Historical Events on Friday, 18th July

18/07/2019

A man sets fire to an anime studio in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Japan, killing 36 people and injuring dozens of others.

The Kyoto Animation arson attack occurred at Kyoto Animation's Studio 1 building in the Fushimi ward of Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan, on the morning of 18 July 2019. The arson killed 36 people, injured an additional 34, and destroyed most of the materials and computers in Studio 1. It is one of the deadliest massacres in Japan since the end of World War II, the deadliest building fire in Japan since the 2001 Myojo 56 building fire, and the first massacre ever to have occurred at a studio associated with an entertainment company, and the animation industry.

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18/07/2014

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant requires Christians to either accept dhimmi status, emigrate from ISIL lands, or be killed.

The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), and by its Arabic acronym Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist militant organisation and internationally unrecognized quasi-state. IS occupied significant territory in Iraq and Syria in 2013, but lost most of it between 2017 and 2019. In 2014, the group proclaimed itself to be a worldwide caliphate, and claimed religious and political authority over all Muslims worldwide, a claim not accepted by the vast majority of Muslims. It is designated as a terrorist organisation by the United Nations and many countries around the world, including Muslim countries.

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18/07/2013

The Government of Detroit, with up to $20 billion in debt, files for the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.

The government of Detroit, Michigan mayor, the nine-member Detroit City Council, the eleven-member Board of Police Commissioners, and a clerk. All of these officers are elected on a nonpartisan ballot, with the exception of four of the police commissioners, who are appointed by the mayor. Detroit has a "strong mayoral" system, with the mayor approving departmental appointments. The council approves budgets, but the mayor is not obligated to adhere to any earmarking. The city clerk supervises elections and is formally charged with the maintenance of municipal records. City ordinances and substantially large contracts must be approved by the council.

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18/07/2012

At least seven people are killed and 32 others are injured after a bomb explodes on an Israeli tour bus at Burgas Airport, Bulgaria.

The 2012 Burgas bus bombing was a terrorist attack carried out by a suicide bomber on a passenger bus transporting Israeli tourists at the Burgas Airport in Burgas, Bulgaria, on 18 July 2012. The bus was carrying 42 Israelis, mainly youths, from the airport to their hotels, after arriving on a flight from Tel Aviv. The explosion killed the Bulgarian bus driver and five Israelis and injured 32 Israelis, resulting in international condemnation of the bombing.

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18/07/2002

A Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer crashes near Estes Park, Colorado, killing both crew members.

The Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer is an American World War II and Korean War era patrol bomber of the United States Navy derived from the Consolidated B-24 Liberator. The Navy had been using B-24s with only minor modifications as the PB4Y-1 Liberator, and along with maritime patrol Liberators used by RAF Coastal Command, this type of patrol plane was proven successful. A fully navalized design was desired, and Consolidated developed a dedicated long-range patrol bomber with tests begun in 1943, designated PB4Y-2 Privateer. The first version of the Privateer flew in September 1943 with production versions arriving in March 1944. In 1951, the type was redesignated P4Y-2 Privateer. A further designation change occurred in September 1962, when the remaining US Navy Privateers were redesignated QP-4B.

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18/07/1996

Storms provoke severe flooding on the Saguenay River, beginning one of Quebec's costliest natural disasters ever.

The Saguenay flood was a series of flash floods on July 19 and 20, 1996 that hit the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec, Canada. It was the biggest overland flood in 20th-century Canadian history.

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Battle of Mullaitivu: The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam capture the Sri Lanka Army's base, killing over 1,200 soldiers.

The Battle of Mullaitivu, also known as the First Battle of Mullaitivu and codenamed Operation Unceasing Waves-1, was a battle between the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Sri Lankan military during the Sri Lankan Civil War for control of the military base in Mullaitivu in north-eastern Sri Lanka.

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18/07/1995

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.

