So you want to have a drink but you aren't sure why? Here are some GREAT reasons to call your friends over and have a party.

October 18th


- Alaska Day (Alaska)
- Christian Feast Day:

October 18th


- 2007 - Karachi bombings: A suicide attack on a motorcade carrying former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto kills 139 and wounds 450 more. Bhutto herself was not injured.
- 2003 - Bolivian Gas War: President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, is forced to resign and leave Bolivia.
- 1991 - Azerbaijan declares independence from USSR.
- 1977 - German Autumn: a set of events revolving around the kidnapping of Hanns-Martin Schleyer and the hijacking of a Lufthansa flight by the Red Army Faction (RAF) comes to an end when Schleyer is murdered and various RAF members allegedly commit suicide.
- 1968 - The U.S. Olympic Committee suspends Tommie Smith and John Carlos for giving a "black power" salute during a victory ceremony at the Mexico City games.
- 1967 - The Soviet probe Venera 4 reaches Venus and becomes the first spacecraft to measure the atmosphere of another planet.
- 1964 - The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair closes for its first season after a six-month run.
- 1954 - Texas Instruments announces the first Transistor radio.
- 1945 - The USSR's nuclear program receives plans for the United States plutonium bomb from Klaus Fuchs at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
- 1945 - A group of the Venezuelan Armed Forces, led by Mario Vargas, Marcos Pérez Jiménez and Carlos Delgado Chalbaud, stages a coup d'état against then president Isaías Medina Angarita, who is overthrown by the end of the day.
- 1944 - Adolf Hitler orders the establishment of a German national militia.
- 1944 - Soviet Union begins liberation of Czechoslovakia.
- 1936 - Adolf Hitler announces the Four Year Economic Plan to the German people. The plan details the rebuilding of the German military from 1936 to 1940.
- 1929 - Women are considered "Persons" under Canadian law.
- 1925 - The Grand Ole Opry opens in Nashville, Tennessee.
- 1922 - The British Broadcasting Company (later Corporation) is founded by a consortium, to establish a nationwide network of radio transmitters to provide a national broadcasting service.
- 1921 - The Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic is formed as part of the RSFSR.
- 1914 - The Schoenstatt Movement is founded in Germany.
- 1912 - The First Balkan War begins.
- 1898 - United States takes possession of Puerto Rico.
- 1867 - United States takes possession of Alaska after purchasing it from Russia for $7.2 million. Celebrated annually in the state as Alaska Day.
- 1860 - The Second Opium War finally ends at the Convention of Peking with the ratification of the Treaty of Tientsin, an unequal treaty.
- 1851 - Herman Melville's Moby-Dick is first published as The Whale by Richard Bentley of London.
- 1775 - African-American poet Phillis Wheatley freed from slavery.
- 1767 - Mason-Dixon line, survey separating Maryland from Pennsylvania is completed.
- 1748 - Signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ends the War of the Austrian Succession.
- 1648 - Boston Shoemakers form first U.S. labor organization.
- 1599 - Michael the Brave, Prince of Wallachia, defeats the Army of Andrew Bathory in the Battle of ?elimb?r, leading to the first recorded unification of the Romanian people.
- 1561 - Fourth Battle of Kawanakajima – Takeda Shingen defeats Uesugi Kenshin in the climax of their ongoing conflicts.
- 1386 - Opening of the University of Heidelberg
- 1356 - Basel earthquake, the most significant historic seismological event north of the Alps, destroyes the town of Basel, Switzerland.
- 1210 - Pope Innocent III excommunicates German leader Otto IV.
- 1081 - The Normans defeat the Byzantine Empire in the Battle of Dyrrhachium.
- 1016 - The Danes defeat the Saxons in the Battle of Ashingdon.
- 1009 - The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a Christian church in Jerusalem, is completely destroyed by the Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, who hacks the Church's foundations down to bedrock.

October 18th


- 2001 - Annelise Manojlovic, English actress
- 1998 - Julia Wróblewska, Polish actress
- 1991 - Tyler Posey, American actor
- 1990 - Bristol Palin, American political figure
- 1990 - Carly Schroeder, American actress
- 1989 - Joy Lauren, American actress
- 1987 - Zac Efron, American actor
- 1987 - Freja Beha Erichsen, Danish model
- 1985 - Derrick Tribbett, American musician (Twisted Method)
- 1984 - Lindsey Vonn, American alpine skier
- 1984 - Freida Pinto, Indian actress and model
- 1982 - Ne-Yo, American R&B singer
- 1982 - Thierry Amiel, French singer
- 1981 - Greg Warren, American football player
- 1980 - Josh Gracin, American singer
- 1979 - Jothika, Indian actress
- 1978 - Wesley Jonathan, American actor
- 1978 - Mike Tindall, English rugby union player
- 1978 - Priyanka Trivedi, Indian actress
- 1978 - Jake Farrow, American actor
- 1977 - Ryan Nelsen, New Zealand footballer
- 1977 - David Vuillemin, pro motocross rider
- 1976 - Zhou Xun, Chinese actress and singer
- 1975 - Alex Cora, Puerto Rican baseball player
- 1974 - Robbie Savage, Welsh footballer
- 1974 - Peter Svensson, Swedish musician (The Cardigans)
- 1974 - Candy Lo, Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actress
- 1973 - Michalis Kapsis, Greek footballer
- 1972 - Alex Tagliani, Quebec racing driver
- 1970 - José Padilla, American former gang member and alleged supporter of terrorism
- 1970 - Doug Mirabelli, American baseball player
- 1969 - Volker Neumüller, German music manager
- 1969 - Nelson Vivas, Argentine former footballer
- 1967 - Eric Stuart, American voice actor and singer
- 1966 - Slavi Trifonov, Bulgarian showman
- 1965 - Curtis Stigers, American jazz vocalist and saxophonist
- 1965 - Zakir Naik, Indian Islamic speaker and doctor
- 1964 - Dan Lilker, American musician, bassist for Anthrax, S.O.D., Nuclear Assault, and Brutal Truth
- 1964 - Charles Stross, British speculative-fiction author
- 1962 - Vincent Spano, American actor
- 1961 - Wynton Marsalis, American jazz musician
- 1961 - Rick Moody, American author
- 1960 - Jean-Claude Van Damme, Belgian actor
- 1960 - Erin Moran, American actress
- 1959 - Kirby Chambliss, Aerobatic pilot
- 1959 - Mil?o Man?evski, Macedonian film director and screenwriter
- 1959 - John Nord, former American pro wrestler
- 1959 - Chris "Mad Dog" Russo, American sports talk show host
- 1959 - Steve Swayne, Dartmouth Professor
- 1958 - Corinne Bohrer, American actress
- 1958 - Thomas Hearns, American boxer
- 1958 - Kjell Samuelsson, National Hockey League defenseman
- 1957 - Jon Lindstrom, American actor
- 1957 - Catherine Ringer, French singer and songwriter (Les Rita Mitsouko)
- 1956 - Martina Navrátilová, Czech-American tennis player
- 1956 - Craig Bartlett, American animator
- 1956 - Jim Talent, American politician
- 1955 - David Twohy, American movie director and screenwriter
- 1955 - Rita Verdonk, Dutch politician
- 1955 - Vanessa Briscoe Hay, American singer and songwriter (Pylon (band) & Supercluster)
- 1955 - Timmy Mallett, British TV presenter
- 1954 - Liz Burch, Australian actress
- 1954 - Arliss Howard, American actor
- 1952 - Patrick Morrow, Canadian mountaineer, first to complete the Seven Summits
- 1952 - B?o Ninh, Vietnamese novelist
- 1952 - Jerry Royster, American baseball player
- 1951 - Mike Antonovich, American ice hockey player and executive
- 1951 - Terry McMillan, American author
- 1951 - Pam Dawber, American actress
- 1950 - Om Puri, Indian actor
- 1950 - Wendy Wasserstein, American playwright (d. 2006)
- 1950 - Sheila White, English actress
- 1949 - Joe Egan, British musician (Stealers Wheel)
- 1949 - George Hendrick, baseball player
- 1949 - Gary Richrath, American musician (REO Speedwagon)
- 1948 - Ntozake Shange, American author
- 1948 - Hans Köchler, Austrian philosopher
- 1947 - Job Cohen, Dutch politician, mayor of Amsterdam
- 1947 - Joe Morton, American actor
- 1947 - Laura Nyro, American singer and songwriter (d. 1997)
- 1947 - Paul Chuckle, British comedian
- 1946 - James Robert Baker, American novelist, screenwriter
- 1946 - Howard Shore, Canadian film composer
- 1946 - Frank Beamer, American football coach Virginia Tech Hokies football
