132 things happened on 18 January, from AD 350 to 2025. UK stories come first, then the rest of the world.
1778 · 248 years ago
On his third voyage of exploration, British explorer Captain James Cook reached the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean. He was the first known European to visit them, and he named them the Sandwich Islands. Hawaii is a chain of eight major volcanic islands…
UK history first: stories from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
UK story
King Henry VII, the first Tudor king, married Elizabeth of York, daughter of King Edward IV. Henry came from the House of Lancaster and Elizabeth from the House of York, two families that had fought the Wars of the Roses. Their marriage followed Henry's victory at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Their son became King Henry VIII, and their daughter Margaret became Queen of Scotland.
UK story
On his third voyage of exploration, British explorer Captain James Cook reached the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean. He was the first known European to visit them, and he named them the Sandwich Islands. Hawaii is a chain of eight major volcanic islands and many smaller ones. Cook's voyages gave Europeans a great deal of new scientific and geographical knowledge.
UK story
The Hockey Association was formed in England, an important step in the birth of modern field hockey. The first known hockey club had started at Blackheath in London in 1849. Teddington Hockey Club helped shape the modern game by adding the striking circle and using a round ball instead of a rubber cube. The first international match was played in 1895, when Ireland beat Wales 3–0.
UK story
Jan Willem Janssens surrenders the Dutch Cape Colony to the British.
UK story
British colonial engineer and estate manager William Claxton Peppé discovered the Buddha's remains in Piprahwa, Uttar Pradesh, India.
UK story
World War II: British troops launch a general counter-offensive against Italian East Africa.
HMS Supply became the first ship of Britain's First Fleet to reach Botany Bay, in Australia. The fleet had sailed from England in May 1787 to set up a new British colony, now known as New South Wales. Captain Arthur Phillip was in command. Botany Bay turned out to be a poor place to settle, so Supply became the first ship to sail into Port Jackson instead.
The German Empire was proclaimed, uniting many separate German states into one country. It was led by the Kingdom of Prussia, whose king, Wilhelm I, became the German Kaiser, or emperor. The new empire was made up of 25 states, including kingdoms, duchies and free cities. It lasted until 1918, when Germany became a republic.
H. L. Smith exhibited a machine for making X-rays for the first time. X-rays had been discovered only the year before by the German scientist Wilhelm Röntgen. He called them X-rays because they were a mysterious, unknown kind of radiation. X-ray machines are now used in hospitals to take pictures of the inside of the body.
American pilot Eugene Ely landed his aeroplane on a platform built on the warship USS Pennsylvania, anchored in San Francisco Bay. It was the first time an aircraft had landed on a ship. It was also the first landing to use a tailhook system to help the plane stop. Two months earlier, Ely had made the first take-off from a ship.
The Paris Peace Conference began, bringing together the countries that had won the First World War. Leaders of Britain, France, Italy, Japan and the United States controlled the talks, while the defeated countries were not allowed a say. Its most famous result was the Treaty of Versailles with Germany. The conference redrew maps in Europe and beyond.
The first Airbus A380 was shown to the world at a ceremony in Toulouse, France. It is the largest passenger airliner ever built and the only one with two full-length decks. It usually seats about 525 passengers but is allowed to carry up to 853. The A380 made its first flight in April 2005.
General Magnentius is proclaimed emperor by Roman aristocrats discontent with the rule of emperor Constans.
Emperor Huizong abdicates the Chinese throne in favour of his son Emperor Qinzong.
Francisco Pizarro founded Ciudad de los Reyes (present-day Lima, Peru) as the capital of the lands he conquered for the Spanish crown.
Pope Pius IV reopens the Council of Trent for its third and final session.
Frederick I crowns himself King in Prussia in Königsberg.
Wesley College is established in Melbourne, Australia.
First Balkan War: A Greek flotilla defeats the Ottoman Navy in the Naval Battle of Lemnos, securing the islands of the Northern Aegean Sea for Greece.
