2018

Events in 2018 86

• 1918 – 2018 Billy Graham (1918-2018) Died 21 February 2018, aged 99 American evangelist who preached to millions worldwide and served as a spiritual advisor to numerous US presidents. He led large-scale crusades broadcast on television and radio across decades. His ministry helped shape modern American evangelicalism.
• 1922 – 2018 Stan Lee (1922-2018) Died 12 November 2018, aged 95 American comic book writer and editor who co-created Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four and the Avengers, shaping the modern Marvel Comics universe. He became the public face of Marvel and a fixture at fan conventions through cameo appearances in its films. His characters underpin one of the most successful entertainment franchises in history.
• 1924 – 2018 Dorothy Malone (1924-2018) American actress, Oscar winner for Written on the Wind and a star of Peyton Place on TV.
• 1924 – 2018 Charles Aznavour (1924-2018) Died 1 October 2018, aged 94 French-Armenian singer, songwriter and actor who recorded in several languages and sold hundreds of millions of records over a seven-decade career. He was widely regarded as one of France's most important cultural figures. He also worked as a diplomat representing Armenia internationally.
• 1924 – 2018 George H.W. Bush 41st President — Gulf War, end of Cold War George H.W. Bush (Jun 12, 1924 – Nov 30, 2018) was the 41st President 1989-1993. He oversaw the end of the Cold War, German reunification, and led a 34-nation coalition in the Gulf War to liberate Kuwait.
• 1925 – 2018 Barbara Bush (1925-2018) Died 17 April 2018, aged 92 American First Lady during the presidency of her husband George H. W. Bush and mother of President George W. Bush. She was a prominent advocate for literacy and family reading programs. She remains one of only two women to be both wife and mother of a US president.
• 1927 – 2018 Neil Simon (1927-2018) Died 26 August 2018, aged 91 American playwright and screenwriter behind dozens of Broadway hits including The Odd Couple and Barefoot in the Park. He was among the most commercially successful playwrights in American theater history. His work also translated widely to film and television.
• 1927 – 2018 Steve Ditko (1927-2018) Died 29 June 2018, aged 90 American comic book artist and co-creator, with Stan Lee, of Spider-Man and Doctor Strange. His visual style helped define the look of Marvel Comics in the 1960s. He later withdrew from public life while continuing independent comics work.
• 1929 – 2018 Ursula K. Le Guin (1929-2018) Died 22 January 2018, aged 88 American author renowned for science fiction and fantasy works including the Earthsea series and The Left Hand of Darkness. Her writing explored anarchism, gender and ecology, influencing generations of writers. She died in Portland, Oregon.
• 1930 – 2018 Tom Wolfe (1930-2018) Died 14 May 2018, aged 88 American author and journalist who pioneered New Journalism and wrote novels including The Bonfire of the Vanities and The Right Stuff. His distinctive white suits and satirical eye made him a fixture of American letters. He chronicled American society across six decades of writing.
• 1931 – 2018 Tab Hunter (1931-2018) American actor and singer, a teen idol of the 1950s who later wrote openly about his life.
• 1932 – 2018 Milos Forman (1932-2018) Died 13 April 2018, aged 86 Czech-American film director who won Academy Awards for Best Director for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Amadeus. He fled communist Czechoslovakia in 1968 and built his career in Hollywood. His films often explored themes of individuality against institutional control.
• 1932 – 2018 V.S. Naipaul (1932-2018) Died 11 August 2018, aged 85 Trinidad-born British writer awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001 for his body of fiction and travel writing. His novels, including A House for Mr Biswas, examined colonialism, displacement and postcolonial society. He was knighted for his services to literature.
• 1933 – 2018 Philip Roth (1933-2018) Died 22 May 2018, aged 85 American novelist celebrated for works including Portnoy's Complaint, American Pastoral and The Human Stain. He won nearly every major American literary award, though never the Nobel Prize in Literature. His fiction often explored Jewish-American identity and postwar society.
• 1936 – 2018 Burt Reynolds (1936-2018) Died 6 September 2018, aged 82 American actor who became one of Hollywood's top box-office draws in the 1970s and 1980s with films including Deliverance and Smokey and the Bandit. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in Boogie Nights. He remained a prominent screen presence across five decades.