- 1945 - Chris Shays, Former member of the United States Congress from Connecticut
- 1945 - Huell Howser, American TV host
- 1945 - Y?ldo, Turkish famous showman and football player
- 1943 - Birthe Rønn Hornbech, Danish politician
- 1942 - Larry Pickering, Australian newspaper cartoonist
- 1940 - Cynthia Weil, American songwriter
- 1939 - Lee Harvey Oswald, alleged assassin of John F. Kennedy (d. 1963)
- 1939 - Flavio Cotti, member of the Swiss Federal Council
- 1939 - Mike Ditka, American football player, coach, and commentator
- 1938 - Dawn Wells, American actress
- 1935 - Peter Boyle, American actor (d. 2006)
- 1934 - Calvin Lockhart, Bahamian actor (d. 2007)
- 1934 - Inger Stevens, Swedish actress (d. 1970)
- 1934 - Chuck Swindoll, American evangelist
- 1933 - Forrest Gregg, American football player
- 1932 - Vytautas Landsbergis, Lithuanian politician
- 1931 - Chris Albertson, American jazz historian
- 1929 - Violeta Chamorro, former President of Nicaragua
- 1928 - Keith Jackson, American football commentator
- 1927 - George C. Scott, American actor (d. 1999)
- 1926 - Chuck Berry, American musician
- 1926 - Klaus Kinski, German actor (d. 1991)
- 1925 - Ramiz Alia, political leader of Albania
- 1924 - Hugh Allan "Buddy" MacMaster, Canadian musician
- 1921 - Jesse Helms, American politician (d. 2008)
- 1920 - Melina Mercouri, Greek actress and Minister for Culture of Greece (d. 1994)
- 1919 - Ric Nordman, Canadian politician (d. 1996)
- 1919 - Anita O'Day, American singer (d. 2006)
- 1919 - Pierre Elliott Trudeau, 15th Prime Minister of Canada (d. 2000)
- 1918 - Bobby Troup, American musician (d. 1999)
- 1918 - Constantine Mitsotakis, former Greek Prime Minister
- 1915 - Victor Sen Yung, American actor (d. 1980)
- 1914 - Raymond Lambert, Swiss mountaineer (d. 1997)
- 1909 - Norberto Bobbio, Italian philosopher and legal theorist (d. 2004)
- 1906 - James Brooks, American painter (d. 1992)
- 1905 - Jan Gies, Dutch resistance fighter (d. 1993)
- 1905 - Félix Houphouët-Boigny, first President of Côte d'Ivoire (d. 1993)
- 1904 - A. J. Liebling, American journalist (d. 1963)
- 1904 - Haim Shirman, Russian-born Israeli professor of medieval Spanish Jewish poetry (d. 1981)
- 1903 - Lina Radke, German athlete (d. 1983)
- 1902 - Miriam Hopkins, American actress (d. 1972)
- 1902 - Pascual Jordan, German physicist (d. 1980)
- 1898 - Lotte Lenya, Austrian singer and actress (d. 1981)
- 1897 - Isabel Briggs Myers, American psychological theorist (d. 1980)
- 1894 - H. L. Davis, American author (d. 1960)
- 1893 - Georges Ohsawa, Japanese founder of Macrobiotics (d. 1966)
- 1882 - Lucien Petit-Breton, Argentine-French cyclist (d. 1917)
- 1873 - Ivanoe Bonomi, Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1951)
- 1870 - Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki, Japanese scholar (d. 1966)
- 1868 - Ernst Didring, Swedish author (d. 1931)
- 1865 - Arie de Jong, Dutch linguist (d. 1957)
- 1865 - Logan Pearsall Smith, American essayist and critic (d. 1946)
- 1859 - Henri Bergson, French philosopher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature (d. 1941)
- 1854 - Billy Murdoch, Australian cricketer (d. 1911)
- 1831 - Emperor Friedrich III of Germany (d. 1888)
- 1785 - Thomas Love Peacock, English satirist (d. 1866)
- 1777 - Heinrich von Kleist, German writer (d. 1811)
- 1741 - Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, French general and author (d. 1803)
- 1706 - Baldassare Galuppi, Italian composer (d. 1785)
- 1701 - Charles le Beau, French historian (d. 1778)
- 1679 - Ann Putnam, Jr., American accuser in the Salem witch trials (d. 1716)
- 1668 - John George IV, Elector of Saxony (d. 1694)
- 1662 - Matthew Henry, English non-conformist minister (d. 1714)
- 1653 - Abraham van Riebeeck, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (d. 1713)
- 1634 - Luca Giordano, Italian artist (d. 1705)
- 1595 - Edward Winslow, Plymouth Colony founder (d. 1655)
- 1569 - Giambattista Marini, Italian poet (d. 1625)
- 1547 - Justus Lipsius, Flemish humanist (d. 1606)
- 1517 - Manoel da Nóbrega, Portuguese Jesuit in Brazil (d. 1570)
- 1405 - Pope Pius II (d. 1464)
- 1127 - Emperor Go-Shirakawa of Japan (d. 1192)