Japanese prime minister Ōkuma Shigenobu issued the Twenty-One Demands to China in a bid to increase Japan's power in East Asia.
Ignacy Jan Paderewski becomes Prime Minister of the newly independent Poland.
The Alt Llobregat insurrection began with a miners' strike in Fígols and quickly spreads throughout central Catalonia.
World War II: In Operation Iskra, the Red Army established a narrow land corridor to Leningrad, partially easing the protracted German siege of the city.
World War II: Liberation of Kraków, Poland by the Red Army.
Construction of the United Nations Military Cemetery (pictured) began in Busan, South Korea.
Members of the Lumbee tribe arrived to protest at a Ku Klux Klan rally near Maxton, North Carolina, which turned into an armed confrontation between the two groups (pictured).
Willie O'Ree of the Boston Bruins played his first game in the National Hockey League, becoming the first black Canadian to compete in the NHL.
Members of the Mukti Bahini lay down their arms to the government of the newly independent Bangladesh, a month after winning the war against the occupying Pakistan Army.
A Disengagement of Forces agreement is signed between the Israeli and Egyptian governments, ending conflict on the Egyptian front of the Yom Kippur War.
Scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announce they have identified a previously unknown bacterium as the cause of the mysterious Legionnaires' disease.
Phil Smith and Phil Mayfield parachute off a Houston skyscraper, becoming the first two people to BASE jump from objects in all four categories: buildings, antennae, spans (bridges), and earth (cliffs).
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is officially observed for the first time in all 50 US states.
The Sierra Leone Civil War is declared over.
The Euphronios Krater is unveiled in Rome after being returned to Italy by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
More than 115,000 websites engage in an online protest against the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act in the US.[citation needed] The websites involved viewed the laws as infringing on the right to free speech and many of them temporarily shut down in protest.
The popular social media app, TikTok, is banned in the United States, after the passing of PAFACA.
Every answer is somewhere on this page. Have a go, then check!
In which year did this happen: “Captain Cook reaches the Hawaiian Islands”?
B: 1778. 1778 — that’s 248 years ago. Find it on the page
In which year did this happen: “The Hockey Association is formed in England”?
B: 1886. 1886 — that’s 140 years ago. Find it on the page
Which of these happened first?
C: Henry VII marries Elizabeth of York, uniting two royal houses. 1886: The Hockey Association is formed in England · 1778: Captain Cook reaches the Hawaiian Islands · 1486: Henry VII marries Elizabeth of York, uniting two royal houses Find it on the page
“Henry VII marries Elizabeth of York, uniting two royal houses” happened in 1486. How many years ago was that?
B: 540 years. 2026 − 1486 = 540. Find it on the page
Famous people whose birthday is 18 January.
UK story
A. A. Milne was an English writer, born in Kilburn, London, who is best known for his stories about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh. The character Christopher Robin was based on his own son. Milne was inspired to write about Pooh after his son fell in love with a tame bear called Winnipeg at London Zoo. He also wrote poems for children and plays.
UK story
Raymond Briggs was an English author and illustrator, loved by children and adults alike. He is best known for The Snowman, a picture book with no words, published in 1978. Its cartoon version is shown on television every Christmas. Briggs also created Father Christmas, and he won the Kate Greenaway Medal for children's book illustration twice.
Well-known people who died on 18 January.
Festivals, holidays and saints’ days celebrated on 18 January somewhere in the world.
Content note: these entries mention things like war, violence, deaths, disasters or crime. They are part of history, but they can be upsetting. Grown-ups and teachers: you may want to read them first. They come straight from Wikipedia and have not been rewritten for children.
Stories with a heading have been written for young readers by A Day in the Past, using the linked articles as sources. Other entries show text from Wikipedia’s “January 18” page and its “On this day” feed, written by Wikipedia contributors and shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. Each “Read more” link goes to the article an entry is based on. Photos are credited under each picture. Spotted a mistake? Please tell us.