{"id":22262,"date":"2023-02-18T07:10:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-18T06:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.historyextra.com\/?p=200256"},"modified":"2023-02-18T09:35:11","modified_gmt":"2023-02-18T08:35:11","slug":"18-february-on-this-day-in-history","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/rss_feed\/18-february-on-this-day-in-history\/","title":{"rendered":"18 February: On this day in history"},"content":{"rendered":"

What events happened on 18 February in history? We round up the events, births and deaths\u2026 <\/p>

By Lauren Good\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Saturday, 18 February 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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15 February 1113<\/h3>\n

Pope Paschal II promulgated the Papal Bull \u2018Pie postulatio voluntatis\u2019, which confirmed as a religious order the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, later known as the Knights Hospitaller.<\/p>\n

18 February 1268<\/h3>\n

At the battle of Wesenberg in modern-day Estonia, the knights of the Livonian Order and an alliance of Russian princes fought to a bloody standstill.<\/p>\n

18 February 1461<\/h3>\n

Birth in Sheffield of Harry Brearley, the metallurgist who pioneered the commercial development of martensitic stainless steel for use in the manufacture of cutlery.<\/p>\n

18 February 1478: the Duke of Clarence meets a sticky end<\/h3>\n

Edward IV\u2019s brother is apparently drowned in a barrel of wine<\/strong><\/p>\n

Even by the standards of medieval England, George, Duke of Clarence met a colourful end. \u201cTake him on the costard with the hilts of thy sword,\u201d says one of his two murderers in Shakespeare\u2019s play\u00a0Richard III<\/em>, \u201cand then throw him into the malmsey-butt in the next room.\u201d<\/p>\n

And so, for generations, the stage-Clarence has been stabbed repeatedly (\u201cTake that, and that\u201d) before being dragged away to the barrel of sweet wine. \u201cI\u2019ll drown you in the malmsey-butt within,\u201d says the First Murderer.<\/p>\n

So who was Clarence? The short answer is that he was the brother of the Yorkist king Edward IV<\/a>, but that doesn\u2019t convey his ambitious, slippery personality. During the 1460s he had been Edward\u2019s heir, but then they fell out. First Clarence joined Warwick the Kingmaker\u2019s rebellion; then he changed sides again and returned to Edward.<\/p>\n

For the next six years or so, the two men managed to rub along. But by 1477 Edward\u2019s wife had had two sons, and Clarence\u2019s hopes of the succession were gone. He floated the idea of marrying the Duke of Burgundy\u2019s daughter, but Edward vetoed it.<\/p>\n

And then, that summer, their relationship broke down completely. Clarence was dragged into the Tower of London, charged with \u201cunnatural, loathly treasons\u201d. For months he lingered; then, on 18 February 1478, he was executed.<\/p>\n

Was he really drowned in a butt of sweet wine? Writing only five years later, the Italian visitor Dominic Mancini said so. And who would invent such a bizarre story? | Written by Dominic Sandbrook<\/strong><\/p>\n

18 February 1609<\/h3>\n

Birth in Wiltshire of Edward Hyde, later First Earl of Clarendon. He began the 1640s as a moderate opponent of King Charles I but, as the constitutional demands of some in Parliament became more extreme, he gradually drifted into Royalism. He advised the King during the Civil War and later became Charles II\u2019s lord chancellor before being forced into exile in 1667. While in exile he completed his famous History of the Rebellion. His daughter, Anne, was the first wife of the future James II and mother of Queens Mary and Anne.<\/p>\n

18 February 1612<\/h3>\n

Italian nobleman, banker and conspirator Roberto di Ridolfi died in Florence. In 1570 he had devised a plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I and replace her with Mary Queen of Scots.<\/p>\n

18 February 1797<\/h3>\n

A British force under Sir Ralph Abercromby captured Trinidad.<\/p>\n

18 February 1838<\/h3>\n

Birth in Moravia of Ernst Mach, physicist and developer of the \u2018Mach number\u2019, the ratio of the speed of an object as related to the speed of sound.<\/p>\n

18 February 1861<\/h3>\n

At the Alabama State Capitol building in Montgomery, Jefferson Davis was sworn in as the first and only president of the Confederate States of America.<\/p>\n

18 February 1913<\/h3>\n

Pedro Lascurain became the world\u2019s shortest-serving president when he resigned as president of Mexico after holding office for less than an hour.<\/p>\n

18 February 1930<\/h3>\n

American astronomer Clyde William Tombaugh discovered Pluto. It was initially thought to be the ninth planet in the Solar System but in 2006, after the discovery of similar bodies, it was reclassified as a dwarf planet.<\/p>\n

Browse more On this day in history<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n