December 18 in History

• 1865

  December 18, 1865:

  The US secretary of state proclaims the Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, abolishing slavery in the country.

• 1892

  December 18, 1892:

  “The Nutcracker”, a ballet scored by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, premieres at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

• 1912

  December 18, 1912:

  At a Geological Society of London meeting, an announcement is made about the discovery of the extinct human species, Piltdown man’s fossil remains which would eventually turn out to be fake.

• 1917

  December 18, 1917:

  General Erich Ludendorff orders that all of Germany’s leading film studios be consolidated into the Universum Film-Aktien Gesellschaft (UFA).

• 1961

  December 18, 1961:

  “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” by the Tokens peaks at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

• 1963

  December 18, 1963:

  The American comedy film, “The Pink Panther” is premiered in Italy.

• 1966

  December 18, 1966:

  The animated television special, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” is shown on television (CBS) for the first time.

• 1976

  December 18, 1976:

  The musical romantic drama film, “A Star Is Born” is released at the Mann Village Theater in Los Angeles, California.

• 1997

  December 18, 1997:

  Kim Dae-Jung makes history as the first South Korean opposition leader to win the country’s presidential elections.

• 2019

  December 18, 2019:

  The US House of Representatives impeaches President Donald Trump.