On This Day in History

February 18

February 18 is the 49th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. 316 days remain until the end of the year (317 in leap years).

Lottery News On This Day

2022
North Carolina woman claims half-million lottery jackpot right before ticket expired. A North Carolina Lottery player claimed a half-million Cash 5 jackpot just in time after losing the winning ticket for months.
2021
Low on gas, NC man goes into store and picks out $10 million winning lottery ticket. A North Carolina man is $10 million richer after the low-fuel light came on in his Silverado truck and he decided to fill up with gas, N.C. lottery officials said Wednesday.
2020
Pa. Lottery blames growth of skill games, lack of big jackpots for drop in profits. The growing proliferation of so-called skill games at Pennsylvania Lottery retailers are having an impact on the lottery's ability to generate revenue to pay for programs for senior citizens, a lottery official told state lawmakers on Tuesday.
2017
California man claims $191M Mega Millions jackpot. A California man won $191 million dollars off a Mega Millions lottery ticket he bought in Primm, officials with California Lottery announced Friday.
2015
Bill would allow Texas Lottery winners to pay for anonymity. Texas lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow big lottery winners to keep their identity a secret, but they would have to pay for that privilege.
2013
Brothers celebrate lottery win by blowing up house. Two brothers who were celebrating a $75,000 winning lottery ticket by purchasing marijuana and meth accidentally blew up their house on Friday, said Sgt. Bruce Watts of the Wichita Police Department.
2013
Tech industry sets its sights on gambling. Silicon Valley is betting that online gambling is its next billion-dollar business, with developers across the industry turning casual games into occasions for adults to wager.
2009
Mega Millions lottery jackpot rolls to $120 million. The jackpot in the multi-state Mega Millions lottery drawing was raised to $120 million.
2008
Killer of lottery winner convicted. A Toronto-area doctor was convicted of poisoning his 66-year-old wife for squandering $5 million she won in a Canadian lottery, Toronto media reported.
2004
Mega Millions lottery jackpot soars to $215 million. The jackpot in the multi-state Mega Millions lottery drawing grew to $215 million Wednesday, the highest in almost two years.
2004
Group of 17 gets $9.7 million Indiana Lottery jackpot. A group of 17 people from Lake County, Indiana claimed a $9.7 million Hoosier Lottery jackpot on Tuesday.
2004
School Board Discusses Resolution Supporting N.C. Lottery. North Carolina school leaders near Virginia seem especially passionate about the lottery money that goes north of the border.
2004
Two former workers win suit against Kentucky lottery. A Jefferson Circuit Court jury has awarded $2.8 million to two former Kentucky Lottery employees who claimed they endured racial discrimination on the job.

Top 25 Lottery Jackpots On This Day

1.$493 Million
Multi-State
Mega Millions
Draw Date
Feb 20, 2024
2.$425.3 Million
Multi-State
Powerball
Draw Date
Feb 19, 2014
3.$365 Million
Multi-State
Powerball
Draw Date
Feb 18, 2006
4.$361 Million
Multi-State
Powerball
Draw Date
Feb 18, 2017
5.$331.9 Million
Multi-State
Powerball
Draw Date
Feb 19, 2024
6.$282 Million
Multi-State
Powerball
Draw Date
Feb 20, 2019
7.$246 Million
Multi-State
Powerball
Draw Date
Feb 21, 2018
8.€202 Million
US$244.86 Million
Multi-Country
Euro Millions
Draw Date
Feb 19, 2021
9.$239 Million
Multi-State
Mega Millions
Draw Date
Feb 20, 2004
10.$220 Million
Multi-State
Mega Millions
Draw Date
Feb 19, 2008
11.$212 Million
Multi-State
Powerball
Draw Date
Feb 20, 2016
12.$206 Million
Multi-State
Mega Millions
Draw Date
Feb 19, 2019
13.€176 Million
US$199.34 Million
Multi-Country
Euro Millions
Draw Date
Feb 19, 2019
14.€160 Million
US$197.54 Million
Multi-Country
Euro Millions
Draw Date
Feb 20, 2018
15.$185 Million
Multi-State
Mega Millions
Draw Date
Feb 20, 2018
16.€158.94 Million
US$179.95 Million
Draw Date
Feb 19, 2022
17.$175 Million
Multi-State
Mega Millions
Draw Date
Feb 21, 2006
18.$154 Million
Multi-State
Mega Millions
Draw Date
Feb 18, 2014
19.$150 Million
Multi-State
Mega Millions
Draw Date
Feb 20, 2007
20.€109.02 Million
US$131.67 Million
Draw Date
Feb 18, 2021
21.$126 Million
Multi-State
Powerball
Draw Date
Feb 19, 2011
22.€102.03 Million
US$125.96 Million
Draw Date
Feb 20, 2018
23.€107.49 Million
US$121.74 Million
Draw Date
Feb 19, 2019
24.$120 Million
Multi-State
Mega Millions
Draw Date
Feb 20, 2009
25.$105 Million
Multi-State
Powerball
Draw Date
Feb 18, 2009

