Holidays Calendar for August 18, 2015

World Breast Cancer Research Day is observed annually on August 18. It was created to raise awareness of the leading type of cancer in women and to highlight the importance of research aimed at ending breast cancer once and for all.

Army Day in North Macedonia is celebrated on August 18 every year. The holiday commemorates the creation of the Mirče Acev battalion in 1943. The battalion laid the foundation of the People's Liberation Army of Macedonia that fought against the Axis forces during WWII.

August 18 is Border Guard Day in Kazakhstan. This professional holiday was established by a presidential decree in 1992, but the date of the holiday was included to the calendar of professional holidays only in 2002.

Azerbaijani professional holiday Border Guard Day is celebrated every year on August 18. This is a professional holiday of all servicemen of the Border Troops of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Geographer’s Day is a Russian professional holiday that was officially created in May 2020. It is celebrated on August 18 to commemorate the foundation of the Russian Geographical Society on this day in 1845.

Tajik healthcare professionals celebrate their professional holiday on August 18. The date of Healthcare Professionals Day in Tajikistan was chosen to commemorate the birthday of Ibn Sina (Avicenna), a Persian polymath who is widely regarded as the father of modern medicine.

National Independent Worker Day is celebrated annually on August 18. It was created to highlight the economic contribution of independent contractors, freelancers, consultants, small business owners, and other self-employed individuals.

National Tree Planting Day (NTPD) in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is celebrated on August 18. The holiday was established in 2009 by the government and president of Pakistan in order to raise awareness of deforestation and other environmental issues.

National Science Day is observed in Thailand every year on August 18. This holiday celebrates the anniversary of a total solar eclipse in 1868 that had been predicted by King Mongkut two years earlier.

August 18 is Vietnam Veterans’ Day (also known as Long Tan Day) in Australia. This day commemorates the Battle of Long Tan that was fought near Long Tan during the Vietnam War. It resulted in decisive Australian victory over North Vietnamese units and Viet Cong.

Virginia Dare’s Birthday is an annual observance celebrated on August 18 on Roanoke Island in North Carolina, United States. It honors the first English child born in the New World. During the past four centuries, Virginia Dare has become a prominent figure in American folklore, partly because she and her parents were members of the Lost Colony of Roanoke.

Constitution Day (Hari Konstitusi Republik Indonesia) is celebrated in Indonesia on August 18 every year. It was established by a 2008 presidential decree to commemorate the ratification of the 1945 State Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia.

Jesse Robredo Day (Araw ni Jesse Robredo) is observed in the Philippines annually on August 18. It was established to honor the memory of Jesse Robredo, the 23rd secretary of the interior and local government, who was killed in a plane crash on August 18, 2012.

A slice of delicious ice cream pie is a perfect dessert to cool off on a hot summer day. On August 18, indulge yourself with some ice cream pie as it is National Ice Cream Pie Day.

August 18 is the perfect day to indulge in Tex-Mex cuisine because it is National Fajita Day. It was created to celebrate a delicious grilled meat dish that has been around since the 1930s but didn’t become popular until the 1970s.

Pinot Noir Day, also referred to as National Pinot Noir Day and International Pinot Noir Day, is observed annually on August 18. It celebrates one of the most popular red wines that is produced in wine-growing regions ranging from Argentina to Australia.


