two National Film Awards and five Filmfare Awards. In 2016, the Government of India honoured her with the Padma Shri, and Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Forbes listed her among the World's 100 Most Powerful Women, and in 2022, she was named in the BBC 100 Women list. Read more
• 18 Jul 1982: Carlo Costly, Honduran footballer Carlo Yaír Costly Molina is a Honduran professional footballer who plays as a striker for Liga de Ascenso club Lone FC. Read more
• 18 Jul 1981: Dennis Seidenberg, German ice hockey player Dennis Marvin Seidenberg is a German former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for Philadelphia Flyers, Phoenix Coyotes, Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers, New York Islanders, and Boston Bruins, with whom he won the Stanley Cup in 2011. His younger brother Yannic played for EHC Red Bull München in the DEL. Read more
• 18 Jul 1981: Michiel Huisman, Dutch actor Michiel Huisman is a Dutch actor, musician and singer-songwriter born in Amstelveen, recognized for his roles in Dutch and international film and television projects. Read more
• 18 Jul 1980: Kristen Bell, American actress Kristen Anne Bell is an American actress and singer. Her work includes both film and television, and her accolades include two Emmy Awards, in addition to nominations for three Golden Globe Awards. In 2025, Time included her in their selection of the 100 most influential people in the world. Read more
• 18 Jul 1980: David Blu, American–Israeli basketball player David Blu is an American–Israeli former professional basketball player, who spent 10 seasons playing in the EuroLeague. Standing at 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m), he played at the small forward and power forward positions. He is considered to be one of the top three-point shooters in EuroLeague history. He was also the 2011 Israeli Basketball Premier League Finals MVP. He also represented the senior Israeli national team in 2010. Read more
• 18 Jul 1980: Ryōko Hirosue, Japanese actress Ryōko Hirosue is a Japanese actress and singer, best known to international audiences for her roles in the Luc Besson-produced Wasabi (2001) and the Academy Award-winning Japanese film Departures (2008). She also starred in the 2008 comedy series Yasuko to Kenji. Read more
• 18 Jul 1979: Deion Branch, American football player Anthony Deion Branch Jr. is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He is currently the wide receivers coach at the University of Louisville. He was selected by the New England Patriots in the second round of the 2002 NFL draft. He played college football at Louisville. Read more
• 18 Jul 1979: Joey Mercury, American wrestler and producer Adam Birch, better known by the ring name Joey Mercury, is an American professional wrestler, producer, trainer, and wrestling agent. He is best known for his tenures in WWE and Ring of Honor. Read more
• 18 Jul 1978: Adabel Guerrero, Argentinian actress, singer, and dancer Adabel Anahí Guerrero Melachenko, better known simply as Adabel Guerrero, is an Argentine professional theater and burlesque dancer, actress, and supervedette, who has also dabbled as a model and as a singer in several television, magazine and theater appearances. Guerrero has worked as a television co-hostess and panelist, and is currently a panelist on El Chimentero 3.0. Read more
• 18 Jul 1978: Shane Horgan, Irish rugby player and sportscaster Shane Patrick Horgan is an Irish former rugby union player who played wing or centre for Leinster and Ireland. Read more
• 18 Jul 1978: Crystal Mangum, American murderer responsible for making false rape allegations in the Duke lacrosse case Crystal Gail Mangum is an American former stripper from Durham, North Carolina, who was incarcerated for murder from 2013 until her release in February 2026. In 2006, she came to attention in national news reports for having made false allegations of rape against lacrosse players in the Duke lacrosse rape hoax. Mangum's work in the sex industry as a black woman, while the young men she accused were white, generated extensive media interest and academic debate about race, class, gender, and the politicization of the justice system. In December 2024, Mangum admitted to fabricating the assault. Read more
• 18 Jul 1978: Joo Sang-wook, South Korean actor Joo Sang-wook is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his roles in generational saga Giant, medical drama Good Doctor, romantic comedy Cunning Single Lady, Birth of a Beauty, and crime procedural Special Affairs Team TEN. Read more
• 18 Jul 1978: Ben Sheets, American baseball player and coach Ben Michael Sheets is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics, and Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball. Sheets is a four-time MLB All-Star. He won a gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics. Read more
• 18 Jul 1978: Mélissa Theuriau, French journalist Mélissa Theuriau is a French journalist and news anchor for M6. She studied journalism and became a television news presenter. She is the former anchor and co-editor in chief of Zone interdite on French TV. Read more
• 18 Jul 1977: Alexander Morozevich, Russian chess player and author Alexander Sergeyevich Morozevich is a Russian chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1994. Morozevich is a two-time World Championship candidate, two-time Russian champion and has represented Russia in seven Chess Olympiads, winning numerous team and board medals. Read more
• 18 Jul 1977: Kelly Reilly, English actress Jessica Kelly Siobhán Reilly is an English actress. Her television work includes starring roles in the British crime drama Above Suspicion (2009–2012), the American psychological medical drama Black Box (2014), the American anthology crime drama True Detective (2015) and the historical fantasy drama Britannia (2018). From 2018 to 2024, she played Beth Dutton on American neo-Western dramas Yellowstone, opposite Kevin Costner, and its spin-off Dutton Ranch (2026–present). Read more
• 18 Jul 1976: Elsa Pataky, Spanish actress Elsa Lafuente Medianu, known professionally as Elsa Pataky, is a Spanish model and actress. Pataky is known for her leading role of Raquel Alonso in the Spanish teen drama Al salir de Clase (1997–2002), before garnering international recognition as Elena Neves in the Fast & Furious franchise. She has appeared in the films Snakes on a Plane (2006), Giallo (2009) and Give 'Em Hell, Malone (2009). She also starred in the Spanish film Di Di Hollywood (2010) and played Mr. Norton and the Vuvalini General in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) in a dual role. Read more
• 18 Jul 1976: Go Soo-hee, South Korean actress Go Soo-hee is a South Korean actress. Read more
• 18 Jul 1975: Torii Hunter, American baseball player Torii Kedar Hunter is an American former professional baseball center fielder and right fielder. Hunter currently serves as Special Assistant to Los Angeles Angels general manager Perry Minasian. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and Detroit Tigers from 1997 through 2015. Hunter was a five-time All-Star, won nine consecutive Gold Glove Awards as a center fielder, and was a two-time Silver Slugger Award winner. Read more
• 18 Jul 1975: Daron Malakian, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer Daron Malakian is an Armenian-American musician. He is the guitarist, songwriter, and second vocalist of the metal band System of a Down, and the lead vocalist, lead guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter of Daron Malakian and Scars on Broadway. Read more
• 18 Jul 1975: M.I.A., English rapper and producer Mathangi Arulpragasam, known as Maya and professionally as M.I.A., is a British singer, rapper, songwriter, record producer, and activist. Her music combines elements of alternative, dance, electronic, hip hop and world music with electronic instruments and samples. Read more
• 18 Jul 1974: Alan Morrison, British poet Alan Duncan Morrison is a British poet. Read more
• 18 Jul 1971: Penny Hardaway, American basketball player and coach Anfernee Deon "Penny" Hardaway is an American college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Memphis Tigers men's team in the American Athletic Conference (AAC). Hardaway played college basketball at Memphis and 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he was a four-time NBA All-Star and a three-time All-NBA Team member as a member of the Orlando Magic. He also played for the Phoenix Suns, New York Knicks and the Miami Heat. Read more
• 18 Jul 1971: Sukhwinder Singh, Indian singer-songwriter and actor Sukhwinder Singh is an Indian playback singer, music composer, lyricist and music producer who has worked primarily in Hindi films. He has also recorded songs for films and music albums in several other Indian languages, including Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Punjabi, Marathi, Urdu and Bengali. Read more
• 18 Jul 1971: Joe Russo, American director, producer and screenwriter Anthony J. Russo and Joseph Vincent Russo, collectively known as the Russo brothers, are American filmmakers. They are best known for directing four films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU): Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019). The pair are the third-highest-grossing directors of all time and their film Endgame grossed over $2.798 billion worldwide, briefly becoming the highest-grossing film of all time. Read more
• 18 Jul 1969: Elizabeth Gilbert, American author Elizabeth Gilbert is an American journalist and author. Her 2006 memoir, Eat, Pray, Love, has sold over 12 million copies and has been translated into over 30 languages. The book was also made into a film of the same name in 2010. Read more
• 18 Jul 1969: The Great Sasuke, Japanese wrestler and politician Masanori Murakawa , best known under his ring name The Great Sasuke , is a Japanese professional wrestler, professional wrestling promoter and politician. He is the founder of Michinoku Pro Wrestling (MPW). Aside from professional wrestling, he is also a former Iwate Prefectural Assembly legislator. He has wrestled in Japan and in the United States in various professional wrestling promotions. He is said to have an incredible tolerance for pain, mainly in reference to the injuries he has had including a cracked skull on two occasions. Read more
• 18 Jul 1968: Grant Bowler, New Zealand-Australian actor Grant Bowler is a New Zealand-Australian actor and television presenter who has worked in American, Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian film, television, and theatre. Read more
• 18 Jul 1968: Scott Gourley, Australian rugby player Scott Robert Gourley is an Australian former rugby league and rugby union footballer who played from 1986 to 1998 and achieved the status of a dual-code international representing his country in both sports. He made five Test appearances for the Wallabies
  and switched to rugby league in 1990 playing for the St George Dragons, the Sydney Roosters and making one Test appearance for the Kangaroos. Read more
• 18 Jul 1967: Vin Diesel, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter Mark Sinclair Vincent, known professionally as Vin Diesel, is an American actor and filmmaker. One of the world's highest-grossing actors, he gained prominence for portraying Dominic "Dom" Toretto in the Fast & Furious franchise. Read more
• 18 Jul 1966: Dan O'Brien, American decathlete and coach Daniel Dion O'Brien is an American former decathlete and Olympic gold medalist. He won the Olympic title in 1996, three consecutive world championships, and set the world record in 1992. Read more
• 18 Jul 1965: Vesselina Kasarova, Bulgarian soprano Vesselina Kasarova is a Bulgarian operatic mezzo-soprano. Read more
• 18 Jul 1964: Wendy Williams, American talk show host Wendy Williams Hunter is an American former broadcaster, media personality and author. Williams began her career as a radio DJ and quickly became known as a shock jock in New York City. She gained notoriety for her confrontational interviews of celebrities. The VH1 reality series The Wendy Williams Experience broadcast events surrounding her radio show in 2006. From 2008 to 2021, she hosted the nationally syndicated television talk show The Wendy Williams Show. Read more
