Events from the year 1918 in the United States.
Incumbents
Federal government President: Woodrow Wilson (D-New Jersey) Vice President: Thomas R. Marshall (D-Indiana) Chief Justice: Edward Douglass White (Louisiana) Speaker of the House of Representatives: Champ Clark (D-Missouri) Congress: 65th
State governments Governors and lieutenant governors Governors
Lieutenant governors
Events
January–March January – The World Tomorrow pacifist magazine begins publication. January 8 – President Woodrow Wilson delivers his Fourteen Points speech. February 21 – The last Carolina parakeet (the last breed of parrot native to the eastern U.S.), a male named "Incas", dies at the Cincinnati Zoo. March – The Liberator socialist magazine begins publication. March 4 – A soldier at Camp Funston, Kansas falls sick with the first confirmed case of the Spanish flu. March 19 – The U.S. Congress establishes time zones and approves daylight saving time (DST goes into effect on March 31).
April–June April 21 – The 6.7 San Jacinto earthquake shakes southern California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Severe), causing $200,000 in damage, one death, and several injuries. May 2 – General Motors acquires the Chevrolet Motor Company of Delaware. May 15 – The United States Post Office Department (later renamed the United States Postal Service) begins the first regular airmail service in the world (between New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, DC). May 16 – The Sedition Act of 1918 is approved by the U.S. Congress. May 22 – The small town of Codell, Kansas is hit for the fifth year in a row by a tornado. Coincidentally, all three tornadoes hit on the same date. May 23 – First victims of the "axeman of New Orleans" in a 17-month series of brutal murders mainly directed at Italian American shopkeepers and their families; the serial killer is never identified. June 8 – The total solar eclipse of June 8, 1918 crosses the United States from Washington State to Florida. June 22 Suspects in the Chicago Restaurant Poisonings are arrested, and more than 100 waiters are taken into custody, for poisoning restaurant customers with a lethal powder called Mickey Finn. Hammond Circus Train Wreck: A locomotive engineer fell asleep and ran his troop train into the rear of a circus train near Hammond, Indiana. The circus train held 400 performers and roustabouts of the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus.
July–September
July 9 – Great Train Wreck of 1918: In Nashville, Tennessee, an inbound local train collides with an outbound express, killing 101 and injuring 171. It is considered the worst rail accident in U.S. history. August – A deadly second wave of the Spanish flu starts in France, Sierra Leone and the United States. August 13 – Opha May Johnson becomes the first woman to enlist in the United States Marine Corps. August 27 – Border War; Battle of Ambos Nogales – U.S. Army forces skirmish with Mexican Carrancistas at Nogales, Arizona, in the only battle of World War I fought on U.S. soil. September 11 – The Boston Red Sox defeat the Chicago Cubs for the 1918 World Series championship, their last World Series win until 2004. September 12–15 – World War I: Battle of Saint-Mihiel fought in France: The first and only offensive launched solely by the American Expeditionary Forces under John J. Pershing overcomes German forces in the Saint-Mihiel salient.
October–December October 4 – The T. A. Gillespie Company Shell Loading Plant explosion in New Jersey kills 100+, and destroys enough ammunition to supply the Western Front for 6 months. October 8 – World War I: In the Forest of Argonne in France, U.S. Corporal Alvin C. York almost single-handedly kills 25 German soldiers and captures 132. October 11 – The 7.1 San Fermín earthquake shakes Puerto Rico with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), killing 76–116 people. A destructive tsunami contributed to the damage and loss of life. October 12 – 1918 Cloquet Fire: The city of Cloquet, Minnesota and nearby areas are destroyed in a fire, killing 453. October 25 – The sinks on Vanderbilt Reef near Juneau, Alaska; 353 people die in the greatest maritime disaster in the Pacific Northwest. November 1 – Malbone Street Wreck: The worst rapid transit accident in world history occurs under the intersection of Malbone Street and Flatbush Avenue, in Brooklyn, New York City, with at least 93 dead. November 2 – Thomas Kilby is elected the 36th governor of Alabama defeating Dallas B. Smith. November 11 – World War I ends. December 4 – President of the U.S. Woodrow Wilson sails for the Paris Peace Conference, becoming the first U.S. president to travel to Europe while in office. December 19 – Ripley's Believe It or Not! first appears as a cartoon under the title Champs and Chumps in The New York Globe.
