December 18

2024 Calendar

December 18 is the 352nd day of the year (353rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 13 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

Up to 1900

821 – Theodulf, Bishop of Orleans
1075 - Edith of Wessex (b. 1025)
1133 - Hildebert, French poet and scholar (b. 1055)
1290 – King Magnus I of Sweden (b. 1240)
1495 – King Alphonso I of Naples (b. 1448)
1591 - Marigje Arriens, Dutch woman accused of witchcraft (b. 1520)
1737 – Antonio Stradivari, Italian violin maker
1803 – Johann Gottfried Herder, German writer (b. 1744)
1829 - Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, French soldier and biologist (b. 1744)
1848 – Bernard Bolzano, Czech mathematician (b. 1781)
1869 – Louis Moreau Gottschalk, American composer and pianist (b. 1829)
1880 - Michel Chasles, French mathematician (b. 1793)
1892 - Richard Owen, English biologist (b. 1804)

1901 – 2000

1922 - Carl Meyer, 1st Baronet, German-English banker and businessman (b. 1851)
1936 - Leonardo Torres y Quevedo, Spanish mathematician and inventor (b. 1852)
1936 – Andrija Mohorovičić, Croatian seismologist (b. 1857)
1954 - Pedro Luna, Chilean painter (b. 1896)
1969 - Charles Dvorak, American athlete (b. 1878)
1971 – Bobby Jones, American golfer (b. 1902)
1971 – Diana Lynn, American actress (b. 1926)
1974 – Harry Hooper, Baseball Hall of Famer (b. 1887)
1980 – Alexei Kosygin, Soviet premier (b. 1904)
1982 – Hans-Ulrich Rudel, highly decorated German pilot during World War II (b. 1916).
1990 - Anne Revere, American actress (b. 1903)
1990 – Paul Tortelier, French musician (b. 1914)
1991 – George Abecassis, English race car driver (b. 1913)
1992 – Mark Goodson, game show producer (b. 1915)
1993 – Sam Wanamaker, American actor (b. 1919)
1995 – Konrad Zuse, German engineer and computing pioneer (b. 1910)
1997 – Chris Farley, American actor and comedian (b. 1964)
1998 – Lev Demin, Soviet cosmonaut (b. 1926)
1999 – Robert Bresson, French movie director (b. 1907)
2000 – Kirsty MacColl, British musician (b. 1959)

From 2001

2001 – Gilbert Bécaud, singer (b. 1927)
2002 – Ray Hnatyshyn, Governor General of Canada (b. 1934)
2004 – Princess Takamatsu of Japan (b. 1911)
2006 – Joseph Barbera, American animator (b. 1911)
2006 - Ruth Bernhard, American photographer (b. 1905)
2008 – Mark Felt, American Watergate agent, known as 'Deep Throat' (b. 1913)
2010 – Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, Italian banker and politician (b. 1940)
2010 - Jacqueline de Romilly, French philologist, author and scholar (b. 1913)
2011 – Václav Havel, Czech playwright, statesman and President of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic (b. 1936)
2012 - Mustafa Ould Salek, President of Mauritania (b. 1936)
2013 - Ronnie Biggs, British train robber (b. 1929)
2014 - Virna Lisi, Italian actress (b. 1936)
2014 - Mandy Rice-Davies, British model and media personality (b. 1944)
2014 - Ingvar Kjellson, Swedish actor (b. 1923)
2014 - Gideon Ben-Yisrael, Israeli politician (b. 1922)
2014 - Larry Smith, American record producer (b. 1951)
2014 - Robert Simpson, American meteorologist (b. 1912)
2015 - Helge Solum Larsen, Norwegian politician (b. 1969)
2016 - Zsa Zsa Gabor, Hungarian-American actress and socialite (b. 1917)
2017 - Janet Benshoof, American activist and lawyer (b. 1947)
2017 - Jonghyun, South Korean singer-songwriter (b. 1990)
2017 - Altero Matteoli, Italian politician (b. 1940)
2017 - Arseny Roginsky, Russian dissident and historian (b. 1946)
2018 - David C. H. Austin, British rose breeder (b. 1926)
2018 - Alex Badeh, Nigerian politician and air force officer (b. 1957)
2018 - Steve Daskewisz, American actor and stuntman (b. 1944)
2018 - Tulsi Giri, Nepalese politician (b. 1926)
2018 - Kazimierz Kutz, Polish film director and politician (b. 1929)
2018 - Peter Masterson, American playwright (b. 1934)
2018 - Robert Neild, British economist (b. 1924)
2018 - Shinobu Sekine, Japanese judoka (b. 1943)
2018 - Bill Slater, English footballer (b. 1927)
2018 - Raimo Vartia, Finnish basketball player (b. 1937)
2019 - Claudine Auger, French actress (b. 1941)
2019 - Alain Barrière, French pop singer (b. 1935)
2019 - Herman Boone, American football coach (b. 1935)
2019 - Zafar Chaudhry, Pakistani military officer (b. 1926)
2019 - Geulah Cohen, Israeli politician (b. 1925)
2019 - Leandro Despouy, Argentine politician and activist (b. 1947)
2019 - Ibrahim Diarra, French rugby union player (b. 1983)
2019 - Kenny Lynch, English singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1938)
2019 - Abbey Simon, American pianist (b. 1920)

