On This Day - What happened 18 March

On March 17, 9,000 British troops and Loyalists began a chaotic ten-day evacuation of Boston aboard 120 ships. Soon after, Washington entered the city with 500 men, with explicit orders not to plunder the city. He ordered vaccinations against smallpox to great effect, as he did later in Morristown, New Jersey.

In Lombardy, tensions increased until the Milanese and Venetians rose in revolt on 18 March 1848.

On March 18, a large demonstration occurred. After two shots were fired, fearing that some of the 20,000 soldiers would be used against them, demonstrators erected barricades, and a battle ensued until troops were ordered 13 hours later to retreat, leaving hundreds dead.

Responding to Grimké's comments about his proposals, on March 18, 1915, Woodson wrote: I am not afraid of being sued by white businessmen. In fact, I should welcome such a law suit. It would do the cause much good. Let us banish fear. We have been in this mental state for three centuries. I am a radical. I am ready to act, if I can find brave men to help me. His difference of opinion with Grimké, who wanted a more conservative course, contributed to Woodson's ending his affiliation with the NAACP.

Gandhi began his sentence on 18 March 1922. With Gandhi isolated in prison, the Indian National Congress split into two factions, , opposing this move. Furthermore, co-operation among Hindus and Muslims ended as Khilafat movement collapsed with the rise of Ataturk in Turkey. Muslim leaders left the Congress and began forming Muslim organizations. The political base behind Gandhi had broken into factions.

At the age of 19, Wong was cast in a supporting role as a scheming Mongol slave in the 1924 Douglas Fairbanks picture The Thief of Bagdad. Playing a stereotypical "Dragon Lady" role, her brief appearances on-screen caught the attention of audiences and critics alike.

The Tri-State Tornado of Wednesday, March 18, 1925 was the deadliest tornado in United States history. It was also the most exceptional tornado during a major outbreak of at least 12 known significant tornadoes, spanning a large portion of the Midwestern and Southern United States. This one tornado alone inflicted 695 fatalities, more than twice as many as the second deadliest, the Great Natchez, Mississippi Tornado.

Within weeks of arriving at Bletchley Park, Turing had specified an electromechanical machine called the bombe, which could break Enigma more effectively than the Polish bomba kryptologiczna, from which its name was derived. The first bombe was installed on 18 March 1940.

In March 1970, Prince Sihanouk was deposed by his pro-American prime minister Lon Nol, who demanded that North Vietnamese troops leave Cambodia or face military action.

On 18 March 1971, Stravinsky was taken to Lenox Hill Hospital with pulmonary edema where he stayed for ten days.

Arab oil ministers announced the end of the embargo against the United States, all except Libya.

The Iraqis, realising that the Iranians were planning to attack, decided to preempt them with Operation al-Fawz al-'Azim (Supreme Success) on 19 March. Using a large number of tanks, helicopters, and fighter jets, they attacked the Iranian buildup around the Roghabiyeh pass. Though Saddam and his generals assumed they had succeeded, in reality the Iranian forces remained fully intact.

On 18 March 1992, all three sides signed the Lisbon Agreement: Alija Izetbegović for the Bosniaks, Radovan Karadžić for the Serbs and Mate Boban for the Croats.

On March 18, 1995, Jordan announced his return to the NBA through a two-word press release: "I'm back."

On 18 March 1999, the Albanian, US, and British delegations signed what became known as the Rambouillet Accords, while the Yugoslav and Russian delegations refused.

Mamie and Gene Mobley remained happily married until Gene's death from a stroke on March 18, 2000.

When wanted Italian terrorist Cesare Battisti was arrested in Rio de Janeiro on 18 March 2007 by Brazilian and French police officers, Brazilian Minister of Justice Tarso Genro granted him status as a political refugee, a controversial decision which divided Italy and the Brazilian and international press.

The IPO took place on March 18, 2008. Visa sold 406 million shares at US$44 per share ($2 above the high end of the expected $37–42 pricing range), raising US$17.9 billion in the largest initial public offering in U.S. history.

On 18 March 2014, at GDC, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida announced their new virtual reality technology dubbed Project Morpheus, and later named PlayStation VR, for PlayStation 4.The headset brought VR gaming and non-gaming software to the company's console. According to a report released by Houston-based patent consulting firm LexInnova in May 2015, Sony is leading the virtual reality patent race. According to the firm's analysis of nearly 12,000 patents or patent applications, Sony has 366 virtual reality patents or patent applications. PlayStation VR was released worldwide on 13 October 2016.

On March 18, 2014, Oracle released Java SE 8.

On 18 March 2019, the Speaker (Speaker of the House of Commons) informed the House of Commons that a third meaningful vote could be held only on a motion that was significantly different from the previous one, citing parliamentary precedents going back to 1604.

As of 18 March 2020, the epidemic was reported to be present in all states, plus the District of Columbia. The number of confirmed cases in the U.S. rose to 9,486, with 157 deaths.

As of March 18, Wuhan, along with the rest of China has not had any new cases, raising questions of the potential consequences when social distancing requirements start to be lifted. Estimates are that less than 1% in China have had the disease, leaving more than 99% vulnerable to future waves of infection. With SARS in 2003, there was no transmission to others during incubation and the early symptoms. With COVID-19, there is evidence of early transmission. Ben Cowling, professor of epidemiology at Hong Kong University, said, “This coronavirus is more comparable to influenza.” It is not known how and if Covid-19 may resurface, though some fear it could follow a similar path to the 1918-1919 flu pandemic in which the second and third waves were more deadly than the first.

On 18, March, the WHO declared on its situation report 58 that the number of infections has reached 191,127 and that the death count was 7807.

Prince William was injured in an attack.