November 18 in history — What Happened Today in History

King's Cross fire: In London, 31 people die in a fire at the city's busiest underground station, King's Cross St Pancras.

The first comic of Calvin and Hobbes is published in ten newspapers.

Aeroflot Flight 6833 is hijacked en route from Tbilisi to Leningrad. After returning to Tbilisi, the aircraft is subsequently raided on the ground, resulting in seven deaths.

The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet makes its first flight, at the Naval Air Test Center in Maryland, United States.

In Jonestown, Guyana, Jim Jones leads his Peoples Temple to a mass murder–suicide that claimed 918 lives in all, 909 of them in Jonestown itself, including over 270 children.

Oman declares its independence from the United Kingdom.

U.S. President Richard Nixon asks the U.S. Congress for $155 million in supplemental aid for the Cambodian government.

The Bell Telephone Company introduces the first push-button telephone.

Vietnam War: United States President John F. Kennedy sends 18,000 military advisors to South Vietnam.

The Iva Valley Shooting occurs after the coal miners of Enugu in Nigeria go on strike over withheld wages; 21 miners are shot dead and 51 are wounded by police under the supervision of the British colonial administration of Nigeria.

The Ballantyne's Department Store fire in Christchurch, New Zealand, kills 41; it is the worst fire disaster in the history of New Zealand.

The Popular Socialist Youth is founded in Cuba.

World War II: In the first action of the Berlin Air Offensive, four hundred and forty Royal Air Force planes bomb Berlin causing only light damage and killing 131. The RAF loses nine aircraft and 53 air crew.

World War II: German leader Adolf Hitler and Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano meet to discuss Benito Mussolini's disastrous Italian invasion of Greece.

Grand Banks earthquake: Off the south coast of Newfoundland in the Atlantic Ocean, a Richter magnitude 7.2 submarine earthquake, centered on the Grand Banks, breaks 12 submarine transatlantic telegraph cables and triggers a tsunami that destroys many south coast communities in the Burin Peninsula.

Release of the animated short Steamboat Willie, the first fully synchronized sound cartoon.

Latvia declares its independence from Russia.

World War I: First Battle of the Somme: In France, British Expeditionary Force commander Douglas Haig calls off the battle which started on July 1, 1916.

In their campaign for women's voting rights, hundreds of suffragettes march to the British Parliament in London. Several are beaten by police, newspaper attention embarrasses the authorities, and the march is dubbed Black Friday.

Two United States warships are sent to Nicaragua after 500 revolutionaries (including two Americans) are executed by order of José Santos Zelaya.

Prince Carl of Denmark becomes King Haakon VII of Norway.

The Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty is signed by the United States and Panama, giving the United States exclusive rights over the Panama Canal Zone.

Britain and the United States sign the Hay–Pauncefote Treaty, which nullifies the Clayton–Bulwer Treaty and withdraws British objections to an American-controlled canal in Panama.

Elisha P. Ferry is inaugurated as first governor of Washington.

In the "day of two noons", American and Canadian railroad companies institute four standard continental time zones, ending the confusion of thousands of local times.

Susan B. Anthony and 14 other women are arrested for voting illegally in the United States presidential election of 1872.

An earthquake strikes the Virgin Islands, triggering the largest tsunami witnessed in the Caribbean and killing dozens.

King Christian IX of Denmark signs the November constitution that declares Schleswig to be part of Denmark. This is seen by the German Confederation as a violation of the London Protocol and leads to the German–Danish war of 1864.

Henry Martín, Mexican footballer

Quincy Miller, American basketball player

Steven Skrzybski, German footballer

Joe Thuney, American football player

Ahmed Kelly, Iraqi-Australian swimmer

Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, Thai tennis player

Jameson Taillon, Canadian-American baseball player

Arnett Moultrie, American basketball player

Marc Albrighton, English footballer

Lu Jiajing, Chinese tennis player

Jeffrey Jordan, American basketball player

Michael Roach, American soccer player

Marie-Josée Ta Lou, Ivorian sprinter

Dave Appell, American singer-songwriter and producer (born 1922)

Pepe Eliaschev, Argentinian journalist and author (born 1945)

Ahmad Lozi, Jordanian educator and politician, 48th Prime Minister of Jordan (born 1925)

C. Rudhraiya, Indian director and producer (born 1947)

Thomas Howard, American football player (born 1983)

S. R. D. Vaidyanathan, Indian nadaswaram player and composer (born 1929)

Ljubomir Vračarević, Serbian martial artist, founded Real Aikido (born 1947)

Peter Wintonick, Canadian director and producer (born 1953)

Emilio Aragón Bermúdez, Spanish clown, singer, and accordion player (born 1929)

Phoebe Hearst Cooke, American businesswoman and philanthropist (born 1927)

Freddy Beras-Goico, Dominican comedian and television host (born 1940)

Brian G. Marsden, English-American astronomer and academic (born 1937)

Red Robbins, American basketball player (born 1944)