February 18

 Holidays and Observances
(Alphabetical Order)

2026 Daily Holidays that fall on February 18, include:

• Ash Wednesday (First Day of Lent) - February 18, 2026
• Cow Milked While Flying in an Airplane Day
• Crab-Stuffed Flounder Day 
• Drink Wine Day 
  
• Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day 
• National Battery Day 
  
• National Hate Florida Day 
• Pluto Day 
  
• Thumb Appreciation Day 

2026 Weekly Holidays that include February 18, are:

• Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia Staff Education Week - February 14-21
• American Camp Week - February 17-20, 2026
• Brotherhood / Sisterhood Week - February 15-21, 2026 (Third Week in February)
• Build a Better Trade Show Image Week - February 15-21, 2026 (Third Full Week in February)
• Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Awareness Week - February 13-19
• Lent - February 18 - March 30, 2026
• Love Teaching Week - February 14-21
• Make Mine Chocolate - (Campaign kicks off annually on Feb 15, and ends on Easter which is April 3, 2026)
• National Condom Week - February 14-21
• National Date Week (Fruit) - February 11-20
• National Entrepreneurship Week - February 15-21, 2026 (Third Week of February)
• National Green Week - February 1 - April 30, 2026 (Start First Full Week in February to April 30)
• National Nestbox Week - February 14-21
• National Pancake Week - February 16-22, 2026
• NCCDP Alzheimer's & Dementia Staff Education Week - February 14-21
• Ramadan - Evening of February 17, 2026 - Evening of March 18, 2026
• Random Acts of Kindness Week - February 15-20, 2026 
• Take Your Family to School Week - February 16-20, 2026
• Through with the Chew (Chewing Tobacco) - February 15-21, 2026 (Third Full Week in February)

2026 Monthly Holidays that include February 18, are:

There are too many monthly holidays to include here, so please check out our February Holidays page to see all of the holidays that are celebrated the entire month of February.

NOTE:

1. A page on each holiday will be coming soon and linked above.
2. If a date is a movable holiday, that is different every year, I'll include the year as well as the date rule above. Otherwise, the holiday falls on the same date each year.

World Festivals and Events
(Date Order)

• Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show - January 16 - February 25, 2026 (Fort Worth, TX)
• Winter Olympics - February 3-22, 2026 (Milan-Cortina)
• Chinese New Year Festival and Parade (San Francisco, CA) -February 7 - March 15, 2026;  Parade is on March 7, 2026
• Carnival (Rio de Janeiro in Brazil) - February 13-21, 2026 - Carnival is the biggest festival in the world with two million people a day on the streets. Floats, Parades, Balls, Music and Dancing are all part of the Event
• Losar - February 17-24, 2026 - The Tibetan New Year, a three day festival that mixes sacred and secular practices that include prayers, ceremonies, hanging prayer flags, as well as sacred and folk dancing and partying. The first day is the most important. (Buddhist)

Astrological Sign

The Astrological Sign for February 18 is an Aquarius.

Birth Flower of the Month

The Birth Flower(s) for the Month for February are:

• Violet - symbolizes faithfulness, loyalty, humility, wisdom, and hope
  
• Primrose - Modesty, distinction, and virtue
  
  

Birthstone

The Birthstone for February is Amethyst.

Famous Birthdays

• 1745 – Alessandro Volta, Italian physicist who invented the battery (d. 1827)
• 1950 – Cybill Shepherd, American actress (The Last Picture Show, Moonlighting)
• 1952 – Juice Newton, American singer
• 1954 – John Travolta, American actor (Grease, Saturday Night Fever, Welcome Back Kotter)
• 1964 – Matt Dillon, American actor (Something about Mary)
  
• 1968 – Molly Ringwald, American actress (Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club)
• 1974 – Jillian Michaels, American fitness trainer (The Biggest Loser)

Famous Deaths

• 1564 – Michelangelo, Italian artist and sculptor (b. 1475)
• 1902 – Charles Lewis Tiffany, American founder of Tiffany & Co. (b. 1812)
• 1973 – Frank Costello, Italian-born gangster who was nicknamed "the Prime Minister of the Underworld." He became one of the most powerful and influential mob bosses in American history (b. 1891)
• 1981 – John Knudsen Northrop, American aircraft manufacturer who founded the Northrop Corporation in 1939. (b. 1895)
• 2001 – Dale Earnhardt, American race car driver (b. 1951)
• 2013 – Jerry Buss, Los Angeles Lakers owner (b. 1933)

Famous Weddings and Divorces

• 2001 - James Taylor marries Kim Smedvig in Boston. It's his third wedding, and later in 2001 the couple have twin boys through a surrogate mother.

