Unforgettable Moments on December 18

In this video, we're going to share some of the unforgettable moments that occurred on December 18 throughout history... this date has seen it all!

Watch this video to get a glimpse into some of the most important events that have taken place on December 18 throughout history. From history-making moments to quirky happenings, this video will have you glued to your screen!

1603 First fleet of the Dutch East India Company under Admiral Steven van der Haghen departs for the East-Indies
1621 English parliament accept unanimously, Protestation
1642 Abel Tasman's expedition is the first European voyage to reach New Zealand sailing into Wharewharangi Bay at the top of the South Island, making the first confirmed contact with Maori
1719 Thomas Fleet publishes "Mother Goose's Melodies For Children" in Boston, Massachusetts
1777 1st US national Thanksgiving Day, commemorating British General Burgoyne's surrender
1787 New Jersey becomes the third state to ratify the US constitution
1796 1st US newspaper to appear on Sunday (Baltimore Monitor)
1799 George Washington's body interred at Mount Vernon
1813 British take Fort Niagara in War of 1812
1839 John William Draper takes 1st portrait photograph of a female face made in US
1849 William Bond obtains 1st photograph of Moon through a telescope
1892 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's ballet "The Nutcracker" premieres in Saint Petersburg, Russia, now the world's most performed ballet; his final opera "Isolanta" also premieres
1916 Battle of Verdun, longest of World War I, officially ends in German defeat after nine months of fighting and almost 1 million total casualties
1917 The 18th Amendment to the US Constitution, authorizing prohibition of alcohol, is approved by the US congress and sent to the states for ratification
1936 Su-Lin, 1st giant panda to come to US from China, arrives in San Francisco
1946 TV's 1st network dramatic serial "Faraway Hill" ends 2 month run in US
1956 "To Tell the Truth" debuts on CBS-TV
1957 World's first full scale nuclear power plant, for peacetime use only, begins to generate electricity at the Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania
1958 Project SCORE, world’s 1st communications satellite launched from Cape Canaveral
1964 "The Pink Panther" cartoon series premieres (Pink Phink)
1964 Filming is completed for "Star Trek" pilot "The Cage"; cast includes Jeffrey Hunter, Susan Oliver, Leonard Nimoy, and Majel Barret; although it never airs, some footage re-used in "Menagerie" episode of the series
1965 Frank Borman and Jim Lovell splash down in the Atlantic after two week Gemini 7 mission
1966 Dr. Seuss' "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" airs for 1st time on CBS; animated special directed by Chuck Jones, features voices of Boris Karloff, June Foray, and Thurl Ravenscroft, with songs by Albert Hague
1966 Saturn's moon Epimetheus is discovered by Richard L. Walker.
1971 1st Candlelight Processional at the EPCOT Center, Disney World
1971 CBS radio cancels Saturday morning band concerts
1972 US launches Operation Linebacker II, its heaviest bombing of North Vietnam, as negotiations to end the Vietnam War collapse
1973 Soyuz 13 launched into Earth orbit for 8 days
1976 "Wonder Woman" debuts on ABC
1980 Vietnam adopts constitution
1989 "I Love Lucy" Christmas episode, shown for 1st time in over 30 years
1991 DeForest Kelly (Dr McCoy on Star Trek) gets a star in Hollywood
1996 The Oakland, California school board passes a resolution officially declaring "Ebonics" a language or dialect.
1996 US TV industry execs agree to adopt a ratings system
1997 HTML 4.0 is published by the World Wide Web Consortium
2018 Meteor explodes in huge fireball over the Bering Sea with 10 times the energy of Hiroshima atomic bomb, 2nd largest in last 30 yrs.
2018 Nevada becomes the first US state with a female-majority legislature with new appointments taking it to 51%
2019 US House of Representatives votes to impeach President Donald Trump for abuse of power (230-197) and obstruction of Congress (229-198)
2020 Moderna COVID-19 vaccine granted emergency authorization by US Food and Drug Administration