November 18
Subject to Britannica's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
1626
The consecration of St. Peter’s Basilica
On this day in 1626, Pope Urban VIII consecrated the largest church in the world. St. Peter’s Basilica’s consecration marked the culmination of a process of planning and construction that had lasted 120 years—although the building’s history extends much further than that. Why did the church’s building take so long, and what did Martin Luther have to do with it?
READ MORE
AdstockRF
Featured Event
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Latvian independence
The Latvian People’s Council proclaimed Latvia’s independence on this day in 1918.
Featured Biography
Featured Biography
Mike Coppola/Getty Images
Born this day in 1939, Canadian author Margaret Atwood earned particular acclaim for a series of novels that were written from a feminist perspective, perhaps the most notable of which is The Handmaid’s Tale (1985).
Famous Birthdays
More on November 18
© Mark Leech/Getty Images
2015
New Zealand rugby player Jonah Lomu, who was one the sport’s first global icons, died at age 40 after a long battle with kidney disease. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about rugby sevens.]
GSFC/NASA
2013
The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Its mission was to further understanding of whether life could have existed on Mars by studying the planet’s upper atmosphere. [Discover 10 important dates in the history of Mars.]
USCC
2009
Robert C. Byrd, a Democrat who represented West Virginia, became the longest-serving member of U.S. Congress, with a combined service in the House of Representatives and Senate of 56 years 319 days. [Read our list of 10 Democrats who made history.]
© C.H. Pete Copeland—The Plain Dealer/AP Images
1985
The first syndicated Calvin and Hobbes comic strip, drawn by Bill Watterson, was published.
Image: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1978
Jim Jones, leader of the Peoples Temple community that he formed in the 1950s, and some 900 of his followers died in Guyana in an act of murder-suicide known as the Jonestown massacre. [Watch: How did the Jonestown tragedy unfold?]
Courtesy of AT&T Bell Laboratories/AT&T Archive
1963
The first push-button (Touch-Tone) telephones debuted in the United States, eventually replacing most rotary-dial models. [Test your knowledge of communications firsts.]
© 1959 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.
1959
Ben-Hur, arguably the best of Hollywood’s biblical epics, had its world premiere; it later won an unprecedented 11 Academy Awards. [How much do you know about the Academy Awards?]
© The Walt Disney Company
1928
Walt Disney released Steamboat Willie, the first animated film with sound to feature Mickey Mouse. Its huge success helped make Mickey an iconic character and led to the Disney Company’s dominance in the animated market. [Watch the original Steamboat Willie.]
Johnson Space Center/NASA
1923
Alan B. Shepard, Jr., the first U.S. astronaut to travel in space, was born in New Hampshire. [Learn about five unforgettable moments in the history of spaceflight and space exploration.]
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1918
Latvia proclaimed independence from Russia.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1905
Prince Charles (Carl) of Denmark was elected king of Norway as Haakon VII. [Test your knowledge of kings and emperors.]
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1903
Philippe-Jean Bunau-Varilla, representing Panama, met with U.S. Secretary of State John Hay to negotiate the Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty, which gave the United States a strip 10 miles (16 km) wide across the Isthmus of Panama for construction of the Panama Canal. [Watch: How the Panama Canal was built.]
Public Domain
1882
Wyndham Lewis—founder of the Vorticist movement, which, in painting and literature before World War I, sought to relate art to the industrial process—was born on a yacht near Amherst, Nova Scotia, Canada.
©pic3d/Fotolia
1814
Brazilian sculptor and architect Aleijadinho, known for his beautiful Rococo statues and his churches, died in Mariana. [Test your knowledge of sculptors and sculpture.]
© Everett Historical/Shutterstock.com
1803
Haitian forces led by Jean-Jacques Dessalines defeated the French at the Battle of Vertières, effectively concluding the Haitian Revolution and paving the way for the declaration of Haitian independence several weeks later. [Read about five other wars of independence.]
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (digital file no. 3c01791)
1477
William Caxton, a pioneering English printer, published Dictes and Sayenges of the Phylosophers, the first dated book printed in England.