• 1936 – 2018 John McCain (1936-2018) Died 25 August 2018, aged 81 American senator from Arizona and former Navy pilot who survived over five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. He ran for president in 2000 and 2008 and was known for a reputation of bipartisan independence in the Senate. He died of brain cancer at his Arizona ranch.
• 1936 – 2018 Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (1936-2018) Died 2 April 2018, aged 81 South African anti-apartheid activist and former wife of Nelson Mandela, who campaigned for his release during his 27 years of imprisonment. She remained a prominent, and at times controversial, political figure in post-apartheid South Africa. She served as a member of parliament and within the African National Congress leadership.
• 1938 – 2018 Kofi Annan (1938-2018) Died 18 August 2018, aged 80 Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. He shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001 for his work revitalizing the organization and its humanitarian efforts. He remained active in international diplomacy after leaving office.
• 1939 – 2018 Hugh Masekela (1939-2018) Died 23 January 2018, aged 78 South African trumpeter, composer and singer who blended jazz with African musical traditions. An outspoken opponent of apartheid, he lived in exile for three decades before returning to South Africa. His song "Grazing in the Grass" was an international hit.
• 1941 – 2018 Bernardo Bertolucci (1941-2018) Died 26 November 2018, aged 77 Italian film director known for The Last Emperor, which won nine Academy Awards including Best Director, and for Last Tango in Paris. His films frequently combined political themes with lush visual style. He remained an influential figure in European cinema for decades.
• 1942 – 2018 Stephen Hawking (1942-2018) Died 14 March 2018, aged 76 British theoretical physicist known for his work on black holes and cosmology, and for the bestselling book A Brief History of Time. He continued his research for decades despite being diagnosed with motor neurone disease in his twenties. He became one of the most recognizable scientists in the world.
• 1942 – 2018 Aretha Franklin (1942-2018) Died 16 August 2018, aged 76 American singer known as the "Queen of Soul", whose hits including "Respect" and "Chain of Fools" made her one of the best-selling recording artists of all time. She was the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Her voice became closely associated with the civil rights era.
• 1956 – 2018 Anthony Bourdain (1956-2018) Died 8 June 2018, aged 61 American chef, author and television host known for Kitchen Confidential and the travel series Parts Unknown. His candid, adventurous approach to food and culture made him one of the most influential food personalities in the world. His death by suicide, days after Kate Spade's, prompted global attention to mental health resources.
• 1962 – 2018 Kate Spade (1962-2018) Died 5 June 2018, aged 55 American fashion designer who founded the handbag and accessories brand that bears her name. Her colorful, accessible designs made the label a major success in the 1990s and 2000s. Her death by suicide prompted wide public discussion of mental health.
• 1969 – 2018 Verne Troyer (1969-2018) Died 21 April 2018, aged 49 American actor best known for playing Mini-Me in the Austin Powers film series. He appeared in numerous films and television shows over a career spanning three decades. His death followed complications from alcohol use.
• 1971 – 2018 Dolores O'Riordan (1971-2018) Died 15 January 2018, aged 46 Irish singer and lead vocalist of the rock band The Cranberries, known for hits including "Zombie" and "Linger". She died suddenly in London during a recording trip. The band released a final album completed with her vocals later in 2019.
• 1989 – 2018 Avicii (1989-2018) Died 20 April 2018, aged 28 Swedish DJ and record producer, born Tim Bergling, who became one of the most successful electronic dance music artists of his generation with hits including "Levels" and "Wake Me Up". He retired from touring in 2016 citing health problems. His death was ruled a suicide.
• 1992 – 2018 Mac Miller (1992-2018) Died 7 September 2018, aged 26 American rapper and producer known for albums including Swimming, released weeks before his death. He built a large following through mixtapes and major-label albums over a decade-long career. His death was attributed to an accidental drug overdose.
• 1998 – 2018 XXXTentacion (1998-2018) Died 18 June 2018, aged 20 American rapper, born Jahseh Onfroy, known for hits including "Sad!" whose album Skins reached number one after his death. He achieved a large following among young listeners despite a controversial legal history. He was shot and killed during a robbery in Florida.
