What happened in 1918
46 entries recorded for 1918, listed by date. That was 108 years ago.
1918 at a glance
- Years ago
- 108 (as of 2026)
- Century
- 20th century
- Decade
- 1910s
- Generation born
- Greatest Generation
- Entries here
- 46
- Breakdown
- 46 historical events
January
- January 8
Woodrow Wilson
U.S. president Woodrow Wilson announced his Fourteen Points for a moral cause and for post–World War I peace in Europe.
- January 12
Minnie Pit Disaster
An underground explosion at a coal mine in Staffordshire, England, killed 155 men and boys.
- January 26
Red Guards (Finland)
A group of Red Guards hung a red lantern atop the tower of the Helsinki Workers' House, symbolically marking the start of the Finnish Civil War.
February
- February 6
Conscientious objector
Conscientious objector Henry Firth died in a work camp on Dartmoor, England, triggering a strike over living conditions.
- February 16
Council of Lithuania
The Council of Lithuania signed the Act of Independence (pictured), proclaiming the restoration of an independent Lithuania.
March
- March 4
Camp Funston
A case of influenza was recorded at Camp Funston, Kansas, United States, conventionally marking the beginning of the Spanish flu pandemic.
- March 4
United States Navy
The United States Navy suffered its largest non-combat loss of life when the collier USS Cyclops set sail from Barbados to Baltimore and was never seen again, presumably disappearing in the Bermuda Triangle.
- March 15
Finnish Civil War
Finnish Civil War: The Battle of Tampere started, leading to the capture of approximately 11,000 Red prisoners, and turning the tide of the war in favour of the Whites.
- March 21
World War I
First World War: The German Army opened the Spring Offensive with Operation Michael, attempting to break through the Allied lines and to seize ports on the English Channel.
- March 28
World War I
World War I: British and Australian troops defeated German forces at the First Battle of Dernancourt in northern France.
- March 30
March Days
Four days of inter-ethnic clashes broke out in Baku, Azerbaijan, resulting in about 12,000 deaths.
April
- April 1
Royal Air Force
The United Kingdom established the Royal Air Force, near the end of the First World War.
- April 22
Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic
The short-lived Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic was established on territory formerly part of the Russian Empire.
- April 23
World War I
First World War: The British Royal Navy launched unsuccessful raids on Ostend and Zeebrugge in German-occupied Belgium.
- April 24
World War I
First World War: The Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux began, which contained the first instance of tanks fighting against each other.
May
- May 9
World War I
First World War: Germany repelled Britain's second attempt to blockade the Belgian port of Ostend.
- May 16
Sedition Act of 1918
The Sedition Act was passed in the United States, forbidding Americans from using "disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language" about the government, flag, or armed forces during the ongoing World War I.
- May 29
World War I
World War I: Armenian forces defeated Ottoman troops at the Battle of Sardarabad, halting the Turkish advance and preventing further destruction of the Armenian nation.
June
- June 10
World War I
World War I: Italian torpedo boats sank the Austro-Hungarian dreadnought SMS Szent István off the Dalmatian coast, killing 89 of the crew.
- June 26
World War I
World War I: The 26-day Battle of Belleau Wood near the Marne River in France ended with American forces finally clearing that forest of German troops.
July
- July 4
World War I
World War I: Allied forces led by the Australian general John Monash won the Battle of Hamel, demonstrating the effectiveness of combined-arms techniques in trench warfare.
- July 12
Magazine (artillery)
An explosion in the ammunition magazine of the Japanese battleship Kawachi resulted in the deaths of more than 600 officers and crewmen.
- July 17
Russian Revolution
Russian Revolution: Tsar Nicholas II and his family (pictured) were murdered by Bolsheviks at Yekaterinburg.
- July 17
RMS Carpathia
RMS Carpathia, which had rescued survivors of the 1912 Titanic sinking, was sunk by a German U-boat with the loss of five crew.
- July 21
World War I
World War I: An Imperial German Navy U-boat opened fire on a small convoy of barges and defending aircraft near the American town of Orleans, Massachusetts.