• 18 Jul 1963: Marc Girardelli, Austrian-Luxembourgian skier Marc Girardelli is an Austrian–Luxembourgish former alpine ski racer, a five-time World Cup overall champion who excelled in all five alpine disciplines. Read more
• 18 Jul 1963: Martín Torrijos, Panamanian economist and politician, 35th President of Panama Martín Erasto Torrijos Espino is a Panamanian politician who was President of Panama from 2004 to 2009. Read more
• 18 Jul 1962: Shaun Micallef, Australian comedian, producer, and screenwriter Shaun Patrick Micallef is an Australian comedian, actor, writer, television presenter and former lawyer. He was the host of the satirical news comedy series Shaun Micallef's Mad as Hell on the ABC. He also hosted the game show Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation. Read more
• 18 Jul 1961: Elizabeth McGovern, American actress Elizabeth Lee McGovern is an American actress. She has received three Screen Actors Guild Awards, as well as nominations for an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Satellite Award, and two Golden Globe Awards, among numerous other career plaudits and honors. Read more
• 18 Jul 1961: Alan Pardew, English footballer and manager Alan Scott Pardew is an English football manager and former professional footballer, who most recently managed Greek Super League club Aris Thessaloniki. Read more
• 18 Jul 1961: Pasi Rautiainen, Finnish footballer, coach, and manager Pasi Pentti Rautiainen is a Finnish football manager and former player. He made 29 appearances for Finland national football team, scoring one goal. Rautiainen was named in the Finnish Football Hall of Fame in 2021. Read more
• 18 Jul 1960: Simon Heffer, English journalist and author Simon James Heffer, Baron Blackwater is an English historian, journalist, author, political commentator and member of the House of Lords. He has published several biographies and a series of books on the social history of Great Britain from the mid-nineteenth century until the end of the First World War. He was appointed professorial research fellow at the University of Buckingham in 2017. Read more
• 18 Jul 1957: Nick Faldo, English golfer and sportscaster Sir Nicholas Alexander Faldo is an English retired professional golfer and television commentator. Faldo was renowned for his dedication to the game, and was ranked number one on the Official World Golf Ranking for a total of 97 weeks. His 43 professional wins include 30 victories on the European Tour and six major championships: three Open Championships and three Masters. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1998. Read more
• 18 Jul 1957: Keith Levene, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer (died 2022) Julian Keith Levene was an English musician who was a founding member of both the Clash and Public Image Ltd (PiL). While Levene was in PiL, their debut studio album Public Image: First Issue (1978) reached No. 22 on the UK album charts, and its lead track "Public Image" broke the top 10 UK singles chart. Read more
• 18 Jul 1955: Bernd Fasching, Austrian painter and sculptor Bernd Fasching was an Austrian painter and sculptor. He lived and worked in Vienna. Read more
• 18 Jul 1954: Ricky Skaggs, American singer-songwriter, mandolin player, and producer Rickie Lee Skaggs, known professionally as Ricky Skaggs, is an American neotraditional country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin, but he also plays fiddle, guitar, and banjo. Read more
• 18 Jul 1951: Elio Di Rupo, Belgian chemist, academic, and politician, 68th Prime Minister of Belgium Elio Di Rupo is a Belgian politician who served as the prime minister of Belgium from 2011 to 2014, heading the Di Rupo Government, and as minister-president of Wallonia for three non-consecutive terms between 1999 and 2024. He was the first francophone to hold the prime ministership since Paul Vanden Boeynants in 1979, and the country's first socialist prime minister since Edmond Leburton left office in 1974. Di Rupo was also Belgium's first prime minister of non-Belgian descent, and the world's second openly gay person and first openly gay man to be head of government in modern times. Read more
• 18 Jul 1951: Margo Martindale, American actress Margo Martindale is an American character actress who has appeared on television, film, and stage. In 2011, she won a Primetime Emmy Award and a Critics' Choice Television Award for her recurring role as Mags Bennett on Justified. She was nominated for an Emmy Award four times for her recurring role as Claudia on The Americans, winning it in 2015 and 2016. Read more
• 18 Jul 1950: Richard Branson, English businessman, founded Virgin Group Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate who co-founded the Virgin Group in 1970, and, as of 2016, controls five companies. Read more
• 18 Jul 1950: Jack Dongarra, American computer scientist and academic Jack Joseph Dongarra is an American computer scientist and mathematician. He is a University Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Computer Science in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department at the University of Tennessee. He holds the position Turing Fellowship in the School of Mathematics at the University of Manchester, and is an adjunct professor in the Computer Science Department at Rice University. He served as a faculty fellow at the Texas A&M University Institute for Advanced Study (2014–2018). Dongarra is the founding director of the Innovative Computing Laboratory at the University of Tennessee. He was the recipient of the Turing Award in 2021. Read more
• 18 Jul 1950: Kostas Eleftherakis, Greek footballer Kostas Eleftherakis is a Greek former international football player who played as a midfielder. His nickname was "the Deer" (Greek: "το Ελάφι"). Read more
• 18 Jul 1950: Glenn Hughes, American disco singer and actor (died 2001) Glenn Michael Hughes was an American singer who was the original "Leatherman" character in the disco group Village People from 1977 to 1996. Read more
• 18 Jul 1950: Shahid Khan, Pakistani-American businessman and sports executive Shahid Rafiq Khan is a Pakistani and American businessman. He owns the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL) and Fulham F.C. of the Premier League and is also a lead investor of the American wrestling promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW), owned by his son, Tony. Khan is also the owner of Flex-N-Gate, an American supplier of motor vehicle components. Read more
• 18 Jul 1950: Jack Layton, Canadian political scientist, academic, and politician (died 2011) John Gilbert Layton was a Canadian politician and academic who served as the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2003 to 2011 and leader of the Official Opposition in 2011. He previously sat on the Toronto City Council, occasionally holding the title of acting mayor or deputy mayor of Toronto during his tenure as city councillor. Layton was the member of Parliament (MP) for Toronto—Danforth from 2004 until his death. Read more
• 18 Jul 1950: Mark Udall, American educator and politician Mark Emery Udall is an American politician who served as a United States senator from Colorado from 2009 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the United States House of Representatives, representing Colorado's 2nd congressional district. Before being elected to Congress, he represented parts of Boulder, Colorado, in the Colorado House of Representatives. Read more
• 18 Jul 1949: Dennis Lillee, Australian cricketer and coach Dennis Keith Lillee, is a retired Australian cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation". Lillee formed a new ball partnership with Jeff Thomson, which is recognised as one of the greatest bowling pairs of all time. Read more
• 18 Jul 1948: Carlos Colón Sr., Puerto Rican-American wrestler and promoter Carlos Edwin Colón González Sr. is a Puerto Rican wrestling promoter and retired professional wrestler, better known as Carlitos Colón or simply Carlos Colón. He is, along with Victor Jovica, an owner of the Puerto Rican wrestling promotion World Wrestling Council (WWC), where he has held the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship a record 26 times. He is the patriarch of the Colón wrestling family, composed of his sons Carlos and Eddie, daughter Stacy and nephew Orlando. In 2014, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame and the following year into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame. Read more
• 18 Jul 1948: Jeanne Córdova, American journalist and activist (died 2016) Jeanne Córdova was an American writer and supporter of the lesbian and gay rights movement, founder of The Lesbian Tide, and a founder of the West Coast LGBT movement. A former Catholic nun, Córdova was a second-wave feminist lesbian activist and self-described butch. Read more
• 18 Jul 1948: Hartmut Michel, German biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate Hartmut Michel is a German biochemist, who received the 1988 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for determination of the first crystal structure of an integral membrane protein, a membrane-bound complex of proteins and co-factors that is essential to photosynthesis. Read more
• 18 Jul 1947: Steve Forbes, American publisher and politician Malcolm Stevenson Forbes Jr. is an American publisher, businessman, and politician who is the chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes, the business magazine. The son of longtime Forbes publisher Malcolm Forbes and the grandson of that publication's founder B.C. Forbes, he is an adviser at the Forbes School of Business & Technology. Read more
• 18 Jul 1946: Kalpana Mohan, Indian actress (died 2012) Kalpana was an Indian actress who worked in Hindi cinema in the 1960s. She featured alongside notable actors such as Shammi Kapoor in the film Professor (1962), Shashi Kapoor and Kishore Kumar in Pyar Kiye Jaa (1966), Dev Anand in Teen Devian, Pradeep Kumar in Saheli and Feroz Khan in Tasveer and Teesra Kaun. Read more
• 18 Jul 1945: Pat Doherty, Irish Republican politician Patrick Doherty is a retired Sinn Féin politician, who served as the abstentionist Member of Parliament (MP) for West Tyrone from 2001 to 2017. He was also a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for West Tyrone from 1998 to June 2012. Doherty served as Vice President of Sinn Féin from 1988 to 2009, when Mary Lou McDonald became the party's new vice president. Read more
• 18 Jul 1944: David Hemery, English hurdler and author David Peter Hemery is an English former track and field athlete. He was the winner of the 400 metres hurdles at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City in a new world record. Read more
• 18 Jul 1943: Joseph J. Ellis, American historian and author Joseph John-Michael Ellis III is an American historian whose work focuses on the lives and times of the Founding Fathers of the United States. His book American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson won a National Book Award in 1997 and Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for History. Both books were bestsellers. Read more
• 18 Jul 1943: Don Awrey, Canadian ice hockey player Donald William Awrey is a Canadian former professional hockey defenceman. He played 979 career National Hockey League (NHL) games with the Boston Bruins, St. Louis Blues, Montreal Canadiens, Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Rangers, and Colorado Rockies. Read more
• 18 Jul 1942: Giacinto Facchetti, Italian footballer (died 2006) Giacinto Facchetti was an Italian footballer who played as a left-back for Inter Milan from 1960 to 1978. He later served as Inter chairman from January 2004 until his death in 2006. He played 634 official games for the club, scoring 75 goals, and was a member of "Grande Inter" team under manager Helenio Herrera which won four Serie A titles, a Coppa Italia, two European Cups, and two Intercontinental Cups. He placed second for the Ballon d'Or in 1965. Read more