• 2018 Green Book Best Picture — 91st Academy Awards Peter Farrelly's road film about pianist Don Shirley and his driver on a 1962 concert tour of the Deep South.
• 2018 Large Language Models GPT-1 The invention of AI models capable of complex human-like reasoning.
• 2018 Lidar reveals a hidden landscape Petén, Guatemala Laser survey through the forest canopy mapped more than 60,000 structures across 2,100 square kilometres — causeways, terraces, fortifications and house mounds. Population estimates for the Classic lowlands were revised upwards several times over.
• 2018 Australian Open 2018 Men: Roger Federer · Women: Caroline Wozniacki Federer's 20th Grand Slam.
• 2018 Cryptocurrency market crash Bitcoin falls more than 80% from its December 2017 peak Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies suffered a prolonged crash throughout 2018, with Bitcoin falling from nearly $20,000 to around $3,200 by December. The collapse wiped out hundreds of billions of dollars in market value following the speculative boom of late 2017. Regulatory scrutiny and exchange failures compounded the decline.
• 2018 Falcon Heavy maiden flight SpaceX launches the world's most powerful operational rocket SpaceX successfully launched its Falcon Heavy rocket for the first time from Kennedy Space Center, at the time the most powerful operational rocket in the world. The launch carried Elon Musk's own Tesla Roadster into space as a test payload. Two of the three boosters landed simultaneously back on Earth.
• 2018 2018 Winter Olympics XXIII Winter Games - Pyeongchang North and South Korea marched under a unified flag. Winner: Norway.
• 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting Gunman kills 17 at Parkland, Florida school A former student opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, killing 17 students and staff. The shooting galvanized the student-led March for Our Lives movement for gun control. It became one of the deadliest school shootings in US history.
• 2018 Black Panther #2 film of 2018 — $1.35bn worldwide Directed by Ryan Coogler, starring Chadwick Boseman. T'Challa returns home to Wakanda to take the throne and faces a challenger who wants to start a global revolution.
• 2018 Novichok poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal Former Russian spy poisoned with nerve agent in Salisbury Former Russian military intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned with the Novichok nerve agent in Salisbury, England. British authorities blamed Russian intelligence agents, leading to the mass expulsion of Russian diplomats by the UK and allied countries. Both victims survived after weeks of critical care.
• 2018 Cambridge Analytica data scandal Facebook user data harvested without consent for political targeting Reports revealed that political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica had harvested the personal data of tens of millions of Facebook users without consent. The scandal triggered global scrutiny of data privacy practices and led Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to testify before the US Congress. Cambridge Analytica shut down in May 2018.
• 2018 Spotify goes public Streaming company lists via unconventional direct listing Swedish music streaming company Spotify began trading on the New York Stock Exchange through a direct listing rather than a traditional IPO, skipping the usual underwritten share sale. The unconventional route was closely watched as a potential model for other tech companies. Spotify's market value topped $26 billion on its first day of trading.
• 2018 Douma chemical attack and allied strikes on Syria US, UK and France launch strikes after suspected chemical attack A suspected chemical weapons attack on the rebel-held town of Douma killed dozens of civilians, prompting accusations against the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad. In response, the United States, United Kingdom and France launched joint airstrikes against Syrian chemical weapons facilities. The Syrian government and its ally Russia denied responsibility for the attack.
• 2018 Armenian Velvet Revolution Mass protests force Serzh Sargsyan to resign Weeks of peaceful street protests led by opposition figure Nikol Pashinyan forced Armenian leader Serzh Sargsyan to resign after he sought to extend his rule as prime minister. Pashinyan was subsequently elected prime minister by parliament. The bloodless transfer of power became known as the Velvet Revolution.
• 2018 Nicaraguan protests against Daniel Ortega Deadly unrest erupts over social security reforms Mass protests broke out across Nicaragua after President Daniel Ortega's government announced social security cuts, quickly escalating into a broader anti-government movement. Security forces and armed groups loyal to Ortega killed hundreds of protesters over the following months. The crackdown drew international condemnation and deepened Nicaragua's political crisis.
