February 18
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Featured Event
Eliot Young, Southwest Research Institute; NASA's Planetary Astronomy Program
Pluto discovered by Clyde Tombaugh
On this day in 1930, Clyde Tombaugh, a 24-year-old American with no formal training in astronomy, discovered the dwarf planet Pluto. Born into a farming family, Tombaugh had fallen in love with astronomy as a teenager, and was determined to find “Planet X,” a hypothetical body that existed past Neptune. Lowell Observatory, after seeing Tombaugh’s drawings, hired him as an assistant and groundskeeper, where he continued his search. Using the lab’s astrograph, Tombaugh eventually found a tiny pinprick that he identified as a planet, rather than a star. [Read today’s edition of Today in History > >]
Featured Biography
Featured Biography
© Micheline Pelletier—Sygma/Getty Images
American writer Toni Morrison, noted for her examination of Black (particularly Black female) experiences was born this day in 1931. The Beloved author received the 1993 Nobel Prize for Literature.
Famous Birthdays
More on February 18
© Red Hour Productions/Fifth Season/Apple
2022
The first episode of the television series Severance was released. It went on to win two Emmy Awards in 2022 and eight more in 2025.
© mark reinstein/Shutterstock.com
2017
American activist Norma McCorvey died at age 69. She was the original plaintiff (anonymized as Jane Roe) in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade (1973), which made abortion legal throughout the United States until it was overturned in 2022. [Learn more about the U.S. pro-choice movement.]
U.S. Army/AP Images
2010
The Web site WikiLeaks began posting classified U.S. government documents provided by army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning; it was believed to be the largest unauthorized release of state secrets in U.S. history. [Take our quiz about American history and politics.]
Kyodo/AP Images
2006
American speed skater Shani Davis became the first Black athlete to win an individual Winter Olympics gold medal when he placed first in the men’s 1,000-meter long-track final at the Games in Turin, Italy. [Test your knowledge of the Olympics.]
TSGT Jack Braden/United States Air Force
2001
Stock-car racer Dale Earnhardt, Sr., died from injuries suffered during a crash in the final lap of the Daytona 500. [From curling to car racing, sort through the facts in our sports quiz.]
© Stocklight/Shutterstock.com
1933
Artist and musician Yoko Ono, who became internationally famous as the artistic partner and wife of musician John Lennon, was born. [Test your knowledge of famous artists.]
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1861
Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as provisional president of the Confederate States of America. [How much do you know about the American Civil War?]
Courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London
1848
Louis Comfort Tiffany—an American designer internationally recognized as one of the greatest proponents of Art Nouveau, particularly in the art of glassmaking—was born. [Take our art quiz.]
Henry Van Haagen/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-USZ62-4340)
1836
Hindu mystic and priest Ramakrishna was born in Hoogly (now Hugli), Bengal state, India. His teachings and religious thoughts inspired the founding of the Ramakrishna Order, and he became known later in life for his pithy parables regarding different religious traditions. [Learn more about Sarada Devi, a Hindu saint and Ramakrishna’s wife.]
Photos.com/Getty Images
1546
Martin Luther, leader of the Protestant Reformation, died at age 62 in Eisleben, Saxony. [Take our Christianity quiz.]