• 18 Jul 1942: Adolf Ogi, Swiss politician, 84th President of the Swiss Confederation Adolf Ogi is a Swiss politician who most recently served as Special Advisor to the UN Secretary General on Sport for Development and Peace from 2001 to 2008. He previously served as member of the Federal Council (Switzerland) for the Swiss People's Party from 1987 to 2000. He held the Presidency of the Swiss Confederation twice in 1993 and 2000. Read more
• 18 Jul 1941: Frank Farian, German songwriter and producer (died 2024) Franz Reuther, known professionally as Frank Farian, was a German record producer and singer who founded the 1970s disco-pop group Boney M., and the pop bands No Mercy and Milli Vanilli. He frequently created vocal groups in which the publicised members merely lip-synced to songs sung by himself and/or session performers. Farian owned the record label MCI and several subsidiaries. Read more
• 18 Jul 1941: Lonnie Mack, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2016) Lonnie McIntosh, known as Lonnie Mack, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was an early influence in the development of blues rock music, Southern rock music, and rock guitar soloing. Read more
• 18 Jul 1941: Martha Reeves, American singer and politician Martha Rose Reeves is an American R&B and pop singer. She is best known for being the lead singer of the Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas, which scored several major Hot 100 hits such as "Nowhere to Run", "Heat Wave", "Jimmy Mack", and "Dancing in the Street" among others. From 2005 until 2009, Reeves served as an elected councilwoman in her hometown of Detroit, Michigan, U.S. Martha Reeves and the Vandellas were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked Reeves at number 151 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time. Read more
• 18 Jul 1940: James Brolin, American actor James Brolin is an American actor. He has appeared in over 140 film and television productions since his debut in 1961 and is the recipient of two Golden Globe Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award. Read more
• 18 Jul 1940: Joe Torre, American baseball player, manager, and executive Joseph Paul Torre Jr. is an American professional baseball executive and former player, manager, and television color commentator. He has served as a special assistant to the commissioner of Major League Baseball since 2020. He previously served in the capacity of Major League Baseball's (MLB) chief baseball officer from 2011 to 2020. Torre ranks fifth all-time in MLB history with 2,326 wins as a manager. With 2,342 hits during his playing career, Torre is the only major leaguer to achieve both 2,000 hits as a player and 2,000 wins as a manager. From 1996 to 2007, he was the manager of the New York Yankees, and guided the team to six American League (AL) pennants and four World Series championships. Read more
• 18 Jul 1939: Brian Auger, English rock and jazz keyboard player Brian Albert Gordon Auger is an English jazz rock and rock keyboardist who specialises in the Hammond organ. Read more
• 18 Jul 1939: Dion DiMucci, American singer-songwriter and guitarist Dion Francis DiMucci, better known mononymously as Dion, is an American singer and songwriter. His music incorporates elements of doo-wop, pop, rock, R&B, folk and blues. Initially the lead singer of the vocal group Dion and the Belmonts, Dion embarked on a solo career, and was one of the most prominent rock and roll performers of the pre-British Invasion era. He had 39 Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a solo performer, or with the Belmonts and the Del-Satins. He is best remembered for his signature hit songs "Runaround Sue", "The Wanderer", "Ruby Baby" and "Lovers Who Wander", among others. Read more
• 18 Jul 1939: Jerry Moore, American football player and coach Gerald Hundley Moore is an American former college football coach and player. He served as the head football coach at North Texas State University—now the University of North Texas—from 1979 to 1980, at Texas Tech University from 1981 to 1985, and at Appalachian State University from 1989 to 2012, compiling a career college football coaching record of 242–134–2.
  In his 24 years at Appalachian State, Moore posted a losing season only once. He led his 2005 Mountaineers team to the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship. This was the first national championship for any college football team in the state of North Carolina. Moore and the Mountaineers repeated as champions in 2006 and 2007, achieving the first "three-peat" in NCAA Division I FCS/I-AA history. Moore was forced out as head coach at the conclusion of the 2012 season. He was selected for inclusion into the Southern Conference Hall of Fame, and College Football Hall of Fame in 2014. Read more
• 18 Jul 1938: John Connelly, English footballer (died 2012) John Michael Connelly was an English footballer. He played as an outside forward and was capped 20 times for his country. Read more
• 18 Jul 1938: Ian Stewart, Scottish keyboard player and manager (died 1985) Ian Andrew Robert Stewart was a Scottish keyboardist and co-founder of the Rolling Stones. He was removed from the lineup in May 1963 at the request of manager Andrew Loog Oldham who felt he did not fit the band's image. He remained as road manager and pianist for over two decades until his death, and was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with the rest of the band in 1989. Read more
• 18 Jul 1938: Paul Verhoeven, Dutch director, producer, and screenwriter Paul Verhoeven is a Dutch filmmaker, who has worked variously in the Netherlands, the United States, and in France. He is known for directing genre films with strong satirical elements, often featuring graphic violence and explicit sexual content and nudity. Many of his films are considered provocative, and were controversial when released. Read more
• 18 Jul 1937: Roald Hoffmann, Polish chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate Roald Hoffmann is a Polish-American theoretical chemist who shared the 1981 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Kenichi Fukui “for their theories, developed independently, concerning the course of chemical reactions”. He has also published plays, poetry and popular science. He is the Frank H. T. Rhodes Professor of Humane Letters Emeritus at Cornell University. Read more
• 18 Jul 1937: Hunter S. Thompson, American journalist and author (died 2005) Hunter Stockton Thompson was an American journalist and author, regarded as a pioneer of New Journalism along with Gay Talese, Truman Capote, Norman Mailer, Joan Didion, and Tom Wolfe. He rose to prominence with the book Hell's Angels (1967), for which he lived a year among the Hells Angels motorcycle club to write a first-hand account of their lives and experiences. In 1970, he wrote an unconventional article titled "The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved" for Scanlan's Monthly, which further raised his profile as a countercultural figure. It also set him on the path to establish the subgenre of New Journalism that he called "Gonzo", a style in which the writer becomes central to, and participant in the narrative. Read more
• 18 Jul 1935: Tenley Albright, American former figure skater and physician Tenley Emma Albright is an American former figure skater and surgeon. She is the 1956 Olympic champion, the 1952 Olympic silver medalist, the 1953 and 1955 World Champion, the 1953 and 1955 North American champion, and the 1952–1956 U.S. national champion. Albright is also a graduate of Harvard Medical School. In 2015, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. Read more
• 18 Jul 1935: Jayendra Saraswathi, Indian guru, 69th Shankaracharya (died 2018) Jagadguru Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Shankaracharya Swamigal was the 69th Shankaracharya Guru and head or pithadhipati of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham. Subramanyam Iyer was nominated by his predecessor, Chandrashekarendra Saraswati, as his successor and was given the pontifical title Sri Jayendra Saraswathi on 22 March 1954. Read more
• 18 Jul 1934: Edward Bond, English director, playwright, and screenwriter (died 2024) Thomas Edward Bond was an English playwright, theatre director, poet, dramatic theorist and screenwriter. He was the author of some 50 plays, among them Saved (1965), the production of which was instrumental in the abolition of theatre censorship in the UK. His other well-received works include Narrow Road to the Deep North (1968), Lear (1971), The Sea (1973), The Fool (1975), Restoration (1981), and the War Plays (1985). Bond was broadly considered among the major living dramatists but he has always been and remains highly controversial because of the violence shown in his plays, the radicalism of his statements about modern theatre and society, and his theories on drama. Read more
• 18 Jul 1934: Darlene Conley, American actress (died 2007) Darlene Conley was an American actress. Conley's career spanned fifty years, but she was best known for her performances in daytime television, and in particular, for her portrayal of larger-than-life fashion industrialist Sally Spectra on The Bold and the Beautiful. Conley played the role from 1989 until her death 17 years later. Darlene's character Sally is the only American soap opera character to be displayed at Madame Tussaud's wax figures galleries in Amsterdam and Las Vegas. Read more
• 18 Jul 1933: Jean Yanne, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2003) Jean Yanne was a French actor, screenwriter, producer, director and composer. In 1972, he won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in the film We Won't Grow Old Together. Read more
• 18 Jul 1933: Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Russian poet and playwright (died 2017) Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Yevtushenko was a Soviet and Russian poet, novelist, essayist, dramatist, screenwriter, publisher, actor, editor, university professor, and director of several films. Read more
• 18 Jul 1932: Robert Ellis Miller, American director and screenwriter (died 2017) Robert Ellis Miller was an American film director. Read more
• 18 Jul 1929: Dick Button, American figure skater and actor (died 2025) Richard Totten Button was an American figure skater and skating analyst. He was a two-time Olympic champion and five-time consecutive world champion (1948–1952). He was also the only non-European man to have become European champion. Button is credited as having been the first skater to successfully land the double Axel jump in competition in 1948, as well as the first triple jump of any kind – a triple loop – in 1952. He also invented the flying camel spin, which was originally known as the "Button camel". He "brought increased athleticism" to figure skating in the years following World War II. According to figure skating historian James R. Hines, Button represented the "American School" of figure skating, which was a more athletic style than skaters from Europe. Read more
• 18 Jul 1929: Screamin' Jay Hawkins, American R&B singer-songwriter, musician, and actor (died 2000) Jalacy J. "Screamin' Jay" Hawkins was an American singer-songwriter, musician, actor, film producer, and boxer. Famed chiefly for his powerful, shouting vocal delivery and wildly theatrical performances of songs such as "I Put a Spell on You", he sometimes used macabre props onstage, making him an early pioneer of shock rock. He received a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male for his performance in the 1989 indie film Mystery Train. Read more
• 18 Jul 1928: Andrea Gallo, Italian priest and author (died 2013) Don Andrea Gallo was an Italian priest. He was the founder and leader of the Community of San Benedetto al Porto. He often called himself a "priest of the sidewalk", referring to his activity of helping poor and needy people. Read more
• 18 Jul 1928: Baddiewinkle, American internet personality Helen Elam Van Winkle, better known as Baddiewinkle or Baddie Winkle, was an American Internet personality. She became an Internet sensation at the age of eighty-five. Her popular social media tag line was, "Stealing Your Man Since 1928". Read more
