Daily Calendar for Friday, July 18, 2025

Died

  • John Paul Jones (naval commander) –
  • Jane Austen (author ) –
  • Eugene Shoemaker (American astrogeologist) –
  • Gerry Thomas (invented the TV dinner and helped revolutionize food marketing and distribution) –
  • General William Westmoreland (commanded U.S. forces during the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1968) –
  • Jerry Hadley (tenor) –
  • George Coe (actor) –
  • Alex Rocco (actor) –
  • Bob Newhart (actor) –

Born

  • William Makepeace Thackeray (writer) –
  • Hume Cronyn (actor) –
  • Red Skelton (actor & comedian) –
  • Nelson Mandela (political activist) –
  • John Glenn, Jr. (astronaut) –
  • James Brolin (actor) –
  • Mike Greenwell (baseball player) –
  • Vin Diesel (actor) –
  • Ben Sheets (baseball player) –
  • Kristen Bell (actress) –
  • Jamie Benn (hockey player) –

Events

  • First train ride between U.S. (Portland, Maine) and Canada (Montreal, Quebec)–
  • Pierre and Marie Curie announced the discovery of a new element and called it polonium–
  • Fireworks banned in Cleveland, Ohio–
  • The first jet combat plane was tested–
  • Garden State Park racetrack opened, Cherry Hill, New Jersey–
  • President Harry Truman signed the Presidential Succession Act into law which places the Speaker of the House and the Senate President Pro Tempore next in the line of succession after the United States Vice President–
  • Video of RMS Titanic wreckage released–

Weather

  • The temperature reached 102 degrees F in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories–
  • Death Valley, California, recorded a high of 127 degrees F–
  • The Mississippi and Missouri Rivers crested at 46.9 feet in St. Louis, Missouri–
  • Aurora, Illinois, received 16.91 inches of rain in 24 hours–
  • First day of storm that brought flooding to the Saguenay region of Quebec.–

Explore Other Dates on the Calendar