• 2018 Miguel Diaz-Canel becomes Cuban president First Cuban leader outside the Castro family since 1959 Miguel Diaz-Canel was named president of Cuba by the National Assembly, succeeding Raul Castro. He became the first person outside the Castro family to lead Cuba since the 1959 revolution. Raul Castro remained head of the Communist Party until 2021.
• 2018 2018 World Snooker Championship Mark Williams Title 3 Winner: Mark Williams; Runner-up: John Higgins. Score: 18–16.
• 2018 Toronto van attack Ten pedestrians killed when a van is driven into a crowd A man deliberately drove a rental van onto a crowded sidewalk in Toronto, killing ten people and injuring sixteen others. The attacker was later linked to online incel ideology. It was one of the deadliest vehicle-ramming attacks in Canadian history.
• 2018 Golden State Killer arrested Joseph James DeAngelo held after decades-old cold case cracked with DNA Former police officer Joseph James DeAngelo was arrested in California and identified as the Golden State Killer, responsible for at least 13 murders and dozens of rapes in the 1970s and 1980s. Investigators used genetic genealogy, matching crime-scene DNA to relatives on a public genealogy website, a technique that opened a new era in cold-case investigation. DeAngelo later pleaded guilty to the murders.
• 2018 Avengers: Infinity War #1 film of 2018 — $2.05bn worldwide Directed by the Russo brothers. The Avengers and allies must stop Thanos before he collects all six Infinity Stones.
• 2018 Inter-Korean Summit at Panmunjom Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in meet at the DMZ North Korean leader Kim Jong-un crossed the Military Demarcation Line to meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in in the Panmunjom truce village. The two signed the Panmunjom Declaration, pledging to work toward peace and eventual reunification. It was the first time a North Korean leader had set foot in South Korea since the Korean War.
• 2018 United States withdraws from Iran nuclear deal Trump abandons the JCPOA and reimposes sanctions President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of the United States from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear agreement with Iran. The decision reimposed sweeping US sanctions on Iran and strained relations with European allies who had remained committed to the deal. Iran continued to comply with the deal's terms for another year before scaling back its own commitments.
• 2018 Malaysian general election Mahathir Mohamad's coalition ends 61 years of Barisan Nasional rule Malaysia's opposition coalition, led by 92-year-old former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, defeated the Barisan Nasional coalition that had governed since independence in 1957. The result ousted incumbent Najib Razak, who was later charged with corruption over the 1MDB scandal. It marked the first change of ruling coalition in Malaysian history.
• 2018 US embassy relocates to Jerusalem Move coincides with deadly Gaza border protests The United States formally relocated its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, fulfilling a campaign pledge by President Trump and reversing decades of US policy. The move was condemned by Palestinians and much of the international community. The same day, Israeli forces killed dozens of Palestinian protesters along the Gaza border.
• 2018 Santa Fe High School shooting Gunman kills ten at a Texas high school A student opened fire at Santa Fe High School near Houston, Texas, killing ten people, most of them students. It occurred three months after the Parkland shooting and renewed national debate over school safety and gun control. The shooter was taken into custody at the scene.
• 2018 Royal Wedding — Harry & Meghan Prince marries American actress Prince Harry married American actress Meghan Markle at Windsor Castle on May 19, 2018, watched by 1.9 billion people worldwide. Meghan became the first mixed-race member of the modern Royal Family.
• 2018 Harvey Weinstein arrested Film producer charged with rape and sexual assault Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein turned himself in to New York police and was charged with rape and criminal sexual assault. The arrest followed a wave of accusations that had sparked the Me Too movement in late 2017. Weinstein was convicted on related charges in 2020.
• 2018 Irish abortion referendum Voters repeal the constitutional ban on abortion Ireland voted by a two-to-one margin to repeal the Eighth Amendment, which had banned abortion in nearly all circumstances. The result paved the way for legislation legalizing abortion later in the year. Turnout was high and the outcome marked a major shift in a historically Catholic country.
• 2018 Five Star Movement-League coalition government formed Populist coalition takes power in Italy Following inconclusive March elections, the anti-establishment Five Star Movement and the right-wing League party formed a coalition government in Italy, with Giuseppe Conte as prime minister. It was Western Europe's first government led by populist parties from both the left and right. The coalition clashed repeatedly with the European Union over budget and migration policy.
