September 18

Today in History
• 1502 - Christopher Columbus lands at Costa Rica on his 4th and last voyage
• 1679 - New Hampshire becomes a county in Massachusetts Bay Colony
• 1755 - Fort Ticonderoga in New York opens
• 1789 - 1st loan is made to pay salaries of the presidents and Congress
• 1793 - President George Washington lays the cornerstone of the Capitol Building in Washington
• 1810 - Chile declares independence from Spain (National Day)
• 1812 - Great Fire of Moscow burns out after 5 days, 75% of the city destroyed and 12,000 killed
• 1842 - 1st edition of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, published


Holidays - Traditional and Obscure
• Ganesh Chaturthi
• Gedaliah Fast
• Independence Day
• Locate An Old Friend Day
• Respect for the Aged Day
• Rice Krispies Treats Day
• U.S. Air Force Day
• World Water Monitoring Day

Birthdays
• 1709 - Samuel Johnson, scholar and lexicographer (Dictionary of the English Language)
• 1733 - George Read, American judge and signer (Declaration of Independence)
• 1765 - Gregory XVI [Bartolomeo Alberto Mauro Cappellari], Pope (1831-1846)
• 1779 - Joseph Story, American lawyer and 19th Supreme Court justice (1812-45)
• 1786 - Christian VIII, King of Denmark (1839-1848) and King of Norway (1814)
• 1812 - Herschel Vespasian Johnson, American politician (41st Governor of Georgia)
• 1859 - John L. Bates, American lawyer and politician (41st Governor of Massachusetts)
• 1923 - Bertha Wilson, lawyer and the 1st woman appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada