March 18 in History

Henry Wells and William Fargo founded American Express in Buffalo, New York, on March 18, 1850, merging three competing express delivery companies into a single firm that could move packages, currency, and financial documents across the rapidly expanding United States. The company's early business was literally carrying money in locked boxes on stagecoaches and trains. In 1882, American Express introduced the money order, a secure way to send funds through the mail, and in 1891 it launched the traveler's check, invented by employee Marcellus Berry, which became the standard method for carrying money abroad for the next century. The company moved into charge cards in 1958, issuing the first American Express card to challenge Diners Club's monopoly. The card required full monthly payment rather than revolving credit, establishing the premium positioning that still defines the brand. From its origins as a stagecoach delivery service, American Express evolved into one of the world's most valuable financial services companies.

Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini met at the Brenner Pass on the Austro-Italian border on March 18, 1940, to formalize their military alliance ahead of Germany's planned invasion of France. Mussolini had been hesitant to commit Italy to war, knowing his military was poorly equipped and undertrained, but Hitler's rapid conquest of Poland and the imminent fall of France convinced him that Germany would win quickly and that Italy needed to be at the table when the spoils were divided. Mussolini famously told his military chief, 'I only need a few thousand dead so that I can sit at the peace conference as a man who has fought.' Italy declared war on France and Britain on June 10, 1940, attacking France just as it was already collapsing under German assault. The decision proved catastrophic: Italy's military failures in Greece, North Africa, and the Mediterranean turned it from an ally into a burden that consumed German resources and accelerated the Axis defeat.

Alexei Leonov floated out of the Voskhod 2 spacecraft on March 18, 1965, becoming the first human to conduct an extravehicular activity in space. His twelve-minute spacewalk proved that humans could survive and function outside a pressurized vessel, but the mission nearly killed him twice. In the vacuum of space, Leonov's suit ballooned to the point where he could not bend his limbs or fit back through the airlock hatch. He was forced to bleed air pressure from his suit, risking decompression sickness, to deflate it enough to squeeze inside. During reentry, the spacecraft's automatic guidance system failed, forcing the crew to land manually in the Ural Mountains, two thousand kilometers off target. They spent two nights in deep snow, surrounded by wolves, before rescue teams reached them. Despite the near-disasters, Leonov's achievement proved the concept that would later enable all space station construction, satellite repair, and the Apollo lunar surface activities.

The Roman Senate proclaimed Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus, known as Caligula, emperor on March 18, 37 AD, immediately after the death of Tiberius. Caligula was twenty-four years old and wildly popular, partly because of sympathy for his family: his father Germanicus had been a beloved military hero, and his mother and two brothers had been murdered or starved to death by Tiberius. The first seven months of his reign were by all accounts excellent. He recalled political exiles, abolished treason trials, and distributed bonuses to the military. Then he fell seriously ill, and when he recovered, contemporaries reported a dramatic personality change. Whether caused by brain inflammation, lead poisoning, epilepsy, or simply the corrupting effect of absolute power, Caligula became erratic and cruel. He declared himself a god, reportedly made his horse a senator, bankrupted the treasury on extravagant building projects, and executed rivals on whims. He was assassinated by his own Praetorian Guard after less than four years in power.

The British Parliament repealed the Stamp Act on March 18, 1766, just one year after imposing the first direct tax on the American colonies. The act had required colonists to purchase embossed revenue stamps for legal documents, newspapers, playing cards, and dozens of other paper goods. The reaction was explosive: mobs attacked stamp distributors, merchants organized boycotts of British goods, and delegates from nine colonies convened the Stamp Act Congress in New York. The boycotts hurt British merchants, who lobbied Parliament furiously for repeal. Benjamin Franklin testified before the House of Commons, warning that enforcement would require military occupation. Parliament repealed the tax but simultaneously passed the Declaratory Act, asserting its right to legislate for the colonies 'in all cases whatsoever.' The colonists celebrated the repeal but ignored the Declaratory Act, believing they had established the principle that Parliament could not tax them without representation. They were wrong: Parliament would try again with the Townshend Acts the following year.

The Tri-State Tornado carved a 219-mile path of destruction across Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana, killing 695 people and injuring over 2,000 in the deadliest single tornado in American history. The storm traveled at 73 miles per hour and obliterated entire towns, driving fundamental reforms in weather forecasting and public warning systems.

Milanese citizens erected barricades and fought Austrian troops street by street for five grueling days, forcing Marshal Radetzky to withdraw his garrison of 20,000 soldiers from the city. The "Cinque Giornate" became the most celebrated episode of Italy's radical year and inspired uprisings across the peninsula. Radetzky regrouped and recaptured Milan five months later.