Quote of the Day

Jillian Michaels, was born on this day in 1974.  She is an American fitness trainer, best known for The Biggest Loser show. She is a fantastic motivator, and has some great quotes.  We have a choice in what we eat, and if we exercise or not among other things!

I love her definition of Happiness! Happiness does take effort, as Life can be hard, but again, it is a choice that we make! We can decide to be happy, or we can decide to be miserable - each day we wake up, we can choose.  If you don't like something in your life that is making you unhappy, whether it is a job, a relationship, where you live etc, you can take the time and effort to make changes!

Healthy Diet Habit Tip of the Day 
or a Recipe of the Day

The Holidays and Observances Recipe of the Day for February 18, is a Refrigerator Crockpot Soup Recipe from Kerry, of Healthy Diet Habits. Each week a pot of this soup fixed from all the vegetables left over in your refrigerator, before you go shopping again, could be saving you time, money, and providing healthy weekday lunches!

Season

February 18th falls within the Winter Season in the Northern Hemisphere.

Winter is one of the four seasons. It follows the Fall Season, and is before the Spring Season. It is the coldest and darkest season in the Northern Hemisphere. It also starts in one year, and ends in the next, so it straddles two different years. 

Check out our Winter Season page for information about Winter, Winter Dates, Major Winter Holidays and Observances, Major Winter Festivals, Fun Facts About Winter, Winter Food Tips, Winter Gardening, Winter Preparation, Winter Quotes, and Winter Weather Information.

Kerry has put together some great information and tips on winter foods: 

• Winter Foods
• Winter Weight Gain
• Winter Weight Loss Tips

If you live in the Southern Hemisphere, this day falls in the Summer Season. 

• Summer
• Summer Cooking 
• Summer Weight Loss Tips 

This Day in History

• 1861 – In Montgomery, Alabama, Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as the provisional President of the Confederate States of America
• 1885 – Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn  is published in the United States.
• 1901 - Winston Churchill makes his maiden speech in the British House of Commons.
• 1908 - 1st US postage stamps in rolls issued
• 1929 - The first Academy Awards are announced
• 1930 – Elm Farm Ollie becomes the first cow to fly in a fixed wing aircraft, and also the first cow to be milked in an aircraft.
• 1930 - US astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto
• 1953 - Premiere of 1st 3-D feature film, Bwana Devil in New York City
• 1954 – The first Church of Scientology is established in Los Angeles, California.
• 1977 – The Space Shuttle Enterprise test vehicle is carried on its maiden flight on top of a Boeing 747.
• 1979 – Snow falls in the Sahara Desert in southern Algeria for the only time in recorded history.
• 1991 – The IRA explodes bombs in the early morning at Paddington station and Victoria station in London.
• 2001 – FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested for spying for the Soviet Union. He is ultimately convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.

This Day in Music

• 1972 - Neil Young's album Harvest is certified gold
• 1974 - Ringo Starr, Oh My My is released
  
• 1977 - Manfred Mann's Earth Band's Blinded By The Light hits #1
• 1977 - George Harrison releases "True Love"
• 2012 - Whitney Houston had an invitation only memorial at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey

Above is a blast from the past....Neil Young's Old Man song from his awesome Harvest Album that I still have!

This Day in Sports

• 1932 - Sonja Henie wins her 6th straight World Women's figure skating title
• 1960 - 8th Winter Olympic games open in Squaw Valley, in Olympic Valley, CA (Check out my Olympic Valley info. on my Truckee Travel Guide Website)
• 1965 - Frank Gifford announces his retirement from football for broadcasting
• 1968 - 10th Winter Olympic games close at Grenoble, France
• 1978 – The first Ironman Triathlon competition (swim, bike ride, marathon) takes place on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, and is won by Gordon Haller.
• 1994 - Dan Jansen skates world record 1000m (1:12.43)
• 1995 - Angela Kennedy swims world record 100m butterfly
• 2001 – Seven time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt dies in an accident during the Daytona 500.

Word of the Day from Wiktionary

Wishing You a Great Day Today!