Historical Events on October 18.

1. World Menopause Day

2. 1386, 18th October: The oldest university in Germany, Heidelberg University was founded.

3. 1867, 18th October: The United States took possession of Alaska after purchasing it from Russia for $7.2 million.

4. 1879, 18th October: The Theosophical Society was established.

5. 1906, 18th October: Depressed Class Mission established by Maharshi Vitthal Ramji Shinde.

6. 1922, 18th October: Establishment of the British Broadcasting Corporation.

7. 1954, 18th October: Texas Instruments announced the first transistor radio.

8.  1963, 18th October: Lord Home was elected as the next Prime Minister of the UK after an uproar for leadership in the Conservative Party.

9. 1967, 18th October: Soviet Russia’s Venera-4 spacecraft lands on Venus.

10. 1977, 18th October: 2060 – Chiron, the farthest asteroid in space, was discovered.

11. 1989, 18th October: Communist leader Eric Honecker of East Germany was removed from his post.

12. 2002, 18th October: Sachin Tendulkar became the first cricketer to score 20,000 runs in Tests and ODIs.

13. 2007, 18th October: Karachi Bombing: A suicide attack on a motorcade carrying former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto killed 139 and injured 450 more. Bhutto herself was uninjured.

Famous Birthdays & Birth Anniversaries on October 18.

1. 1804: King Mongkut Ram (IV) of Thailand.

2. 1861: Bharatcharya Chintamanrao Vaidya, an Indian judge, and writer.

3. 1925: Ibrahim Alkazi, Indian theatre director, and drama teacher, and director of the National School of Drama (NSD).

4. 1925: Ramiz Alia, the first president of Albania.

5. 1944: Deepak Parekh, Chairman of India’s Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC).

6. 1950: Om Puri, Indian actor.

7. 1956: Martina Navratilova, a lawn tennis player from Czechoslovakia.

8. 1965: Zakir Naik, founder, and chairman of the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF).

9. 1977: Jyothika, Indian actress.

10. 1974: Amish Tripathi, an Indian writer.

Death Anniversaries of famous people on October 18.

1. 1871: Charles Babbage, English polymath, mechanical engineer, mathematician, father of the first mechanical computer.

2. 1909: Lal Mohan Ghosh, sixteenth President of the Indian National Congress and eminent Bengali barrister.

3. 1931: Thomas Alva Edison, American researcher, and entrepreneur.

4. 1976: Vishwanath Satyanarayana, Indian poet, and writer.

5. 1983: Vijay Manjrekar, Indian cricketer.

6. 2004: Veerappan, Indian sandalwood smuggler.

18-October-1712

Jeremias Van Riemsdijk, Governor General of Dutch Indies (1775-77), was born.

18-October-1861

Chintaman Vinayak Vaidya, historian and researcher, was born.

18-October-1879

Branch of 'Theosophical Panth' established in India.

18-October-1901

Mahatma Gandhi sails for India.

18-October-1906

Depressed Classes Mission Society' was established by Vitthal Ramji Shinde.

18-October-1919

W. A. Sangma, leader of Meghalaya, was born.

18-October-1925

Narayandatt Tiwar, former Central minister and Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, was born.

18-October-1927

Ramesh Vithaldas Divecha, cricketer (11 wickets for India in early 50's), was born in Bombay.

18-October-1928

Roshan Harshadlal "Deepak" Shodhan, cricketer (century on Test debut for India), was born in Ahmedabad.

18-October-1952

Vinoo Mankad takes 13 Pakistan wickets to win first Indo-Pak clash.

18-October-1968

Narendra Deepchand Hirwani, cricketer (Ind leggie 16 wickets vs WI on debut in 1988), was born in Gorakhpur.

18-October-1980

The first Himalayan Car Rally of 5,377.9 km was started from Brabourne Stadium, Bombay with 74 starters.

18-October-1983

Vijay Manjrekar, cricketer 55 Tests for India, 3208 runs @ 39.12, died.

18-October-1992

1,000 police personnel occupy the Golden Temple in Amritsar to keep Punjab separatists away.

18-October-1992

Zimbabwe's first Test match vs India at Harare.

18-October-1993

Mandakini Athvale, first child actor of Indian film industry, died.

18-October-1995

President's Rule imposed in UP and the State Assembly put in suspended animation.

18-October-1995

Punjab CM Harcharan Singh Brar inducts All India Youth Congress President Maninderjit Singh Bitta in to the cabinet.

18-October-1995

Baby Naaz (Anuradha Bhakkar), famous child actor, died.

18-October-1996

Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi to be the venue for the trial of former PM Rao.

18-October-1997

Prince Philip switches on the internet version of Malayala Manorama and The Week at Kochi.

18-October-2000

Supreme Court gives the nod for construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada river.

18-October-2000

Ram Vilas Paswan, Union Communications Minister, announces relief for phone users. New links to cost Rs. 2,000 in urban areas and Rs. 500 in rural areas.