Undated The Native American Church is formally founded. The Association Against the Prohibition Amendment is founded to oppose Prohibition in the U.S. George Drumm's concert march "Hail, America" is first performed in New York City.
Ongoing Progressive Era (1890s–1920s) Lochner era (c. 1897–c. 1937) U.S. occupation of Haiti (1915–1934) U.S. occupation of the Dominican Republic (1916-1924) World War I, U.S. involvement (1917–1918) First Red Scare (1917–1920)
Births
January
January 1 – Ed Price, American soldier, pilot, and politician (d. 2012) January 9 – Alma Ziegler, professional baseball player (d. 2005) January 15 – Ira B. Harkey Jr., newspaper editor (d. 2006) January 16 – Stirling Silliphant, screenwriter and producer (d. 1996) January 17 – George M. Leader, politician (d. 2013) January 19 Peter Hobbs, actor (d. 2011) John H. Johnson, African-American publisher, founder of Ebony (d. 2005) January 20 – Nevin S. Scrimshaw, food scientist (d. 2013) January 21 – Richard Winters, World War II soldier (d. 2011) January 23 – Gertrude B. Elion, pharmacologist, winner of Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1988 (d. 1999) January 24 – Oral Roberts, neo-Pentecostal televangelist (d. 2009) January 25 – Ernie Harwell, baseball sportscaster (d. 2010) January 26 Philip José Farmer, writer (d. 2009) Vito Scotti, actor (d. 1996) January 27 – Elmore James, musician (d. 1963) January 29 – John Forsythe, actor (Dynasty) (d. 2010) January 31 – Millie Dunn Veasey, African-American civil rights activist and World War II soldier (d. 2018)
February
February 3 Millie Bailey, World War II veteran and civil servant (d. 2022) Joey Bishop, American entertainer, member of the "Rat Pack" (d. 2007) Martin Greenberg, American poet and translator (d. 2021) Helen Stephens, American athlete (d. 1994) February 8 Fred Blassie, American professional wrestler, novelty singer (Pencil Neck Geek) (d. 2003) Walter Newton Read, American lawyer and second chairman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission (d. 2001) February 12 – Julian Schwinger, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994) February 15 Allan Arbus, American actor (M*A*S*H) (d. 2013) William T. Young, American businessman (d. 2004) February 16 – Patty Andrews, American singer (The Andrews Sisters) (d. 2013) February 17 – William Bronk, American poet (d. 1999) February 19 – Fay McKenzie, American silent film actress (d. 2019) February 21 – Robert E. Thacker, American aviator and test pilot (d. 2020) February 22 Charlie Finley, American businessman (d. 1996) Don Pardo, American television announcer (Saturday Night Live) (d. 2014) Robert Pershing Wadlow, American tallest man record-holder (d. 1940) February 25 Barney Ewell, athlete (d. 1996) Bobby Riggs, tennis player (d. 1995) February 26 Otis R. Bowen, politician (d. 2013) Theodore Sturgeon, writer (d. 1985)
March
March 1 – James N. Morgan, economist (d. 2018) March 3 – Arthur Kornberg, biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2007) March 4 – Margaret Osborne duPont, American female tennis player (d. 2012) March 5 – James Tobin, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2002) March 8 – Mendel L. Peterson, American underwater archaeologist (d. 2003) March 9 Marguerite Chapman, American actress (d. 1999) George Lincoln Rockwell, American Nazi leader (d. 1967) Mickey Spillane, American writer (d. 2006) March 11 – Jack Coe, American evangelist (d. 1956) March 12 – Elaine de Kooning, American artist (d. 1989) March 13 – Eddie Pellagrini, American baseball