December 18: Roman festivals - Feast of Epona

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December 18: is the 352nd day of the year (353rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 13 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

* 218 BC - Second Punic War: Battle of the Trebia - Hannibal's Carthaginian forces defeat those of the Roman Republic.

* 1271 - Kublai Khan renames his empire "Yuan" (元 yuÃ¡n), officially marking the start of the Yuan Dynasty of China.

* 1642 - Abel Tasman becomes first European to land in New Zealand

* 1793 - Surrender of the frigate La Lutine by French royalists to Lord Hood; renamed HMS Lutine, she later becomes a famous treasure wreck.

* 1865 - The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified by Georgia, fulfilling the two-thirds requirement for ratification, and banning slavery in the United States.

* 1892 - The first performance of Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker is held at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg.

* 1900 - The Upper Ferntree Gully to Gembrook Narrow-gauge (2 ft 6 in or 762 mm) Railway (now the Puffing Billy Railway) in Victoria, Australia opened for traffic.

* 1926 - The first performance of LeoÅ¡ JanÃ¡ček's opera The Makropulos Affair is held in Brno, Czechoslovakia.

* 1932 - The Chicago Bears defeated the Portsmouth Spartans 9-0 in the first ever NFL Championship Game. Because of a blizzard, the game was moved from Wrigley Field to the Chicago Stadium, the field measuring 80 yards long.

* 1935 - The Lanka Sama Samaja Party is founded in Sri Lanka.

* 1944 - World War II: 77 B-29 Superfortress and 200 other aircraft of U.S. Fourteenth Air Force bomb Hankow, China, a Japanese supply base.

* 1961 - Indonesia invades Netherlands New Guinea.

* 1966 - Saturn's moon Epimetheus is discovered by Richard L. Walker.

* 1969 - Capital punishment in the United Kingdom: Home Secretary James Callaghan's motion to make permanent the Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965, which had temporarily suspended capital punishment in England, Wales and Scotland for murder (but not for all crimes) for a period of five years, is carried by both the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

* 1973 - Soviet Soyuz Programme: Soyuz 13, crewed by cosmonauts Valentin Lebedev and Pyotr Klimuk, is launched from Baikonur in the Soviet Union.

* 1987 - Larry Wall releases the first version of the Perl programming language.

* 1996 - The Oakland, California school board passes a resolution officially declaring "Ebonics" a language or dialect.

* 1997 - HTML 4.0 is published by the World Wide Web Consortium.

* 1999 - NASA launches into orbit the Terra platform carrying five Earth Observation instruments, including ASTER, CERES, MISR, MODIS and MOPITT.

* 2002 - 2003 California recall: Governor of California Gray Davis announces that the state would face a record budget deficit of $35 billion, roughly double the figure reported during his reelection campaign one month earlier.

* 2006 - Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld resigns, Robert Gates is sworn in as the new Secretary of Defense.

Births

* 1507 - Ōuchi Yoshitaka, Japanese warlord (d. 1551)

* 1602 - Simonds d'Ewes, English antiquarian and politician (d. 1650)

* 1610 - Charles du Fresne, sieur du Cange, French philologist (d. 1688)

* 1620 - Heinrich Roth, German Sanskrit scholar (d. 1668)

* 1626 - Queen Christina of Sweden (d. 1689)

* 1661 - Christopher Polhem, Swedish scientist and inventor (d. 1751)

* 1662 - James Douglas, 2nd Duke of Queensberry, Scottish politician (d. 1711)

* 1707 - Charles Wesley, English Methodist hymnist (d. 1788)

* 1725 - Johann Salomo Semler, German historian and Bible commentator (d. 1791)

* 1825 - Charles Griffin (general), American general (d. 1876)

* 1835 - Lyman Abbott, American author (d. 1922)

* 1847 - Augusta HolmÃ¨s, French composer (d. 1903)

* 1851 - Graciano Lopez Jaena, Filipino hero, orator and satirist (d. 1896)

* 1856 - Sir J.J. Thomson, British physicist and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1940)

* 1860 - Edward MacDowell, American composer and pianist (d. 1908)

* 1863 - Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria (d. 1914)

* 1870 - Saki, British writer (d. 1916)

* 1873 - Francis Burton Harrison, American political figure (d. 1957)

* 1878 - Josef Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union (d. 1953)

* 1879 - Paul Klee, Swiss-born painter (d. 1940)

* 1886 - Ty Cobb, American baseball player (d. 1961)

* 1888 - Robert Moses, American public works official (d. 1981)

* 1888 - Dame Gladys Cooper, British actress (d. 1971)

* 1890 - Edwin Armstrong, American inventor (d. 1954)

* 1897 - Fletcher Henderson, American arranger and composer (d. 1952)

* 1904 - George Stevens, American film director (d. 1975)

* 1907 - Bill Holland, American auto racer (d. 1984)

* 1908 - Paul Siple, American Antarctic explorer (d. 1969)

* 1910 - Abe Burrows, American playwright (d. 1985)

