This Day in History on 18 October
The historical events hold a lot of value for aspirants who are sitting for UPSC competitive exams including the IAS Exam.
On this page, we will list all historical events that occurred on 18 October. The students can refer to them while preparing for all competitive exams and banking exams.
Important Days
World Menopause Day
World Menopause Day is observed every year on the 18th of October to raise awareness of menopause and support options for improving health and well-being.
Important Events
1386: The oldest university in Germany, Heidelberg University was founded.
1867: The United States took possession of Alaska after purchasing it from Russia for $7.2 million.
1879: Branch of ‘Theosophical Panth’ established in India.
1901: Mahatma Gandhi sails for India.
1906: Depressed Classes Mission Society’ was established by Vitthal Ramji Shinde.
1922: Establishment of the British Broadcasting Corporation.
1952: Vinoo Mankad takes 13 Pakistan wickets to win first Indo-Pak clash.
1954: Texas Instruments announced the first transistor radio.
1967: Soviet Russia’s Venera-4 spacecraft lands on Venus.
1977: 2060 – Chiron, the farthest asteroid in space, was discovered.
1980: The first Himalayan Car Rally of 5,377.9 km was started from Brabourne Stadium, Bombay with 74 starters.
1992: Zimbabwe’s first Test match vs India at Harare.
1992: 1,000 police personnel occupy the Golden Temple in Amritsar to keep Punjab separatists away.
1995: President’s Rule imposed in UP and the State Assembly put in suspended animation.
1996: Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi to be the venue for the trial of former PM Rao.
1997: Prince Philip switches on the internet version of Malayala Manorama and The Week at Kochi.
2000: Supreme Court gives the nod for construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada river.
2000: Ram Vilas Paswan, Union Communications Minister, announces relief for phone users. New links to cost Rs. 2,000 in urban areas and Rs. 500 in rural areas.
2002: Sachin Tendulkar became the first cricketer to score 20,000 runs in Tests and ODIs.
Birth/Birth Anniversary
1712: Jeremias Van Riemsdijk, Governor General of Dutch Indies (1775-77), was born.
1861: Chintaman Vinayak Vaidya, historian and researcher, was born.
1910: Ronald Alfred Vernieux was an Indian sprinter.
1919: W. A. Sangma, leader of Meghalaya, was born.
1925: Narayandatt Tiwar, former Central minister and Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, was born.
1925: Ila Mitra was a communist and peasants movement organizer of the Indian subcontinent.
1927: Ramesh Vithaldas Divecha, cricketer (11 wickets for India in the early 50’s), was born in Bombay.
1928: Roshan Harshadlal “Deepak” Shodhan, cricketer (century on Test debut for India), was born in Ahmedabad.
1940: Paran Bandopadhyay, an Indian Bengali film, television and stage actor based in Kolkata.
1944: Deepak Parekh, Chairman of Housing Development Finance Corporation, India’s leading housing finance company.
1950: Om Puri was an Indian actor who appeared in mainstream commercial Hindi films.
1964: Vijay Ghate, an Indian tabla player.
1968: Narendra Deepchand Hirwani, cricketer (Ind leggie 16 wickets vs WI on debut in 1988), was born in Gorakhpur.
1972: Koshalendraprasad Pande, current acharya of the NarNarayan Dev Gadi of the Swaminarayan Sampraday.
1973: Nila Madhab Panda, film producer.
1974: Amish Tripathi, Indian author
1977: Kunal Kapoor, Indian actor, writer and entrepreneur who works in Hindi films.
1978: Jyothika Saravanan is an Indian actress who appears in Tamil films.
1981: Arjun Mathur, Indian actor working in Bollywood, independent films and television.
1984: Freida Pinto, Indian actress who has appeared mainly in American and British films.
1991: Abhijith P. S. Nair, Indian violinist, arranger and composer.
Death/ Death Anniversary
1871: Charles Babbage, English polymath, mechanical engineer, mathematician, father of the first mechanical computer.
1909: Lal Mohan Ghosh, sixteenth President of the Indian National Congress and eminent Bengali barrister.
1931: Thomas Alva Edison, American researcher, and entrepreneur.
1976: Viswanatha Satyanarayana, Indian poet and author (b. 1895)
1983: Vijay Manjrekar, cricketer 55 Tests for India, 3208 runs @ 39.12, died.
1993: Mandakini Athvale, first child actor of Indian film industry, died.
1995: Baby Naaz (Anuradha Bhakkar), famous child actor, died.
2004: Veerappan was an Indian bandit who was active for 36 years, kidnapping major politicians for ransom.