17/06/2026
On This Day 18th June in British History
~1429 French forces under the leadership of Joan of Arc defeated the main English army under Sir John Fastolf at the Battle of Patay (slightly north of Orléans, France). The event turned the tide of the Hundred Years' War.
~1583 The first Life Insurance policy was sold in London, and when a claim was eventually made, it was disputed.
~1633 Charles I was crowned King of Scotland, at Holyrood, Edinburgh.
~1767 The navigator Samuel Wallis sighted Tahiti and is considered the first European to reach the island.
~1769 The birth of Viscount Castlereagh, 2nd Marquis of Londonderry, a British statesman born in Ireland who, as foreign secretary to Lord Liverpool, organized the coalition against Napoleon.
~1815 The Battle of Waterloo:- Napoleon Bonaparte suffered defeat at the hands of the Duke of Wellington, bringing an end to the Napoleonic era of European history.
~1817 Waterloo Bridge across the River Thames was opened. Originally it was called Strand Bridge but was re-named in honour of the British victory at Waterloo in 1815.
~1822 London unveiled its first n**e statue - a bronze figure of Achilles in Hyde Park by sculptor Sir Richard Westmacott. The statue later acquired a discreet fig leaf.
~1858 Charles Darwin received a paper from Alfred Russel Wallace that included almost identical conclusions about evolution as Darwin's own, prompting Darwin to publish his theory.
~1928 The keel was laid, at Harland & Wolff - Belfast, for the biggest ship to date, the 1,000 foot, 60,000 ton Oceanic (III). She was never completed. Her keel was dismantled and the steel was used in two new, smaller ships, RMS Georgic and RMS Britannic. Both of these ships entered service in 1930 and were the last liners White Star ever built.
~1928 Amelia Earhart, along with pilot Wilmer Stultz and copilot/mechanic Louis Gordon flew from Newfoundland (17th June) landing at Pwll near Burry Port, South Wales on 18th June, thus becoming the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. The memorial at Burry Port. In 1932 she became the first woman to fly solo nonstop across the Atlantic, flying from Newfoundland to Culmore in Northern Ireland.
~1935 Germany signed a treaty with Britain limiting the size of the German fleet to 35 percent that of the Royal Navy.
~1945 William Joyce (known as Lord Haw-Haw) was charged with treason for his pro-German propaganda broadcasting during World War II, using the English language radio programme Germany Calling. He was hanged at Wandsworth Prison on 3rd January 1946.
~1963 Henry Cooper knocked Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) to the floor in round four at Wembley Stadium, London, but by the sixth, with Cooper badly cut, the fight was stopped and Clay remained world heavyweight boxing champion. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/boxing/article-2343207/Henry-Cooper-knocked-Cassius-Clay-50-years-ago--Jeff-Powell.html
~1965 The government announced it would introduce a blood alcohol limit for drivers, with penalties for those caught above it. http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/18/newsid_2562000/2562711.stm
~1972 A flight from London Heathrow to Brussels crashed minutes after take-off killing all 118 people on board. http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/18/newsid_2515000/2515787.stm
~2000 Jamie Andrew, aged 30 years, became the first quadruple amputee to scale Ben Nevis when he reached the snow-covered peak after a climb of 6½ hours. He had lost his hands and feet from severe frostbite after being stranded in the Alps in a fierce blizzard in 1999.
~ 2020 – Vera Lynn, English singer who was the "Forces' Sweetheart" in World War II died.
