18 October in history

9 events that happened on 18 October, from 614 to 1922.

International day

World Menopause Day

Designated by the International Menopause Society and supported by the World Health Organisation, World Menopause Day raises awareness of the menopause and the support options available for improving health and wellbeing for the over one billion women worldwide who will reach this stage of life by 2025.

  1. ✦ Anniversary of the day

    614 CE 1,412 years ago

    Chlothar II issues the Edict of Paris

    After reuniting the Frankish kingdoms, the Merovingian king Chlothar II issued the Edict of Paris following a church council. Its 24 articles confirmed the rights of the church and aristocracy and required royal officials to be appointed from the regions they governed.

    Edict of ParisChlothar IIFrankish Kingdom

  2. 629 CE 1,397 years ago

    Dagobert I becomes ruler of all the Frankish kingdoms

    Dagobert I, king of Austrasia since 623, became ruler of Neustria and Burgundy as well, and so of all the Frankish kingdoms. After him, real power passed increasingly to the mayors of the palace.

    Dagobert I

  3. 1009 CE 1,017 years ago

    Caliph al-Hakim has the Holy Sepulchre demolished

    On the orders of the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem was torn down. Its destruction shocked Christendom and was remembered as a grievance when the First Crusade was preached.

    First Crusade

  4. 1016 CE 1,010 years ago

    Cnut's Danes defeat Edmund Ironside at the Battle of Assandun

    A Danish army led by King Cnut defeated the English under King Edmund Ironside at Assandun, in Essex. A treaty then divided England between them, and when Edmund died shortly afterwards Cnut became undisputed king, as agreed.

    DanesEngland

  5. 1081 CE 945 years ago

    Robert Guiscard's Normans defeat Alexios I at Dyrrhachium

    In the Byzantine–Norman wars, the Normans of southern Italy under Robert Guiscard, Duke of Apulia and Calabria, defeated the army of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos outside Dyrrhachium, the major Byzantine stronghold in the western Balkans.

    Robert GuiscardByzantine EmpireDurrës

  6. 1685 CE 341 years ago

    Louis XIV revokes the Edict of Nantes

    By the Edict of Fontainebleau, Louis XIV outlawed Protestant worship in France. Some 200,000 Huguenots fled abroad to England, the Dutch Republic and Prussia, taking valuable skills with them.

    Kingdom of FranceDutch RepublicLouis XIVEngland

  7. 1767 CE 259 years ago

    Mason and Dixon complete their boundary survey

    Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon finished surveying the boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland. Their line later became the symbolic divide between free and slave states.

  8. 1867 CE 159 years ago

    The United States takes possession of Alaska

    At Sitka, the Russian flag was lowered and the US flag raised, formally transferring Alaska, bought for 7.2 million dollars. Critics mocked the deal as 'Seward's Folly' until gold and oil proved its value.

    United StatesAlaska

  9. 1922 CE 104 years ago

    The British Broadcasting Company is founded

    Wireless manufacturers formed the British Broadcasting Company to run Britain's first national radio service. Under John Reith it became the public British Broadcasting Corporation in 1927.

Born on 18 October 13

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Died on 18 October 4

Dates as the sources give them: in the Julian calendar before 1582, and in some countries for longer (Britain until 1752, Russia until 1918). Only people whose day of birth or death the records agree on are listed.

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