Calendar date · August

What happened on August 18

On August 18, 684: Battle of Marj Rahit: Umayyad partisans defeat the supporters of Ibn al-Zubayr and cement Umayyad control of Syria.

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Notable deaths

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Zodiac

Leo

Featured moment · 684

Battle of Marj Rahit: Umayyad partisans defeat the supporters of Ibn al-Zubayr and cement Umayyad control of Syria.

The Battle of Marj Rahit was one of the early battles of the Second Fitna. It was fought on 18 August 684 between the Kalb-dominated armies of the Yaman tribal confederation, supporting the Umayyads under Caliph Marwan I, and the Qays under Al-Dahhak ibn Qays al-Fihri, who supported the Mecca-based Caliph Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr. The decisive Umayyad victory consolidated their power over Bilad al-Sham, paving the way for their eventual victory in the war against the Zubayrids.

People

Born on August 18

Summer McIntosh 2006– Canadian swimmer (born 2006)
Cassius Stanley 1999– American basketball player (born 1999)
Brian To'o 1998– Samoa international rugby league footballer
Clairo 1998– American singer-songwriter (born 1998)
Nick Fuentes 1998– American far-right political activist (born 1998)
Josephine Langford 1997– Australian actress (born 1997)
Renato Sanches 1997– Portuguese footballer (born 1997)
Alīna Fjodorova 1995– Latvian figure skater
Parker McKenna Posey 1995– American actress
Show 9 more — notable births on August 18
Madelaine Petsch 1994– American actress and YouTuber (born 1994)
Morgan Sanson 1994– French association football player (born 1994)
Seiya Suzuki 1994– Japanese baseball player (born 1994)
Jung Eun-ji 1993– South Korean singer-songwriter and actress (born 1993)
Maia Mitchell 1993– Australian actress (born 1993)
Elizabeth Beisel 1992– American competition swimmer
Bogdan Bogdanović 1992– Serbian basketball player (born 1992)
Frances Bean Cobain 1992– American visual artist (born 1992)
Liz Cambage 1991– Australian basketball player (born 1991)

People

Died on August 18

Ruth Johnson Colvin American literacy advocate (1916–2024)
Alain Delon French actor (1935–2024)
Phil Donahue American talk show host (1935–2024)
Lolita Captive female orca (c. 1966 – 2023)
Al Quie American politician (1923–2023)
Ben Cross British actor (1947–2020)
Denis Edozie Nigerian judge
Kofi Annan UN Secretary-General from 1997 to 2006
Bruce Forsyth British entertainer and presenter (1928–2017)
Show 9 more — notable deaths on August 18
Zoe Laskari Greek actress (1942–2017)
Ernst Nolte German historian (1923–2016)
Khaled al-Asaad Syrian archaeologist (1932–2015)
Roger Smalley Australian musician (1943–2015)
Suvra Mukherjee Indian politician
Louis Stokes American politician (1925–2015)
Bud Yorkin American producer, director, and screenwriter (1926–2015)
Gordon Faber American mayor (1931–2014)
Jim Jeffords American politician (1934–2014)

Timeline

Every August 18 on record

  1. 684 Battle of Marj Rahit: Umayyad partisans defeat the supporters of Ibn al-Zubayr and cement Umayyad control of Syria.

    Early battle of the Second Fitna

    The Battle of Marj Rahit was one of the early battles of the Second Fitna. It was fought on 18 August 684 between the Kalb-dominated armies of the Yaman tribal confederation, supporting the Umayyads under Caliph Marwan I, and the Qays under Al-Dahhak ibn Qays al-Fihri, who supported the Mecca-based Caliph Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr. The decisive Umayyad victory consolidated their power over Bilad al-Sham, paving the way for their eventual victory in the war against the Zubayrids.

  2. 707 Princess Abe accedes to the imperial Japanese throne as Empress Genmei.

    Calendar year

    Year 707 (DCCVII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 707 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

  3. 1304 The Battle of Mons-en-Pévèle is fought to a draw between the French army and the Flemish militias.

    1304 battle of the Franco-Flemish War

    The Battle of Mons-en-Pévèle was fought on 18 August 1304 between the French and the Flemish. The French were led by their king, Philip IV.

