December 18 in History

December 18 in Pop Culture History

The Thirteenth Amendment

Section 1

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

Section 2

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

1620 – The British ship Mayflower docked at modern-day Plymouth, Massachusetts, and its passengers prepared to begin their new settlement, Plymouth Colony. Passenger William Bradford became the first governor of the colony.

1787 – New Jersey became the 3rd state.

1839 – John William Draper took a daguerreotype of the moon, the first celestial photograph made in the US.

1865 – The 13th Amendment went into effect, abolishing slavery in the US.

1878 – Joseph Swan demonstrated his carbon filament electric light almost a year before Edison.

1892 – The premiere performance of The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

1912 – Piltdown Man’s skull was found in a gravel pit in Sussex, England. At first, it was believed to be the ‘missing link’ between man and early primates, but was later discovered to be a hoax.

1932 – The Chicago Bears defeated the Portsmouth Spartans (9-0) in the first NFL Championship Game.

1936 – The first giant panda in the US, Su-Lin, arrived in San Francisco from China.

1958 – Project SCORE, the world’s first communications satellite, was launched.

1961 – Based on an African sing called ‘Mbube’ – The Lion Sleeps Tonight was the # 1 song on the billboard Charts. It is probably the most well-known doo-wop song of all time. (#1 December 18, 1961 – January 12, 1962)

1968 – Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was released. It was based on Ian Fleming’s book of the same name.

1969 – On Her Majesty’s Secret Service was released, starring George Lazenby as Agent 007, James Bond.

1977 – George and Kathleen Lutz purchased their new home at their home at 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, New York. Their 28-day adventure in the home was dramatically portrayed in the 1977 book and 1979 film, The Amityville Horror.

1982 – #1 Hit December 18, 1982 – January 14, 1983: Daryl Hall and John Oates – Maneater

1985 – Brazil was released in theaters.

1987 – Moonstruck, Broadcast News, Eddie Murphy Raw, *batteries not included, Overboard, Ironweed and Leonard Part 6 debuted in theaters.

1996 – The Oakland, California school board unanimously passed a resolution to incorporate Ebonics in the classroom.

1997 – Comedian Chris Farley died from a drug overdose, at the age of 33.

1997 – The World Wide Web Consortium published HTML 4.0.

1998 – The Prince of Egypt and You’ve Got Mail were released in theaters.

2002 – The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers debuted in theaters.

2009 – Avatar and Nine were released in theaters.

2010 – #1 Hit December 18, 2010 – January 7, 2011: Katy Perry – Firework

2013 – A&E suspended Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson for his comments regarding homosexuality and the civil rights era in an interview with GQ magazine. He was reinstated on December 27.

2013 – Her and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues were released in theaters.