Lottery Post Member Birthdays On This Day

1993
Thursday, Feb 18, 1993
31 years old
1991
Monday, Feb 18, 1991
33 years old
1984
Saturday, Feb 18, 1984
40 years old
1983
Friday, Feb 18, 1983
41 years old
1983
Friday, Feb 18, 1983
41 years old
1982
Thursday, Feb 18, 1982
42 years old
1981
Wednesday, Feb 18, 1981
43 years old
1981
Wednesday, Feb 18, 1981
43 years old
1979
Sunday, Feb 18, 1979
45 years old
1979
Sunday, Feb 18, 1979
45 years old
1978
Saturday, Feb 18, 1978
46 years old
1977
Friday, Feb 18, 1977
47 years old
1976
Wednesday, Feb 18, 1976
48 years old
1976
Wednesday, Feb 18, 1976
48 years old
1973
Sunday, Feb 18, 1973
51 years old
1973
Sunday, Feb 18, 1973
51 years old
1971
Thursday, Feb 18, 1971
53 years old
1971
Thursday, Feb 18, 1971
53 years old
1970
Wednesday, Feb 18, 1970
54 years old
1961
Saturday, Feb 18, 1961
63 years old
1958
Tuesday, Feb 18, 1958
66 years old
1958
Tuesday, Feb 18, 1958
66 years old
1956
Saturday, Feb 18, 1956
68 years old
1955
Friday, Feb 18, 1955
69 years old
1954
Thursday, Feb 18, 1954
70 years old
1940
Sunday, Feb 18, 1940
84 years old
(year not provided)
(year not provided)
(year not provided)

