History for December 18

History for December 18 - On-This-Day.com
Ty Cobb 1886 - Baseball player, Keith Richards 1943 - Musician (Rolling Stones), Steven Spielberg 1947 Movie producer-director 


Brad Pitt 1963 Actor, Katie Holmes 1978 - Actress ("Dawson's Creek"), Christina María Aguilera 1980 - Singer 


1865 - U.S. Secretary of State William Seward issued a statement verifying the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The amendment abolished slavery with the declaration: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." 



1903 - The Panama Canal Zone was acquired 'in perpetuity' by the U.S. for an annual rent. 


1912 - The discovery of the Piltdown Man in East Sussex was announced. It was proved to be a hoax in 1953.
 

1916 - During World War I, after 10 months of fighting the French defeated the Germans in the Battle of Verdun. 


1917 - The Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed by the U.S. Senate and then officially proposed the states. 


1940 - Adolf Hitler signed a secret directive ordering preparations for a Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. Operation "Barbarossa" was launched in June 1941. 


1950 - NATO foreign ministers approved plans to defend Western Europe, including the use of nuclear weapons, if necessary. 


1957 - The Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania went online. It was the first nuclear facility to generate electricity in the United States. It was taken out of service in 1982. 


1998 - The U.S. House of Representatives began the debate on the four articles of impeachment concerning U.S. President Bill Clinton. It was only the second time in U.S. history that process had begun.