Today in History - History - February 18th

1503Henry Tudor created Prince of Wales (later Henry VIII)

1879Sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi is awarded a patent for his design for the Statue of Liberty

19752nd American Music Award: Olivia Newton-John & John Denver win

1977George Harrison releases "True Love"

2004Greg Maddux signs with the Chicago Cubs, the team he began his career with

1861Confederate President Jefferson Davis inaugurated at Montgomery Alabama (US Civil War)

1861King Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia becomes 1st King of Italy

1901Winston Churchill makes his maiden speech in the British House of Commons.

1991Edmonton Oiler goalie Grant Fuhr returns to NHL after season-long suspension for substance abuse & shuts out NJ Devils 4-0

1856The American Party (Know-Nothings) convenes in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to nominate its first Presidential candidate, former President Millard Fillmore.

1933Yoko Ono Lennon, [Mrs John Lennon], Tokyo Japan, singer and artist

1745Count Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Gerolamo Umberto Volta, Como, Italy, physicist and inventor (battery)

1940Molecular biologist Francis Crick (23) weds Ruth Doreen Dodd

1922Football player George Halas (27) weds Minnie Bushing

1977Actor Peter Sellers (51) weds actress Lynne Frederick (22)

1937Actress Mary Astor (30) weds film editor Manuel del Campo (23) in Yuma, Arizona

1546Martin Luther, biblical scholar/religious reformer, dies at 62

1973Frank Costello, American gangster, dies of a heart attack at 82

1564Michelangelo Buonarroti, Italian sculptor/painter (David), dies at 88

1587Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots (1560-87), beheaded at 44 [OS=Feb 8]