Worldwide Events On This Day

2021
Perseverance, a Mars rover designed to explore Jezero crater on Mars, as part of NASA's Mars 2020 mission, lands successfully.
2018
66 people die when Iran Aseman Airlines Flight 3704 crashes in the Dena sub-range in the Zagros Mountains of Iran.
2014
At least 76 people are killed and hundreds are injured in clashes between riot police and demonstrators in Kyiv, Ukraine.
2013
Armed robbers steal a haul of diamonds worth $50 million during a raid at Brussels Airport in Belgium.
2010
WikiLeaks publishes the first of hundreds of thousands of classified documents disclosed by the soldier now known as Chelsea Manning.
2004
Up to 295 people, including nearly 200 rescue workers, die near Nishapur, Iran, when a runaway freight train carrying sulfur, petrol and fertilizer catches fire and explodes.
2003
192 people die when an arsonist sets fire to a subway train in Daegu, South Korea.
2001
FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested for spying for the Soviet Union. He is ultimately convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.
2001
Sampit conflict: Inter-ethnic violence between Dayaks and Madurese breaks out in Sampit, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, ultimately resulting in more than 500 deaths and 100,000 Madurese displaced from their homes.
1991
The IRA explodes bombs in the early morning at Paddington station and Victoria station in London.
1983
Thirteen people die and one is seriously injured in the Wah Mee massacre in Seattle. It is said to be the largest robbery-motivated mass-murder in U.S. history.
1979
Richard Petty wins a then-record sixth Daytona 500 after leaders Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough crash on the final lap of the first NASCAR race televised live flag-to-flag.
1977
The Xinjiang 61st Regiment Farm fire started during Chinese New Year when a firecracker ignited the wreaths of late Mao Zedong, killing 694 personnel. It remains the deadliest fireworks accidents in the world.
1977
A thousand armed soldiers raid Kalakuta Republic, the commune of Nigerian singer Fela Kuti, leading to the death of Funmilayo Anikulapo Kuti.
1977
The Space Shuttle Enterprise test vehicle is carried on its maiden "flight" on top of a Boeing 747.
1972
The California Supreme Court in the case of People v. Anderson, (6 Cal.3d 628) invalidates the state's death penalty and commutes the sentences of all death row inmates to life imprisonment.
1970
The Chicago Seven are found not guilty of conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
1965
The Gambia becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
1957
Kenyan rebel leader Dedan Kimathi is executed by the British colonial government.
1957
Walter James Bolton becomes the last person legally executed in New Zealand.
1955
Operation Teapot: Teapot test shot "Wasp" is successfully detonated at the Nevada Test Site with a yield of 1.2 kilotons. Wasp is the first of fourteen shots in the Teapot series.
1954
The first Church of Scientology is established in Los Angeles.
1947
First Indochina War: The French gain complete control of Hanoi after forcing the Viet Minh to withdraw to mountains.
1946
Sailors of the Royal Indian Navy mutiny in Bombay harbour, from where the action spreads throughout the Provinces of British India, involving 78 ships, twenty shore establishments and 20,000 sailors
1943
World War II: The Nazis arrest the members of the White Rose movement.
1943
World War II: Joseph Goebbels delivers his Sportpalast speech.
1942
World War II: The Imperial Japanese Army begins the systematic extermination of perceived hostile elements among the Chinese in Singapore.
1938
Second Sino-Japanese War: During the Nanking Massacre, the Nanking Safety Zone International Committee is renamed "Nanking International Rescue Committee", and the safety zone in place for refugees falls apart.
1932
The Empire of Japan creates the independent state of Manzhouguo (the obsolete Chinese name for Manchuria) free from the Republic of China and installed former Chinese Emperor Aisin Gioro Puyi as Chief Executive of the State.
1930
While studying photographs taken in January, Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto.
1930
Elm Farm Ollie becomes the first cow to fly in a fixed-wing aircraft and also the first cow to be milked in an aircraft.
1915
U-boat Campaign: The Imperial German Navy institutes unrestricted submarine warfare in the waters around Great Britain and Ireland.
1911
The first official flight with airmail takes place from Allahabad, United Provinces, British India (now India), when Henri Pequet, a 23-year-old pilot, delivers 6,500 letters to Naini, about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) away.
1906
Édouard de Laveleye forms the Belgian Olympic Committee in Brussels.
1900
Second Boer War: Imperial forces suffer their worst single-day loss of life on Bloody Sunday, the first day of the Battle of Paardeberg.
1885
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is published in the United States.
1878
John Tunstall is murdered by outlaw Jesse Evans, sparking the Lincoln County War in Lincoln County, New Mexico.
1873
Bulgarian revolutionary leader Vasil Levski is executed by hanging in Sofia by the Ottoman authorities.
1861
In Montgomery, Alabama, Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as the provisional President of the Confederate States of America.
1861
With Italian unification almost complete, Victor Emmanuel II of Piedmont, Savoy and Sardinia assumes the title of King of Italy.
1814
Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Montereau.
1797
French Revolutionary Wars: Sir Ralph Abercromby and a fleet of 18 British warships invade Trinidad.
1791
Congress passes a law admitting the state of Vermont to the Union, effective 4 March, after that state had existed for 14 years as a de facto independent largely unrecognized state.
1781
Fourth Anglo-Dutch War: Captain Thomas Shirley opens his expedition against Dutch colonial outposts on the Gold Coast of Africa (present-day Ghana).
1735
The ballad opera called Flora, or Hob in the Well went down in history as the first opera of any kind to be produced in North America (Charleston, S.C.)
1637
Eighty Years' War: Off the coast of Cornwall, England, a Spanish fleet intercepts an important Anglo-Dutch merchant convoy of 44 vessels escorted by six warships, destroying or capturing 20 of them.
1478
George, Duke of Clarence, convicted of treason against his older brother Edward IV of England, is executed in private at the Tower of London.
1332
Amda Seyon I, Emperor of Ethiopia begins his campaigns in the southern Muslim provinces.
1268
The Battle of Wesenberg is fought between the Livonian Order and Dovmont of Pskov.
1229
The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, signs a ten-year truce with al-Kamil, regaining Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem with neither military engagements nor support from the papacy.

