August 18

1227 Genghis Khan died in the Liupan Mountains in northwestern China, on August 18, 1227 during the fall of Yinchuan, the capital of Western Xia. After Genghis' passing, his body was returned to Mongolia and presumably to his birthplace in Khentii Aimag, where many assume he is buried somewhere close to the Onon River and the Burkhan Khaldun mountain. His exact burial site is unknown.

1572 On August 18, 1572 Henry of Navarre (future Henry IV of France) married Marguerite de Valois, sister of the then King Charles IX at Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. Henry's first marriage was not a happy one and the couple remained childless. The two had separated even before Henry had succeeded to the French throne in August 1589 and Marguerite de Valois lived for many years in the chateau of Usson in Auvergne. Their marriage was annulled in 1599 and the king remarried the following year.

Henry of Navarre and Margaret of  Valois

1587 Virginia Dare, born on August 18, 1587 on Roanoke Island, was the first baby born of English parents in the New World. She was born to English parents Ananias Dare and Eleanor Whit and named after the Virginia Colony. Her grandfather was Governor John White of the Colony of Roanoke.

1782 The first time William Blake met pretty Catherine Boucher, the daughter of a Chelsea market gardener, the conviction that this was the man she must marry so overwhelmed her that she fainted. They married on August 18, 1782 in St. Mary's Church, Battersea, London. Whilst William engraved words and pictures on copper printing plates, Catherine made the printing impressions, hand colored the pictures and bound the books. Their marriage remained a close and devoted one until his death.

1868 French astronomer Pierre Jules César Janssen discovered helium on August 18, 1868, while analyzing the chromosphere of the sun during a total solar eclipse in Guntur, India. Because helium was found in the Sun before it was found on Earth, its name comes from the Greek word for Sun, helios. Helium is the only element that was discovered in space before found on Earth.

Helium discharge tune. By Alchemist-hp

1918 Towards the end of the First World War, Italian tenor Enrico Caruso met and wooed a New York socialite, Dorothy Benjamin (1893–1955). In spite of the disapproval of Dorothy's patent lawyer father, the couple wed on August 18, 1918. They had one daughter, Gloria Caruso Caruso died in Naples on August 2, 1921, of pleurisy. Following the loss of her husband, Dorothy wrote two biographies on Caruso, published in 1928 and 1945.

1946 Dublin passed a local by-law on August 18, 1946 forbidding taxi drivers from sleeping on the roof of their cabs. The local by-law was passed in response to complaints from citizens about the unsightly and unhygienic practice of taxi drivers sleeping on the roofs of their cabs. The by-law also made it illegal for taxi drivers to sleep in their cabs while they were parked on public streets.

1948 On August 18, 1948 the Australian cricket team  captained by Don Bradman, completed a 4–0 Ashes series win, earning them the nickname of "The Invincibles" for being the first Test side to play an entire tour of England without losing a match. It was the last Test in Don Bradman's career.  It was the last Test in Don Bradman's career. He needed only four runs from his final innings to have a Test batting average of exactly 100, but he failed to score, bowled second ball for a duck by leg spinner Eric Hollies.

1949 Trained as a cobbler, Adolf Dassler started to produce his own sports shoes in his mother's laundry after his return from World War I. On July 1, 1924, his older brother Rudolf Dassler joined the business, which became the Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik (Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory). Adidas was founded on August 18, 1949 by Adolf Dassler, following a family feud between him and Rudolf. His older brother had established Puma the previous year, which quickly became the business rival of Adidas.

1992 Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love's daughter, Frances Bean Cobain, was born on August 18, 1992, She was named Frances after Frances McKee of The Vaselines and Bean because Cobain thought she looked like a kidney bean on the ultrasound.

2004 Google's initial public offering of stock was on August 18, 2004. The company sold 22.5 million shares, raising over $1.9 billion. The IPO was a huge success, with the stock price closing the day at $100.34, an 18% increase. This made Google the most valuable Internet company at the time.