December 18

• 1352 - Innocent VI is elected Pope.
• 1642 - Abel Tasman lands at Mohua Golden Bay becoming the first European in New Zealand.
• 1776 - North Carolina's Constitution is ratified.
• 1787 - New Jersey is the third state to ratify the United States Constitution
• 1865 - Slavery is abolished in the United States, with the passing of the 13th Amendment
• 1894 - Women in South Australia become the first in Australia to gain the right to vote and to be elected to Parliament.
• 1912 - Piltdown Man "discovered"
• 1916 - Battle of Verdun ends
• 1958 - Niger becomes independent
• 1987 - Perl 1.000 is released by Larry Wall

• 1626 - Queen Christina of Sweden (d. 1689)
• 1714 - Esterházy of Galántha, field marshal (d. 1790)
• 1786 - Carl Maria von Weber, German composer (d. 1826)
• 1835 - Lyman Abbott, American author (d. 1922)
• 1847 - Augusta Holmčs, French composer
• 1863 - Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria (d. 1914)
• 1870 - Saki, writer (d. 1916)
• 1879 - Paul Klee, Swiss painter and graphic artist (d. 1940)
• 1886 - Ty Cobb, American baseball player (d. 1961)
• 1888 - Gladys Cooper, actress (d. 1971)
• 1890 - Edwin Armstrong, American inventor (d. 1954)
• 1897 - Fletcher Henderson, jazz musician (d. 1952)
• 1904 - George Stevens, American director (d. 1975)
• 1912 - Benjamin O. Davis Jr., American general (d. 2002)
• 1913 - Willy Brandt, German Chancellor (d. 1992)
• 1916 - Betty Grable, actress (d. 1973)
• 1917 - Ossie Davis, actor
• 1927 - Ramsey Clark, U.S. Attorney General during Lyndon Johnson's presidency
• 1928 - Józef Glemp, cardinal and primate of Poland
• 1934 - Boris Volynov, cosmonaut
• 1939 - Michael Moorcock, science fiction author
• 1943 - Keith Richards, British guitarist (the Rolling Stones)
• 1946 - Steven Spielberg, movie director
• 1946 - Steve Biko, South African anti-apartheid activist (d. 1977)
• 1950 - Gillian Armstrong, film director
• 1950 - Leonard Maltin, movie critic
• 1955 - Ray Liotta, actor
• 1961 - Brian Orser, figure skater
• 1963 - Brad Pitt, American actor
• 1964 - Star Cullars, musician (P Funk)
• 1970 - DMX, rapper
• 1975 - Trish Stratus, WWE performer
• 1977 - Vinay Bhatia, Wiz Kid
• 1980 - Christina Aguilera, American singer

• 821 - Theodulf, bishop of Orléans (b. c.760)
• 1290 - Magnus I of Sweden, king of Sweden 1275-1290 (b. 1240)
• 1737 - Antonio Stradivari, Italian violin maker (b. 1644?)
• 1936 - Andrija Mohorovičić, Croatian seismologist (b. 1857)
• 1971 - Bobby Jones, golfer (b. 1902)
• 1980 - Alexei Kosygin, former Soviet premier
• 1990 - Paul Tortelier, French musician (b. 1914)
• 1992 - Mark Goodson, game show producer (b. 1915)
• 1993 - Sam Wanamaker, actor (b. 1919)
• 1995 - Konrad Zuse, German engineer and computing pioneer (b. 1910)
• 1997 - Chris Farley, American actor, comedian (b. 1964)
• 1998 - Lev Demin, cosmonaut (b. 1926)
• 1999 - Robert Bresson, French film director (b. 1907)
• 2000 - Kirsty MacColl, British musician (b. 1959)
• 2001 - Gilbert Bécaud, singer (b. 1927)
• 2002 - Ray Hnatyshyn, former Canadian Governor-General (b. 1934)