* 1911 - Jules Dassin, American film director

* 1912 - Benjamin O. Davis Jr., American General (d. 2002)

* 1913 - Alfred Bester, American author (d. 1987)

* 1913 - Willy Brandt, Chancellor of Germany and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1992)

* 1913 - Ray Meyer, former head coach of DePaul University men's basketball team (d. 2006)

* 1916 - Betty Grable, American actress (d. 1973)

* 1916 - Douglas Fraser, British-born trade unionist

* 1917 - Ossie Davis, American actor (d. 2005)

* 1927 - Ramsey Clark, U.S. Attorney General

* 1927 - Romeo LeBlanc, 25th Governor General of Canada

* 1928 - JÃ³zef Glemp, Polish cardinal

* 1929 - Gino Cimoli, American baseball player

* 1930 - Moose Skowron, American baseball player

* 1931 - Allen Klein, American rock and roll business manager

* 1931 - Alison Plowden, British historian (d. 2007)

* 1933 - Arthur Leigh Allen, Suspected Zodiac serial killer (d. 1992)

* 1934 - Boris Volynov, Soviet cosmonaut

* 1935 - Jacques PÃ©pin, French chef

* 1936 - Malcolm Kirk, wrestler (d. 1987)

* 1938 - Roger E. Mosley, American actor

* 1938 - Joel Hirschhorn, American songwriter and composer (d. 2005)

* 1938 - Chas Chandler, English musician (The Animals) (d. 1996)

* 1939 - Michael Moorcock, British author

* 1939 - Harold E. Varmus, American scientist and Nobel Prize laureate

* 1940 - Bramwell Morrison, member of Sharon, Lois & Bram

* 1941 - Wadada Leo Smith, American trumper and composer

* 1943 - Keith Richards, English guitarist (The Rolling Stones)

* 1945 - Jean Pronovost, Canadian ice hockey player

* 1946 - Steven Spielberg, American film director

* 1946 - Steve Biko, South African anti-apartheid activist (d. 1977)

* 1948 - Bill Nelson, British musician (Be Bop Deluxe)

* 1948 - Laurent Voulzy, French singer and composer

* 1949 - David A. Johnston, USGS volcanologist first to report 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens (d. 1980)

* 1950 - Gillian Armstrong, Australian film director

* 1950 - Leonard Maltin, American film critic

* 1950 - Randy Castillo, American drummer (Ozzy Osbourne) (d.2002)

* 1953 - Elliot Easton, American guitarist (The Cars)

* 1953 - Khas-Magomed Hadjimuradov, Chechen bard

* 1955 - Ray Liotta, American actor

* 1956 - Ron White, American comedian

* 1960 - Kazuhide Uekusa, Japanese economist

* 1961 - Brian Orser, Canadian figure skater

* 1963 - Karl Dorrell, American football coach

* 1963 - Brad Pitt, American actor

* 1963 - Charles Oakley, American basketball player

* 1964 - Stone Cold Steve Austin, American professional wrestler

* 1964 - Don Beebe, American football player

* 1964 - Robson Green, British actor and singer

* 1965 - Mick Collins, American musician (The Gories, The Dirtbombs)

* 1965 - Tommy Davidson, American actor

* 1966 - Mille Petrozza, German singer (Kreator)

* 1966 - Makiko Esumi, Japanese actress

* 1967 - Toine van Peperstraten, Dutch sports journalist

* 1968 - Rachel Griffiths, Australian actress

* 1968 - Casper Van Dien, American actor

* 1968 - Alejandro Sanz, Spanish singer

* 1969 - Santiago CaÃ±izares, Spanish footballer

* 1969 - Justin Edinburgh, English footballer

* 1969 - Akira Iida, Japanese racing driver

* 1970 - DMX, American rapper and actor

* 1970 - Miles Marshall Lewis, American author

* 1970 - Rob Van Dam, American professional wrestler

* 1970 - Cowboy Troy, American rapper

* 1970 - Anthony Catanzaro, American fitness model

* 1970 - Victoria Pratt, Canadian actress and fitness model

* 1970 - Johnny Yeo, British artist

* 1971 - Arantxa SÃ¡nchez Vicario, Spanish tennis player

* 1971 - Barkha Dutt, Indian journalist

* 1971 - Noriko Matsueda, Japanese composer

* 1972 - DJ Lethal, Latvian DJ (House of Pain & Limp Bizkit)

* 1972 - Raymond Herrera, American drummer Fear Factory and businessman

* 1974 - Kari Byron, artist and television personality

* 1974 - Peter Boulware, American football player

* 1974 - Euroboy, Norwegian musician (Turbonegro)

* 1975 - Trish Stratus, Canadian professional wrestler

* 1975 - Masaki Sumitani, Japanese comedian

* 1976 - Koyuki, Japanese actress and model

* 1977 - JosÃ© Acevedo, Dominican baseball player

* 1978 - Katie Holmes, American actress

* 1978 - Ali Curtis, American footballer

* 1978 - Daniel Cleary, Canadian ice hockey player

* 1979 - Carlos Fernandes, Portuguese footballer

* 1980 - Christina Aguilera, American singer

* 1982 - Dave Luetkenhoelter, American bassist (Kutless)

