Today in History for 18th September 2026

[CoM Moderators]

Historical Events

1810 - Chile declares independence from Spain, celebrated today as Chile's National Day
1990 - A 500-pound, 6-foot Hershey's Kiss is displayed at 1 Times Square, New York City
1993 - 18th Toronto International Film Festival: "The Snapper," directed by Stephen Frears, wins the People's Choice Award
2014 - Eight people (including two children) are shot dead in Bell, Florida
2022 - Hurricane Fiona makes landfall near Punta Tocón on Puerto Rico's southwest coast as a Category 1 storm with 85 km/h winds, causing catastrophic flooding

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1912 - Sarah Palfrey Cooke, American tennis player (US Nat C'ship 1941, 45), born in Sharon, Massachusetts (d. 1996)
1932 - Nikolay Rukavishnikov, Soviet cosmonaut (Soyuz 10, 16, 33), born in Tomsk, Russia (d. 2002)
1949 - Kerry Livgren, American progressive rock guitarist and songwriter (Kansas - "Carry On Wayward Son"; "Dust in the Wind"), born in Topeka, Kansas
1953 - Betsy Boze, American academic (9th president of The College of The Bahamas), born in Shreveport, Louisiana
1956 - Chris Hedges, American journalist and author (War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning), born in St. Johnsbury, Vermont

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1783 - Benjamin Kennicott, English churchman and Hebrew scholar, dies at 65
1904 - Herbert von Bismarck, German politician, son of Otto, dies at 54
1997 - Harry Boyne, British parliamentary journalist, dies at 87
2017 - Zurab Sotkilava, Soviet Georgian operatic tenor (the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Theatre, 1965-74), and pedagogue (Moscow Conservatory), dies of pancreatic cancer at 80
2024 - Rolf Wolfshohl, German road cyclist (Vuelta a España 1965; World Cyclo-cross C'ship 1960, 61, 63), dies at 85

More Famous Deaths »