January 18:United Nations Memorial Cemetery1871 A number of previously independent states united to form the German Empire, with WilhelmI as German Emperor.1951 Construction began in Busan, South Korea, on the United Nations Military Cemetery (pictured), the only United Nations cemetery in the world.1956 Navvab Safavi, an Iranian Shia cleric and the founder of the fundamentalist group Fada'iyan-e Islam, was executed with three of his followers for attempting to assassinate Prime Minister Hossein Ala'.1969 Thousands of Japanese police stormed the University of Tokyo after six months of nationwide leftist university student protests and occupations.1983 Thirty years after his death, the International Olympic Committee presented commemorative medals to the family of American athlete Jim Thorpe, who had been stripped of his gold medals for playing semi-professional baseball before the 1912 Summer Olympics.Isabella Jagiellon (b.1519)Elena Arizmendi Meja (b.1884)Philippe Starck (b.1949)Bruce Chatwin (d.1989)More anniversaries: January 17January 18January 19ArchiveBy emailList of days of the yearAbout