August 18 in Pop Culture History
1227 – RIP – Genghis Khan (c. 1162 – August 18, 1227) is said to have fathered between 1,000-2,000 children, making him the man with most children in human history. He is also the male-line ancestor of ~0.5% of the world’s population.
1587 – Virginia Dare, granddaughter of Governor John White of the Colony of Roanoke, became the first English child born in the Americas, to Ananias and Eleanor Dare. She and the rest of the colonists at Roanoke disappeared at some point before August 18, 1590. The only clue was the word “Croatoan” carved into a post.
1868 – French astronomer Pierre Janssen discovered helium.
1783 – The 1783 Great Meteor was observed from the British Isles.
1877 – Asaph Hall discovered the Martian moon Phobos.
1903 – German engineer Karl Jatho may have flown his own airplane, four months before the first flight of the Wright brothers.
1920 – The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, guaranteeing women’s suffrage.
1956 – #1 Hit August 18, 1956 – November 2, 1956: Elvis Presley – Don’t Be Cruel / Hound Dog
1958 – Vladimir Nabokov’s controversial novel Lolita was published in the United States.
1958 – #1 Hit August 18, 1958 – August 24, 1958: Domenico Modugno – Volare (Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu)
1962 – Ringo Starr joined the Beatles, replacing Pete Best
1973 – #1 Hit August 18, 1973 – August 24, 1973: Diana Ross – Touch Me in the Morning
1977 – Steve Biko was arrested at a police roadblock under the ‘Terrorism Act No 83 of 1967’ in King William’s Town, South Africa. He died from injuries that occurred during his arrest. Peter Gabriel released a tribute to him, Biko, which became a hit in 1980.
1979 – #1 Hit August 18, 1979 – August 24, 1979: Chic – Good Times
2001 – #1 Hit August 18, 2001 – September 7, 2001: Alicia Keys – Fallin’
2005 – A massive power blackout hits the Indonesian island of Java, affecting almost 100 million people, the one of the largest and most widespread power outages in history, and lasted just over six hours.
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