September 18 in History

Significant events that happened on this day.

Historical Events

2014

Scotland held a referendum on independence from the United Kingdom, with 55% voting to remain

The historic vote saw an unprecedented 85% voter turnout, the highest for any election in the UK since universal suffrage. The campaign divided famili...

1998

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) was officially formed

ICANN took over the responsibility of managing domain names and IP addresses from the U.S. government. This nonprofit organization now coordinates the...

1995

The Baltimore Orioles' Cal Ripken Jr. played his 2,131st consecutive baseball game, breaking Lou Gehrig's record

Major

Ripken's streak, which began in 1982, surpassed a record that had stood for 56 years and was considered unbreakable. The game was stopped for a 22-min...

1984

Joe Kittinger completed the first solo balloon crossing of the Atlantic Ocean

The former Air Force pilot flew from Caribou, Maine to Savona, Italy in a helium balloon, covering 3,535 miles in 86 hours. Kittinger was already famo...

1981

France abolished the guillotine as its method of capital punishment

France became the last Western European country to abolish the death penalty entirely. The last person guillotined in France was Hamida Djandoubi in 1...

1977

Voyager 1 took the first photograph showing both Earth and the Moon together in space

The spacecraft captured this historic image from 7.25 million miles away while en route to Jupiter and Saturn. Both celestial bodies appeared as cresc...

1959

The first successful photocopier, the Xerox 914, was unveiled to the public

The machine was so popular that Xerox decided to lease rather than sell it, fearing businesses wouldn't believe it was worth the high purchase price....

1947

The United States Air Force became an independent branch of the military

Major

Previously part of the Army, the Air Force gained its independence through the National Security Act. This made it the youngest of the U.S. military b...

1927

The Columbia Phonographic Broadcasting System made its radio debut with 16 affiliate stations

CBS began broadcasting with a modest network covering mainly the eastern United States. The inaugural broadcast featured performances by classical mus...

1851

The first edition of The New York Times was published, selling for one penny

Major

Originally called the New-York Daily Times, the newspaper was founded by journalist Henry Jarvis Raymond and banker George Jones. The first issue was...

1793

George Washington laid the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol building in a Masonic ceremony

Major

President Washington, dressed in Masonic apron, participated in a ceremonial laying of the Capitol's cornerstone. The original stone has never been fo...

1634

Anne Hutchinson arrived in Boston and would later be banished for challenging Puritan religious authority

Hutchinson began holding religious meetings in her home that attracted up to 80 people weekly, where she questioned the authority of Puritan ministers...