1918
Years:
1915 1916 1917 - 1918(MCMXVIII) - 1919 1920 1921 Decades:
1880s 1890s 1900s - 1910s - 1920s 1930s 1940s Centuries:
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1918 was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.
Events
January-February
- January 8 - President Woodrow Wilson announces his "Fourteen Points" for the Aftermath of World War I.
- January 22 - Manitoba, Canada film censor board bans comedies
- January 24 - a decree of the Council of People's Commissars, introducing the Gregorian calendar in Russia since February 1 (Julian calendar date), issued
- January 28 - Vladimir Lenin decrees the establishment of the Red Army.
- February 3 - The Twin Peaks Tunnel begins service in San Francisco as the longest streetcar tunnel in the world (11,920 feet long).
- February 8 - The Stars and Stripes Newspaper
- February 14 - The Soviet Union adopts the Gregorian calendar (1 February according to the Julian calendar). As a consequence the anniversary of the Russian Revolution, previously October, now falls in November.
- February 16 - Lithuania declares its independence from both Russia and Germany
- February 18 - White Cossack troops retreat from the Don after advancing Bolsheviks
- February 24 - Estonia declares its independence from Russia
- February 26 - Grandstands at the Hong Kong Jockey Club collapse - 604 dead
March-April
- March 1 - German submarine U 19 sinks HMS Calgarian off Rathlin Island, Nothern Ireland.
- March 3 - World War I: Germany, Austria and Bolshevist Russia sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ending Russia's involvement in the war.
- March 5 - The Soviet Russia moves its national capital from Petrograd to Moscow
- March 6 - Finnish Air Force founded. The blue swastika is adopted as its symbol as a tribute to the Swedish explorer and aviator Eric von Rosen who donated the first plane. Von Rosen had painted the Buddhist symbol on the plane as his personal lucky insignia.
- March 7 - World War I: Finland forms an alliance with Germany.
- March 12 - Moscow becomes the capital of Soviet Russia
- March 19 - The U.S. Congress establishes time zones and approves Daylight saving time (DST went into effect on March 31).
- March 21 - World War I: Second Battle of the Somme begins
- March 23 - The giant German cannon, the so called Paris Gun begins to shell Paris from 114 km (75 miles) away
- March 23 - In London at the Wood Green Empire, Chung Ling Soo (William E Robinson, US-born magician) dies during his trick where he was supposed to "catch" two separate bullets - one of them perforates his lung. He dies the following morning in hospital.
- March 23 - The Social Revolutionary Party declares Belorussia independent; Bolshevik armies soon crush them
- March 25 - for the first time Belarus declares independence.
- April 1 - The Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service are merged to form the Royal Air Force.
May-July
- May 1 - German troops enter Don province - they take Rostov May 6
- May 2 - General Motors acquires the Chevrolet Motor Company of Delaware.
- May 15 - The Post Office Department (later renamed the USPS) begins the first regular Airmail service in the world (between New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, DC).
- May 16 - The Sedition Act of 1918 is approved by US Congress.
- May 26 - The Democratic Republic of Georgia is established.
- May 28 - Armenia gains independence from the Ottoman Empire
- June 1 - World War I: Battle for Belleau Wood begins.
- July - The Siberian Expedition is launched to extract the Czechoslovak Legion from the Russian civil war.
- July 4 - Change of emperor of the Ottoman Empire from Mehmed V (Resad) (1909-1918) to Mehmed VI (Vahdettin) (1918-1922)
- July 9 - Great train wreck of 1918: In Nashville, Tennessee, an inbound local train collides with an outbound express killing 101.
- July 15 - World War I: Second Battle of the Marne - The battle begins near the River Marne with a German attack.
- July 16 - Russian Revolution: At Ekaterinburg, Bolsheviks execute Czar Nicholas II of Russia and his family.
August-October
- August - "Spanish flu" Influenza becomes Pandemic; over twenty-five million people die in the following six months (three times as many as died during the war).