August
- August 8
Battle of Amiens (1918)
The Battle of Amiens began in northern France, marking the start of the Allies' Hundred Days Offensive through the German front lines that ultimately led to the end of World War I.
- August 13
Opha May Johnson
Opha May Johnson became the first woman to enlist in the United States Marine Corps.
September
- September 18
World War I
World War I: The Central Powers' defeat at the Battle of Dobro Pole played a role in the Bulgarian withdrawal from the war and led to the subsequent liberation of Vardar Macedonia.
- September 21
World War I
World War I: The Battle of Nazareth ended with the British Empire victorious over the Ottomans.
- September 29
World War I
World War I: The Battle of St Quentin Canal took place, which led to the British Fourth Army making the first breach of the German defensive Hindenburg Line.
- September 30
Nestor Makhno
Nestor Makhno and Fedir Shchus led insurgents to successfully ambush the Central Powers that occupied southern Ukraine during World War I.
October
- October 1
World War I
First World War: British and Arab troops captured Damascus from the Ottoman Empire.
- October 4
World War I
First World War: The Japanese merhant ship Hirano Maru was sunk by a German submarine in the Celtic Sea with the loss of 291 lives.
- October 8
World War I
World War I: After his platoon suffered heavy casualties during the Meuse–Argonne offensive in France's Forest of Argonne, American Corporal Alvin York led the 7 remaining men on an attack against a German machine gun nest; 25 German soldiers were killed and 132 captured.
November
- November 9
Azerbaijan Democratic Republic
The government of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic adopted a tricolour national flag (pictured), which is again in use today, with slight modifications, by the present-day Republic of Azerbaijan.
- November 11
Armistice of 11 November 1918
The armistice between the German Empire and the Allies was signed in a railway carriage in the Forest of Compiègne of France (signatories pictured).
- November 11
Józef Piłsudski
Józef Piłsudski, appointed the commander-in-chief of Polish forces by the Regency Council, was entrusted with the creation of a national government for the newly independent Poland.
- November 24
Podgorica Assembly
The Podgorica Assembly convened in Montenegro, with the intention of uniting with the Kingdom of Serbia.
December
- December 1
Danish–Icelandic Act of Union
With the signing of the Act of Union, Denmark recognized the Kingdom of Iceland as a fully sovereign state in personal union through a common monarch.
- December 5
Sokol movement
National Guards and Sokol volunteers protested in Zagreb, leading to an armed clash with regiments of the Home Guard and former Common Army.
- December 14
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Puccini's comic opera Gianni Schicchi premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.
- December 16
Vincas Mickevičius-Kapsukas
Vincas Mickevičius-Kapsukas declared the formation of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, a puppet state created by Soviet Russia to justify the Lithuanian–Soviet War.
- December 17
Darwin rebellion
About 1,000 demonstrators marched (pictured) on Government House in Darwin, Australia, where they burned an effigy of Administrator John Gilruth and demanded his resignation.
- December 24
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Forces united in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes defeated Hungarian forces to end the occupation of Međimurje.
- December 28
Constance Markievicz
Constance Markievicz, while detained in Holloway prison, becomes the first woman to be elected Member of Parliament (MP) to the British House of Commons.
- December 28
1918 United Kingdom general election in Ireland
At the general election in Ireland, Constance Markievicz was elected to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom as the first female member of Parliament, although she never took her seat.
Questions about 1918
What happened in 1918?
This site records 46 entries for 1918, including Woodrow Wilson on January 8. They are listed below by date.
How long ago was 1918?
108 years ago, counting from 2026. Anyone born in 1918 turns 108 this year.
Which century is 1918 in?
1918 falls in the 20th century, in the 1910s.
Which generation was born in 1918?
Greatest Generation (1901–1927). Grew up in the Depression and fought in the Second World War.
Text adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0 and from Wikidata (CC0). Images come from Wikimedia Commons; credit and licence are shown with each image. Editorial entries are © What's On This Date. Sources & licensing · How this site works.