eso ha pasado un 18 Agosto

1920 : Amendment on the right of women to vote is ratified


On August 18, 1920, in the United States, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, giving women the right to vote is ratified by Tennessee. The majority of two thirds of the States which ratified it having been reached, the amendment entered into force.

1931 : The flood of the Yangtze River at its highest level


On August 18, 1931, in China, the flooding of the Yangtze River reached its peak. Crops were destroyed and diseases such as dysentery and typhoid were spreading. Within months, 3.7 million people died directly or indirectly because of the floods.

1977 : Steve Biko arrested


On August 18, 1977, in South Africa, the anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko was arrested by police and interrogated and tortured for 22 hours at Port Elizabeth before falling into a coma. He died on September 12 shortly after arriving in a prison in Pretoria, allegedly on hunger strike. The truth was revealed by the journalists Donald Woods and Helen Zille and had a great impact in the world. 10,000 people attended his funeral.

1991 : Coup against Gorbachev


On August 18, 1991, the President of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, is placed under house arrest in Crimea by the hard line of his government, leaders of the army and the KGB who declared the state of emergency and tried to take control of the country. Gorbatchev had undertaken a series of reforms of the country (perestroika) and a policy of openness (glasnost).
Boris Yeltsin, President of the Republic of Russia, who thought that the reforms did not go fast enough, decided to call the people to rally against the coup and when the army came to arrest him in the parliament of Russia, it found it locked and defended by armed civilians. Yeltsin urged the soldiers to step back and the soldiers decided to join the resistance. The coup was a failure.
Gorbachev returned to power and accentuated the reforms (dissolution of the communist party, independence of the Baltic states, market economy ...) before resigning in December 1991.

2005 : Black-out on the islands of Java and Bali


On August 18, 2005, in Indonesia, a gigantic power outage broke out at 10:23 on the island of Java and spread progressively to other central Java and Bali. 100 million people were without electricity. Power was restored at the end of the afternoon.

Cita del día : 18 Agosto

Steve Biko
The most potent weapon of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.

Cumpleaños : 18 Agosto

Franz Joseph I, Emperador de Austria (1830)
Lucienne Boyer, Cantante francesa (1903)
Marcel Carné, Director de cine francés (1906)
Edgar Faure, Político francés (1908)
Caspar Weinberger, Político estadounidense (1917)
Lydia Litvyak, As de la aviación de la Fuerza Aérea Soviética (1921)
Alain Robbe-Grillet, Escritor francés (1922)
Hugues Aufray, Cantante francés (1929)
Luc Montagnier, Virólogo francés, Premio Nobel de Fisiología o Medicina (1932)
Roman Polanski, Director de cine polaco (1933)
Robert Redford, Actor y director de cine estadounidense (1936)
Patrick Swayze, Actor americano (1952)
Carole Bouquet, Actriz francesa (1957)
Madeleine Stowe, Actriz americana (1958)
Felipe Calderón, 56o Presidente de México (1962)
Everlast , Músico americano (1969)
Edward Norton, Actor americano (1969)
Christian Slater, Actor americano (1969)
Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Actor americano (1970)
Preeti Jhangiani, Actriz india (1980)
Mika, Cantante inglés (1983)
Inge Dekker, Nadadora holandesa (1985)
Ross McCormack, Futbolista escocés (1986)
Elizabeth Beisel, Nadadora americana (1992)

Nos han dejado un 18 Agosto

Wanli, Emperador de China (1620)
Louis de Freycinet, Explorador francés (1841)
Honoré de Balzac, Escritor francés (1850)
Walter Chrysler, Fundador de la Corporación Chrysler (1940)
Anita Loos, Guionista estadounidense (1981)
Robert Novak, Periodista estadounidense (2009)
Kim Dae-jung, 15 º presidente de Corea del Sur, premio Nobel de la Paz (2009)
Otras fechas
Vue mer : crédit photo Aseed