- August 1 - British anti-Bolshevik forces occupy Archangel, Russia. August 10 commander is told to help White Russians
- August 1 - Emma Susan Daugherty Banister becomes the first female sheriff in the United States following the death of her husband, John Riley Banister.
- August 8 - World War I: Battle of Amiens - Canadian troops, backed by Australians, begin a string of almost continuous victories with a push through the German front lines. German General Erich Ludendorff will later call this the "black day of the German army."
- August 30 - Strike of 20,000 London policemen with demands of increased pay and union recognition.
- August 30 - Fanya Kaplan tries to shoot Lenin. Petrograd head of Cheka is assassinated the same day.
- September 11 - The Boston Red Sox defeat the Chicago Cubs for the 1918 World Series championship. (their last World Series win until 2004)
- September 28 - Don Voisko adopts a constitution including declaration of Independence. Collapse of Imperial Germany makes it void
- October 3 - Kaiser makes Max von Baden a German chancellor.
- October 3 - Poland declares independence.
- October 8 - World War I - In the Argonne Forest in France, US Corporal Alvin C. York almost single-handedly kills 25 German soldiers and captures 132.
- October 25 - The Princess Sophia sinks on Vanderbilt Reef near Juneau, Alaska, 353 people die in the greatest maritime disaster in the Pacific Northwest.
- October 28 - Czechoslovakia gains its independence from Austria-Hungary.
- October 28 - New Polish government in Western Galicia (Central Europe)
November
- November 1 - Malbone Street Wreck: the worst Rapid transit accident in world history occurs under the intersection of Malbone Street and Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, New York City, with at least 93 dead.
- November 1 - Ruthenia in eastern Czechoslovakia declares brief Independence
- November 3 - World War I: Austria-Hungary enters an armistice with the Allies.
- November 3 - Poland declares its independence from Russia.
- November 4 - World War I: Austria-Hungary surrenders to Italy.
- November 4 - Mutiny in the German fleet at Kiel begin the German Revolution.
- November 6 - A new Polish government is proclaimed in Lublin.
- November 8 - German army withdraws its support of the Kaiser
- November 9 - Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany abdicates and chooses to live in exile in the Netherlands.
- November 9 - Provisional National Council Minister-President Kurt Eisner declares Bavaria to be a Republic.
- November 11 - World War I ends: Germany signs an Armistice agreement with the Allies in a railroad car outside of Compičgne in France.
- November 11 - Poland's Jozef Pilsudski is offered the position of Head of state by all existing governments. Independence Day.
- November 11 - Emperor Charles I of Austria abdicates.
- November 12 - Austria becomes a Republic.
- November 14 - Czechoslovakia becomes a Republic.
- November 14 - Jozef Pilsudski becomes the head of state to Poland
- November 16 - Hungary declares independence from Austria
- November 16 - Hungarian People's Republic declared
- November 18 - Latvia declares its independence from Russia.
- November 22 - Spartacist League founds German Communist Party
- November 22 - Belgian royal family returns to Brussels after the war
- November 26 - the Podgorica Assembly voted for "union of the people", declaring a joining into the Kingdom of Serbia
December
- December 1 - Iceland becomes a self-governing kingdom, yet remains united with Denmark.
- December 1 - New voting laws in Sweden. Votes no longer dependent on taxable assets. One person, one vote.
- December 1 - Proclamation of Union of Alba Iulia. Following the March 27 incorporation of Bessarabia and Bucovina, Transylvania unites with Romania.
- December 1 - The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia) is proclaimed.
- December 4 - US President Woodrow Wilson sails for the Paris Peace Conference, becoming the first US president to travel to Europe while in office.
- December 27 - Beginning of Great Poland Uprising, the Poles in Greater Poland (or Grand Duchy of Poznań rise against the Germans.
- December 28 - Constance Markiewicz becomes the first woman elected to the House of Commons.
Unknown dates
- Finnish Civil War between the Reds and the Whites, January - April.
- Habsburg Empire ceases to exist.
- Grand Duchy of Baden ceases to exist.
