December 18: What Happened on This Day in History (Elementary Level)?

(Page last edited 10/12/2017)

1. 1777 - The United States celebrates its firstThanksgiving, marking the recent victory by the Americans over British General John Burgoyne in the Battle of Saratoga in October.
2. 1787 - New Jersey becomes the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
3. 1892 - Premiere performance of The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
4. 1958 - Project SCORE, the world's first communications satellite, is launched.
5. 1966 - Saturn's moon Epimetheus is discovered by Richard L. Walker.
6. Famous Birthdays: J. J. Thomson (English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate), Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, Edwin Armstrong (American engineer, invented FM radio), Harold E. Varmus (American scientist, Nobel Prize laureate), Steven Spielberg (American director)

For famous birthdays and other daily events in history, visit our Daily Dose Activities.

Click Here for Yesterday in History: December 17

Click Here for Tomorrow in History: December 19

For more history resources on Internet 4 Classrooms, visit our Social Studies and History index. For Pre K-8th Grade Level History and Social Studies Resources, visit our Grade Level Index.