August 18, in world history

Long Tan Day in Australia (1966)

684 – Second Fitna: Umayyad partisans defeated the supporters of Ibn al-Zubayr and cemented Umayyad control of Syria.

1590 – On the third birthday of his granddaughter Virginia Dare, the first English child born in the Americas, John White returned to the Roanoke Colony in present-day North Carolina, U.S., only to find it deserted.

1868 – Astronomer Pierre Janssen (pictured) discovered helium while analysing the chromosphere of the sun during a total solar eclipse in Guntur, India.

1940 – Second World War: During the Battle of Britain, the Luftwaffe made an all-out effort to destroy RAF Fighter Command, wherein both sides lost more aircraft combined on this day than at any other point during the campaign.

2008 – War in Afghanistan: French ISAF forces were ambushed by Afghan militants, suffering heavy casualties.

Source: Duta

UCJ, UNILORIN.