  4. 1487 The Siege of Málaga ends with the taking of the city by Castilian and Aragonese forces.

    Part of the Reconquista of Spain

    The 1487 siege of Málaga was an action during the Reconquest of Spain in which the Catholic Monarchs of Spain conquered the city of Mālaqa from the Emirate of Granada. The siege lasted about four months. It was the first conflict in which ambulances, or dedicated vehicles for the purpose of carrying injured persons, were used.

  5. 1492 The first grammar of the Spanish language (Gramática de la lengua castellana) is presented to Queen Isabella I.

    Structural rules of a language

    In linguistics, grammar is the system of rules that governs how a natural language is structured and used, as evidenced by its speakers or writers. Grammar rules may concern the use of clauses, phrases, and words. The term may also refer to the study of such rules, a subject that includes phonology, morphology, and syntax, together with phonetics, semantics, and pragmatics.

  6. 1572 The Huguenot King Henry III of Navarre marries the Catholic Margaret of Valois, ostensibly to reconcile the feuding Protestants and Catholics of France.
  7. 1590 John White, the governor of the Roanoke Colony, returns from a supply trip to England and finds his settlement deserted.
  8. 1612 The trials of the Pendle witches and Samlesbury witches, one of England's most famous witch trials, begin at the Lancaster Assizes.
  9. 1634 Father Urbain Grandier, accused and convicted of sorcery, is burned alive in Loudun, France.
  10. 1721 The city of Shamakhi in Safavid Shirvan is sacked.
  11. 1783 A huge fireball meteor is seen across Great Britain as it passes over the east coast.
  12. 1809 The Senate of Finland is established in the Grand Duchy of Finland after the official adoption of the Statute of the Government Council by Tsar Alexander I of Russia.
  13. 1826 Major Gordon Laing becomes the first European to enter Timbuktu.
  14. 1838 The Wilkes Expedition, which would explore the Puget Sound and Antarctica, weighs anchor at Hampton Roads.
  15. 1864 American Civil War: Battle of Globe Tavern: Union forces try to cut a vital Confederate supply-line into Petersburg, Virginia, by attacking the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad.
Show 15 earlier entries from August 18
  1. 1868 French astronomer Pierre Janssen discovers helium.
  2. 1870 Franco-Prussian War: Battle of Gravelotte is fought.
  3. 1877 American astronomer Asaph Hall discovers Phobos, one of Mars's moons.
  4. 1891 A major hurricane strikes Martinique, leaving 700 dead.
  5. 1903 German engineer Karl Jatho allegedly flies his self-made, motored gliding airplane four months before the first flight of the Wright brothers.
  6. 1917 A Great Fire in Thessaloniki, Greece, destroys 32% of the city leaving 70,000 individuals homeless.
  7. 1920 The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing women's suffrage.
  8. 1923 The first British Track and Field championships for women are held in London, Great Britain.
  9. 1933 The Volksempfänger is first presented to the German public at a radio exhibition; the presiding Nazi Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, delivers an accompanying speech heralding the radio as the 'eighth great power'.
  10. 1937 A lightning strike starts the Blackwater Fire of 1937 in Shoshone National Forest, killing 15 firefighters within three days and prompting the United States Forest Service to develop their smokejumper program.
  11. 1938 The Thousand Islands Bridge, connecting New York, United States, with Ontario, Canada, over the Saint Lawrence River, is dedicated by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
  12. 1940 World War II: The Hardest Day air battle, part of the Battle of Britain, takes place. At that point, it is the largest aerial engagement in history with heavy losses sustained on both sides.
  13. 1945 Sukarno takes office as the first president of Indonesia, following the country's declaration of independence the previous day.
  14. 1945 Soviet-Japanese War: Battle of Shumshu: Soviet forces land at Takeda Beach on Shumshu Island and launch the Battle of Shumshu; the Soviet Union's Invasion of the Kuril Islands commences.
  15. 1949 1949 Kemi strike: Two protesters die in the scuffle between the police and the strikers' protest procession in Kemi, Finland.

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