Montserrat is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about 16 km (10 mi) long and 11 km (7 mi) wide, with roughly 40 km (25 mi) of coastline. It is nicknamed "The Emerald Isle of the Caribbean" both for its resemblance to coastal Ireland and for the Irish ancestry of many of its inhabitants. Montserrat is the only non-fully sovereign full member of the Caribbean Community and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, although it is not the only dependency in the Caribbean.

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18/07/1994

The bombing of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (Argentine Jewish Community Center) in Buenos Aires kills 85 people (mostly Jewish) and injures 300.

The Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina, a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was bombed on 18 July 1994. Executed as a suicide attack, a bomb-laden van was driven into the AMIA building and subsequently detonated, killing 85 people and injuring over 300. To date, the bombing remains the deadliest terrorist attack in Argentine history. In 1994, Argentina was home to a Jewish community of 200,000, making it the largest in Latin America and the sixth-largest in the world outside of Israel.

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Rwandan genocide: The Rwandan Patriotic Front takes control of Gisenyi and north western Rwanda, forcing the interim government into Zaire and ending the genocide.

The Rwandan genocide, also known as the Tutsi genocide, occurred from 7 April to 19 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. Over a span of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were systematically killed by Hutu militias. While the Rwandan Constitution states that over 1 million people were killed, most scholarly estimates suggest between 500,000 and 662,000 Tutsi died, mostly men. The genocide was marked by extreme violence, with victims often murdered by neighbours, and widespread sexual violence, with between 250,000 and 500,000 women raped.

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18/07/1992

A picture of Les Horribles Cernettes was taken, which became the first ever photo posted to the World Wide Web.

Les Horribles Cernettes was an all-female parody pop group, self-labelled "the one and only High Energy Rock Band", which was founded by employees of CERN and performed at CERN and other HEP-related events. Their main claim to fame is that a photograph of them was the earliest photographic image shared on the World Wide Web.

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18/07/1984

McDonald's massacre in San Ysidro, California: James Oliver Huberty kills 21 people and injures 19 others before being shot dead by police.

The San Ysidro McDonald's massacre was a mass shooting which occurred at a McDonald's restaurant in the San Ysidro neighborhood of San Diego, California, on July 18, 1984. The perpetrator, 41-year-old James Huberty, fatally shot 22 people, including an unborn baby, and wounded 19 others before being killed by a police sniper approximately 77 minutes after he had first opened fire.

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18/07/1982

Two hundred sixty-eight Guatemalan campesinos ("peasants" or "country people") are slain in the Plan de Sánchez massacre.

Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in northern Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the south and the Gulf of Honduras to the northeast.

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18/07/1981

A Canadair CL-44 and Sukhoi Su-15 collide in mid-air near Yerevan, Armenia, killing four.

The Canadair CL-44 was a Canadian turboprop airliner and cargo aircraft based on the Bristol Britannia that was developed and produced by Canadair in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Although innovative, only a small number of the aircraft were produced for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), and for commercial operators worldwide.

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18/07/1979

A landslide occurs on the Iliwerung volcano in Indonesia, triggering a tsunami that kills over 530 and leaves 700 missing.

Iliwerung or Illiwerung is a complex volcano forming a prominent south-facing peninsula on Lembata Island in southern Indonesia. It contains north-south and northwest-southeast trending lines of craters and lava domes, with the summit dome having formed by a VEI-3 eruption in 1870.

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18/07/1976

Nadia Comăneci becomes the first person in Olympic Games history to score a perfect 10 in gymnastics at the 1976 Summer Olympics.

Nadia Elena Comăneci Conner is a retired Romanian gymnast. She is a five-time Olympic gold medalist, all in individual events. In 1976, at age 14, Comăneci was the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10.0 at the Olympic Games. At the same Games, she earned six more perfect 10s for events en route to winning three gold medals. At the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Comăneci won two more gold medals and achieved two more perfect 10s. During her career, Comăneci won nine Olympic medals and four World Artistic Gymnastics Championship medals.

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18/07/1970

An Antonov An-22 of the Soviet Air Forces crashes into the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 23 aboard.