• 2018 Trump-Kim Singapore Summit First meeting between a sitting US president and North Korean leader US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met in Singapore for the first summit between the two countries' leaders. The two signed a joint statement committing to work toward denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. Follow-up talks in 2019 failed to produce a concrete agreement.
• 2018 Battle of Hodeidah begins Saudi-led coalition launches offensive on Yemen's main port city A Saudi-led coalition launched a major offensive to retake the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah from Houthi rebels, a lifeline for humanitarian aid into Yemen. The assault raised fears of a catastrophic worsening of Yemen's humanitarian crisis. A UN-brokered ceasefire for the city was agreed in Stockholm in December 2018.
• 2018 2018 FIFA World Cup VAR Debut A high-scoring tournament that saw France win their second star. Winner: France.
• 2018 Tham Luang cave rescue Twelve boys and their coach rescued after being trapped for 18 days A youth football team of twelve boys and their coach became trapped in the flooded Tham Luang cave system in northern Thailand. An international rescue effort involving Thai Navy SEALs and specialist cave divers extracted all thirteen over three days in July. A former Thai Navy SEAL diver died during the operation.
• 2018 Saudi Arabia lifts ban on women driving Kingdom ends the world's last prohibition on female drivers Saudi Arabia officially lifted its ban on women driving, ending the last such prohibition in the world. The change was part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's social liberalization agenda. Several women's rights activists who had campaigned for the change were arrested shortly before the ban was lifted.
• 2018 Turkish general election Erdogan re-elected under new executive presidential system Recep Tayyip Erdogan was re-elected president of Turkey in the first election held under a new constitutional system that abolished the office of prime minister and concentrated power in the presidency. The system had been approved in a 2017 referendum. Erdogan's AK Party-led alliance also won a parliamentary majority.
• 2018 Hayabusa2 arrives at asteroid Ryugu Japanese probe reaches near-Earth asteroid for sample return mission JAXA's Hayabusa2 spacecraft arrived at the near-Earth asteroid Ryugu after a three-and-a-half-year journey. The probe deployed rovers and landers to study the asteroid's surface before collecting samples for return to Earth. The samples were successfully brought back to Earth in December 2020.
• 2018 Mexican general election Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador wins presidency in landslide Leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador won Mexico's presidential election by a wide margin, ending decades of dominance by the PRI and PAN parties. He took office in December 2018 promising to fight corruption and inequality. It was one of the largest elections in Mexican history, held amid a violent campaign season.
• 2018 Najib Razak arrested over 1MDB scandal Former Malaysian prime minister charged with corruption Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was arrested and later charged with criminal breach of trust and money laundering connected to the multibillion-dollar 1MDB state fund scandal. The case followed his election defeat two months earlier. Najib was convicted in 2020.
• 2018 United States-China trade war begins Washington and Beijing impose tit-for-tat tariffs The United States imposed tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese goods, and China retaliated in kind, marking the start of an extended trade war between the world's two largest economies. Both sides progressively expanded tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars in goods over the following months. The dispute disrupted global supply chains and financial markets.
• 2018 Ethiopia-Eritrea peace agreement Leaders formally end a 20-year state of war Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki signed a declaration formally ending the state of war between their countries that had persisted since a 1998-2000 border conflict. The reopening of borders and restoration of diplomatic and transport ties followed. Abiy Ahmed was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 largely for this achievement.
• 2018 Pakistani general election Imran Khan's party wins, he becomes prime minister Pakistan's general election resulted in victory for Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party. Khan, a former cricket captain, was sworn in as prime minister in August. The vote was marred by allegations of military interference and pre-election violence.
• 2018 Zimbabwean general election First vote since the removal of Robert Mugabe Zimbabwe held its first general election since the military-led removal of longtime ruler Robert Mugabe in November 2017. Emmerson Mnangagwa was declared the winner of a disputed presidential contest. Post-election violence in Harare left several people dead after soldiers opened fire on protesters.
• 2018 US Open 2018 Men: Novak Djokovic · Women: Naomi Osaka Naomi Osaka won her first Grand Slam in a controversial final where Serena Williams received code violations.
