Today in History for 18th July 2026

[CoM Moderators]

Historical Events

1882 - MLB Louisville Eclipse pitcher Tony Mullane is first to pitch right-handed and then left-handed
1944 - Hideki Tojo resigns the position of Prime Minister of Imperial Japan, after losing the support of Emperor Hirohito
1972 - 200,000 attend Mt Pocono rock festival in Penns
2018 - Kawhi Leonard is traded to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Pöltl, and a protected 2019 first-round draft pick
2023 - City of Phoenix, Arizona breaks a five decade heat record recording 19 consecutive days of temperature at or above 110°F (43.3°C); overnight low of 97°F (36.1°C) highest since 1989

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Famous Birthdays

1850 - Rose Hartwick Thorpe, American poet (Curfew Must Not Ring) and writer, born in Mishawaka, Indiana, Kansas (d. 1939)
1884 - Alberto di Jorio, Italian Cardinal and former head of the Vatican Bank, born in Rome (d. 1979)
1903 - Victor Gruen [Viktor Grünbaum], Austrian-American architect known for his pioneering work designing shopping centers (Northland Shopping Center in Michigan), born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1980)
1912 - Harry Levin, American literary scholar, born in Minneapolis, Minnesota (d. 1994)
1946 - Leo Madder, Belgian actor (Spoed), born in Lier, Flanders, Belgium

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Famous Deaths

1817 - Jane Austen, English novelist (Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility), dies at 41
1948 - Herman Gummerus, Finnish historian and politician (b. 1877)
1992 - Jan Pelleboer, Dutch meteorologist, and first television weatherman in the Netherlands, dies at 64
2009 - Henry Allingham, oldest male British supercentenarian (born 1896) and World War I veteran, dies at 113 years, 42 days
2018 - Wolfgang Hufschmidt, German church musician, academic, and composer, dies at 84

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