- British occupy Palestine
- Katla erupts in Iceland.
- Native American Church is founded.
- Ernest Ansermet founds the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.
- John Riley Banister becomes sherrif of Coleman County, Texas.
- Clifton Hillegass, American author born (d. 2001)
- Association Against the Prohibition Amendment founded in U.S.
Births
January-February
- January 15 - Gamal Abdal Nasser, President of Egypt (d. 1970)
- January 16 - Stirling Silliphant, American writer and producer (d. 1996)
- January 19 - John H. Johnson, American publisher, (d. 2005)
- January 20 - Esquivel, Mexican musician (d. 2002)
- January 25 - Ernie Harwell, American baseball sportscaster
- January 26 - Nicolae Ceauşescu, Romanian dictator (d. 1989)
- January 26 - Philip José Farmer, American writer
- January 27 - Skitch Henderson, English-born musician and bandleader (d. 2005)
- January 29 - John Forsythe, American actor
- February 1 - Dame Muriel Spark, Scottish author
- February 3 - Helen Stephens, American runner (d. 1994)
- February 6 - Lothar-Günther Buchheim, German author
- February 8 - Fred Blassie, American professional wrestler (d. 2003)
- February 12 - Julian Schwinger, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994)
- February 17 - William Bronk, American poet (d. 1999)
- February 22 - Robert Pershing Wadlow, American record-holder as the tallest man (d. 1940)
- February 25 - Barney Ewell, American athlete (d. 1996)
- February 25 - Bobby Riggs, American tennis player (d. 1995)
- February 26 - Theodore Sturgeon, American writer (d. 1985)
March-April
- March 1 - Roger Delgado, British actor (d. 1973)
- March 1 - Joăo Goulart, President of Brazil (d. 1976)
- March 3 - Fritz Thiedemann, German equestrian (d. 2000)
- March 5 - James Tobin, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2002)
- March 9 - George Lincoln Rockwell, American Nazi leader (d. 1967)
- March 9 - Mickey Spillane, American mystery writer
- March 11 - Jack Coe, American evangelist (d. 1956)
- March 12 - Elaine de Kooning, American artist (d. 1989)
- March 16 - Frederick Reines, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
- March 17 - Mercedes McCambridge, American actress (d. 2004)
- March 18 - Al Benton, baseball player (d. 1968)
- March 18 - Bob Broeg, American sports writer (d. 2005)
- March 25 - Howard Cosell, American attorney, lecturer, and sports journalist (d. 1995)
- March 29 - Pearl Bailey, American singer and actress (d. 1990)
- April 9 - Jřrn Utzon, Danish architect
- April 16 - Spike Milligan, Irish comedian (d. 2002)
- April 20 - Kai Siegbahn, Swedish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- April 22 - Mickey Vernon, baseball player
- April 26 - Fanny Blankers-Koen, Dutch athlete (d. 2004)
May-August
- May 1 - Jack Paar, American television show host (d. 2004)
- May 9 - Mike Wallace, American journalist
- May 9 - Orville L. Freeman, American politician (d. 2003)
- May 11 - Richard Feynman, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1988)
- May 12 - Julius Rosenberg, American-born Soviet spy (d. 1953)
- May 15 - Eddy Arnold, American singer
- May 16 - Wilf Mannion, English footballer (d. 2000)
- May 17 - Birgit Nilsson, Swedish soprano
- June 18 - Jerome Karle, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- June 18 - Franco Modigliani, Italian-born economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2003)
- July 4 - Ann Landers, American advice columnist (d. 2002)
- July 4 - Abigail Van Buren, American advice columnist and twin sister to Ann Landers
- July 5 - George Rochberg, American composer (d. 2005)
- July 13 - Alberto Ascari, Italian race car driver (d. 1955)
- July 14 - Ingmar Bergman Swedish film director
- July 15 - Bertram N. Brockhouse, Canadian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2003)
- July 17 - Carlos Manuel Arana Osorio, President of Guatemala (d. 2003)
- July 18 - Nelson Mandela, President of South Africa, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- July 24 - Ruggiero Ricci, Italian-born violinist
- July 27 - Leonard Rose, American cellist (d. 1984)
- July 31 - Paul D. Boyer, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- August 3 - Sidney Gottlieb, American Central Intelligence Agency official (d. 1999)
- August 5 - Betty Oliphant, co-founder of National Ballet of Canada (d. 2004)
- August 8 - Brian Stonehouse, English painter and World War II spy (d. 1998)
- August 13 - Frederick Sanger, English biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- August 25 - Leonard Bernstein, American composer and conductor (d. 1990)
- August 30 - Ted Williams, American baseball player (d. 2002)
September-December
- September 4 - Paul Harvey, American radio broadcaster
- September 8 - Derek Harold Richard Barton, British chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
- September 22 - Henryk Szeryng, Polish-born violinist (d. 1988)
- September 27 - Martin Ryle, English radio astronomer, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics (d. 1984)
- October 4 - Kenichi Fukui, Japanese chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
- October 8 - Jens Christian Skou, Danish chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- October 19 - Louis Althusser, French philosopher (d. 1990)
- October 31 - Ian Stevenson, American parapsychologist
- November 3 - Russell B. Long, U.S. Senator from Louisiana (d. 2003)
- November 4 - Art Carney, American actor (d. 2003)
- November 10 - Ernst Otto Fischer, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- November 13 - Jack Elam, American actor (d. 2003)
- December 8 - Gérard Souzay, French baritone (d. 2004)
- December 11 - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Russian writer, Nobel Prize laureate
- December 12 - Joe Williams, American jazz singer (d. 1999)
- December 15 - Jeff Chandler, American actor (d. 1961)
- December 21 - Donald Regan, Chief of Staff and U.S. Treasury Secretary (d. 2003)
- December 21 - Kurt Waldheim, Secretary-General of the United Nations and President of Austria
- December 23 - José Greco, Italian-born flamenco dancer (d. 2001)
- December 25 - Anwar Sadat, President of Egypt, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1981)
Deaths
- January 6 - Georg Cantor, German mathematician (b. 1845)
- January 9 - Émile Reynaud, French science teacher and maker of the first animated films (b. 1844)
- January 28 - John McCrae, Canadian soldier and poet (b. 1872)
- February 6 - Gustav Klimt, Austrian painter (b. 1862)
- February 10 - Ernesto Teodoro Moneta, Italian pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1833)
- March 13 - César Cui, Lithuanian composer (b. 1835)
- March 25 - Claude Debussy, French composer (b. 1862)
- March 27 - Henry Adams, American historian (b. 1838)
- April 20 - Karl Ferdinand Braun, German phyicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1850)
- April 21 - Manfred von Richthofen, "Red Baron", German World War I pilot (b, 1892)
- May 14 - James Gordon Bennett, Jr., American newspaper publisher (b. 1841)
- May 19 - Raoul Lufbery, American World War I pilot (b. 1885)
- June 10 - Arrigo Boito, Italian poet and composer (b. 1842)
- July 3 - Sultan Mehmed V of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1844)
- July 17 - Tsar Nicholas II of Russia (b. 1868) and his family (executed)
- August 1 - John Riley Banister, law officer, cowboy, and Texas Ranger (b. 1854)
- August 18 - Henry Norwest, Canadian World War I sniper (b. 1884)
- September 12 - George Reid, fourth Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1845)
- September 28 - Georg Simmel, German sociologist and philosopher (b. 1858)
- October 22 - Myrtle Gonzalez, American stage and screen actress (b. 1891)
- November 4 - Wilfred Owen, English poet (killed in action) (b. 1893)
- November 9 - Guillaume Apollinaire, French poet (b. 1880)
- November 19 - Joseph Fielding Smith, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1838)
Nobel Prizes
- Physics - Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck
- Chemistry - Fritz Haber
- Medicine - not awarded
- Literature - not awarded
- Peace - not awarded