Today in History, August 18th
On August 18, 1920, Tennessee ratified the 19th Amendment by one vote. Plus the lost Roanoke colony and the death of Genghis Khan.
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August 18 is best known for 1920, when Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the 19th Amendment, guaranteeing women the right to vote. The date also marks John White’s return to an empty Roanoke colony in 1590 and the death of Genghis Khan in 1227.
The big story: Tennessee ratifies the 19th Amendment (1920)
By the summer of 1920, the women’s suffrage amendment needed just one more state. Congress had passed it in 1919 after voting it down again and again, and 35 states had ratified. The fight came down to the Tennessee House of Representatives in Nashville. Twice the vote deadlocked, 48 to 48. Then Harry T. Burn, a 24-year-old legislator from McMinn County, switched sides. He had reportedly just received a letter from his mother, Febb, telling him to vote for suffrage and not keep the lawmakers guessing. His vote carried the amendment on August 18, 1920, making Tennessee the 36th and deciding state. Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby certified the amendment on August 26, the day it formally became part of the Constitution. It had been more than 70 years since the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 first demanded the vote for women. One young man’s change of heart, and his mother’s nudge, closed the gap.
More events on August 18
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1227 | Genghis Khan, who had united the Mongol tribes into a formidable military state, died in camp during a campaign against the Xi Xia kingdom. |
| 1572 | Henry of Navarre, the future Henry IV of France, married Margaret of Valois, daughter of Henry II and Catherine de Médicis. |
| 1590 | Governor John White returned to Roanoke Island from England to find the English colony deserted. The only clue was the word CROATOAN carved into the palisade. It would have been his granddaughter Virginia Dare’s third birthday. |
| 1958 | Vladimir Nabokov’s novel Lolita, first published in France in 1955, was published in the U.S. |
| 1969 | The Woodstock Music and Art Fair near Bethel, New York, came to a soggy end. |
| 1991 | Soviet hard-liners placed Mikhail Gorbachev under house arrest at his vacation villa in Crimea, launching a coup that collapsed within three days. |
| 1992 | Boston Celtics great Larry Bird announced his retirement from the NBA. |
| 2008 | Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, who had seized power in a 1999 coup, resigned as he faced impeachment. |
Born on August 18
- 1774: Meriwether Lewis, co-leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, born near Charlottesville, Virginia.
- 1927: Rosalynn Carter, first lady of the United States, born in Plains, Georgia.
- 1934: Roberto Clemente, baseball great and the first Latin American-born player in the Baseball Hall of Fame, born in Carolina, Puerto Rico.
- 1936: Robert Redford, actor, Oscar-winning director and founder of the Sundance Institute, born in Santa Monica, California.
Sources
- 19th Amendment ratified thanks to one vote, History.com
- On This Day: August 18, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- This Day in History: August 18, History.com
- Roanoke Colony found deserted, History.com
- Soviet hard-liners launch coup against Gorbachev, History.com
- Lolita, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Pervez Musharraf, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Meriwether Lewis, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Roberto Clemente, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Robert Redford, Encyclopaedia Britannica