Births On This Day

1998
Bailey Simonsson, Australian-New Zealand rugby league player
1994
J-Hope, South Korean rapper, singer-songwriter, dancer, and record producer
1992
Le'Veon Bell, American football player
1991
Sebastian Neumann, German footballer
1990
Monica Aksamit, American Olympic saber fencer
1989
Seilala Lam, Samoan rugby player.
1983
Jermaine Jenas, English international footballer
1982
Christian Tiffert, German footballer
1980
Regina Spektor, Russian-American musician and songwriter
1975
Gary Neville, English international footballer
1974
Carrie Ann Baade, American painter and academic
1974
Radek Černý, Czech international footballer
1974
Julia Butterfly Hill, American environmentalist and author
1974
Jillian Michaels, American personal trainer and television personality
1974
Leilani Maaja Münter, American environmental activist and former professional race car driver
1971
Thomas Bjørn, Danish golfer
1970
James H. Fowler, American political scientist and author
1968
Molly Ringwald, American actress
1967
Roberto Baggio, Italian international footballer
1967
Colin Jackson, Welsh sprinter and hurdler
1966
Phillip DeFreitas, Dominican-English cricketer
1965
Dr. Dre, American rapper, record producer, and entrepreneur
1964
Matt Dillon, American actor
1960
Greta Scacchi, Italian-Australian actress
1957
Marita Koch, German sprinter
1957
Vanna White, American television personality
1955
Lisa See, American writer and novelist
1954
Charlie Fowler, American mountaineer, author, and photographer (d. 2006)
1954
John Travolta, American actor, singer and producer
1952
Randy Crawford, American jazz and R&B singer
1952
Juice Newton, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1951
Queen Komal of Nepal
1951
Isabel Preysler, Filipino-Spanish journalist
1950
Nana Amba Eyiaba I, Ghanaian queen mother and advocate
1950
John Hughes, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2009)
1950
Cybill Shepherd, American actress
1947
Dennis DeYoung, American musician, singer, and songwriter
1946
Michael Buerk, English journalist
1940
Fabrizio De André, Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1999)
1940
Prue Leith, English restaurateur and journalist
1939
Claude Ake, Nigerian political scientist and academic (d. 1996)
1934
Audre Lorde, American writer and activist (d. 1992)
1933
Yoko Ono, Japanese-American multimedia artist and musician
1933
Bobby Robson, English international footballer and international manager (d. 2009)
1933
Mary Ure, Scottish-English actress (d. 1975)
1932
Miloš Forman, Czech-American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2018)
1931
Johnny Hart, American cartoonist, co-created The Wizard of Id (d. 2007)
1931
Toni Morrison, American novelist and editor, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2019).
1929
Len Deighton, English historian and author
1929
André Mathieu, Canadian pianist and composer (d. 1968)
1928
Rex Mossop, Australian rugby player and sportscaster
1927
Fazal Mahmood, Pakistani cricketer (d. 2005)
1926
Wallace Berman, American painter and illustrator (d. 1976)
1925
George Kennedy, American actor (d. 2016)
1922
Eric Gairy, Grenadan politician, 1st Prime Minister of Grenada (d. 1997)
1922
Helen Gurley Brown, American journalist and author (d. 2012)
1922
Connie Wisniewski, American baseball player (d. 1995)
1921
Mary Amdur, American toxicologist and public health researcher (d. 1998)
1921
Oscar Feltsman, Ukrainian-Russian pianist and composer (d. 2013)
1920
Rolande Falcinelli, French organist, pianist, composer, and pedagogue (d. 2006)
