What Happened on June 18?

  • Medical professionals officially recognize the AIDS epidemic. (1981) Doctors in San Francisco, California, were the first to recognize the epidemic. The illness now is a pandemic — in 2008, 33.4 million people worldwide were living with AIDS.

  • The long-playing record was born. (1948) Columbia music introduced the long-playing microgroove record — the LP. The record played at 33 1/3 RPMs (rotations per minute) and became the standard phonographic record for 50 years.

  • British singer-songwriter Paul McCartney was born. (1942) McCarney became a rock star with his band, The Beatles. The band had different names before it settled on The Beatles, including Johnny and The Moondogs and The Silver Beetles. McCartney is recognized by Guinness World Records as the most successful songwriter in pop music history.

  • The War of 1812 began. (1812) The United States declared war against the British Empire. The war continued for almost three years, ending in a stalemate and leading to the two sides to sign the Treaty of Ghent which ended the war.

  • Susan B. Anthony tried to vote. (1873) Anthony, a famous suffragist, was fined $100 U.S. Dollars for her attempt. She was a co-founder of the National Woman's Suffrage Association (NWSA). Women in the U.S. were granted the right to vote in 1920.

  • America sends its first female astronaut into space. (1983) Sally Ride joined the crew of the Challenger space shuttle with four other astronauts.

  • The Unabomber was indicted. (1996) American terrorist Ted Kaczynski was indicted on 10 criminal accounts of bombing. Kaczynski's mail bombing campaign lasted 20 years, killing three people and injuring 23. He was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

  • The International Declaration of Human Rights was adopted. (1948) The declaration was adopted by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, a subgroup of the United Nations until 2006. The declaration became the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and was adopted on December 10, 1948 by the United Nations General Assembly. It is the most translated document in the world.

  • Charles Darwin was spurred into publishing his Origin of Species. (1858) Darwin received research from Alfred Russel Wallace that was strikingly similar to his own work on evolution. He quickly published his work in 1859.

  • The Governor of Louisiana was committed to a mental hospital. (1959) After being committed, Gov. Earl K. Long replaced the hospital director with a good friend, who declared him sane.

Discussion Comments

anon338844

So much for 'medical professionals'! HIV is utter nonsense. Show me forensic proof that any virus exists.

star736

A very interesting and outstanding day in history. Seems like this day is all about scientific discoveries. Go science.

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