August 18

Today in History
• 293 BC - The oldest known Roman temple to Venus is founded
• 1541 - A Portuguese ship drifts ashore in the ancient Japanese province of Higo
• 1612 - Pendle Witch trial begins, 10 people accused of witchcraft in Lancaster, England
• 1636 - The Covenant of the Town of Dedham, Massachusetts is first signed
• 1735 - Evening Post begins publishing (Boston, Mass)
• 1817 - 60-70ft sea serpent sightings reported offshore in Gloucester, Massachusetts
• 1840 - American Society of Dental Surgeons founded (NY)
• 1919 - Anti-Cigarette League of America forms in Chicago, Illinois


Holidays - Traditional and Obscure
• Gold Cup Parade
• Green Man Festival
• Hawaiian Shirt Day
• Indonesia Constitution Day
• National Bad Poetry Day
• National Mail Order Catalog Day
• Never Give Up Day
• Serendipity Day

Birthdays
• 472 - Flavius Ricimer, general of the Western Roman Empire
• 1587 - 1st English child born in New World (Virginia Dare)
• 1606 - Maria Anna of Spain, Holy Roman Empire Empress and Queen of Hungary
• 1611 - Ludwika Maria Gonzaga, French princess and queen of Poland
• 1774 - Meriwether Lewis, American explorer, soldier and public administrator
• 1792 - John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, British Prime Minister
• 1803 - Nathan Clifford, statesman, diplomat, and Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court
• 1830 - Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia