Year 1493
Christopher Columbus first saw the island of Puerto Rico.
NOVEMBER 18
Daily Historical Chronicle
UPSC CSE • State PSC • SSC CGL Matrix
18 November: What Happened On This Day in History
Curated historical timeline of momentous political pacts, freedom struggle uprisings, constitutional developments, scientific breakthroughs, and prominent birthdays recorded on 18 November.
Year 1727
Maharaja Jai Singh-II of Amber laid the stone of Jaipur City. Vidyadhar Chakravarty of Bengal was the architect of the first planned city in India.
Year 1809
French fleet defeated the British East India Company fleet in the Bay of Bengal.
Year 1839
Nainital was discovered by P. Barron, an European sugar merchant and an enthusiastic hunter from Rosa, near Shahjahanpur. He had no sooner caught a glimpse of the lake in its sylvan setting than he realized its potential as a hill resort and went full steam a colonizing it. Moved by the beauty of the sparkling lake he wrote: "It is by far the best site I have witnessed in the course of a 1,500 miles trek in the Himalayas".Nainital history figures in ancient India too. In the Manas Khand of the Skand Puranas, Nainital Lake is called Tri-Rishi-Sarovar, hinting at the story of three sages (or rishis), Atri, Pulastya and Pulaha, who, upon finding no water in Nainital, dug a large hole at the location of the present day lake (sarovar = lake) and filled it with water from the holy lake Manasarovar in Tibet. According to lore, a dip in Naini Lake, “the lesser Manasarovar,” earns merit equal to a dip in the great lake.It is also believed that The Naini Lake is one of the 64 Shakti Peeths, Sati’s eyes (or Nain) fell, came to be called Nain-tal or lake of the eye. The goddess Shakti is worshipped at the Naina Devi Temple on the north shore of the present day lake.
Year 1905
Lord Curzon resigned and Lord Minto became the 17th Viceroy and Governor-General of India.
Year 1918
Latvia declared independence from Russia.
Year 1928
Walt Disney’s famous cartoon Mickey Mouse was born in the movie Steamboat Willie.
Year 1937
Free primary school education is introduced.
Year 1955
Construction of Bhakra-Nangal Dam began.
Year 1963
The first push-button telephone service was launched.
Year 1974
Tiger was adopted as India's 'National Animal'.
Year 1978
914 people, including 276 children, committed mass suicide in the city of Guyana, South America.
Year 1992
Lalit Mohan Sharma became the 24th Chief Justice of India.
Year 1993
A new constitution was approved by 21 political parties in South Africa.
Born 1898
Prabodh Chandra Bagchi, Indian historian.
Born 1901
V. Shantaram also referred as Shantaram Bapu, having full name as Shantaram Rajaram Vankudre, was a famous Indian filmmaker, film producer and actor, a true legend. He is most known for films such as Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani (1946), Amar Bhoopali (1951), Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje (1955), Do Aankhen Barah Haath (1957), Navrang (1959), Duniya Na Mane (1937), Pinjra (1972), and many more. He also founded then most sophisticated studios of the country "Rajkamal Kalamandir" in Mumbai.
Born 1901
Prabodh Chandra Bagchi researcher of "Ancient History of India", was born. He was one of the most notable Sino -Indologists of the 20th century. He was the third Upacharya (Vice-Chancellor) of Visva-Bharati University. He worked on Sanskrit Buddhist literature, on the ancient remains of Indian civilisation in Central Asia, on Buddhist literature in China, on the ancient Pali texts, on Avestan Gathas.
Born 1906
Alec Issigonis, maker of the mini car.
Born 1909
Johnny Mercer, co-founder of Capitol Records.
Born 1910
Batukeshwar Dutt, Indian revolutionary.
Born 1923
Alan Shepard Jr., an American astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot, and businessman.
Born 1931
Shrikant Verma, Indian-Hindi poet, journalist, and critic, Rajya Sabha member.
Born 1937
Madhukar Gopal Pathak, noted author and film director, was born.
Born 1945
Mahinda Rajapaksa, the 6th President of Sri Lanka and Chief of Army Staff.
Born 1946
Kamal Nath, an Indian politician, former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh.
Born 1953
Alan Moore, an English writer known primarily for his work in comic books.
Born 1954
Ranjan Gogoi, a nominated Indian Parliamentarian, and the 46th Chief Justice of India.
Born 1979
Neeti Mohan, Indian playback singer
Born 1984
Nayanthara, an Indian actress.
Died 1772
Madhavrao Peshwa, the 4th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire died at the age of 28. Narayanrao succeeded him.
Died 1830
Adam Weishaupt, founder of the Illuminati.
Died 1886
Chester Arthur, 21st US President.
Died 1936
V. O. Chidambaram Pillai, Indian lawyer and politician (b. 1872)
Died 1962
Niels Bohr, Danish physicist, He won the Nobel Prize for his discovery of the atomic nucleus.
Died 1969
Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., an American businessman, investor, and politician.
Died 1967
Raghunath Chaudhary, famous natural poet of Assam, passed away.
Died 1998
Tara Singh Hayer, Indian-Canadian journalist and publisher (b. 1936)
Died 1999
Ram Singh Ratan Singh Pardeshi, an Indian freedom fighter.
Died 2013
S. R. D. Vaidyanathan, Indian nadaswaram player and composer (b. 1929)
Died 2014
C. Rudhraiya, Indian director and producer (b. 1947)