August 18
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1590: The Roanoke Colony goes missing
When he sailed back to England, Gov. John White fully expected to return to his North American colony in six months. He’d bring fresh supplies and fresh faces. Instead, it took him three years. On this day in 1590, White finally made it back to Roanoke Island, Virginia, only to find the whole colony gone. All 116 people had disappeared. There were no graves, and no signs of violence.
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Featured Event
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (digital file no. 00037)
Nineteenth Amendment ratified
On this day in 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified after Tennessee—by just one vote—became the 36th state to approve it, capping the 72-year fight to win women the right to vote in the United States. [Take our quiz about the Nineteenth Amendment and women’s suffrage.]
Featured Biography
Featured Biography
© North Wind Picture Archives
On this day in 1587, Virginia Dare was born on Roanoke Island, Virginia—the site of the first attempted English settlement in North America—becoming the first child born to English parents in the New World.
Famous Birthdays
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U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph
2017
The wreck of the USS Indianapolis is found more than 70 years after it was sunk by a Japanese submarine during World War II. The discovery was made by a team led by Paul Allen, cofounder of Microsoft. It lies some 3.4 miles (5.5 km) below the surface, on the floor of the Pacific Ocean.
© Stocklight/Shutterstock.com
2008
Facing possible impeachment, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf resigned from office. [Test your knowledge of world governments and their leaders.]
Focus on Sports
1992
American basketball player Larry Bird—who led the Boston Celtics to three NBA championships (1981, 1984, and 1986) and is considered one of the greatest pure shooters of all time—announced his retirement. [How much do you know about basketball?]
© Blank Archives—Archive Photos/Getty Images
1969
The Woodstock Music and Art Fair—a legendary rock festival near Bethel, New York, that attracted some 400,000 fans—ended. [Test your knowledge of rock and roll.]
SNAP/Shutterstock.com
1958
Russian-born American author Vladimir Nabokov published his controversial novel Lolita, about a middle-aged man who becomes obsessed with a 12-year-old girl. [Take our quiz about famous novels.]
© 1972 Warner Brothers, Inc.
1936
American actor and director Robert Redford, who was known for the diversity of his screen characterizations as well as his commitment to environmental and political causes, was born. [Test your knowledge of actors and acting.]
© Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy
1936
Federico García Lorca, who is widely considered the most important Spanish poet and playwright of the 20th century, was murdered (this day or August 19) by Nationalist forces during the Spanish Civil War. [Take our theater quiz.]
UPI/Bettmann Archive
1934
Roberto Clemente, one of the first Latin American baseball stars in the United States, was born in Puerto Rico. [How much do you know about baseball?]
Keystone/FPG
1900
Indian political leader Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, one of the world’s leading women in public life in the 20th century, was born in Allahabad. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about India.]
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (Digital File Number: LC-DIG-ppmsca-10772)
1896
According to lore, more than 200 outlaws from regional gangs gathered at Brown’s Hole in the American West, where Butch Cassidy proposed to organize a Train Robbers’ Syndicate, which became familiarly known as the Wild Bunch. [Take our criminality and famous outlaws quiz.]
© Frans Blok/Dreamstime.com
1786
The city of Reykjavík was designated the administrative capital of Iceland. [Test your knowledge of world capitals.]
Archivo Iconografico, S.A./Corbis
1572
Henry, prince of Béarn (later Henry IV of France), married Margaret of Valois of the French royal house. [How much do you know about French history?]
Archivo Iconografico, S.A./Corbis
1477
Mary of Burgundy married Archduke Maximilian, son of the Habsburg emperor Ferdinand III.
© GL Archive/Alamy
1227
Genghis Khan—a warrior and ruler of genius who, starting from obscure and insignificant beginnings, brought all the nomadic tribes of Mongolia into a rigidly disciplined military state—died at age 65. [Watch a video that answers five major questions about Genghis Khan.]