August 18:

Events

• 1636 – The Covenant of the Town of Dedham, Massachusetts, is first signed.
• 1862 – Minnesota trader Andrew Myrick is killed and has his mouth stuffed with grass.
• 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Globe Tavern – Union forces try to cut a vital Confederate supply-line into Petersburg, Virginia, by attacking the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad.
• 1877 – Asaph Hall discovers Martian moon Phobos.
• 1909 – Mayor of Tokyo Yukio Ozaki presents Washington, D.C., with 2,000 cherry trees, which President Taft decides to plant near the Potomac River.
• 1920 – The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing women's suffrage.
• 1938 – The Thousand Islands Bridge, connecting New York State, United States, with Ontario, Canada, over the St. Lawrence River, is dedicated by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
• 1958 – Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel Lolita is published in the United States.
• 1963 – American civil rights movement: James Meredith becomes the first black person to graduate from the University of Mississippi.
• 1965 – Vietnam War: Operation Starlite begins – United States Marines destroy a Viet Cong stronghold on the Van Tuong peninsula in the first major American ground battle of the war.
• 1969 – Jimi Hendrix plays the unofficial last day of Woodstock.
• 1971 – Vietnam War: Australia and New Zealand decide to withdraw their troops from Vietnam.
• 1983 – Hurricane Alicia hits the Texas coast, killing 22 people and causing over USD $1 billion in damage (1983 dollars).
• 1992 – Wang Laboratories files for bankruptcy.
• 2000 – A federal jury finds the US EPA guilty of discrimination against Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, later inspiring passage of the No FEAR Act.
• 2005 – Dennis Rader is sentenced to 175 years in prison for the BTK serial killings.

Births

• 1803 – Nathan Clifford, American statesman, diplomat, and Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (d. 1881)
• 1822 – Isaac P. Rodman, American Union general (d. 1862)
• 1841 – William Halford, American naval officer (d. 1919)
• 1893 – Burleigh Grimes, American baseball player (d. 1985)
• 1900 – Glenn Albert Black, American archaeologist (d. 1964)
• 1902 – Margaret Murie, American conservationist, naturalist, and author (d. 2003)
• 1917 – Caspar Weinberger, American politician (d. 2006)
• 1918 – Cisco Houston, American folk singer (d. 1961)
• 1919 – Wally Hickel, 2^nd and 8^th Governor of Alaska
• 1920 – Bob Kennedy, baseball player (d. 2005)
• 1920 – Shelley Winters, American actress (d. 2006)
• 1927 – Rosalynn Carter, First Lady of the United States
• 1928 – Marge Schott, baseball team owner (d. 2004)
• 1934 – Vincent Bugliosi, American attorney
• 1935 – Rafer Johnson, American athlete
• 1936 – Robert Redford, American actor
• 1938 – Joe Frank, American radio personality
• 1939 – Johnny Preston, American singer
• 1943 – Martin Mull, American comedian
• 1945 – Barbara Harris, American singer (Toys)
• 1952 – Elayne Boosler, American comedian
• 1952 – Patrick Swayze, American actor
• 1953 – Louie Gohmert, American politician
• 1956 – John Debney, American composer
• 1956 – Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz, American musician
• 1957 – Denis Leary, American comedian and actor
• 1958 – Madeleine Stowe, American actress
• 1959 – Tom Prichard, American wrestler
• 1960 – Fat Lever, American basketball player
• 1961 – Bob Woodruff, American journalist, anchor
• 1964 – Edith Frost, American singer/songwriter
• 1964 – Craig Bierko, American actor
• 1964 – Kenny Walker, American basketball player
• 1965 – Jim Florentine, American comedian
• 1967 – Brian Michael Bendis, American comic-book writer
• 1967 – Dan Peters, American musician
• 1969 – Masta Killa, American rapper
• 1969 – Everlast, American musician
• 1969 – Edward Norton, American actor
• 1969 – Christian Slater, American actor
• 1970 – Greg Dean Schmitz, American online film journalist
• 1970 – Malcolm-Jamal Warner, American actor
• 1971 – Jacob Vargas, American actor
• 1976 – Daphnee Duplaix Samuel, American actress, Playboy Playmate
• 1976 – Bryan Volpenhein, American rower
• 1978 – Andy Samberg, American comedian
• 1980 – Jeremy Shockey, American football player
• 1980 – Bart Scott, American football player
• 1981 – Jonathan Schneck, American musician (Relient K)
• 1983 – Michael Montgomery, American football player
• 1983 – Daniel Keith Swain (Danny!), American record producer/hip-hop artist
• 1987 – Mika Boorem, American actress
• 1994 – Jessie Flower, American actress
• 1995 – Parker McKenna Posey, American actress

Deaths

• 1815 – Chauncey Goodrich, American politician (b. 1759)
• 1940 – Walter P. Chrysler, American automobile executive (b. 1875)
• 1949 – Paul Mares, American musician (b. 1900)
• 1963 – Clifford Odets, American playwright (b. 1906)
• 1981 – Anita Loos, American screenwriter (b. 1889)
• 1990 – B. F. Skinner, American psychological theorist (b. 1904)
• 1992 – John Sturges, American film director (b. 1911)
• 2002 – Dean Riesner, American film and television writer (b. 1918)
• 2004 – Elmer Bernstein, American composer (b. 1922)
• 2004 – Hiram Fong, former U.S. Senator from Hawaii (b. 1906)
• 2005 – Christopher Bauman, American wrestler (b. 1982)
• 2007 – Michael Deaver, Reagan Administration Deputy White House Chief of Staff (b. 1938)