On today’s edition of history corner, we recall that today marks the death of two notable inventors. Charles Babbage, who laid the foundation of modern computers, through his abacus machine, died on this day. Similarly, Thomas Edison, notable for the invention of light bulb, also died on this day. These and more do we have for you today, enjoy!!!
October 18, 1009
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, who hacked the Church's foundations down to bedrock.
October 18, 1240
Ukrainian city of Chernigov surrendered; despite this, still sacked and pillaged by Mongolian army of Batu.
October 18, 1685
French King Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes, cancelling rights of French Protestants.
October 18, 1775
African-American poet, Phillis Wheatley, freed from slavery.
October 18, 1776
Tadeusz Kościuszko received a commission from the US' Congress as a colonel of engineers in the Continental Army.
October 18, 1860
The Second Opium War finally ended at the Convention of Peking with the ratification of the Treaty of Tientsin, an unequal treaty.
October 18, 1867
Alaska Purchase: US took formal possession of Alaska from Russia, having paid $7.2 million.
October 18, 1871
Charles Babbage, English mathematician and engineer, who invented the Difference engine, died.
October 18, 1892
1st commercial long-distance phone line opened at Chicago-NY.
October 18, 1921
Charles Strite granted US patent #1,394,450 for his invention, the automatic pop-up toaster.
October 18, 1931
Thomas Edison, American businessman, who invented the light bulb and phonograph, died.
October 18, 1942
Hitler ordered the captured allied commandos to be killed.
October 18, 1962
James Watson (US), Francis Crick (UK) and Maurice Wilkins (UK) won the Nobel Prize for Medicine for their work in determining the structure of DNA.
October 18, 1968
US Olympic Committee suspended Tommie Smith and John Carlos for giving the Black Power salute to protest racism and injustice against African-Americans during Olympic medal ceremony.
October 18, 1979  
Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, ordered mass executions to stop.
October 18, 1997
The groundbreaking Guggenheim Museum, designed by Frank Gehry, was inaugurated by King Juan Carlos I in Bilbao, Spain.
October 18, 1998
Jesse Pipeline Explosion in Nigeria Kills Over 200. The oil pipeline, which was owned by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, was situated just outside the city of Lagos. Over 200 people died in the resulting fire that raged for 6 days before it could be put out.
October 18, 2007
After 8 years in exile, Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan. The same night, suicide attackers blew themselves up near Bhutto's convoy, killing over 100, including 20 police officers. Bhutto escaped uninjured.
October 18, 2013
Saudi Arabia became the first country to turn down a seat at the UN Security Council in protest over Syria.
October 18, 2016
US White House said that it was "confident" that Russia was behind recent email hacking and attempts to influence the election.
October 18, 2017
19th Chinese Communist Party congress opened in Beijing, with President Xi Jinping delivering 3hr 23min speech heralding “new era”.
October 18, 2019
1st all-female spacewalk by NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir outside the International Space Station.