What Happened On This Day – February 18
1978 Hawaii hosts the first Ironman Triathlon
Contestants have to swim 2.4 miles (3.86 km), bike 112 miles (180.25 km) and complete a marathon run measuring 26.2 miles (42.2 km).
1977 The Space Shuttle takes off on its maiden flight
The “Enterprise” was mounted on a Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft; the first free flight took place on August 12, 1977
1954 The first Church of Scientology is established
Despite many controversies, Scientology has gained thousands of members since its inception.
1943 The Gestapo arrests German resistance fighter Sophie Scholl and other White Rose activists
21-year-old student Scholl and her fellow campaigners were executed for having distributed flyers criticizing the Nazi regime.
1930 Pluto is discovered
Clyde W. Tombaugh discovered the dwarf planet when sifting through photographs taken a month earlier.
Births On This Day – February 18
1974 Yevgeny Kafelnikov
Russian tennis player
1967 Roberto Baggio
Italian footballer
1954 John Travolta
American actor, singer, producer
1933 Yoko Ono
Japanese/American singer-songwriter
1838 Ernst Mach
Austrian physicist
Deaths On This Day – February 18
1967 J. Robert Oppenheimer
American physicist
1906 John Batterson Stetson
American businessman, founded the John B. Stetson Company
1564 Michelangelo
Italian painter, sculptor
1546 Martin Luther
German monk, priest, leader of the Protestant Reformation
1294 Kublai Khan
Mongolian Emperor