Monday 18th of February 0999

138th Pope Gregorius V dies of unknown causes at the age of 27 in Vatican City, Rome, Lazio, Italy.

Gregorius V died suddenly, not without suspicion of foul play.

Sunday 18th of February 1455

Renaissance painter Fra Angelico dies of unknown causes at the age of 60 in Vatican City, Rome, Lazio, Italy.

Friday 18th of February 1516

Queen of England and Ireland Mary Tudor aka Bloody Mary is born in Palace of Placentia, London, Greenwich, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Monday 18th of February 1546

Theologian and church reformer Martin Luther dies of an apoplectic stroke at the age of 63 in Martin Luthers Geburtshaus, Lutherstraße 16, Eisleben, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany.

Tuesday 18th of February 1564

Renaissance sculptor, painter, architect and poet Michelangelo dies of unknown causes at the age of 89 in Vatican City, Rome, Lazio, Italy.

Thursday 18th of February 1745

Physicist, chemist and pioneer of electricity and power Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta known for SI unit of electric potential is born in Como, Lombardia, Italy.

Sunday 18th of February 1838

Physicist and philosopher Ernst Waldfried Josef Wenzel Mach known for the Mach number is born in Brno, Moravia, Czechoslovakia.

Monday 18th of February 1867

Writer Hedwig Courths-Mahler is born in Nebra, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany.

Saturday 18th of February 1871

Metallurgist Harry Brearley known for inventing stainless steel is born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, United Kingdom.

Sunday 18th of February 1883

Assassin Madan Lal Shaheed Dhingra is born in Amritsar, Punjab, India.

Thursday 18th of February 1892

Tempera painter and presumed mass poisoner Sadamichi Hirasawa is born in Tokyo, Kantō, Japan.

Tuesday 18th of February 1896

Surrealist writer André Breton aka The Father of Surrealism is born in Tinchebray, Basse-Normandie, France.

Wednesday 18th of February 1903

Soviet Ukrainian statesman during the Cold War Nikolai Viktorovich Podgorny is born in Karlovka, Poltava Oblast, Ukraine.

Sunday 18th of February 1906

Pediatrician Hans Johann Friedrich Karl Asperger is born in Hausbrunn, Niederösterreich, Austria.

Tuesday 18th of February 1919

Actor and boxer Jack Palance is born as Volodymyr Jack Palahniuk in Lattimer Mines, Pennsylvania, United States.

Friday 18th of February 1921

Self-proclaimed Emperor of Central Africa Jean-Bédel Bokassa is born in Bobangui, Ubangi-Shari, French Equatorial Africa.

Thursday 18th of February 1932

Film director Miloš Jan Tomáš Forman is born in Čáslav, Bohemia, Czechoslovakia.

Saturday 18th of February 1933

Artist Yoko Ono is born in Tokyo, Kantō, Japan.

Tuesday 18th of February 1947

Victim of Ian Brady and Myra Hindley aka The Moors Murderers Pauline Reade is born in Manchester, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom.

Friday 18th of February 1949

69-year-old Olive Henrietta Olivia Robarts Durand-Deacon is shot in the head by serial killer John George Haigh aka The Acid Bath Murderer in 2 Leopold Road, Crawley, Sussex, United Kingdom.

Haigh stripped Durand-Deacon of her valuables, including a Persian lamb coat and put her into a sulphuric acid bath. Investigation of the sludge at the workshop by the pathologist Keith Simpson revealed three human gallstones and part of a denture which was later identified by Mrs Durand-Deacon's dentist during the trial and conviction.

Thursday 18th of February 1954

Actor, film producer, dancer and singer John Joseph Travolta is born in Englewood, New Jersey, United States.

Saturday 18th of February 1956

Member of the Rote Armee Fraktion Horst Ludwig Meyer is born in Schwenningen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Thursday 18th of February 1960

Rapist and double murderer James Terry Roach is born in Seneca, South Carolina, United States.

Saturday 18th of February 1961

36-year-old Satan worshipper and serial rapist Edward John Louis Paisnel aka The Beast of Jersey assaults an unidentified 12-year-old boy in Vingtaine du Mont Cochon, Saint Helier, Jersey, United Kingdom.

Monday 18th of February 1963

28-year-old Gertrude Gruen is attacked and raped by serial killer Albert DeSalvo aka The Boston Strangler aka The Measuring Man aka The Green Man in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.

Gruen survived.

Saturday 18th of February 1967

Theoretical physicist Robert Julius Oppenheimer aka The Father of the Atomic Bomb dies of throat cancer at the age of 63 in Institute for Advanced Study, 1 Einstein Drive, Princeton, New Jersey, United States.

Oppenheimer was diagnosed with throat cancer in late 1965 and underwent unsuccessful radiation treatment and chemotherapy. He fell into a coma on 15 February 1967.

Wednesday 18th of February 1970

81 die in train derailment in Langa Langa, Benue, Nigeria.

Friday 18th of February 1972

26-year-old Performance and installation artist Chris Christopher Burden starts his performance 'Bed Piece' in Market Street, Venice, California, United States.

Burden did not speak to anyone during the performance but the curator Josh Young provided him with water, food, and toilet facilities without being asked. 'Bed Piece' lasted until 10 March 1972.

Thursday 18th of February 1982

Crime writer Ngaio Edith Marsh dies of undisclosed causes at the age of 87 in Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand.

Friday 18th of February 1983

Fourteen people are gunned down during a robbery by Kwan Fai 'Willie' Mak, Wai-Chiu 'Tony' Ng and Benjamin Ng in Wah Mee Gambling Club, 665 South King Street, Seattle, Chinatown, Washington, United States.

Only Wai Y. Chin survived the massacre and later testified in court against the three robbers.

Monday 18th of February 1991

18-year-old Curtis Durrell Straughter is drugged, strangled and dismembered by serial killer and cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer aka The Milwaukee Cannibal in Oxford Apartments #213, 924 25th North Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States.

Sunday 18th of February 2001

Artist Balthasar Kłossowski aka Balthus dies of natural causes at the age of 93 in Grand Chalet, Rossinière, Vaud, Switzerland.

Prime ministers and rock stars alike attended Kłossowski's funeral including the President of France, the Prince Sadruddhin Aga Khan and Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Wednesday 18th of February 2004

295 die in runaway train wagons explosion in Khayyam, Razavi Khorasan, Iran.

51 railway wagons carrying sulfur, fertilizer, petrol and cotton wool broke loose from their siding at Abu Muslim Station and rolled down the track for about 20 kilometres until they derailed and rolled down an embankment. During the cleanup operation the cargo of the wagons exploded.

Monday 18th of February 2008

Film director Alain Robbe-Grillet dies of heart failure at the age of 86 in Caen, Normandie, France.