1919
Jack Palance, American boxer and actor (d. 2006)
1915
Phyllis Calvert, English actress (d. 2002)
1914
Pee Wee King, American singer-songwriter and fiddler (d. 2000)
1909
Wallace Stegner, American novelist, short story writer, and essayist (d. 1993)
1906
Hans Asperger, Austrian pediatrician and academic (d. 1980)
1903
Nikolai Podgorny, Ukrainian engineer and politician (d. 1983)
1899
Arthur Bryant, English historian and journalist (d. 1985)
1898
Luis Muñoz Marín, Puerto Rican poet and politician, 1st Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (d. 1980)
1896
Li Linsi, Chinese educator and diplomat (d. 1970)
1893
Maksim Haretski, Belarusian prose writer, journalist and activist (d. 1938)
1892
Wendell Willkie, American captain, lawyer, and politician (d. 1944)
1890
Edward Arnold, American actor (d. 1956)
1890
Adolphe Menjou, American actor (d. 1963)
1885
Henri Laurens, French sculptor and illustrator (d. 1954)
1883
Nikos Kazantzakis, Greek philosopher, author, and playwright (d. 1957)
1871
Harry Brearley, English inventor (d. 1948)
1870
William Laurel Harris, American painter and author (d. 1924)
1867
Hedwig Courths-Mahler, German writer (d. 1950)
1862
Charles M. Schwab, American businessman, co-founded Bethlehem Steel (d. 1939)
1860
Anders Zorn, Swedish artist (d. 1920)
1855
Jean Jules Jusserand, French historian, author, and diplomat, French Ambassador to the United States (d. 1932)
1850
George Henschel, German-English singer-songwriter, pianist, and conductor (d. 1934)
1849
Alexander Kielland, Norwegian author, playwright, and politician (d. 1906)
1848
Louis Comfort Tiffany, American stained glass artist (d. 1933)
1846
Wilson Barrett, English actor, playwright, and manager (d. 1904)
1838
Ernst Mach, Austrian physicist and philosopher (d. 1916)
1836
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Indian mystic and yogi (d. 1886)
1818
John O'Shanassy, Irish-Australian politician, 2nd Premier of Victoria (d. 1883)
1817
Lewis Armistead, American general (d. 1863)
1814
Samuel Fenton Cary, American lawyer and politician (d. 1900)
1754
Emanuel Granberg, Finnish church painter (d. 1797)
1745
Alessandro Volta, Italian physicist, invented the battery (d. 1827)
1732
Johann Christian Kittel, German organist and composer (d. 1809)
1658
Charles-Irénée Castel de Saint-Pierre, French philosopher and author (d. 1743)
1642
Marie Champmeslé, French actress (d. 1698)
1632
Giovanni Battista Vitali, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1692)
1626
Francesco Redi, Italian physician (d. 1697)
1609
Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, English historian and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (d. 1674)
1602
Per Brahe the Younger, Swedish soldier and politician, Governor-General of Finland (d. 1680)
1602
Michelangelo Cerquozzi, Italian painter (d. 1660)
1589
Henry Vane the Elder, English politician (d. 1655)
1589
Maarten Gerritsz Vries, Dutch explorer (d. 1646)
1559
Isaac Casaubon, Swiss philologist and scholar (d. 1614)
1547
Bahāʾ al-dīn al-ʿĀmilī, founder of Isfahan School of Islamic Philosophy (d. 1621)
1543
Charles III, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1608)
1530
Uesugi Kenshin, Japanese daimyō (d. 1578)
1516
Mary I of England (d. 1558)
1486
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Indian monk and saint (d. 1534)
1372
Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Egyptian jurist and scholar (d. 1448)
1201
Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, Persian scientist and writer (d. 1274)

