more events on July 18
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1994
In Buenos Aires, a massive car bomb kills 96 people.
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1971
New Zealand and Australia announce they will pull their troops out of Vietnam.
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1942
The German Me-262, the first jet-propelled aircraft to fly in combat, makes its first flight.
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1939
Hunter S. Thompson, journalist.
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1936
General Francisco Franco of Spain revolts against the Republican government, starting the Spanish Civil War.
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1935
Ethiopian King Haile Selassie urges his countrymen to fight to the last man against the invading Italian army.
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1933
Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Russian poet.
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1929
Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, American blues singer.
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1921
John Glenn, Jr., American pilot, astronaut and politician.
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1918
Nelson Mandela, civil rights activist, first black president of South Africa.
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1913
“”Red” Skelton, American comedian and actor.
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1906
Clifford Odets, playwright (Waiting for Lefty).
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1902
Jessamyn West, American author (The Friendly Persuasion).
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1887
Vidkun Quisling, Norwegian politician and Nazi collaborator during World War II.
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1877
Inventor Thomas Edison records the human voice for the first time.
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1872
The Ballot Act is passed in Great Britain, providing for secret election ballots.
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1861
Union and Confederate troops skirmish at Blackburn’s Ford, Virginia, in a prelude to the Battle of Bull Run.
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1830
Uruguay adopts a liberal constitution.
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1812
Great Britain signs the Treaty of Orebro, making peace with Russia and Sweden.
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1811
William Makepeace Thackeray, English novelist and satirist.
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1789
Robespierre, a deputy from Arras, France, decides to back the French Revolution.