• 18 Jul 1927: Mehdi Hassan, Pakistani ghazal singer and playback singer (died 2012) Mehdi Hassan Khan, known as Mehdi Hassan, was a Pakistani ghazal singer and playback singer of great renown. Known as Shahenshah-e-Ghazal, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential figures in the history of ghazal singing. Known for his "haunting" baritone voice, Hassan is credited with bringing ghazal singing to a worldwide audience. He is unique for his melodic patterns and maintaining integrity of the ragas in an innovative way. Read more
• 18 Jul 1927: Kurt Masur, German conductor and educator (died 2015) Kurt Masur was a German conductor. Called "one of the last old-style maestros", he directed many of the principal orchestras of his era. He had a long career as the Kapellmeister of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, and also served as music director of the New York Philharmonic for about ten years. He made many recordings of classical music with major orchestras. Masur is also remembered for his actions to support peaceful demonstrations against the East German government in the 1989 demonstrations in Leipzig; those protests were part of the events leading up to the fall of the Berlin wall. Read more
• 18 Jul 1927: Antonio García-Trevijano, Spanish republican, political activist, and author (died 2018) Antonio García-Trevijano Forte was a Spanish republican lawyer, notary public, jurist, philosopher, art critic, author and political activist. Born in Alhama de Granada, he was a prominent figure in the opposition to the Francoist dictatorship. Read more
• 18 Jul 1927: Keith MacDonald, Canadian politician (died 2021) Keith Ostrander MacDonald was a politician in Ontario, Canada. Read more
• 18 Jul 1927: Anthony Mirra, American gangster, member of the Bonanno Crime Family (died 1982) Anthony "Tony" Mirra was an American mobster, soldier and later caporegime for the Bonanno crime family. He is known for introducing FBI Special Agent Joseph "Donnie Brasco" Pistone into the Bonanno family. Read more
• 18 Jul 1926: Margaret Laurence, Canadian author and academic (died 1987) Jean Margaret Laurence was a Canadian novelist and short story writer, and is one of the major figures in Canadian literature. She was also a founder of the Writers' Trust of Canada, a non-profit literary organization that seeks to encourage Canada's writing community. Read more
• 18 Jul 1926: Nita Bieber, American actress (died 2019) Nita Gale Bieber was an American actress and dancer. Read more
• 18 Jul 1926: Bernard Pons, French politician and medical doctor (died 2022) Bernard Pons was a French politician and medical doctor who was a member of the Union of Democrats for the Republic from 1971 to 1976 and a member of the Rally for the Republic party thereafter. He served as Secretary General of Rally for the Republic, Minister for Transport, and continued as a special advisor to the Union for a Popular Movement until 2008 after his retirement from active politics in 2002. Read more
• 18 Jul 1926: Maunu Kurkvaara, Finnish film director and screenwriter (died 2023) Maunu Kurkvaara was a Finnish film director and screenwriter. Kurkvaara has been widely regarded as the initiator of the "new wave" of Finnish cinema in the spirit of French New Wave cinema. He directed 22 films between 1955 and 1993. Many of his films share a nautical theme due to his love of the sea. His film Yksityisalue was entered into the 13th Berlin International Film Festival. In 1965, he co-produced the film 4×4 and it was entered into the 4th Moscow International Film Festival. Read more
• 18 Jul 1926: Elizabeth Jennings, English poet (died 2001) Elizabeth Joan Jennings was a British poet. She won the Somerset Maugham Award in 1955 for her second poetry collection, A Way of Looking. Read more
• 18 Jul 1925: Shirley Strickland, Australian runner and hurdler (died 2004) Shirley Barbara de la Hunty AO, MBE, known as Shirley Strickland during her early career, was an Australian athlete. She won more Olympic medals than any other Australian in running sports. Read more
• 18 Jul 1925: Friedrich Zimmermann, German lawyer and politician, German Federal Minister of the Interior (died 2012) Friedrich Zimmermann was a German politician and a member of the Christian Social Union (CSU). From 1982 to 1989, he was the federal minister of interior. From 1989 to 1991 he held the position of federal minister for transport. Read more
• 18 Jul 1925: Raymond Jones, Australian Modernist architect (died 2022) Raymond Alfredo Daniel Jones was an Australian Modernist architect. His work includes many building types, including residential, ecclesiastical, educational, commercial, and prefabricated kit buildings. Read more
• 18 Jul 1925: Windy McCall, American baseball relief pitcher (died 2015) John William McCall was an American relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from 1948 through 1957 for the Boston Red Sox (1948–49), Pittsburgh Pirates (1950) and New York Giants (1954–57). Listed at 6 feet (1.83 m) tall and 180 pounds (82 kg), McCall batted and threw left-handed. He was born in San Francisco, California, and studied at the University of San Francisco. He was a United States Marine Corps veteran of World War II, serving in the Pacific Theater of Operations, including Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Read more
• 18 Jul 1924: Inge Sørensen, Danish swimmer (died 2011) Inge Sørensen, later Inge Tabur, sometimes known as "Lille henrivende Inge" was a Danish swimmer who at age 12 won a bronze medal in the 200 meter breaststroke at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. This makes her the youngest Olympic medal winner in an individual competition. Read more
• 18 Jul 1924: Tullio Altamura, Italian actor Tullio Altamura is an Italian actor, best known for his roles in spaghetti Westerns and action films in the 1960s. Read more
• 18 Jul 1923: Jerome H. Lemelson, American engineer and businessman (died 1997) Jerome "Jerry" Hal Lemelson was an American engineer, inventor, and patent holder. Several of his inventions relate to warehouses, industrial robots, cordless telephones, fax machines, videocassette recorders, camcorders, and the magnetic tape drive. Lemelson's 605 patents made him one of the most prolific inventors in American history. Read more
• 18 Jul 1923: Michael Medwin, English actor (died 2020) Michael Hugh Medwin was an English actor and film producer. Read more
• 18 Jul 1922: Thomas Kuhn, American physicist, historian, and philosopher (died 1996) Thomas Samuel Kuhn was an American historian and philosopher of science whose 1962 book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions was influential in both academic and popular circles. The book popularized the term paradigm shift, which has since become an English-language idiom. Read more
• 18 Jul 1921: Peter Austin, English brewer, founded Ringwood Brewery (died 2014) Peter Austin was a British brewer. He founded Ringwood Brewery and was a co-founder and first chairman of the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA). He built some 140 new breweries in the UK and 16 other countries. Read more
• 18 Jul 1921: Aaron Beck, American psychiatrist and academic (died 2021) Aaron Temkin Beck was an American psychiatrist who was a professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. He is regarded as the father of cognitive therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). His pioneering methods are widely used in the treatment of clinical depression and various anxiety disorders. Beck also developed self-report measures for depression and anxiety, notably the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), which became one of the most widely used instruments for measuring the severity of depression. In 1994 he and his daughter, psychologist Judith S. Beck, founded the nonprofit Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy, which provides CBT treatment and training, as well as research. Beck served as President Emeritus of the organization up until his death. Read more
• 18 Jul 1921: John Glenn, American colonel, astronaut, and politician (died 2016) John Herschel Glenn Jr. was an American Marine Corps aviator, astronaut, businessman, and politician. He was the third American in space and the first to orbit the Earth, circling it three times in 1962. Following his retirement from NASA, he served from 1974 to 1999 as a U.S. senator from Ohio. In 1998, he flew into space again at the age of 77. Read more
• 18 Jul 1921: Richard Leacock, English-French director and producer (died 2011) Richard Leacock was a British-born documentary film director and one of the pioneers of direct cinema and cinéma vérité. Read more
• 18 Jul 1921: Heinz Bennent, German actor (died 2011) Heinz Bennent was a German actor. Read more
• 18 Jul 1920: Eric Brandon, English race car driver and businessman (died 1982) Eric Brandon was a motor racing driver and businessman. He was closely associated with the Cooper Car Company, and was instrumental in the early development of the company. Read more
• 18 Jul 1919: Lilia Dale, Italian actress (died 1991) Lilia Dale was an Italian film actress. Read more
• 18 Jul 1918: Nelson Mandela, South African lawyer and politician, 1st President of South Africa, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2013) Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid activist, statesman, and revolutionary who was the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first Black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. His administration focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid by fostering racial reconciliation, a national peace accord and eventual multiracial democracy. Ideologically an African nationalist and socialist, he served as the president of the African National Congress (ANC) party from 1991 to 1997. Read more
• 18 Jul 1917: Henri Salvador, French singer and guitarist (died 2008) Henri Salvador was a French Caribbean singer, comedian and cabaret artist. Read more
• 18 Jul 1917: Paul Streeten, Austrian-born British economics professor (died 2019) Paul Patrick Streeten was an Austrian-born British economics professor. He was a professor at Boston University, US until his retirement. He has been a distinguished academic working on development economics since the 1950s. Read more
• 18 Jul 1916: Charles Kittel, American physicist (died 2019) Charles Kittel was an American physicist. He was a professor at the University of California, Berkeley from 1951 and was professor emeritus from 1978 until his death. He is known for co-introducing the Ruderman–Kittel–Kasuya–Yosida interaction models and for his famous textbook Introduction to Solid State Physics. Read more
• 18 Jul 1915: Carequinha, Brazilian clown and actor (died 2006) George Savalla Gomes, better known as Carequinha or Baldy the Clown, was a Brazilian clown and actor, born in a circus to a circus family. He had a thick head of hair, but wore a bald wig, starting from five years old – he was a clown in Circus Ocidental until the age of twelve. He was the first Brazilian clown to have his own TV show – Circo Bombril, later called Circo Carequinha ran for 16 years. He was a Freemason. Read more
• 18 Jul 1915: Louis Le Bailly, British Royal Navy officer (died 2010) Vice-Admiral Sir Louis Edward Stewart Holland Le Bailly was a Royal Navy officer who became director-general of intelligence and later a writer. Read more
• 18 Jul 1914: Gino Bartali, Italian cyclist (died 2000) Gino Bartali,, nicknamed Gino the Pious and Ginettaccio, was a champion road cyclist. He was the most renowned Italian cyclist before the Second World War, having won the Giro d'Italia twice, in 1936 and 1937, and the Tour de France in 1938. After the war, he added one more victory in each event: the Giro d'Italia in 1946 and the Tour de France in 1948. His second and last Tour de France victory in 1948 gave him the largest gap between victories in the race. Read more
• 18 Jul 1914: Oscar Heisserer, French footballer (died 2004) Oscar Heisserer was a French footballer. Born in Schirrhein, Alsace-Lorraine, he played as a midfielder for RC Strasbourg, and appeared for France in the 1938 World Cup, where he scored a goal. He died in Strasbourg. Read more