• 2018 Apple first $1 trillion company Unprecedented market valuation Apple became the first US publicly traded company to reach a market capitalisation of $1 trillion on August 2, 2018.
• 2018 2018 Kerala floods Worst flooding in the Indian state in nearly a century Unusually heavy monsoon rains caused severe flooding and landslides across the Indian state of Kerala, killing over 480 people and displacing more than a million. It was described as the worst flooding in the state in nearly 100 years. Dam releases compounded the flooding across low-lying districts.
• 2018 Parker Solar Probe launches NASA mission set to fly closer to the Sun than any spacecraft NASA launched the Parker Solar Probe on a mission to fly through the Sun's outer atmosphere, closer than any human-made object had gone before. The probe was designed to study solar wind and help forecast space weather events that affect Earth. It was named after physicist Eugene Parker, the first NASA mission named for a living person.
• 2018 Ponte Morandi collapse Motorway bridge collapses in Genoa, killing 43 A section of the Ponte Morandi viaduct in Genoa, Italy, collapsed during a storm, sending vehicles plunging and killing 43 people. The disaster raised questions about the maintenance of Italy's aging infrastructure. The bridge was demolished and replaced with a new structure that opened in 2020.
• 2018 Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami Magnitude 7.5 quake and tsunami strike Palu, Indonesia A magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck off the coast of Sulawesi, Indonesia, triggering a tsunami and soil liquefaction that devastated the city of Palu. More than 4,000 people were killed. The disaster prompted a major international humanitarian response.
• 2018 Killing of Jamal Khashoggi Saudi journalist murdered inside consulate in Istanbul Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi was killed by Saudi agents inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The killing provoked international outrage and scrutiny of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom US intelligence later concluded had approved the operation. Turkish and international investigations followed.
• 2018 Brett Kavanaugh confirmed to US Supreme Court Confirmation follows contentious hearings on sexual assault allegations The US Senate confirmed Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court after bitter hearings in which Christine Blasey Ford testified that he had sexually assaulted her decades earlier, an allegation Kavanaugh denied. The confirmation vote, 50-48, was one of the closest in modern history. The proceedings intensified national debate around the Me Too movement.
• 2018 Brazilian general election Jair Bolsonaro elected president Far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro won Brazil's presidential runoff election, capitalizing on public anger over corruption and crime. His victory marked a sharp turn to the right in Latin America's largest democracy. Bolsonaro took office in January 2019.
• 2018 Lion Air Flight 610 crash Boeing 737 MAX crashes into the Java Sea, killing 189 Lion Air Flight 610, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, crashed into the Java Sea shortly after takeoff from Jakarta, killing all 189 people aboard. Investigations pointed to a faulty angle-of-attack sensor and the plane's automated MCAS system. A second 737 MAX crash in Ethiopia in March 2019 led to the worldwide grounding of the aircraft.
• 2018 United States midterm elections Democrats retake control of the House of Representatives Democrats won control of the US House of Representatives in the midterm elections, gaining 41 seats in a rebuke to President Trump's first two years in office. Republicans retained and expanded their Senate majority. A record number of women were elected to Congress.
• 2018 Camp Fire wildfire in California Deadliest wildfire in California history destroys Paradise The Camp Fire swept through Butte County, California, largely destroying the town of Paradise and killing at least 85 people. It became the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history at the time. Pacific Gas and Electric equipment was later found to have caused the blaze.
• 2018 First gene-edited babies born Chinese scientist creates CRISPR humans Chinese scientist He Jiankui announced the birth of the first gene-edited human babies on November 26, 2018. He used CRISPR to modify embryos to be HIV-resistant, triggering global ethical outrage. He was later jailed.
• 2018 InSight probe lands on Mars NASA lander begins studying the Martian interior NASA's InSight spacecraft landed on Mars to study the planet's deep interior, including its seismic activity and heat flow. It was the eighth successful US landing on Mars. InSight detected its first confirmed marsquake in 2019.
• 2018 Aquaman #3 film of 2018 — $1.15bn worldwide Directed by James Wan, starring Jason Momoa. Arthur Curry must take his rightful place as king of Atlantis.