Friday 18th of January 1574

Serial killer and cannibal Gilles Garnier aka The Werewolf of Dôle is executed by burning at the stake in Dôle, Jura - Franche-Comte, France.

Garnier confessed to have stalked and murdered at least four children between the ages of 9 and 12 and was found guilty of 'crimes of lycanthropy and witchcraft'.

Tuesday 18th of January 1803

Murderer George Forster aka The Galvanised Corpse is executed by hanging in Newgate Prison, London, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Shortly after the execution Forster's body was taken to a nearby house where it was used in an experiment by Italian scientist Giovanni Aldini. "On the first application of the process to the face, the jaws of the deceased criminal began to quiver, and the adjoining muscles were horribly contorted, and one eye was actually opened. In the subsequent part of the process the right hand was raised and clenched, and the legs and thighs were set in motion."

Friday 18th of January 1878

33-year-old Murderer and cannibal Adolph Louis Luetgert aka The Sausage King marries 31-year-old Louisa Bicknese in Chicago, Illinois, United States.

Saturday 18th of January 1890

Duke of Aosta Amadeus I dies of unknown causes at the age of 45 in Palazzo Reale, Torino, Piedmontese, Italy.

Monday 18th of January 1892

Actor Oliver Ollie Hardy known from Laurel and Hardy is born as Norvell Hardy in Harlem, Georgia, United States.

Monday 18th of January 1904

Actor Cary Grant is born as Archibald Alexander Leach in 15 Hughenden Road, Bristol, South West England, United Kingdom.

Monday 18th of January 1909

Charlie Von Dahmer is shot dead by 19-year-old Double murderer Robert Franklin Stroud aka The Birdman of Alcatraz in Gastineau Avenue, Juneau, Alaska, United States.

Stroud went to the police station and turned himself and the gun in.

Wednesday 18th of January 1911

Actor, singer, dancer, comedian and musician Danny Kaye is born as David Daniel Kaminsky in New York, Brooklyn, New York, United States.

Sunday 18th of January 1925

Philosopher Gilles Deleuze is born in Paris, Île-de-France, France.

Friday 18th of January 1929

4 Policemen on their way to arrest him are killed by 34-year-old Cop killer IJje Wijkstra in Doezum, Groningen, Netherlands.

Monday 18th of January 1932

Writer, essayist, editor, playwright, poet, futurist and self-described agnostic mystic Robert Anton Wilson is born as Robert Edward Wilson in Methodist Hospital, New York, Brooklyn, New York, United States.

Saturday 18th of January 1936

Writer Rudyard Joseph Kipling known for his novel ‘Jungle Book’ dies of a perforated duodenal ulcer at the age of 71 in London, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Kipling's death had in fact previously been incorrectly announced in a magazine, to which he wrote, "I've just read that I am dead. Don't forget to delete me from your list of subscribers."

Friday 18th of January 1946

Child killer Joseph Bernhard Wessel is executed by hanging at the age of 44 in Washington State Penitentiary, Walla Walla, Washington, United States.

Wessel was executed for the hammer murder of his 5-year-old daughter Mary Ann Wessel.

Friday 18th of January 1952

Tamil brigand and dacoit Veerappan is born as Koose Munisamy Veerappan Gounder in Gopinatham, Karnataka, India.

Tuesday 18th of January 1955

Actor and film director Kevin Michael Costner is born in Lynwood, California, United States.

Saturday 18th of January 1958

Serial killer Peter Hößl aka Der Wochenendmörder is sentenced to four years youth imprisonment for the murder of Franz Stöbich on 24 November 1956. in München, Bayern, Germany.

Hößl was released on 13 February 1959.

Thursday 18th of January 1973

39-year-old Serial killer Juan Vallejo Corona aka The Machete Murderer is sentenced to 25 terms of life imprisonment for 25 counts of first degree murder in Fairfield, California, United States.

Tuesday 18th of January 1977

84 die in commuter train derailment in Bold Street Bridge, Granville, New South Wales, Australia.

It is the worst rail disaster in Australian history.

Sunday 18th of January 1981

21-year-old Shari Hull is abducted, sexually assaulted and shot dead by serial killer Randall Woodfield aka The I-5 Killer in TransAmerica Title Building, 3700 River Road N., Salem, Oregon, United States.

21-year-old Beth Wilmot was also assaulted and shot in the head but survived.

Monday 18th of January 1982

Four pilots from the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds Air Demonstration Team die in a crash while practicing a basic diamond formation with their Northrop T-38 Talon jets for a performance at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona in Air Force Auxiliary Field, Indian Springs, Nevada, United States.

The four pilots were 37-year old Major Norm Lowry, 31-year-old Captain Willie Mays, 32-year-old Captain Joseph 'Pete' Peterson and 31-year-old Captain Mark E. Melancon. Initial speculation was that the accident might have been due to pilot error, that the leader might have misjudged his altitude or speed and the other three pilots repeated the error. However, the Air Force concluded that the crash was due to a jammed stabilizer on the lead jet. The other pilots, in accordance with their training, did not break formation.

Wednesday 18th of January 1984

Mass murderer Seung-Hui Cho aka Ismail Ax aka the School Shooter is born in Asan, Chungcheong, South Korea.

Sunday 18th of January 1987

18-year-old Jacqueline Askins is abducted and held imprisoned by serial killer Gary Heidnik aka The Cellar of Horror Murderer in 3520 North Marshall Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.

Askins survived after Josefina Rivera escaped in March 1987 and informed the police about several women held imprisoned in Heidnik's house.

Monday 18th of January 1988

108 die in China Southwest Airlines Ilyushin Il-18 Flight 4146 crash in Chongqing, China.

Tuesday 18th of January 2000

Murderer Spencer Corey Goodman is executed by lethal injection at the age of 32 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

Goodman kidnapped and brutally killed Cecile Ham, wife of Bill Ham, manager and image-maker of ZZ Top in 1991.

Thursday 18th of January 2001

Murderer Alvin Urial Goodwin is executed by lethal injection at the age of 38 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

Friday 18th of January 2002

An abandoned Jewish print workshop soliciting for an art studio overhaul in Antwerpen, Antwerpen, Belgium.

Monday 18th of January 2010

52-year-old Assassin and Grey Wolves member Mehmet Ali Ağca is released from Sincan Prison in Ankara, Anatolia, Turkey.

Ağca was serving a 10-year sentence for the assassination of  Abdi İpekçi, editor of the major Turkish newspaper Milliyet.

Monday 18th of January 2010

Singer-songwriter Kate McGarrigle known for Complainte pour Ste Catherine dies of clear-cell sarcoma at the age of 64 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Wednesday 18th of January 2023

Singer-songwriter and musician David Van Cortlandt Crosby known from the band Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young dies of complications of COVID-19 at the age of 82 in Santa Ynez, California, United States.