* 1983 - Darren Carter, English footballer

* 1985 - Hana SoukupovÃ¡, Czech supermodel

* 1985 - Tara Conner, 2006 Miss USA

* 1987 - Ayaka, Japanese singer

* 1987 - Miki Ando, Japanese figure skater

* 1987 - Fernando Jara, Panamanian-American jockey

* 1989 - Ashley Benson, American actress

Deaths

* 821 - Theodulf, Bishop of OrlÃ©ans

* 1133 - Hildebert, French writer

* 1290 - King Magnus I of Sweden (b. 1240)

* 1442 - Pierre Cauchon, French Catholic bishop (b. 1371)

* 1495 - King Alphonso II of Naples (b. 1448)

* 1692 - Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff, German statesman (b. 1626)

* 1737 - Antonio Stradivari, Italian violin maker (b. 1644)

* 1787 - Francis William Drake, British Admiral and Governor of Newfoundland (b. 1724)

* 1787 - Soame Jenyns, English writer (b. 1704)

* 1799 - Jean-Ã‰tienne Montucla, French mathematician (b. 1725)

* 1803 - Johann Gottfried Herder, German writer (b. 1744)

* 1829 - Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, French scientist (b. 1744)

* 1843 - Thomas Graham, Lord Lynedoch, British Viceroy of India (b. 1748)

* 1848 - Bernard Bolzano, Bohemian mathematician and philosopher (b. 1781)

* 1869 - Louis Moreau Gottschalk, American composer and pianist (b. 1829)

* 1880 - Michel Chasles, French mathematician (b. 1793)

* 1936 - Andrija Mohorovičić, Austro-Hungarian-born Yugoslav seismologist (b. 1857)

* 1966 - Tara Browne, British socialite (b. 1945)

* 1971 - Bobby Jones, American golfer (b. 1902)

* 1971 - Diana Lynn, American actress (b. 1926)

* 1973 - Allama Rasheed Turabi, Pakistani scholar, orator and philosopher (b. 1908)

* 1974 - Harry Hooper, American baseball player (b. 1887)

* 1975 - Theodosius Dobzhansky, Ukrainian geneticist (b. 1900)

* 1980 - Alexei Kosygin, Premier of the USSR (b. 1904)

* 1982 - Hans-Ulrich Rudel, German pilot (b. 1916)

* 1985 - XuÃ¢n Diệu, Vietnamese poet (b. 1916)

* 1987 - Konrad "Conny" Plank, German record producer and musician (b. 1940)

* 1990 - Paul Tortelier, French cellist and composer (b. 1914)

* 1990 - Anne Revere, American actress (b. 1903)

* 1991 - George Abecassis, British Formula 1 driver (b. 1913)

* 1992 - Mark Goodson, American game show producer (b. 1915)

* 1993 - Charizma, American rapper (b. 1973)

* 1993 - Sam Wanamaker, American actor (b. 1919)

* 1994 - Roger ApÃ©ry, Greek-French mathematician (b. 1916)

* 1995 - Konrad Zuse, German engineer and computing pioneer (b. 1910)

* 1996 - Yulii Borisovich Khariton, Russian physicist (b. 1904)

* 1997 - Chris Farley, American actor and comedian (b. 1964)

* 1998 - Lev Demin, cosmonaut (b. 1926)

* 1999 - Robert Bresson, French film director (b. 1907)

* 2000 - Randolph Apperson Hearst, son of W. Randolph Hearst and father of Patty (b. 1915)

* 2000 - Kirsty MacColl, British singer and songwriter (b. 1959)

* 2001 - Gilbert BÃ©caud, French singer (b. 1927)

* 2001 - Dimitris Dragatakis, Greek composer (b. 1914)

* 2002 - Ray Hnatyshyn, Governor-General of Canada (b. 1934)

* 2002 - Wayne Owens, former U.S. Congressman (D-UT) (b. 1937)

* 2004 - Anthony Sampson, British journalist and biographer (b. 1926)

* 2005 - Alan Voorhees, American engineer and urban planner (b. 1922)

* 2006 - Joseph Barbera, American cartoonist (b. 1911)

* 2006 - Ruth Bernhard, American photographer (1905)

* 2006 - Mike Dickin, British radio broadcaster (b. 1943)

* 2006 - Shaukat Siddiqui, Pakistani author, journalist and political activist (b. 1923)

Holidays and Observances

* New Jersey Day - A celebration to New Jersey's admission to the union

* Roman festivals - Feast of Epona (during Saturnalia)

* R.C. Saints - Gatianus of Tours, O Adonai, Our Lady of Expectation

* Also see December 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

* Niger - Republic Day (autonomous in 1958)

* Greek Orthodox Church â€“ Feast of Sebastian the Martyr