The Antonov An-22 "Antei" is a retired heavy military transport aircraft designed by the Antonov Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Powered by four turboprop engines, each driving a pair of contra-rotating propellers, its design was the first wide-body transport aircraft and remains the world's largest turboprop-powered aircraft to date. The An-22 first appeared publicly outside the Soviet Union at the 1965 Paris Air Show. Thereafter, the model saw extensive use in major military and humanitarian airlifts for the Soviet Union, and remained in service with the Russian Aerospace Forces until December 2025, when the last operational aircraft crashed during a test flight.

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18/07/1968

Intel is founded in Mountain View, California.

Intel Corporation is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It designs, manufactures, and sells computer components such as central processing units (CPUs) and related products for business and consumer markets. Intel was the world's third-largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue in 2024 and has been included in the Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by revenue since 2007. It was one of the first companies listed on Nasdaq.

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18/07/1966

Human spaceflight: Gemini 10 is launched from Cape Kennedy on a 70-hour mission that includes docking with an orbiting Agena target vehicle.

Human spaceflight is spaceflight with a crew or passengers aboard a spacecraft, often with the spacecraft being operated directly by the onboard crew. Spacecraft can also be remotely operated from ground stations on Earth, or autonomously, without any direct human involvement. People trained for spaceflight are called astronauts, cosmonauts (Russian), or taikonauts (Chinese); and non-professionals are referred to as spaceflight participants or spacefarers. Humans have had a continuous presence in space since 2 November 2000, on the International Space Station (ISS).

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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.

The Hough riots were riots in the predominantly African-American community of Hough in Cleveland, Ohio, United States which took place from July 18 to 23, 1966. During the riots, four African Americans were killed and 50 people were injured. There were 275 arrests and numerous incidents of arson and firebombings. City officials at first blamed black nationalist and communist organizations for the riots, but historians generally dismiss these claims today, arguing that the cause of the Hough Riots were primarily poverty and racism. The riots caused rapid population loss and economic decline in the area, which lasted at least five decades after the riots.

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18/07/1944

World War II: Hideki Tōjō resigns as Prime Minister of Japan because of numerous setbacks in the war effort.

Hideki Tojo was a Japanese military officer and politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1941 to 1944 during World War II. His leadership was marked by widespread state violence and mass killings perpetrated in the name of Japanese nationalism.

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18/07/1942

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.

World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, the latter enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the only nuclear weapons used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 60 to 75 million people. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.

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The Germans test fly the Messerschmitt Me 262 using its jet engines for the first time.

The Messerschmitt Me 262, nicknamed Schwalbe in fighter versions, or Sturmvogel in fighter-bomber versions, is a fighter aircraft and fighter-bomber that was designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt. It was the world's first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft and one of two jet fighter aircraft types to see air-to-air combat in World War II, the other being the Heinkel He 162.

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18/07/1925

Adolf Hitler publishes Mein Kampf.

Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Germany during the Nazi era from 1933 until his suicide in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor of Germany in 1933 and then taking the title of Führer und Reichskanzler in 1934. Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 under his leadership marked the outbreak of the Second World War. Throughout the ensuing conflict, Hitler was closely involved in the direction of German military operations and was central to the perpetration of the Holocaust, the genocide of about six million Jews and millions of other victims.

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18/07/1914

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.

The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a bicameral legislature, including a lower body, the U.S. House of Representatives, and an upper body, the U.S. Senate. They both meet in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.

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18/07/1872

The Ballot Act 1872 in the United Kingdom introduced the requirement that parliamentary and local government elections be held by secret ballot.

The Ballot Act 1872 was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that introduced the requirement for parliamentary and local government elections in the United Kingdom to be held by secret ballot. The act abolished the traditional hustings system of nomination and election in Britain.

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18/07/1870

The First Vatican Council decrees the dogma of papal infallibility.

The First Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the First Vatican Council or Vatican I, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church, held three centuries after the preceding Council of Trent which was adjourned in 1563. The council was convoked by Pope Pius IX on 29 June 1868, under the rising threat of the Kingdom of Italy encroaching on the Papal States. It opened on 8 December 1869 and was adjourned on 20 September 1870 after the Italian Capture of Rome. Its best-known decision is its definition of papal infallibility.

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18/07/1863

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.

The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy, which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded from the Union to preserve slavery in the United States, which they saw as threatened because of the election of Abraham Lincoln and the growing abolitionist movement in the North. The war lasted a little over four years, ending with Union victory, the dissolution of the Confederacy and the abolition of slavery, freeing four million African Americans.

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18/07/1862

First ascent of Dent Blanche, one of the highest summits in the Alps.

The Dent Blanche is a mountain in the Pennine Alps, lying in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. At 4,357 m (14,295 ft)-high, it is one of the highest peaks in the Alps.

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18/07/1857

Louis Faidherbe, French governor of Senegal, arrives to relieve French forces at Kayes, effectively ending El Hajj Umar Tall's war against the French.

Louis Léon César Faidherbe was a French general and colonial administrator. He created the Senegalese Tirailleurs when he was governor of Senegal.

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18/07/1841

Coronation of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil.

Dom Pedro II, known as "the Magnanimous", was the second and final emperor of the Empire of Brazil. He reigned from 1831 until his deposition in the military coup of 1889, presiding over the longest and most stable reign in Brazilian history.

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18/07/1812

The Treaties of Orebro end both the Anglo-Russian and Anglo-Swedish Wars.

Two Treaties of Örebro were signed on the same day, 18 July 1812, in Örebro, Sweden. Negotiated by the British minister-plenipotentiary in Sweden, Edward Thornton, they formally ended the Anglo-Russian War (1807–1812) and the Anglo-Swedish War (1810–1812), neither of which had seen serious military action.

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18/07/1806

A gunpowder magazine explosion in Birgu, Malta, kills around 200 people.

On 18 July 1806, approximately 40,000 lb (18,000 kg) of gunpowder stored in a magazine (polverista) in Birgu, Malta, mistakenly detonated. The explosion killed an estimated 200 people, including British and Maltese military personnel, and Maltese civilians from Birgu. Parts of the city's fortifications, some naval stores, and many houses were destroyed. The accident was found to be the result of negligence while transferring shells from the magazine.

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18/07/1723

Johann Sebastian Bach leads the first performance of his cantata Erforsche mich, Gott, und erfahre mein Herz, BWV 136, in Leipzig on the eighth Sunday after Trinity.

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the orchestral Brandenburg Concertos; solo instrumental works such as the Cello Suites and Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin; keyboard works such as the Goldberg Variations and The Well-Tempered Clavier; organ works such as the Schübler Chorales and the Toccata and Fugue in D minor; and choral works such as the St. Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor. He is known for his mastery of counterpoint, as heard in The Musical Offering and The Art of Fugue. Felix Mendelssohn precipitated the Bach Revival with a performance of the St. Matthew Passion in 1829. Ever since, Bach has been acclaimed as one of the greatest composers of classical music.

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18/07/1555

The College of Arms is reincorporated by Royal charter signed by Queen Mary I of England and King Philip II of Spain.

The College of Arms is the heraldic authority for England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and some Commonwealth realms; the heraldic authority for Scotland is the Court of the Lord Lyon. The College is a royal corporation consisting of professional officers of arms who act on behalf of the Crown in matters of heraldry, including the granting of new coats of arms; genealogical research; and the recording of pedigrees. The College is also responsible for matters relating to the flying of flags on land, and maintains the official registers of flags and other national symbols. It is also involved in the planning of ceremonial occasions such as coronations, state funerals, the annual Garter Service, and the State Opening of Parliament. The officers of arms accompany the monarch on many of these occasions.

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18/07/1507

In Brussels, Prince Charles I is crowned Duke of Burgundy and Count of Flanders, a year after inheriting the title.

Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels, which is the capital of Belgium. The Brussels-Capital Region is located in the central portion of the country. It is a part of both the French Community of Belgium and the Flemish Community, and is separate from the Flemish Region (Flanders), within which it forms an enclave, and the Walloon Region (Wallonia), located less than 4 km (2.5 mi) south.

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18/07/1389

France and England agree to the Truce of Leulinghem, inaugurating a 13-year peace, the longest period of sustained peace during the Hundred Years' War.

The Kingdom of France is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the medieval and early modern period. It was one of the most powerful states in Europe from the High Middle Ages to 1848 during its dissolution. It was also an early colonial power, with colonies in Asia and Africa, and the largest being New France in North America geographically centred on the Great Lakes.

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18/07/1334

The bishop of Florence blesses the first foundation stone for the new campanile (bell tower) of the Florence Cathedral, designed by the artist Giotto di Bondone.

Florence is the capital and most populous city of the Italian region of Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants as of 2025. It is also the capital of the eponymous metropolitan province, which counts 989,460 inhabitants.

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18/07/1290

King Edward I of England issues the Edict of Expulsion, banishing all Jews (numbering about 16,000) from England.

Edward I, also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 1254 to 1306 ruled Gascony as Duke of Aquitaine in his capacity as a vassal of the French king. Before his accession to the throne, he was commonly referred to as the Lord Edward.

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18/07/1195

Battle of Alarcos: Almohad forces defeat the Castilian army of Alfonso VIII and force its retreat to Toledo.

Battle of Alarcos, was fought between the Almohads led by Abu Yusuf Ya'qub al-Mansur and King Alfonso VIII of Castile. It resulted in the defeat of the Castilian forces and their subsequent retreat to Toledo, whereas the Almohads reconquered Trujillo, Montánchez, and Talavera.

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18/07/0645

Chinese forces under general Li Shiji besiege the strategic fortress city of Anshi (Liaoning) during the Goguryeo–Tang War.

Li Shiji, courtesy name Maogong, posthumously known as Duke Zhenwu of Ying, was a Chinese military general and politician who lived in the early Tang dynasty. His original family name was Xú, but he was later given the family name of the Tang imperial clan, Li, by Emperor Gaozu, the Tang dynasty's founding emperor. Later, during the reign of Emperor Gaozong, Li Shiji was known as Li Ji to avoid naming taboo because the personal name of Emperor Gaozong's predecessor, Emperor Taizong, had the same Chinese character "Shi". Li Shiji is also referred to as Xu Maogong and Xu Ji in the historical novels Shuo Tang and Sui Tang Yanyi.

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18/07/0452

Sack of Aquileia: After an earlier defeat on the Catalaunian Plains, Attila lays siege to the metropolis of Aquileia and eventually destroys it.

The Sack of Aquileia occurred in 452, and was carried out by the Huns under the leadership of Attila.

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18/07/0362

Roman–Persian Wars: Emperor Julian arrives at Antioch with a Roman expeditionary force (60,000 men) and stays there for nine months to launch a campaign against the Persian Empire.

The Roman–Persian wars, also called the Roman–Iranian wars, took place between the Greco-Roman world and the Iranian world, beginning with the Roman Republic and the Parthian Empire in 54 BC and ending with the Byzantine and the Sasanian empires in 628 AD. While the conflict between the two civilizations did involve direct military engagements, a significant role was played by a plethora of vassal kingdoms and allied nomadic tribes, which served as buffer states or proxies for either side. Despite nearly seven centuries of hostility, the Roman–Persian wars had an entirely inconclusive outcome, as both the Byzantines and the Sasanians were attacked by the Rashidun Caliphate as part of the early Muslim conquests. The Rashidun offensives resulted in the collapse of the Sasanian Empire and largely confined the Byzantine Empire to Anatolia and southeastern Europe for the ensuing Arab–Byzantine wars.

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19/07/2007

Battle of the Cremera as part of the Roman–Etruscan Wars. Veii ambushes and defeats the Roman army.

The Battle of the Cremera was fought between the Roman Republic and the Etruscan city of Veii, in 477 BC.

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