• 18 Jul 1913: Red Skelton, American actor and comedian (died 1997) Richard Bernard Skelton was an American entertainer best known for his national radio and television shows between 1937 and 1971, especially as host of the television program The Red Skelton Show. He has stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in radio and television, and he also appeared in burlesque, vaudeville, films, nightclubs, and casinos, all while he pursued an entirely separate career as an artist. Read more
• 18 Jul 1911: Hume Cronyn, Canadian-American actor, producer, and screenwriter (died 2003) Hume Blake Cronyn Jr. was a Canadian-American actor, screenwriter and playwright. He appeared in many stage productions, television and film roles throughout his career, and received many honors, including three Primetime Emmy Awards and two Tony Awards, as well as nominations for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. Cronyn was the husband of actress Jessica Tandy, with whom he was presented the Kennedy Center Honor in 1986 and National Medal of Arts in 1990. In 1999, he was awarded with a star on the Canada's Walk of Fame. Read more
• 18 Jul 1910: Diptendu Pramanick, Indian businessman (died 1989) Diptendu Pramanick was an Indian film personality from Kolkata, India. He was the founder secretary of the Eastern India Motion Pictures Association, a fraternity of film personnel which is an interface between the entertainment industry of eastern India and the Government. During his multifarious career he came in contact with eminent personalities and saw the evolution of this organisation from its initial days to being a regionwide entity. Read more
• 18 Jul 1910: Mamadou Dia, Senegalese politician; 1st Prime Minister of Senegal (died 2009) Mamadou Dia was a Senegalese politician who served as the first Prime Minister of Senegal from 1957 until 1962, when he was forced to resign and was subsequently imprisoned amidst allegations that he was planning to stage a military coup to overthrow President Léopold Sédar Senghor. Read more
• 18 Jul 1909: Bishnu Dey, Indian poet, critic, and academic (died 1982) Bishnu Dey was a Bengali poet, writer, essayist, academician, art appreciator, and connoisseur in the era of modernism and post-modernism. Read more
• 18 Jul 1909: Andrei Gromyko, Belarusian-Russian economist and politician, Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs (died 1989) Andrei Andreyevich Gromyko was a Soviet politician and diplomat during the Cold War. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs (1957–1985) and as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (1985–1988). Gromyko was responsible for many top decisions on Soviet foreign policy until he retired in 1988. In the 1940s, Western pundits called him Mr. Nyet, or Grim Grom, because of his frequent use of the Soviet veto in the United Nations Security Council. Read more
• 18 Jul 1909: Mohammed Daoud Khan, Afghan commander and politician, 1st President of Afghanistan (died 1978) Mohammad Daoud Khan, also romanized as Daud Khan or Dawood Khan, was an Afghan military officer and politician who served as prime minister of Afghanistan from 1953 to 1963 and, as leader of the 1973 Afghan coup d'état which overthrew the monarchy, served as the first president of Afghanistan from 1973 until his assassination in 1978. Read more
• 18 Jul 1909: Harriet Nelson, American singer and actress (died 1994) Harriet Nelson was an American actress. Nelson is best known for her role on the sitcom The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. Read more
• 18 Jul 1908: Peace Pilgrim, American mystic and activist (died 1981) Peace Pilgrim, born Mildred Lisette Norman, was an American spiritual teacher, mystic, pacifist, vegetarian activist and peace activist. In 1952, she became the first woman to walk the entire length of the Appalachian Trail in one season. Starting on January 1, 1953, in Pasadena, California, she adopted the name "Peace Pilgrim" and walked across the United States for 28 years, speaking with others about peace. She was on her seventh cross-country journey when she died. Read more
• 18 Jul 1908: Lupe Vélez, Mexican-American actress and dancer (died 1944) María Guadalupe "Lupe" Villalobos Vélez was a Mexican actress, singer, and dancer during the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema. Read more
• 18 Jul 1908: Beatrice Aitchison, American mathematician, statistician, and transportation economist (died 1997) Beatrice Aitchison was an American mathematician, statistician, and transportation economist who directed the Transport Economics Division of the United States Department of Commerce, and later became the top woman in the United States Postal Service and the first policy-level appointee there. Read more
• 18 Jul 1906: S. I. Hayakawa, Canadian-American academic and politician (died 1992) Samuel Ichiye Hayakawa was a Canadian-born American academic and politician of Japanese ancestry. A professor of English, he served as president of San Francisco State University and then as a U.S. Senator from California from 1977 to 1983. Read more
• 18 Jul 1906: Clifford Odets, American director, playwright, and screenwriter (died 1963) Clifford Odets was an American playwright, screenwriter, and actor. In the mid-1930s, he was widely seen as the potential successor to Nobel Prize–winning playwright Eugene O'Neill, as O'Neill began to withdraw from Broadway's commercial pressures and increasing critical backlash. From January 1935, Odets's socially relevant dramas were extremely influential, particularly for the remainder of the Great Depression. His works inspired the next several generations of playwrights, including Arthur Miller, Paddy Chayefsky, Neil Simon, and David Mamet. After the production of his play Clash by Night in the 1941–42 season, Odets focused his energies primarily on film projects, remaining in Hollywood until mid-1948. He returned to New York for five and a half years, during which time he produced three more Broadway plays, only one of which was a success. His prominence was eventually eclipsed by Miller, Tennessee Williams, and, in the early- to mid-1950s, William Inge. Read more
• 18 Jul 1902: Jessamyn West, American author (died 1984) Mary Jessamyn West was an American author of short stories and novels, notably The Friendly Persuasion (1945). A Quaker from Indiana, she graduated from Fullerton Union High School in 1919 and Whittier College in 1923. There she helped found the Palmer Society in 1921. She received an honorary Doctor of Letters (Litt.D) degree from Whittier College in 1946. She received the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize in 1975. Read more
• 18 Jul 1902: Chill Wills, American actor (died 1978) Theodore Childress "Chill" Wills was an American actor and a singer in the Avalon Boys quartet. Read more
• 18 Jul 1900: Nathalie Sarraute, French lawyer and author (died 1999) Nathalie Sarraute was a French writer and lawyer. She was nominated in 1969 for the Nobel Prize in Literature by Nobel Committee member Lars Gyllensten. Read more
• 18 Jul 1899: Ernst Scheller, German soldier and politician, 8th Mayor of Marburg (died 1942) Ernst Scheller was a German Nazi Hauptmann and politician. Read more
• 18 Jul 1898: John Stuart, Scottish-English actor (died 1979) John Stuart was a Scottish actor, and was a very popular leading man in British silent films in the 1920s. He successfully made the transition to talking pictures in the 1930s and his film career went on to span almost six decades. He appeared in 172 films, 123 stage plays, and 103 television plays and series. Read more
• 18 Jul 1897: Ernest Eldridge, English race car driver and engineer (died 1935) Ernest Arthur Douglas Eldridge was a British racing driver who broke the world land speed record in 1924. His was the last land speed record set on an open road. Read more
• 18 Jul 1895: Olga Spessivtseva, Russian-American ballerina (died 1991) Olga Alexandrovna Spessivtseva was a Russian ballerina whose stage career spanned from 1913 to 1939. Read more
• 18 Jul 1895: Machine Gun Kelly, American gangster (died 1954) George Kelly Barnes, better known by his nickname Machine Gun Kelly, was an American gangster from Memphis, Tennessee, active during the Prohibition era. His nickname came from his favorite weapon, a Thompson submachine gun. He is best known for the kidnapping of oil tycoon and businessman Charles F. Urschel in July 1933, from which he and his gang collected a $200,000 ransom. Urschel had collected and left considerable evidence that assisted the subsequent investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which eventually led to Kelly's arrest in Memphis on September 26, 1933. His crimes also included bootlegging and armed robbery. Read more
• 18 Jul 1893: David Ogilvy, 12th Earl of Airlie, Scottish peer, soldier and courtier (died 1968) Colonel David Lyulph Gore Wolseley Ogilvy, 12th Earl of Airlie, was a Scottish peer, soldier and courtier. He was the father-in-law of Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy. Read more
• 18 Jul 1892: Arthur Friedenreich, Brazilian footballer (died 1969) Arthur Friedenreich was a Brazilian professional footballer who played as a forward. He was nicknamed The Tiger or Golden Foot. He played for the Brazil national team and was a record nine times top scorer of the state championship of São Paulo. He is occasionally cited as one of the all-time top scorers in football history, although this is highly disputed. Read more
• 18 Jul 1890: Frank Forde, Australian educator and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Australia (died 1983) Francis Michael Forde was an Australian politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Australia from 6 to 13 July 1945, in a caretaker capacity following the death of John Curtin. He was deputy leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1932 to 1946 and is the shortest-serving prime minister in Australia's history. Read more
• 18 Jul 1889: Kōichi Kido, Japanese politician, 13th Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan (died 1977) Marquess Kōichi Kido was a Japanese statesman who served as Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan from 1940 to 1945, and was the closest advisor to emperor Hirohito throughout World War II. He was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment, of which he served 6 years before being released in 1953. Read more
• 18 Jul 1887: Vidkun Quisling, Norwegian military officer and politician, Minister President of Norway (died 1945) Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling was a Norwegian military officer, politician and Nazi collaborator who headed the puppet government of Norway during the country's occupation by Nazi Germany during World War II. Read more
• 18 Jul 1886: Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr., American general (died 1945) Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. was a lieutenant general in the United States Army during World War II who served in the Pacific Theater. As commanding general of Alaska Defense Command, Buckner commanded American-Canadian forces in the Aleutian Islands campaign, including the Battle of Attu and the Kiska Expedition. Following that assignment, he was promoted to command the Tenth Army, which conducted the amphibious invasion of the Japanese island of Okinawa in 1945. He was killed during the closing days of the Battle of Okinawa by enemy artillery fire, making him the highest-ranking United States military officer lost to enemy fire during World War II. Read more
• 18 Jul 1884: Alberto di Jorio, Italian cardinal (died 1979) Alberto di Jorio was a cardinal of the Catholic Church and for many years along with the layman Bernardino Nogara the powerhouse behind the growing wealth of the Vatican and the Istituto per le Opere di Religione. Read more
• 18 Jul 1881: Larry McLean, Canadian-American baseball player (died 1921) John Bannerman McLean was a Canadian professional baseball catcher between 1901 until 1915. During his years in Major League Baseball, he played with five different teams. Beginning his career with the Boston Americans, his final professional game was played with the New York Giants on June 6, 1915. Read more
