January 18

January 18

January 18, 1701

Friedrick I of Prussia crowns himself king at Königsberg, Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia).

January 18, 1815

Birth of Konstantin von Tischendorf in Lengefeld, Germany. Tischendorf was a Biblical critic who discovered, and in 1859 was able to procure, the Codex Sinaiticus, a manuscript from the 4th century with most of the Old and New Testaments. The manuscript is currently in the British Museum.

January 18, 1851

Birth of Heinrich Friedung in Roschtin, Austrian Empire (now in the Czech Republic). Friedung was an historian who taught at the Commercial Academy in Vienna until his anti-slavic views led to his dismissal. He continued throughout his life to express pro-Austrian, anti-slavic views in the context of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

January 18, 1861

Birth of Hans Goldschmidt in Berlin, Germany. Goldschmidt was a chemist who invented the Goldschmidt reduction process (the alumino-thermic process) which is used in welding along with other applications.

January 18, 1871

Foundation of the German Empire (Reich) and proclamation Of Wilhelm I as Emperor (Kaiser) in Versailles.

January 18, 1903

Birth of Berthold Goldschmidt in Hamburg, Germany. He had just begun to establish a reputation as a composer when the Nazis came to power and his work was banned. He fled to England where he was relegated to obscurity until the 80's when there was renewed interest in his work.

January 18, 1906

Birth of Hans Aeschbacher in Zürich, Switzerland. Aeschbacher is a sculptor who specializes in massive works of stone.

January 18, 1914

Birth of Arno Schmidt in Hamburg, Germany. Schmidt became a novelist after World War II. Among his works are, Die Gelehrtenrepublik (1957), Nobodaddys Kinder (1963), and Abend mit Goldrand (1975).

January 18, 1919

The Paris Peace Conference at Versailles opens officially to conclude WWI. Germany and Russia are not represented. Wilson is committed to his 14 Points and a League of Nations. Clemenceau seeks revenge. Lloyd George had been elected partly by promising that German war leaders would be punished. Orlando of Italy sought the territorial gains which the Allies had used to lure Italy into the war in the first place.

January 18, 1977

Death of Karl Zuckmayer in Visp, Switzerland. The writer, Karl Zuckmayer, won the Kleist Prize for Der fröhliche Weinberg (1923) and the Goethe Prize in 1952 for his collected works. Other works by Zuckmayer include Der Hauptmann von Köpenick (1931), Des Teufels General (1946) and Das Kalte Licht (1955). Zuckmayer fled Germany in 1939 and lived in the United States until 1946. Thereafter he resided in Switzerland.

January 18, 1995

Death of Adolf Butenandt in Munich, Germany. Butenand, a biochemist, won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1939 for his work on sex hormones. The Nazi government, however, did not allow him to accept the award. He accepted it belatedly in 1949. Butenandt isolated estrone in 1929, androsterone in 1931 and progesterone in 1934. He discovered how to synthesize progesterone and testosterone. He was the first to isolate pheromones. Butenandt was president of the Max Planck Society from 1960-1972.

January 18, 2005

January 18, 2005 The Airbus A380 is officially presented to buyers. The A380 is the largest passenger aircraft in the world. It can carry up to 800 people.
In der Grundversion ist Platz für 555 Fluggäste, je nach Ausstattung sollen mehr als 800 Menschen mitfliegen können. Damit schlägt er sein bisheriges Konkurrenzmodell Boeing 747, den so genannten Jumbo des amerikanischen Flugzeugbauers; der Jumbo kann bis zu 524 Gäste von einem Ort zum anderen transportieren.
Weil die Europäer das Monopol der Amerikaner bei Langstreckenflugzeugen mit vielen Sitzen brechen, wird am Dienstag gefeiert. –die Süddeutsche Zeitung am 13.1.05