Today in History: February 18th - Significant Events Throughout the Years
Today is February 18, 2026, marking the 49th day of the year with 316 days remaining. On this day in history, FBI agent Robert Philip Hanssen was arrested in 2001 for spying for Russia. In 1885, Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" was published, while in 1930, Pluto was discovered by astronomer Clyde Tombaugh. The "Chicago Seven" defendants were found not guilty of inciting riots in 1970, and in 1983, the Wah Mee Massacre took place in Seattle's Chinatown. U.S. speedskater Dan Jansen won a gold medal in the 1994 Winter Olympics, and in 2001, Dale Earnhardt Sr. tragically died in a crash at the Daytona 500. An arson attack in Daegu, South Korea, claimed nearly 200 lives in 2003, and in 2013, a heist at Brussels' international airport resulted in the theft of $42 million worth of gems. Lastly, in 2021, the NASA rover Perseverance landed on Mars, continuing its exploration of the planet's surface.