• 18 Jul 1872: Julius Fučík, Czech composer and conductor of military bands (died 1916) Julius Ernst Wilhelm Fučík was a Czech composer and conductor of military bands. He became a prolific composer, with over 400 marches, polkas and waltzes to his name. As most of his works were for military bands, Fučík is sometimes known as the "Bohemian Sousa". Read more
• 18 Jul 1871: Giacomo Balla, Italian painter (died 1958) Giacomo Balla was an Italian painter, art teacher and poet best known as a key proponent of Futurism. In his paintings, he depicted light, movement and speed. He was concerned with expressing movement in his works, but unlike other leading futurists he was not interested in machines or violence with his works tending towards the witty and whimsical. Read more
• 18 Jul 1871: Sada Yacco, Japanese actress and dancer (died 1946) Sada Yacco or Sadayakko was a Japanese geisha, actress and dancer. Read more
• 18 Jul 1867: Margaret Brown, American philanthropist and activist (died 1932) Margaret Brown, posthumously known as the "Unsinkable Molly Brown", was an American socialite and philanthropist. She was a survivor of the RMS Titanic, which sank in 1912, and she unsuccessfully urged the crew in Lifeboat No. 6 to return to the debris field to look for survivors. Read more
• 18 Jul 1864: Philip Snowden, 1st Viscount Snowden, English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (died 1937) Philip Snowden, 1st Viscount Snowden, PC was a British politician. A strong speaker, he became popular in trade union circles for his denunciation of capitalism as unethical and his promise of a socialist utopia. He was the first Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer, a position he held in 1924 and again between 1929 and 1931. He broke with Labour policy in 1931, and was expelled from the party and excoriated as a turncoat, as the party was overwhelmingly crushed that year by the National Government coalition that Snowden supported. He was succeeded as chancellor by Neville Chamberlain. Read more
• 18 Jul 1861: Kadambini Ganguly, Indian physician, one of the first Indian women to obtain a degree (died 1923) Kadambini Bose Ganguly was the first Indian female doctor of western medicine along with Anandibai Joshi. Both got their degree in Western medicine in 1886. However, she was India's first practicing lady doctor, as Anandibai died soon after receiving the degree. She was India's first practicing female doctor in modern medicine. Ganguly was the first woman to gain admission to Calcutta Medical College in 1884, subsequently trained in Scotland, and established a successful medical practice in India. She was the first woman speaker in the Indian National Congress. Read more
• 18 Jul 1853: Hendrik Lorentz, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1928) Hendrik Antoon Lorentz was a Dutch theoretical physicist who shared the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physics with Pieter Zeeman for their discovery and theoretical explanation of the Zeeman effect. He derived the Lorentz transformation of the special theory of relativity, as well as the Lorentz force, which describes the force acting on a charged particle in an electromagnetic field. He was also responsible for the Lorentz oscillator model, a classical model used to describe the anomalous dispersion observed in dielectric materials when the driving frequency of the electric field was near the resonant frequency of the material, resulting in abnormal refractive indices. Read more
• 18 Jul 1848: W. G. Grace, English cricketer and physician (died 1915) William Gilbert Grace was an English cricketer who is widely held to have been one of the sport's all-time greatest players. Always known by his initials as "WG", his first-class career spanned a record-equalling 44 seasons from 1865 to 1908. Test cricket originated during his career, and he represented England in 22 matches from 1880 to 1899. In domestic cricket, he was mostly associated with Gloucestershire, the Gentlemen, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), and the United South of England Eleven (USEE). Read more
• 18 Jul 1845: Tristan Corbière, French poet (died 1875) Tristan Corbière, born Édouard-Joachim Corbière, was a French poet born in Coat-Congar, Ploujean in Brittany, where he lived most of his life before dying of tuberculosis at the age of 29. He was a French poet, close to Symbolism, and a figure of the "cursed poet". Read more
• 18 Jul 1843: Virgil Earp, American marshal (died 1905) Virgil Walter Earp was an American lawman. He was both deputy U.S. marshal and the city marshal of Tombstone, in the Arizona Territory when he led his younger brothers Wyatt and Morgan, and Doc Holliday, in a confrontation with outlaw Cowboys at the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral on October 26, 1881. They killed brothers Tom and Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton. All three Earp brothers had been the target of repeated death threats made by the Cowboys who were upset by the Earps' interference in their illegal activities. All four lawmen were charged with murder by Ike Clanton, who had run from the gunfight. During a month-long preliminary hearing, Judge Wells Spicer exonerated the men, concluding their actions were legally justified. Read more
• 18 Jul 1842: William D. Coleman, 13th President of Liberia (died 1908) William David Coleman was an Americo-Liberian politician. A True Whig Party member, he served as the 13th president of Liberia from 1896 to 1900. Born in Fayette County, Kentucky, United States, he emigrated to Liberia in 1853. In 1877, he was elected to the House of Representatives and served as Speaker of the House of Representatives until 1879. Later he served in the Senate and then as vice president before assuming the presidency when Joseph James Cheeseman died in office. Read more
• 18 Jul 1837: Vasil Levski, Bulgarian priest and activist (died 1873) Vasil Levski, born Vasil Ivanov Kunchev, was a Bulgarian revolutionary who is, today, a national hero of Bulgaria. Dubbed the Apostle of Freedom, Levski ideologised and strategised a revolutionary movement to liberate Bulgaria from Ottoman rule. Levski founded the Internal Revolutionary Organisation, and sought to foment a nationwide uprising through a network of secret regional committees. Read more
• 18 Jul 1821: Pauline Viardot, French soprano and composer (died 1910) Pauline Viardot was a French dramatic mezzo-soprano, composer and pedagogue of Spanish descent. Born Michelle Ferdinande Pauline García, she came from a musical family and took up music at a young age. She began performing as a teenager and had a long and illustrious career as a star performer. Read more
• 18 Jul 1818: Louis Gerhard De Geer, Swedish lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Sweden (died 1896) Baron Louis Gerard De Geer af Finspång was a Swedish statesman, lawyer, and writer who served twice as Prime Minister for Justice from 1858 to 1870 and from 1875 to 1876; in 1876, he became the first Prime Minister of Sweden, serving until 1880. De Geer was the principal architect of the 1865 representation reform, replacing the Riksdag of the Estates with a bicameral parliament and playing a pivotal role in modernizing Swedish politics. Read more
• 18 Jul 1811: William Makepeace Thackeray, English author and poet (died 1863) William Makepeace Thackeray was an English novelist and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1847–1848 novel Vanity Fair, a panoramic portrait of British society, and the 1844 novel The Luck of Barry Lyndon, which was adapted for a 1975 film by Stanley Kubrick. Read more

Notable Deaths on 18 July

• 18 Jul 2025: Edwin Feulner, American political scientist (born 1941) Edwin John Feulner Jr. was an American political scientist, think tank executive, congressional aide and foreign relations consultant who was co-founder of The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in 1973. He served as the Heritage Foundation's president from 1977 to 2013 and again from 2017 to 2018. Read more
• 18 Jul 2024: Lou Dobbs, American political commentator and television host (born 1945) Louis Carl Dobbs was an American conservative political commentator, author, and television host who presented Moneyline from 1980 to 2009 and 2011 to 2021. From 2021 until his death, he hosted The Great America Show on iHeartRadio and loudobbs.com. Read more
• 18 Jul 2024: Abner Haynes, American football player (born 1937) Abner Haynes was an American professional football player who was a halfback and return specialist in the American Football League (AFL). He played college football for the North Texas State Eagles and was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the 1960 AFL draft. He was also chosen by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fifth round of the 1960 NFL draft. Chosen by the Raiders in the draft but signing with the Dallas Texans, Haynes excelled in the AFL, scoring 46 rushing touchdowns in eight seasons while winning league MVP honors in 1960. His 46 rushing touchdowns was the most by a player in AFL history. Read more
• 18 Jul 2024: Bob Newhart, American comedian and actor (born 1929) George Robert Newhart was an American comedian and actor. Newhart was known for his deadpan and stammering delivery style. Beginning his career as a stand-up comedian, he transitioned his career to acting in television. He received three Grammy Awards, an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Peabody Award, a Hollywood Walk of Fame Star, and the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Read more
• 18 Jul 2023: Oommen Chandy, Indian politician, former Chief Minister of Kerala (born 1943) Oommen Chandy was an Indian lawyer and statesman who served as the tenth chief minister of Kerala, serving from 2004 to 2006 and 2011 to 2016. He served also as the leader of the opposition in the Kerala Legislative Assembly from 2006 to 2011. Read more
• 18 Jul 2021: Tom O'Connor, English comedian (born 1939) Thomas Patrick O'Connor was a British comedian, television presenter, and actor. Originally a comedian in working men's clubs, he progressed to hosting TV game shows such as Crosswits, The Zodiac Game, Name That Tune, Password and Gambit. Read more
• 18 Jul 2018: Jonathan Gold, American food critic (born 1960) Jonathan Gold was an American food and music critic. He was for many years the chief food critic for the Los Angeles Times and also wrote for LA Weekly and Gourmet, in addition to serving as a regular contributor on KCRW's Good Food radio program. Gold often chose small, traditional immigrant restaurants for his reviews, although he covered all types of cuisine. In 2007, while writing for the LA Weekly, he became the first food critic to win the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. Read more
• 18 Jul 2018: Adrian Cronauer, American radio personality (born 1938) Adrian Joseph Cronauer was an American radio personality and United States Air Force Sergeant, whose experiences as an innovative disc jockey on American Forces Network during the Vietnam War inspired the 1987 film Good Morning, Vietnam starring Robin Williams as Cronauer. Read more
• 18 Jul 2015: Alex Rocco, American actor (born 1936) Alex Rocco was an American actor. Known for his distinctive, gravelly voice, he was often cast as villains, including Moe Greene in The Godfather (1972) and his Primetime Emmy Award–winning role in The Famous Teddy Z. Rocco did a significant amount of voice-over work later in his career. Read more
• 18 Jul 2015: Buddy Buie, American songwriter, producer and publisher (born 1941) Perry Carlton "Buddy" Buie was an American songwriter, producer and publisher. He is most commonly associated with Roy Orbison, the Classics IV and the Atlanta Rhythm Section. Read more
• 18 Jul 2014: Andreas Biermann, German footballer (born 1980) Andreas Biermann was a German professional footballer who played as a defender. Read more
• 18 Jul 2014: João Ubaldo Ribeiro, Brazilian journalist, author, and academic (born 1941) João Ubaldo Ribeiro was a Brazilian writer, journalist, screenwriter and professor. Several of his books and short stories have been turned into movies and TV series in Brazil. Ribeiro was a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters, being elected in 1994. At the time of his death many considered him to be Brazil's greatest contemporary novelist. Read more