This Day in History

  • 2009 Died: Kim Dae-jung, South Korean lieutenant and politician, the 15th President of South Korea. He is often called the Nelson Mandela of Asia for his achievements and political work. In 2000 he was awarded Nobel Peace Prize for his policy of engagement with North Korea.
  • 2005 A massive power blackout hit the islands of Java and Bali in Indonesia, affecting some 100 million people. This blackout became one of the largest and most widespread outages in history.
  • 2001 Died: David Peakall, American toxicologist. His achievements were internationally recognized and researches into the effects of chemical compounds DDT and DDE on eggshells led to the ban of these products in the USA.
  • 1983 Texas was hit by powerful hurricane Alicia. 22 people were killed and the hurricane caused over US$1 billion in damage.
  • 1969 Born: Christian Slater, American actor. He starred in many big budget and successful films, including Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Broken Arrow and Hard Rain.
  • 1965 Vietnam War: the first major American ground battle, code-named Operation Starlite, of the war took place on the Van Tuong peninsula. The United States Marines destroyed a Viet Cong stronghold.
  • 1958 Lolita, novel by Russian writer Vladimir Nabokov, was published in the United States for the first time. This novel became one of the most controversial examples of the 20th century literature.
  • 1957 Born: Carole Bouquet, French model and actress, who appeared in more than 40 films since the end of the 1970s. She is known as Chanel's model in the 1980s-1990s and for roles in films For Your Eyes Only, Too Beautiful For You.
  • 1952 Born: Patrick Swayze, American actor and singer. He rose to prominence during the 1980s for playing trough guys and romantic lead males. Those roles granted him statuses of a teen idol and sex image. He is best known for starring in The Outsiders, Red Dawn, Road House, Ghost, Point Break.
  • 1944 Died: Ernst Thälmann, German politician, leader of the Communist Party of Germany during much of the Weimar Republic. He had been arrested by the Gestapo in 1933 and spent 11 years in prison, before was killed in Buchenwald on Hitler's order.
  • 1940 Died: Walter Chrysler, American businessman, remembered as the founder of Chrysler Corporation, once one of the Big Three American automobile manufacturers. Now it's owned by Italian company Fiat.
  • 1936 Born: Robert Redford, American actor, director, and producer, winner of two Academy Awards. As an actor, he is best known for roles in The Great Gatsby, Out of Africa, Spy Game, Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
  • 1933 Born: Roman Polanski, Polish-French director, producer, screenwriter, and actor, widely considered to be one of the few truly international filmmakers. He made his films in Poland, the UK, France and the USA, his most successful and popular films are Repulsion, Rosemary's Baby, Macbeth, The Pianist, Oliver Twist, The Ghost Writer.
  • 1932 Born: Luc Montagnier, French virologist. In 2008 he was awarded Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovery of the human immunodeficiency of virus (HIV).
  • 1927 Born: Rosalynn Carter, wife of President of the USA Jimmy Carter. She is known as the leading advocate for numerous causes, including the mental health research, that is her most prominent activity. She was politically active during the years in White House, serving as her husband's closest adviser.
  • 1920 Congress of the USA ratified the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, thus guaranteeing women's suffrage.
  • 1917 30% of the city of Thessaloniki, Greece was destroyed in a Great Fire, that began by accident at a small house of refugees. The fire burned for 32 hours and destroyed 9,500 houses, leaving 70,000 homeless.
  • 1886 Died: Eli Whitney Blake, American inventor. He patented many inventions during his lifetime, the most known of them are his mortise lock and stone-crushing machine. The latter of these inventions earned him a place into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
  • 1877 American astronomer Asaph Hall discovered Phobos, the larger of two inner natural satellites of Mars. The second moon, Deimos, was discovered by Hall on August 12 of the same year.
  • 1868 French astronomer Pierre Janssen discovered helium, a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic gas.
  • 1850 Died: Honoré de Balzac, French novelist, playwright. La Comédie humaine, his best known masterpiece and the work of all life, represents a panorama of French life in the years after the 1815 fall of Napoleon Bonaparte.
  • 1841 Died: Louis de Freycinet, French navigator and explorer, best remembered for circumnavigation of the Earth and publishing the first map to show a full outline of the coastline of Australia.
  • 1830 Born: Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria and Apostolic King of Hungary from 1848 till his death. He reigned the empire during 68 years. At the end of his rule the Austro-Hungarian Empire was falling apart, as a consequence of World War I, that was started by Franz Joseph.
  • 1750 Born: Antonio Salieri, Italian composer and conductor, pivotal figure in development of the late 18th-century opera. He was famous during his lifetime, but his music gradually disappeared from the repertoire, till it was revived in the 20th century. His most successful operas were Armida, Palmira, regina di Persia, Axur, re d'Ormus.
  • 1685 Born: Brook Taylor, English mathematician, best remembered for Taylor's theorem and Taylor series.
  • 1620 Died: Wanli, Emperor of China from 1572 till his death. He ruled for 48 years and was the 13th emperor of the Ming Dynasty. During his rule the dynasty witnessed the steady decline.
  • 1612 The trial of the Pendle witches began at Lancaster Assizes. This trial became one of England's most famous witch trials.
  • 1572 The Huguenot King Henry III of Navarre married Margaret of Valois in Paris. This marriage was an attempt to reconcile Protestants and Catholics.
  • 1563 Died: Étienne de La Boétie, French judge and philosopher, often referred to as a founder of modern political philosophy in France.
  • 1503 Died: Pope Alexander VI, born as Roderic Llançol i de Borja. He is known as one of the most controversial popes in the history. He broke the priestly vow of celibacy and had several legitimately acknowledged children. Despite this, he was described by his successors as one of the most outstanding popes.