Births

1901 – 1950

1904 - George Stevens, American director (d. 1975)
1907 - Lawrence Lucie, American guitarist (d. 2009)
1907 - Christopher Fry, British writer and dramatist (d. 2005)
1908 - Paul Siple, American geographer and explorer (d. 1969)
1911 – Jules Dassin, American movie director (d. 2008)
1912 - Givi Javakhishvili, 12th Prime Minister of Georgia (d. 1985)
1912 - Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., American general (d. 2002)
1913 – Willy Brandt, Chancellor of West Germany (d. 1992)
1916 – Betty Grable, American actress (d. 1973)
1916 - Anselm Strauss, American sociologist (d. 1996)
1917 - Ossie Davis, American actor and activist (d. 2005)
1920 - Merlyn Rees, Welsh politician; d. 2006
1921 - Yuri Nikulin, Russian actor (d. 1997)
1922 - Larry D. Mann, Canadian-American actor (d. 2014)
1922 - Esther Lederberg, American microbiologist (d. 2006)
1923 - Lotti van der Gaag, Dutch sculptor and painter (d. 1999)
1923 - Edwin Bramall, English army officer (d. 2019)
1924 - Orlando Ramón Agosti, Argentine general and politician (d. 1997)
1927 – Roméo LeBlanc, 25th Governor General of Canada (d. 2009)
1927 - Ramsey Clark, 66th United States Attorney General
1928 - Mirza Tahir Ahmad, Indian-Pakistani Muslim leader (d. 2003)
1929 - Józef Glemp, Polish cardinal (d. 2013)
1929 - Bob Jane, Australian racing driver and entrepreneur; d. 2018
1931 – Allen Klein, American music manager (d. 2009)
1932 - Roger Smith, American actor
1933 - Lonnie Brooks, American singer and guitarist (d. 2017)
1934 - Marc Rich, Belgian-American businessman (d. 2013)
1934 - Boris Volynov, Soviet-Russian cosmonaut
1934 - John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan (Lord Lucan), British aristocrat and murder suspect (not seen since 1974)
1938 - Chas Chandler, English bass player and producer (The Animals) (d. 1996)
1939 – Harold E. Varmus, American scientist
1939 - Sandro Lopopolo, Italian boxer (d. 2014)
1940 - Bram Morrison, Canadian singer and musician (Sharon, Lois & Bram)
1941 - Sam Andrews, American musician (d. 2015)
1941 - Prince William of Gloucester, British nobleman (d. 1972)
1943 – Keith Richards, English guitarist (Rolling Stones)
1943 - Bobby Keys, American saxophonist (d. 2014)
1946 – Steven Spielberg, American movie director
1946 – Steve Biko, South African anti-Apartheid activist (d. 1977)
1948 - Bill Nelson, English musician
1949 – David A. Johnston, American volcanologist (d. 1980)
1949 - Laurent Voulzy, French singer-songwriter and guitarist
1950 - Gillian Armstrong, Australian director
1950 – Sarath Fonseka, Sri Lankan military commander and politician

1951 – 1975

1951 – Volker Bouffier, German politician, Prime Minister of Hesse
1951 - Alvin E. Roth, American economist
1952 - Krystyna Janda, Polish actress
1953 - David Chipperfield, English architect
1954 - Ray Liotta, American actor
1956 - Reinhold Ewald, German physicist and astronaut
1956 - Ron White, American comedian and actor
1957 - Jonathan Cainer, English astrologer (d. 2016)
1958 - Geordie Walker, English guitarist
1963 – Pierre Nkurunziza, President of Burundi
1963 – Charles Oakley, American basketball player
1963 – Brad Pitt, American actor
1964 - Robson Green, English actor
1964 – Steve Austin, American professional wrestler
1966 – Gianluca Pagliuca, Italian footballer
1968 – Mario Basler, German footballer
1968 - Rachel Griffiths, Australian actress
1968 - Alejandro Sanz, Spanish singer
1968 – Casper Van Dien, American actor
1968 - Nina Wadia, English actress
1969 – Santiago Cañizares, Spanish footballer
1969 - Justin Edinburgh, English footballer and manager (d. 2019)
1970 - Rob Van Dam, American professional wrestler
1970 - Bridie Carter, Australian actress
1971 - Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Spanish tennis player
1972 - Daniel Andersson, Swedish footballer
1973 - Lucy Worsley, English historian and television presenter
1974 - Knut Schreiner, Norwegian singer, guitarist and producer
1975 - Sia Furler, Australian singer

From 1976

1977 - Axwell, Swedish DJ and producer (Swedish House Mafia)
1978 – Katie Holmes, American actress
1979 – Mamady Sidibé, Malian footballer
1980 - Julie Fleeting, Scottish footballer
1980 – Christina Aguilera, American singer
1980 - Neil Fingleton, English actor (d. 2017)
1982 - Pontus Carlsson, Swedish chess player
1982 - Craig Fallon, British judoka (d. 2019)
1985 – Heidi Andreasen, Faroese swimmer
1985 - Tara Conner, American model
1985 - Natalie Gal, Russian-American model and actress
1985 - Hana Soukupová, Czech model
1986 - Usman Khawaja, Australian cricketer
1987 – Ayaka, Japanese singer
1987 – Miki Ando, Japanese figure skater
1987 - Yuki Furukawa, Japanese actor
1987 - Dan Lydiate, Welsh rugby player
1988 - Lizzie Armitstead, British cyclist
1988 - Brianne Theissen-Eaton, Canadian heptathlete
1988 - Imad Wasim, Pakistani cricketer
1989 - Ashley Benson, American actress
1992 - Bridgit Mendler, American singer and actress
1994 - Gerard Gumbau, Spanish footballer
2001 - Billie Eilish, American singer and songwriter

Deaths

Observances

National Day of Qatar
New Jersey Day
Republic Day (Niger)
International Migrants Day
UN day of the Arabic language