July 18 is the 199th day of the year (200th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 166 days remaining until the end of the year.
Events
Up to 1900
390 BC – Battle of the Allia: A Roman army is defeated by raiding Gauls, leading to the subsequent sacking of Rome.
64 – Great fire of Rome: A fire begins to burn in the merchant area of Rome and soon burns completely out of control while Emperor Nero reportedly plays his lyre and sings while watching the blaze from a safe distance.
362 - Roman-Persian Wars: Emperor Julian arrives at Antioch with a Roman expeditionary force of around 60,000 soldiers and stays for nine months to launch a campaign against the Persian Empire.
1195 – Battle of Alarcos, great victory of Almohad ruler Abu Yusuf Ya'qub al-Mansur over the Castilian King Alfonso VIII.
1656 - Polish-Lithuanian forces clash with Sweden and its Brandenburg allies in the start of what becomes known as the Battle of Warsaw, which becomes a decisive Swedish victory.
1857 - Louis Faidherbe, French Governor of Senegal, arrives to relieve French forces at Kayes, effectively ending El Hajj Umar Tall's rebellion against the French.
1863 – American Civil War: The first formal African American military unit, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, unsuccessfully assaults Confederate-held Fort Wagner but their valiant fighting still proves the worth of African American soldiers during the war.
1879 - Swedish explorer Adolf Erik Nordenskiold and his ship Vega escape from Arctic pack ice and continue on their route through the Northeast Passage.
1966 - Human spaceflight: Gemini 10 is launched from Cape Kennedy on a 70-hour mission that includes the docking with an orbiting Agena target vehicle.
1984 – McDonald's massacre in San Ysidro, California: In a fast-food restaurant, James Oliver Huberty kills 21 people and injures 19 others before being shot dead by police.
1992 – The ten victims of the La Cantuta massacre disappeared from their university in Lima.
1994 – In Buenos Aires, an explosion destroys a building housing several Jewish organizations killing 96 and injuring many more.
1995 – On the Caribbean island of Montserrat, the Soufriere Hills volcano erupts. Over the course of several years, it devastates the island, destroying the capital and forcing most of the population to flee.
1996 – In an event very similar to the Oklahoma tornado that would occur three years later, a tornado ranking as a F5 hit the town of Oakfield, Wisconsin.
2001 – In Baltimore, Maryland, a 60-car train derailment occurs in a tunnel sparking a fire that will last days and virtually shut down downtown Baltimore.
2003 – The body of British UN weapons inspector Dr. David Kelly is found.