• 18 Jul 2014: Dietmar Schönherr, Austrian-Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1926) Dietmar Otto Schönherr was an Austrian film actor. He appeared in 120 films between 1944 and 2014. He was famous for playing the role of Major Cliff Allister McLane in the German science fiction series Raumpatrouille. He was born in Innsbruck, Austria. He was married to the Danish actress Vivi Bach from 1965 until her death in 2013. In 2011 he was awarded with the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class. Read more
• 18 Jul 2013: Vaali, Indian poet, songwriter, and actor (born 1931) Thirupparaithurai Srinivasan Rangarajan, professionally credited by his pseudonym Vaali, was an Indian poet who has the record for writing the most songs in Tamil cinema. He is also recognised for a five-decade-long association in the Tamil film industry and has written more than 15,000 songs. He acted in a number of films, including Sathya, Hey Ram, Paarthale Paravasam and Poikkal Kudhirai. He was honoured by the Government of India with the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honour in 2007. Read more
• 18 Jul 2013: Olivier Ameisen, French-American cardiologist and academic (born 1953) Olivier Ameisen was a French-American cardiologist who wrote a best-selling book about curing alcoholism using the drug baclofen. Read more
• 18 Jul 2012: Yosef Shalom Eliashiv, Lithuanian-Israeli rabbi and author (born 1910) Yosef Shalom Elyashiv was a Haredi rabbi and posek who lived in Jerusalem. Until his death at the age of 102, Rav Elyashiv was the paramount leader of both Israel and the Diaspora Lithuanian-Haredi community, and many Ashkenazi Jews regarded him as the posek ha-dor, the contemporary leading authority on halakha, or Jewish law. Read more
• 18 Jul 2012: Jean François-Poncet, French politician and diplomat, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (born 1928) Jean François-Poncet was a French politician and diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs under President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing from 1978 to 1981. From 1983 until 2011, he was a member of the Senate for Lot-et-Garonne. Read more
• 18 Jul 2012: Dawoud Rajiha, Syrian general and politician, Syrian Minister of Defense (born 1947) Dawoud Abdallah Rajiha was a Syrian military officer who served as the Minister of Defense of Syria from August 2011 to July 2012 when he was assassinated along with other senior government officials and military officers in a bombing claimed by Syrian rebel forces during the country's Civil War. From 2009 to 2011, Rajiha served as chief of staff of the Syrian Army. Read more
• 18 Jul 2012: Assef Shawkat, Syrian general and politician (born 1950) Assef Shawkat was a Syrian military officer and intelligence chief who was the Deputy Minister of Defense of Syria from September 2011 until his death in July 2012. He was the brother-in-law of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, having married his older sister Bushra. Read more
• 18 Jul 2012: Hasan Turkmani, Syrian general and politician, Syrian Minister of Defense (born 1935) Hasan Ali Turkmani was a Syrian military officer and politician who served as Syria's Minister of Defense from 2004 to 2009. Read more
• 18 Jul 2012: Rajesh Khanna, Indian actor (born 1942) Rajesh Khanna was an Indian actor, film producer and politician who worked in Hindi films. Regarded as one of the greatest and most successful actors in the history of Indian cinema, he is considered the first Superstar of Hindi cinema. His accolades include five Filmfare Awards, and in 2013, he was posthumously awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian honour. Read more
• 18 Jul 2009: Henry Allingham, English soldier (born 1896) Henry William Allingham was an English supercentenarian. He is the longest-lived man ever recorded from the United Kingdom, a First World War veteran, and, for one month, was the verified oldest living man in the world. He is also the second-oldest military veteran ever. Read more
• 18 Jul 2009: Jill Balcon, English actress (born 1925) Jill Angela Henriette Balcon was a British actress. She was known for her work in film, television, radio and on stage. She made her film debut in Nicholas Nickleby (1947). She was the second wife of poet Cecil Day-Lewis; the couple had two children: Tamasin Day-Lewis became a food critic and TV chef and Daniel Day-Lewis is an actor. Read more
• 18 Jul 2007: Jerry Hadley, American tenor (born 1952) Jerry Hadley was an American operatic tenor. He received three Grammy Awards for his vocal performances in the recordings of Jenůfa, Susannah, and Candide. Hadley was a leading American tenor for nearly two decades. He was mentored by soprano Joan Sutherland and her husband, conductor Richard Bonynge. Leonard Bernstein chose Hadley for his 1989 recording of Candide on Deutsche Grammophon. Aside from singing opera and operetta, Hadley also sang on Broadway. Read more
• 18 Jul 2007: Kenji Miyamoto, Japanese politician (born 1908) Kenji Miyamoto was a Japanese communist politician. He was the leader of the Japanese Communist Party (JCP) from 1958 to 1977. Read more
• 18 Jul 2006: Henry Hewes, American theater writer (born 1917) Henry Hewes was an American theater writer who worked as the drama critic for the Saturday Review weekly literary magazine from 1955 to 1979. He was the first major critic to regularly review regional and international theater. His interest in regional theater led him to found the American Theater Critics Association, the Tony Award for regional theater, and the American Theater Wing's design award, now called the Hewes Award. In 2002, he was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. Read more
• 18 Jul 2005: Amy Gillett, Australian cyclist and rower (born 1976) Amy Elizabeth Gillett was an Australian track cyclist and rower who represented Australia in both sports. She was killed when a driver crashed into the Australian squad of cyclists with whom she was training in Germany. The Amy Gillett Foundation was established in order to fund road safety programs and provide scholarships for young female cyclists. Read more
• 18 Jul 2005: William Westmoreland, American general (born 1914) William Childs Westmoreland was a United States Army general, most notably the commander of United States forces during the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1968. He later served as Chief of Staff of the United States Army from 1968 to 1972. Read more
• 18 Jul 2004: André Castelot, Belgian-French historian and author (born 1911) André Castelot, born André Storms, was a French writer and scriptwriter born in Belgium. He was the son of the Symbolist painter Maurice Chabas and Gabrielle Storms-Castelot, and the brother of the film actor Jacques Castelot. He wrote more than one hundred books, mostly biographies of famous people. Read more
• 18 Jul 2004: Émile Peynaud, French wine maker (born 1912) Émile Peynaud was a French oenologist and researcher who has been credited with revolutionizing winemaking in the latter half of the 20th century, and has been called "the forefather of modern oenology". Read more
• 18 Jul 2002: Metin Toker, Turkish journalist and author (born 1924) Metin Toker was a Turkish journalist and writer. Read more
• 18 Jul 2001: Mimi Fariña, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1945) Margarita Mimi Baez Fariña was an American singer-songwriter and activist, the youngest of three daughters of mother Joan Chandos Bridge and Mexican-American physicist Albert Baez. She was the younger sister of the singer and activist Joan Baez. Read more
• 18 Jul 1990: Karl Menninger, American psychiatrist and author (born 1896) Karl Augustus Menninger was an American psychiatrist, author, and activist. He was a member of the Menninger family of psychiatrists who founded the Menninger Foundation and the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas. Read more
• 18 Jul 1990: Yun Posun, South Korean politician, 2nd President of South Korea (born 1897) Yun Po-sun was a South Korean politician and activist who served as the second president of South Korea from 1960 to 1962. He was the only president of the short-lived Second Republic of Korea, and served as little more than a figurehead due to its nature as a parliamentary system. Read more
• 18 Jul 1989: Donnie Moore, American baseball player (born 1954) Donnie Ray Moore was an American relief pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals (1980), Milwaukee Brewers (1981), Atlanta Braves (1982–1984) and California Angels (1985–1988). Moore is best remembered for the home run he gave up to Dave Henderson while pitching for the California Angels in Game 5 of the 1986 American League Championship Series. With only one more strike needed to clinch the team's first-ever pennant, he allowed the Boston Red Sox to come back and eventually win the game. Boston then won Games 6 and 7 to take the series. Shortly after his professional career ended, he shot his wife three times in a dispute and then committed suicide. Read more
• 18 Jul 1989: Rebecca Schaeffer, American model and actress (born 1967) Rebecca Lucile Schaeffer was an American actress and model. She began her career as a teen model before moving on to acting. In 1986, she landed the role of Patricia "Patti" Russell in the CBS comedy My Sister Sam. The series was canceled in 1988, and she appeared in several films, including the black comedy Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills. At the age of 21, she was shot and killed by Robert John Bardo, a 19-year-old obsessed fan who had been stalking her. Schaeffer's death helped lead to the passage in California of legislation aimed at preventing stalking. Read more
• 18 Jul 1988: Nico, German singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and actress (born 1938) Christa Päffgen, known professionally as Nico, was a German singer, songwriter, actress and model. Read more
• 18 Jul 1988: Joly Braga Santos, Portuguese composer and conductor (born 1924) José Manuel Joly Braga Santos, ComSE was a Portuguese composer and conductor, who was born and died in Lisbon. He wrote six symphonies. Read more
• 18 Jul 1987: Gilberto Freyre, Brazilian sociologist, anthropologist, historian, writer, painter, journalist and congressman (born 1907) Gilberto de Mello Freyre was a Brazilian sociologist, anthropologist, historian, writer, painter, journalist and congressman born in Recife. Considered one of the most important sociologists of the 20th century, his best-known work is a sociological treatise named Casa-Grande & Senzala. Read more
• 18 Jul 1984: Lally Bowers, English actress (born 1914) Kathleen "Lally" Bowers was an English actress. Read more
• 18 Jul 1984: Grigori Kromanov, Estonian director and screenwriter (born 1926) Grigori Kromanov was an Estonian theatre and film director. He directed some of the best-known Estonian movies, including Viimne reliikvia and "Hukkunud Alpinisti" hotell. Read more
• 18 Jul 1982: Roman Jakobson, Russian–American linguist and theorist (born 1896) Roman Osipovich Jakobson was a Russian linguist and literary theorist. A pioneer of structural linguistics, Jakobson was one of the most celebrated and influential linguists of the twentieth century. With Nikolai Trubetzkoy, he developed revolutionary new techniques for the analysis of linguistic sound systems, in effect founding the modern discipline of phonology. Jakobson went on to extend similar principles and techniques to the study of other aspects of language such as syntax, morphology and semantics. He made numerous contributions to Slavic linguistics, most notably two studies of Russian case and an analysis of the categories of the Russian verb. Drawing on insights from C. S. Peirce's semiotics, as well as from communication theory and cybernetics, he proposed methods for the investigation of poetry, music, and the visual arts including cinema. Read more
