WHAT HAPPENED ON 18. DECEMBER
Want to find out what all happened on 18. December

Second Punic War: Battle of the Trebia – Hannibal's Carthaginian forces defeat those of the Roman Republic. (18. December 218. BC)

Kublai Khan renames his empire "Yuan" (元 yuán), officially marking the start of the Yuan Dynasty of Mongolia and China. (18. December 1271)

Portuguese forces score a military victory over the Kingdom of Kongo at the Battle of Mbumbi in present-day Angola. (18. December 1622)

Abel Tasman becomes first European to sight New Zealand. (18. December 1642)

The Whitehall Conference ends with the determination that there was no law preventing Jews from re-entering England after the Edict of Expulsion of 1290. (18. December 1655)

The United States celebrates its first Thanksgiving, marking the recent victory by the Americans over British General John Burgoyne in the Battle of Saratoga in October. (18. December 1777)

New Jersey becomes the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. (18. December 1787)

Surrender of the frigate La Lutine by French Royalists to Lord Samuel Hood; renamed HMS Lutine, she later becomes a famous treasure wreck. (18. December 1793)

The Angola Horror train wreck occurred. (18. December 1867)

John Kehoe, the last of the Molly Maguires is executed in Pennsylvania. (18. December 1878)

The Al-Thani family become the rulers of the state of Qatar (18. December 1878)

Richard Wetherill and his brother in-law discover the ancient Indian ruins of Cliff Palace in Mesa Verde. (18. December 1888)

Premiere performance of The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in Saint Petersburg, Russia. (18. December 1892)

Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat sets the first officially recognized land speed record of 39.245 mph (63.159 km/h) in a Jeantaud electric car (18. December 1898)

The Upper Ferntree Gully to Gembrook, Victoria Narrow-gauge (2 ft 6 in or 762 mm) Railway (now the Puffing Billy Railway) in Victoria, Australia is opened for traffic. (18. December 1900)

The Piltdown Man, later discovered to be a hoax, is announced by Charles Dawson. (18. December 1912)

World War I: The Battle of Verdun ends when German forces under Chief of staff Erich von Falkenhayn are defeated by the French, and suffer 337,000 casualties. (18. December 1916)

The resolution containing the language of the Eighteenth Amendment to enact Prohibition is passed by the United States Congress. (18. December 1917)

The Chicago Bears defeat the Portsmouth Spartans 9–0 in the first ever NFL Championship Game. Because of a blizzard, the game is moved from Wrigley Field to the Chicago Stadium, the field measuring 80 yards (73 m) long. (18. December 1932)

The Lanka Sama Samaja Party is founded in Ceylon. (18. December 1935)