Deaths On This Day

2020
Flavio Bucci, Italian actor and voice actor (b. 1947)
2019
Alessandro Mendini, Italian designer and architect (b. 1931)
2015
Elchanan Heilprin, Czechoslovakian-born English rabbi (b. 1920 or 1922)
2014
Mavis Gallant, Canadian-French author and playwright (b. 1922)
2014
Maria Franziska von Trapp, Austrian-American singer (b. 1914)
2001
Balthus, Polish-Swiss painter and illustrator (b. 1908)
2001
Dale Earnhardt, American racer and NASCAR seven times champion (b. 1951)
1982
Ngaio Marsh, New Zealand author (b. 1895)
1981
Jack Northrop, American engineer and businessman, founded the Northrop Corporation (b. 1895)
1977
Andy Devine, American actor (b. 1905)
1969
Dragiša Cvetković, Serbian lawyer and politician, 17th Prime Minister of Yugoslavia (b. 1893)
1967
J. Robert Oppenheimer, American physicist and academic (b. 1904)
1966
Grigory Nelyubov, Soviet pilot and military officer (b. 1934)
1960
Gertrude Vanderbilt, American stage actress (b. c. 1885)
1956
Gustave Charpentier, French composer (b. 1860)
1938
David King Udall, American missionary and politician (b. 1851)
1933
James J. Corbett, American boxer and actor (b. 1866)
1915
Frank James, American soldier and criminal (b. 1843)
1910
Lucy Stanton, American activist (b. 1831)
1902
Charles Lewis Tiffany, American businessman, founded Tiffany & Co. (b. 1812)
1893
Serranus Clinton Hastings, American lawyer and politician, 1st Chief Justice of California (b. 1814)
1880
Nikolay Zinin, Russian organic chemist (b. 1812)
1873
Vasil Levski, Bulgarian activist, founded the Internal Revolutionary Organization (b. 1837)
1851
Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi, German mathematician and academic (b. 1804)
1803
Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim, German poet and educator (b. 1719)
1788
John Whitehurst, English geologist and clockmaker (b. 1713)
1780
Kristijonas Donelaitis, Lithuanian pastor and poet (b. 1714)
1778
Joseph Marie Terray, French economist and politician, Controller-General of Finances (b. 1715)
1772
Count Johann Hartwig Ernst von Bernstorff, Danish politician (b. 1712)
1748
Otto Ferdinand von Abensberg und Traun, Austrian field marshal (b. 1677)
1743
Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici, Italian noble (b. 1667)
1712
Louis, Dauphin of France, (b. 1682)
1695
William Phips, governor of Massachusetts (b. 1650)
1683
Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem, Dutch painter (b. 1620)
1658
John Villiers, 1st Viscount Purbeck, English courtier (b. c. 1591)
1654
Jean-Louis Guez de Balzac, French author (b. 1594)
1564
Michelangelo, Italian sculptor and painter (b. 1475)
1546
Martin Luther, German priest and theologian, leader of the Protestant Reformation (b. 1483)
1535
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, German magician, astrologer, and theologian (b. 1486)
1502
Hedwig Jagiellon, duchess of Bavaria (b. 1457)
1478
George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence, English nobleman (b. 1449)
1455
Fra Angelico, Italian priest and painter (b. 1395)
1397
Enguerrand VII, French nobleman (b. 1340)
1379
Albert II, duke of Mecklenburg (b. 1318)
1294
Kublai Khan, Mongol emperor (b. 1215)
1225
Hugh Bigod, 3rd Earl of Norfolk, Norman nobleman
1218
Berthold V, duke of Zähringen (b. 1160)
1139
Yaropolk II, Grand Prince of Kiev (b. 1082)
999
Gregory V, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 972)
901
Thābit ibn Qurra, Arab astronomer and physician (b. 826)
814
Angilbert, Frankish monk and diplomat (b. 760)
675
Colmán, bishop of Lindisfarne