18 February: Historic events that took place on this date

The day, 18 February holds a significant place in world history as several major events took place on this date and continue to remain recorded in the pages of history. Apart from the births and deaths of notable personalities, the world has also witnessed significant war treaties, the invention of new technologies, changes of power, the birth and fall of nations, and also several national and international events. While history can be divided into decades, it is important to understand the arcs and significance of these events. In order to know in detail about some of these important events that took place on 18 February, read further. 1930 - Pluto was discovered A young farm boy from Kansas, Clyde W Tombaugh who had no formal training in astronomy became the first person to discover the dwarf planet, Pluto on this date in 1930. With the use of a 13-inch telescope, Tombaugh discovered the planet at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. A month after this in March, the discovery was announced officially. 1960 - The Latin American Free Trade Association was established It was on 18 February 1960 when a treaty was signed in Montevideo, Uruguay which led to the establishment of a free trade area and the Latin American Free Trade Association (LAFTA). The treaty which was signed by the representatives of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay became effective in June 1961. 2006 - Shani Davis became the first Black athlete to win an individual Winter Olympics gold medal On 18 February 2006, American speed skater Shani Davis became the first Black athlete to win an individual gold medal at the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. He won the medal after coming out first in the men’s 1,000-metre long-track final at the finals. Four years later, he defended his own title in that event. 2010 - Classified US government documents were leaked In what was believed to be the largest unauthorised release of state secrets in US history, several classified documents belonging to the US government were published by WikiLeaks on this date in 2010. The documents which covered topics including war, arms, mass surveillance, oil, and Julian Assange among others were leaked by former US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.