In History, Today on November 18

William Tell, a legendary Swiss folk hero, is said to have shot an apple off his son's head, an event that symbolizes the struggle for Swiss independence.

A storm in the North Sea creates the St. Elizabeth's flood in the Netherlands, killing thousands.

William Caxton produced the first dated printed book in England, 'Dictes or Sayengis of the Philosophres'.

St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City was consecrated by Pope Urban VIII.

King Christian IX of Denmark signed the November Constitution, which declared Schleswig a part of Denmark, leading to the Second Schleswig War.

Mark Twain's short story 'The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County' is published in the New York Saturday Press.

Standard time zones were established in the United States and Canada by the railroads to end the confusion of dealing with thousands of local times.

The Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty was signed, granting the United States the rights to build the Panama Canal.

Mickey Mouse made his first appearance in the animated short film 'Steamboat Willie', marking the official debut of the character.

The first push-button telephone was introduced by Bell Telephone Company.

The Jonestown Massacre occurred, where over 900 members of the Peoples Temple, led by Jim Jones, died in a mass murder-suicide in Guyana.

A fire in the King's Cross St Pancras tube station in London killed 31 people and injured many more, leading to major safety improvements in the London Underground.

The United Nations Security Council unanimously approved Resolution 1441, which offered Iraq a final opportunity to comply with its disarmament obligations and warned of serious consequences if it failed to do so.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health that the state could not deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples, making Massachusetts the first U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage.

The European Space Agency and Russia's Roscosmos launched the Phobos-Grunt mission to Mars, which ultimately failed to leave Earth's orbit and was declared lost.

NASA launched the MAVEN spacecraft to study the Martian atmosphere, aiming to understand the planet's climate history and the loss of its atmosphere.

Venice, Italy, experienced its worst flooding in more than 50 years, with water levels peaking at 187 cm (6.14 ft), causing extensive damage to the historic city.