Nicosia, Cyprus. Several significant political, scientific, sporting and disaster-related events have been recorded as occurring on February 18. The date includes resignations, meetings, discoveries, fatal accidents and mass-casualty incidents.
Political events and meetings
In 1913, Mexican President General Francisco Madero signed his resignation amid a military coup, days before he was assassinated along with his Vice-President.
In 1994, South Africa’s ANC President Nelson Mandela and Palestinian PLO leader Yasser Arafat met in the Hague.
In 2014, tens of thousands rallied for lower taxes in Italy.
Science and discovery
In 1930, Clyde William Tombaugh discovered the planet Pluto while working with photographic plates at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Sport
In 2001, NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt died in an accident at the Daytona 500 in Florida.
In 2004, baseball’s Greg Maddux returned to the Chicago Cubs, where he started his career.
Disasters and attacks
In 2003, at least 133 people were killed in South Korea after an arson attack on two crowded subway trains in the city of Taegu, 200 km (120 miles) southeast of Seoul.
In 2004, runaway train wagons laden with fuel and fertilisers blew up in northeast Iran, killing almost 300 people and injuring up to 450.
Death
In 2009, Sudanese novelist Tayeb Salih, known for his 1966 novel Season of Migration to the North, died.
Which of these February 18 events do you want to learn more about?