History of 18 July
1914 – Six planes of the U.S. Army helped to form an aviation division called the Signal Corps.
1927 – Ty Cobb set a major league baseball record by getting his 4,000th career hit. He hit 4,191 before he retired in 1928.
1932 – The U.S. and Canada signed a treaty to develop the St. Lawrence Seaway.
1935 – Ethiopian King Haile Selassie urged his countrymen to fight to the last man against the invading Italian army.
1936 – The first Oscar Meyer Wienermobile rolled out of General Body Company’s factory in Chicago, IL.
1936 – The Spanish Civil War began as Gen. Francisco Franco led an uprising of army troops based in Spanish North Africa.
1936 – “The Columbia Workshop” debuted on CBS radio.
1942 – The German Me-262, the first jet-propelled aircraft to fly in combat, made its first flight.
1944 – U.S. troops captured Saint-Lo, France, ending the battle of the hedgerows.
1944 – Hideki Tojo was removed as a Japanese premier and war minister due to setbacks suffered by his country in World War II.
1947 – U.S. President Truman signed the Presidential Succession Act, which placed the Speaker of the House and the Senate President Pro Tempore next in the line of succession after the vice president.
1964 – Pete Rose (Cincinnati Reds) hit the only grand slam home run of his career.
1970 – Ron Hunt (San Francisco Giants) was hit by a pitch for the 119th time in his career.
1971 – New Zealand and Australia announced they would pull their troops out of Vietnam.
1985 – Jack Nicklaus II, at age 23 years old, made his playing debut on the pro golf tour at the Quad Cities Open in Coal Valley, IL.
2000 – It was announced that Christopher Reeve would direct and serve as executive producer on the TV movie “Rescuing Jeffrey.”
2001 – A train derailed, involving 60 cars, in a Baltimore train tunnel. The fire that resulted lasted for six days and virtually closed down downtown Baltimore for several days. (Maryland)
2015 – The eBay spin-off of PayPal into a separate publicly traded company was completed.
Celebrating Birthday Today
1981 – Dennis Seidenberg, German ice hockey player
1982 – Ryan Cabrera, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1982 – Priyanka Chopra, Indian actress, singer, and film producer
1982 – Carlo Costly, Honduran footballer
1982 – Dominika Luzarová, a Czech tennis player
1983 – Carlos Diogo, Uruguayan footballer
1983 – Aaron Gillespie, American singer-songwriter and drummer
1983 – Mikk Pahapill, Estonian decathlete
1983 – Jan Schlaudraff, German footballer
1985 – Chace Crawford, American actor
1985 – Panagiotis Lagos, Greek footballer
1985 – James Norton, English actor
1986 – Natalia Mikhailova, Russian ice dancer
1987 – Tontowi Ahmad, Indonesian badminton player
1988 – Änis Ben-Hatira, German-Tunisian footballer
1988 – César Villaluz, Mexican footballer
1989 – Jamie Benn, Canadian ice hockey player
1989 – Sebastian Mielitz, German footballer
1989 – Yohan Mollo, French footballer
1993 – Nabil Fekir, French footballer
1993 – Lee Tae-min, South Korean singer and actor
1993 – Michael Lichaa, Australian rugby league player
1994 – Nilo Soares, East Timorese footballer