March 18
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Featured Event
Musée Carnavalet, Histoire de Paris (P1800), Paris Musées
Blaise Pascalâs transit service begins running in Paris
On this day in 1662, Blaise Pascalâs public transit system began operating in Paris. It involved horse-drawn carriages that would transport people around the city; they would charge a small fee and arrive at âstopsâ at fixed intervals. The coaches ran across five different routes, and each one seated eight passengers. Though Pascalâs service was popular with wealthier Parisians, many residents could not afford the fares, leading to carriages being vandalized. The service officially shut down in 1667âit had been ahead of its time, but pickpockets and overcrowding contributed to its demise. [Read todayâs edition of Today in History > >]
Featured Biography
Featured Biography
© Lionel Hahn/Getty Images
American musician and actress Queen Latifah, born this day in 1970, released her debut album, All Hail the Queen, in 1989, and her success launched a wave of female rappers and helped redefine the traditionally male genre.
Famous Birthdays
More on March 18
© Dezo HoffmannâREX/Shutterstock.com
2017
American singer-songwriter and guitarist Chuck Berry, who was a leading and influential performer in rhythm-and-blues and rock-and-roll music, died at age 90. [Test your knowledge of rock and roll.]
EncyclopĂŠdia Britannica, Inc.
2012
Tongan King Tupou V died and was succeeded by his younger brother, Crown Prince Lavaka, who took the name Tupou VI. [Take our quiz about kings and emperors.]
© Fang Chun Che/Dreamstime.com
2000
Chen Shui-bian, a leader of the pro-independence movement that sought statehood for the Republic of China (Taiwan), was elected president of Taiwan, breaking the Nationalist Partyâs 55-year rule.
© Alison Platt Kendall
1990
In what was considered the worldâs biggest art heist, two men pretending to be police officers stole 13 works, including paintings by Rembrandt and Johannes Vermeer, from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston; the stolen art was never recovered. [Learn about the most stolen work of art.]
© Everett Collection Historical/Alamy
1974
Seven member countries of OPEC lifted a five-month oil embargo against the United States. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about oil and natural gas.]
Tass/Sovfoto
1965
Soviet cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov, after passing through an air lock on the spacecraft Voskhod 2, became the first man to walk in space. [Take our astronauts and cosmonauts quiz.]
© Allsport USA/Vandystadt/Yann Guichaoua
1964
Speed skater Bonnie Blair, one of the most successful American women athletes in Olympic competition, was born in Cornwall, New York. [Sort fact from fiction in our Olympics quiz.]
A. Tannenbaum/Sygma
1936
Politician F.W. de Klerkâwho, as president of South Africa (1989â94), brought the apartheid system of racial segregation to an end and negotiated a transition to majority rule in his countryâwas born. [Discover how much you know about South Africa.]
© RtspencerâMediapunch/REX/Shutterstock.com
1932
American writer John Updikeâwhose novels, short stories, and poems are known for their realistic but subtle depiction of âAmerican, Protestant, small-town, middle-classâ lifeâwas born. [Test your knowledge of American writers.]
Image: EncyclopĂŠdia Britannica, Inc.
1906
The first monoplane, constructed by the Romanian inventor Trajan Vuia, made a flight of 12 metres (40 feet). [Test your knowledge of early aviation.]
Museum of the City of San Francisco
1902
Italian operatic tenor Enrico Caruso, one of the first musicians to document his voice on the gramophone, made his first phonograph recording. [Take our opera quiz.]
EncyclopĂŠdia Britannica, Inc.
1871
The Commune of Paris, an insurrection of Parisians against the French government, began, lasting until May 28. [How much do you know about French history?]
Camera Press/Globe Photos
1869
Neville Chamberlain, who was British prime minister from May 28, 1937, to May 10, 1940, and whose name is identified with the policy of appeasement toward Adolf Hitlerâs Germany, was born. [Take our quiz about notable prime ministers.]
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
1837
American politician Grover Cleveland, who was the only U.S. president to serve two discontinuous terms (1885â89 and 1893â97), was born. [Watch an overview of Grover Clevelandâs life and career.]
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (reproduction no. LC-USZC4-1583)
1766
The British Parliament repealed the Stamp Act of 1765 after violent protests from American colonists, including a group known as the Sons of Liberty. [Test your knowledge of early America.]