On This Day - February 18th

Featured Event:

Pluto is discovered (1930) 🌌

Using a 13-inch telescope in Arizona, Clyde W. Tombaugh, a 24-year-old American with no formal training in astronomy, discovered the dwarf planet Pluto this day in 1930.

Other Events:

1879: French Sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi is awarded a US patent for his design for the Statue of Liberty 🗽

1968: British guitarist David Gilmour joins progressive rock group Pink Floyd. 🎵

2006: American speed skater Shani Davis became the first Black athlete to win an individual Winter Olympics gold medal 🏅

2010: The Web site WikiLeaks began posting classified U.S. government documents. 🗃️

Holidays:

Dialect Day 🇯🇵 (Amami Islands)

Independence Day 🇬🇲

National Democracy Day 🇳🇵

Featured Birthdays:

1516: Mary I 🇬🇧 (Queen of England)

1898: Enzo Ferrari 🇮🇹 (Automobile Manufacturer)

1933: Yoko Ono 🇯🇵 (Artist and Musician)

1965: Dr. Dre 🇺🇸 (Rapper and Producer)

Featured Deaths:

1546: Martin Luther 🇩🇪 (Religious Leader)

1564: Michelangelo 🇮🇹 (Artist)

1967: J. Robert Oppenheimer 🇺🇸 (Physicist)