October 18

Events

• 1009: The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is completely destroyed by the "mad" Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, founder of the Druze sect (1021), who hacked out the Church's foundations down to the bedrock.
• 1912: Greek forces land in Thasos, Imvros and Agios Efstratios.
• 1944: The Greek Government in exile, under Georgios Papandreou, arrives in Piraeus.
• 1979: The Greek government announces measures to save the Parthenon and other antiquites from pollution.
• 1979: Odysseus Elytis wins the Nobel prize for literature.
• 1981: Andreas Papandreou is elected PM of Greece as PASOK triumph in the general elections, winning 48.06% of the vote.
• 1998: Vasilis Papageorgopoulos is elected mayor of Thessaloniki

Sports

• 1994: Nikos Galis walks out on Panathinaikos and Greek Basketball

Births

• 1918: Constantine Mitsotakis politician
• 1920: Melina Mercouri, actress, activist and politician
• 1956: Giorgos Kimoulis, actor
• 1963: Jimmy Patikas, Greek-Australian footballer
• 1973: Michalis Kapsis, footballer

Deaths

• 2025: Kostas Vallianos, footballer