• 18 Jul 1981: Sonja Branting-Westerståhl, Swedish lawyer (born 1890) Sonja Branting-Westerståhl was a Swedish lawyer and politician. She was one of the first female lawyers in Sweden and specialised in matrimonial law. A social democrat, she was active in raising awareness of the rise of far-right politics in 1930s and 1940s. During the Spanish Civil War, she travelled to France and Africa and inspected refugee camps, and campaigned on against the suffering she saw. In 1948, she served in the lower house of the Riksdag, the Swedish Parliament, for a short period. Read more
• 18 Jul 1975: Vaughn Bodē, American illustrator (born 1941) Vaughn Bodē was an American underground cartoonist and illustrator known for his character Cheech Wizard and his artwork depicting voluptuous women. A contemporary of Ralph Bakshi, Bodē has been credited as an influence on Bakshi's animated films Wizards and The Lord of the Rings. Bodē has a huge following among graffiti artists, with his characters remaining a popular subject. Read more
• 18 Jul 1973: Jack Hawkins, English actor (born 1910) John Edward Hawkins was an English actor, who worked on stage and in film from the 1930s until the 1970s. He was known for his portrayal of military men, said to "endow the countless figures of authority he played with a formidable screen presence." One of the most popular British film stars of the 1950s, he was nominated for four BAFTA Awards for Best British Actor. Read more
• 18 Jul 1969: Mary Jo Kopechne, American educator and secretary (born 1940) Mary Jo Kopechne was an American secretary, and one of the campaign workers for U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy's 1968 presidential campaign, a close team known as the "Boiler Room Girls". In 1969, she asphyxiated when a car driven by Robert's brother, U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy, left a narrow road on Chappaquiddick Island and overturned into Poucha Pond after they had left a party. According to reports, Kennedy left the party at 11:15 p.m. Kopechne's body and the car were not reported missing until the next morning, approximately nine to ten hours later. Read more
• 18 Jul 1968: Corneille Heymans, Belgian physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1892) Corneille Jean François Heymans was a Belgian physiologist. He studied at the Jesuit College of Saint Barbara and then at Ghent University, where he obtained a doctor's degree in 1920. Read more
• 18 Jul 1966: Bobby Fuller, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1942) Robert Gaston Fuller was an American rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist best known for "Let Her Dance" and his cover of the Crickets' "I Fought the Law," recorded with his group the Bobby Fuller Four. Read more
• 18 Jul 1954: Machine Gun Kelly, American gangster (born 1895) George Kelly Barnes, better known by his nickname Machine Gun Kelly, was an American gangster from Memphis, Tennessee, active during the Prohibition era. His nickname came from his favorite weapon, a Thompson submachine gun. He is best known for the kidnapping of oil tycoon and businessman Charles F. Urschel in July 1933, from which he and his gang collected a $200,000 ransom. Urschel had collected and left considerable evidence that assisted the subsequent investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which eventually led to Kelly's arrest in Memphis on September 26, 1933. His crimes also included bootlegging and armed robbery. Read more
• 18 Jul 1952: Paul Saintenoy, Belgian architect and historian (born 1862) Paul Saintenoy was a Belgian architect, teacher, architectural historian, and writer. Read more
• 18 Jul 1950: Carl Clinton Van Doren, American critic and biographer (born 1885) Carl Clinton Van Doren was an American critic and biographer. He was the brother of critic and teacher Mark Van Doren and the uncle of Charles Van Doren. Read more
• 18 Jul 1949: Vítězslav Novák, Czech composer and educator (born 1870) Vítězslav Augustín Rudolf Novák was a Czech composer and academic teacher at the Prague Conservatory. Stylistically, he was part of the neo-romantic tradition, and his music is considered an important example of Czech modernism. He worked towards a strong Czech identity in culture after the country became independent in 1918. His compositions include operas and orchestral works. Read more
• 18 Jul 1949: Francisco Javier Arana, Guatemalan Army colonel and briefly Guatemalan head of state (born 1905) Francisco Javier Arana Castro was a Guatemalan military leader and one of the three members of the revolutionary junta that ruled Guatemala from 20 October 1944 to 15 March 1945 during the early part of the Guatemalan Revolution. A major in the Guatemalan army under the dictator Jorge Ubico, he allied with a progressive faction of the army to topple Ubico's successor Federico Ponce Vaides. He led the three-man junta that oversaw the transition to a democratic government, although he was personally reluctant to allow the elected President Juan José Arévalo to take office in 1945. He served as the Chief of the Armed Forces in the new government until 1949. On 18 July 1949 he was killed in a shootout with supporters of the Arévalo government after he threatened to launch a coup. Read more
• 18 Jul 1948: Herman Gummerus, Finnish historian, academic, and politician (born 1877) Herman Gregorius Gummerus was a leading Finnish classical scholar, diplomat, and one of the founders of the Patriotic People's Movement (IKL). Read more
• 18 Jul 1947: Evald Tipner, Estonian footballer and ice hockey player (born 1906) Evald Tipner was an Estonian footballer widely regarded as one of the greatest Estonian goalkeepers of all time. He was capped 66 times for the Estonia national football team, 7 times for the national bandy team and once for the ice hockey team. Tipner was also a good track and field athlete. Read more
• 18 Jul 1944: Thomas Sturge Moore, English author, poet, and playwright (born 1870) Thomas Sturge Moore was a British poet, author and artist. Read more
• 18 Jul 1938: Marie of Romania (born 1875) Marie was the last queen consort of Romania from 10 October 1914 to 20 July 1927 as the wife of King Ferdinand I. Read more
• 18 Jul 1937: Julian Bell, English poet and academic (born 1908) Julian Heward Bell was an English poet, and the son of Clive and Vanessa Bell. The writer Quentin Bell was his younger brother and the writer and painter Angelica Garnett was his half-sister. Read more
• 18 Jul 1932: Jean Jules Jusserand, French author and diplomat, French Ambassador to the United States (born 1855) Jean Adrien Antoine Jules Jusserand was a French author and diplomat. He was the French Ambassador to the United States from 1903 to 1925 and played a major diplomatic role during World War I. Read more
• 18 Jul 1925: Louis-Nazaire Bégin, Canadian cardinal (born 1840) Louis-Nazaire Bégin was a Canadian cardinal of the Catholic Church. Begin held a doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and was later appointed Archbishop of Quebec by Pope Leo XIII (1898) and created cardinal by Pope Pius X (1914). Read more
• 18 Jul 1916: Benjamin C. Truman, American journalist and author (born 1835) Benjamin Cummings Truman, was an American journalist and author; in particular, he was a distinguished war correspondent during the American Civil War, and an authority on duels. Truman could also be described as a polymath, or at least peripatetic. Upon his death, the New York Times wrote, "He became, in his long career, a school principal, a feature writer, a proofreader, war correspondent, dramatic critic, composer of war songs, a playwright, confidential secretary to Andrew Johnson and an officer on his staff, a major in the army, a special agent of the Treasury Department, a paymaster In the army, a Washington correspondent, special agent for the Postoffice Department in charge of the Pacific Coast, an owner of five newspapers, a volunteer fireman, one of Southern California's publicists, a great traveler, a judge of good wines, an expert in food, a noted story teller, and a man of many friends." Read more
• 18 Jul 1899: Horatio Alger, American novelist and journalist (born 1832) Horatio Alger Jr. was an American author who wrote young adult novels about impoverished boys and their rise from humble backgrounds to middle-class security and comfort through good works. His writings were characterized by the "rags-to-riches" narrative, which had a formative effect on the United States from 1868 through to his death in 1899. Read more
• 18 Jul 1892: Thomas Cook, English travel agent, founded the Thomas Cook Group (born 1808) Thomas Cook was the founder of the travel agency Thomas Cook & Son. He was born into a poor family in Derbyshire and left school at the age of ten to start work as a gardener's boy. He served an apprenticeship as a cabinet maker before becoming an itinerant Baptist preacher. He was a supporter of the temperance movement and his first foray into tourism was a railway excursion to Loughborough for members of the Leicester Temperance Society in 1841. Following the success of this excursion, Cook, by now settled with his family in Leicester, began to organise tours further afield in the British Isles and, eventually, to the United States, Egypt and the Holy Land. In 1872, he went into business with his son as Thomas Cook & Son, with a head office in London. Following his retirement in 1878, he returned to Leicester and took an interest in the Baptist church and charitable work until his death. Cook is credited with having, through his all-inclusive tours, made travel and tourism accessible to a wider public. Read more
• 18 Jul 1890: Lydia Becker, English journalist, author, and activist, co-founded the Women's Suffrage Journal (born 1827) Lydia Ernestine Becker was a leader in the early British suffrage movement, as well as an amateur scientist with interests in biology and astronomy. She established Manchester as a centre for the suffrage movement and with Richard Pankhurst she arranged for the first woman to vote in a British election and a court case was unsuccessfully brought to exploit the precedent. Becker is also remembered for founding and publishing the Women's Suffrage Journal between 1870 and 1890. Read more
• 18 Jul 1884: Ferdinand von Hochstetter, Austrian geologist and academic (born 1829) Christian Gottlieb Ferdinand Ritter von Hochstetter was a German-Austrian geologist. In 1857 he was appointed geologist on the Austrian Novara expedition to New Zealand, collecting natural history specimens and producing the first geological map of New Zealand. Read more
• 18 Jul 1872: Benito Juárez, Mexican lawyer and politician, 26th President of Mexico (born 1806) Benito Pablo Juárez García was a Mexican politician, military officer, and lawyer who served as the 26th president of Mexico from 1858 until his death in 1872. A Zapotec, he was the first Indigenous president of Mexico and the first democratically elected Indigenous president in postcolonial America. A member of the Liberal Party, he previously held a number of offices, including the governorship of Oaxaca and the presidency of the Supreme Court. During his presidency, he led the Liberals to victory in the Reform War and in the Second French intervention in Mexico. Read more
• 18 Jul 1863: Robert Gould Shaw, American colonel (born 1837) Robert Gould Shaw was an American officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Born into an abolitionist family from the Boston upper class, he accepted command of the first all-black regiment in the Northeast. Supporting the promised equal treatment for his troops, he encouraged the men to refuse their pay until it was equal to that of white troops' wage. Read more
• 18 Jul 1837: Vincenzo Borg, Maltese merchant and rebel leader (born 1777) Vincenzo Maria Borg, also known by his nickname Brared, was a Maltese merchant who was one of the main insurgent leaders during the French blockade of 1798–1800. He was a lieutenant from 1801 until he was deposed in January 1804. Read more
• 18 Jul 1817: Jane Austen, English novelist (born 1775) Jane Austen was an English writer known primarily for her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment on the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Read more

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