July 18th Major News Events

1984 England Dockers Strike

1984 : With the dockers strike now in it's 10th day Truckers stuck on both sides of the English channel are blockading the passenger ferry ports in protest at the strike. The Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher is expected to declare a nationwide state of emergency later this week if the dock workers and miners strike do not end and bring in troops to keep the country running.

1998 Papua New Guinea Tidal Wave

1998 : A tidal wave of 23 ft runs along the coast of Papua New Guinea wiping out Low lying fishing villages that were completely washed away and killing over 3,000 people.

2003 U.S.A. Kobe Bryant

2003 : Basketball star Kobe Bryant is charged with sexually assaulting a 19-year-old hotel employee at a hotel in Edwards, Colorado. Charge dropped because the woman did not want to go ahead with a trial.

2005 Eric Robert Rudolph Sentenced

2005 : Eric Rudolph (Olympic Park Bomber) is sentenced in Birmingham, Ala., to life in prison for an abortion clinic bombing that killed an off-duty police officer and maimed a nurse. He was arrested in May 2003. Eric Robert Rudolph was on the FBI's 10 most wanted list from 5th May 1998 to 31st May 2003 for a series of bombings including: Centennial Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta on July 27th, 1996 (1996 Summer Olympics) which killed spectator Alice Hawthorne and wounded 111 others, Abortion clinic bombing in Sandy Springs, Atlanta on January 16, 1997, The Otherside Lounge ( Gay and Lesbian Nightclub ) in Atlanta on February 21st, 1997, injuring five, Abortion clinic Bombing in Birmingham, Alabama on January 29th, 1998, killing officer Robert Sanderson and critically injuring nurse Emily Lyons.

2006 Iraq Japan Withdraws Troops

2006 : This day marks the final withdraw of Japanese troops from Iraq. The Japanese troops could only contribute on humanitarian and reconstruction fronts during their stay in Iraq because of their constitution, which disallows the use of force in international disputes. Some Japanese believed that their involvement in the Iraq war violated their constitution, which was created by the United States in 1947 after World War II.

2007 Brazil Plane Crash Sao Paulo

2007 : A plane crashed in Sao Paulo, Brazil on this day, killing up to 200 people. None of the 186 passengers on the plane survived as the plane crashed after losing control on the wet runway, hitting a fuel depot, exploding on impact.

2008 Nepal No President Elected

2008 : After deliberation, Nepal’s assembly was unable to elect a president on this day. This particular election was important because it came only months after the country abolished its monarchy. The lack of consensus also caused further delay within the assembly itself, because they need a president there to swear in a new prime minister.

2009 Space Shuttle Endeavour Docks With Space Station

2009 : The crew of the space shuttle Endeavour reached the International Space Station on this day. The addition of Endeavour’s crew to the orbit made that the greatest number of astronauts ever together in orbit, at a total of thirteen.

2012 Nazi War Crimes Suspect Detained

2012 : Laszlo Csatary, a ninety-seven year old suspected Nazi war criminal was detained and put under house arrest in Budapest. Csatary was a Hungarian police officer who the Simon Wiesenthal Center believed took part in the deportation of 15,700 Jews from the city of Kosice to the Auschwitz death camp.

2013 Mandela Spends Birthday in Hospital

2013 : Nelson Mandela spent his 95th birthday in the hospital as he was being treated for a lung infection. The former South African leader and national hero was to be celebrated throughout the country in honor of his birthday.