Historical events on June 18

JUNE 18, 1981
The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk, the first operational aircraft to be designed around stealth technology, made its maiden flight.
The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk is an officially retired American single-seat, subsonic, twin-engined, stealth attack aircraft developed by Lockheed's secretive Skunk Works division
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JUNE 18, 1858
Charles Darwin received a manuscript by fellow naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace on natural selection, which encouraged him to publish his own theory of evolution.
Charles Robert Darwin was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all
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JUNE 18, 860
Rus' forces sailed into the Bosporus in a fleet of about 200 vessels and started pillaging the suburbs of Constantinople.
Rus' Khaganate, or Kaganate of Rus is a name applied by some modern historians to a hypothetical polity suggested to have existed
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JUNE 18, 1757
Third Silesian War: The Austrian victory at the Battle of Kolín forced Prussian leader Frederick the Great to give up the Siege of Prague and retreat to Saxony.
The Third Silesian War was a war between Prussia and Austria that lasted from 1756 to 1763 and confirmed Prussia's control of
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JUNE 18, 1967
American musician Jimi Hendrix burned his guitar on stage at the end of a performance at the Monterey International Pop Festival in California.
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist, songwriter and singer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most
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JUNE 18, 618
Sui–Tang transition: Chinese governor Li Yuan (pictured) declared himself emperor, establishing the Tang dynasty.
The transition from Sui to Tang (613–628), or simply the Sui-Tang transition, was the period of Chinese history between the end of
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JUNE 18, 1983
Aboard Space Shuttle Challenger, astronaut Sally Ride became the first American woman and third one overall in space.
Space Shuttle Challenger (OV-099) was a Space Shuttle orbiter manufactured by Rockwell International and operated by NASA. Named after the commanding ship
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JUNE 18, 1954
Carlos Castillo Armas led a CIA-sponsored invasion force across the Guatemalan border, beginning the 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état.
Carlos Castillo Armas was a Guatemalan military officer and politician who was the 28th president of Guatemala, serving from 1954 to 1957
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JUNE 18, 1953
A Douglas C-124 Globemaster II aircraft crashed just after takeoff from Tachikawa, Japan, killing all 129 people on board.
The Douglas C-124 Globemaster II, nicknamed "Old Shaky", is an American heavy-lift cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company in Long Beach, California.

JUNE 18, 1972
British European Airways Flight 548 crashed near Staines-upon-Thames less than three minutes after departing from Heathrow Airport in London, killing all 118 people aboard in the worst air accident in the UK.
British European Airways Flight 548 was a scheduled passenger flight from London Heathrow to Brussels that crashed near Staines, England, United Kingdom,
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JUNE 18, 2012
Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was appointed the crown prince of Saudi Arabia.
Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has been King of Saudi Arabia since 2015, and was Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia from 2015
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JUNE 18, 1994
The Troubles: Ulster Volunteer Force members attacked a crowded bar in Loughinisland, Northern Ireland, with assault rifles, killing six people.
The Troubles were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also
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JUNE 18, 1940
World War II: Charles de Gaulle gave his Appeal of 18 June speech, often considered to be the origin of the French Resistance.
World War II or the Second World War was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all
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JUNE 18, 1958
English composer Benjamin Britten's one-act opera Noye's Fludde was premiered at the Aldeburgh Festival.
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with
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JUNE 18, 1815
War of the Seventh Coalition: Napoleon fought and lost his final battle, the Battle of Waterloo (depicted), in present-day Belgium.
The Hundred Days, also known as the War of the Seventh Coalition, marked the period between Napoleon's return from eleven months of
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JUNE 18, 1898
The Cadaver Tomb of René of Chalon (pictured) in Bar-le-Duc, France, was designated a monument historique.
The Cadaver Tomb of René of Chalon is a late Gothic period cadaver monument (transi) in the church of Saint-Étienne at Bar-le-Duc,
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