On this day: 18 August

Selected events and births on 18 August, from Wikipedia’s “On this day”.

Events

• 1590 – John White, governor of the Roanoke Colony, the first English settlement in North America (located in present-day North Carolina), returned after a three-year absence to find it deserted. Read more: John White (colonist and artist) Roanoke Colony North Carolina
• 1612 – The trials of the Pendle and Samlesbury witches (statue pictured), among the most famous of England's witch trials, began at the assizes in Lancaster. Read more: Pendle witches Samlesbury witches Witch hunt
• 1783 – A meteor procession blazed across the night sky over Great Britain. Read more: Meteor procession 1783 Great Meteor
• 1877 – American astronomer Asaph Hall discovered Phobos, the larger of Mars's two moons, six days after discovering Deimos, the smaller one. Read more: Asaph Hall Phobos (moon) Moons of Mars
• 1920 – The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, guaranteeing women's suffrage in the country. Read more: Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution Constitution of the United States Women's suffrage in the United States
• 1948 – Australia won the fifth Test of the 1948 Ashes series, becoming the first Test cricket team to go undefeated in England, earning them the nickname "The Invincibles". Read more: Fifth Test, 1948 Ashes series Test cricket Australian cricket team in England in 1948
• 2008 – Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf resigned under pressure from a movement to impeach him. Read more: Pervez Musharraf Effort to impeach Pervez Musharraf

Born on this day

• 1935 – Hifikepunye Pohamba, Namibian lawyer and politician, 2nd President of Namibia Read more: Hifikepunye Pohamba President of Namibia
• 1948 – John Scarlett, English intelligence officer, former head of MI6 Read more: John Scarlett MI6
• 1961 – Timothy Geithner, American banker and politician, 75th United States Secretary of the Treasury Read more: Timothy Geithner United States Secretary of the Treasury
• 1962 – Felipe Calderón, Mexican lawyer and politician, 56th President of Mexico Read more: Felipe Calderón President of Mexico
• 1997 – Josephine Langford, Australian actress Read more: Josephine Langford
• 1998 – Brian To'o, Australian-Samoan rugby league player Read more: Brian To'o
• 1998 – Clairo, American singer-songwriter Read more: Clairo
• 1998 – Nick Fuentes, American far-right political commentator Read more: Nick Fuentes
• 1999 – Cassius Stanley, American basketball player Read more: Cassius Stanley
• 2002 – Bart Verbruggen, Dutch footballer Read more: Bart Verbruggen
• 2004 – Kevin McGonigle, American baseball player Read more: Kevin McGonigle
• 2006 – Summer McIntosh, Canadian swimmer Read more: Summer McIntosh

Text from Wikipedia: Selected anniversaries / August 18 and the linked articles, via the Wikimedia “On this day” feed, under CC BY-SA 4.0. We leave out entries about wars, violence and disasters to keep this page family-friendly.