Today in History: August 18, 19th Amendment gives women the vote

Today is Tuesday, Aug. 18, the 230th day of 2026. There are 135 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Aug. 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, guaranteeing American women’s right to vote, was ratified as Tennessee became the 36th state to approve it.

Also on this date:

In 1590, John White, the governor of the Roanoke Island colony (in present-day North Carolina), returned to Roanoke after nearly three years abroad only to find the settlement deserted; the fate of the “Lost Colony” remains a mystery.

In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson issued his Proclamation of Neutrality, aimed at keeping the United States out of World War I.

In 1958, Vladimir Nabokov’s novel “Lolita” was published in the United States.

In 1963, James Meredith became the first Black student to graduate from the University of Mississippi.

In 1969, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair in Bethel, New York, wound to a close after three days and nights with a mid-morning set by Jimi Hendrix.

In 1983, Hurricane Alicia slammed into the Texas coast, leaving 21 dead and causing more than a billion dollars’ worth of damage.

In 2004, in Athens, Paul Hamm (hahm) won the men’s gymnastics all-around Olympic gold medal by the closest margin ever in the event; controversy followed after it was discovered that a scoring error cost Yang Tae-young of South Korea the title.

In 2005, a judge in Wichita, Kansas, sentenced BTK serial killer Dennis Rader to 10 consecutive life terms, the maximum the law would allow.

In 2014, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon ordered the National Guard to Ferguson, a suburb of St. Louis convulsed by protests over the fatal shooting of a Black 18-year-old, Michael Brown.

In 2023, a former neonatal nurse in a British hospital was found guilty of murdering seven babies and trying to kill six others over a yearlong campaign of deception as she preyed on the vulnerabilities of sick newborns. Days later, Lucy Letby was sentenced to life in prison with no chance for release.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Carole Bouquet is 69. Actor Denis Leary is 69. Actor Madeleine Stowe is 68. ABC News reporter Bob Woodruff is 65. Actor Edward Norton is 57. Actor Christian Slater is 57. Actor Kaitlin Olson is 51. Actor-comedian Andy Samberg is 48. Artist-model Frances Bean Cobain is 34. Actor-singer Maia Mitchell is 33. Actor Madelaine Petsch is 32. Actor Josephine Langford is 29, Singer Clairo is 28. Olympic gold medal swimmer Summer McIntosh is 20.