player, coach (d. 2006) March 15 – Richard Ellmann, American literary biographer (d. 1987) March 16 – Frederick Reines, American physicist, winner of Nobel Prize in Physics in 1995 (d. 1998) March 17 – Ross Bass, American politician (d. 1993) March 18 – Bob Broeg, American sports writer (d. 2005) March 20 – Jack Barry, American television game show host, producer (d. 1984) March 23 Helene Hale, American politician (d. 2013) Stick McGhee, American jump blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter (d. 1961) March 25 – Howard Cosell, American attorney, lecturer, and sports journalist (d. 1995) March 26 – Lloyd McCuiston, American politician March 28 – Alberto Valdés, American artist (d. 1998) March 29 Pearl Bailey, African-American singer, actress (d. 1990) Shirley Jameson, American female baseball player (d. 1993) Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart (d. 1992)
April
April 1 – Milt Earnhart, American politician (d. 2020) April 4 – Joseph Ashbrook, American astronomer (d. 1980) April 7 – Bobby Doerr, American baseball player (d. 2017) April 8 Betty Ford, First Lady of the United States, Second Lady of the United States (d. 2011) Charles P. Roland, American historian (d. 2022) April 14 – Mary Healy, American actress, variety entertainer and singer (d. 2015) April 15 Louis O. Coxe, writer (d. 1993) Edmund Jones, politician (d. 2019) April 17 William Holden, actor (d. 1981) Anne Shirley, actress (d. 1993) April 18 – Clifton Hillegass, author, founder of CliffsNotes (d. 2001) April 20 – Edward L. Beach Jr., naval captain and author (d. 2002) April 22 Mickey Vernon, baseball player (d. 2008) William Jay Smith, American poet (d. 2015) April 24 – Lou Dorfsman, graphic designer (d. 2008) April 27 – John Rice, baseball umpire (d. 2011) April 28 Mildred Persinger, feminist (d. 2018) Rodger Young, United States Army soldier, remembered in the song "The Ballad of Rodger Young" (d. 1943) April 29 – George Allen, American football coach (d. 1990)
May
May 1 – Jack Paar, American television show host (The Tonight Show) (d. 2004)Wepman, Dennis. "Paar, Jack", American National Biography Online, Oxford University Press (Oxford, England). Retrieved January 8, 2019. May 3 – Richard Dudman, American reporter, editorial writer (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) (d. 2017) May 9 Russell M. Carneal, American politician, judge (d. 1998) Orville Freeman, American politician (d. 2003) Mike Wallace, American journalist (d. 2012) May 10 T. Berry Brazelton, American pediatrician (d. 2018) Jane Mayhall, American poet and novelist (d. 2009) George Welch, U.S. soldier and pilot (d. 1954) May 11 Richard Feynman, American physicist, winner of Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965 (d. 1988) Phil Rasmussen, pilot (d. 2005) May 12 – Julius Rosenberg, American-born Soviet spy (d. 1953) May 15 – Eddy Arnold, country singer (d. 2008) May 17 – A. C. Lyles, film producer (d. 2013) May 18 Claudia Bryar, actress (d. 2011) Joe Krush, illustrator (d. 2022) May 20 – Edward B. Lewis, geneticist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2004) May 21 – Lloyd Hartman Elliott, educator, president of George Washington University (d. 2013) May 23 Frank Mancuso, major league baseball player, politician (d. 2007) Naomi Replansky, poet (d. 2023)
June
June 2 – Kathryn Tucker Windham, writer, storyteller (d. 2011) June 4 – Johnny Klein, drummer (d. 1997) June 6 – Edwin G. Krebs, biochemist, winner of Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1992 (d. 2009) June 8