On this day: Key events on August 18, from Martian moon, Phobos’ discovery in 1877 to FM Nirmala Sitharaman’s birthday

On this day: Several incidents held on this day, August 18, in the past hold immense significance even in present times and continue to impact our lives. The day marks the discovery of Phobos, one of the two moons of planet Mars. India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was born on this day, August 18, in 1959. Take a look at the key events held on this day in past.

Martian Moon, Phobos' discovery

Phobos was discovered on this day by Asaph Hall in 1877. According to NASA, Hall named Mars' moons for the mythological sons of Ares, which is the Greek counterpart of the Roman god, Mars. Phobos stands for fear, and is the brother of Deimos. Phobos is one of the two moons of Mars and has a diameter of about 27 kilometers. The martian moon is covered in craters, dust, and loose rocks, and loose rocks.

FM Nirmala Sitharaman's birthday

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was born on August 18, 1959. The Indian economist, politician and a senior BJP leader is serving as the Minister of Finance and Minister of Corporate Affairs of the country since 2019.

Inauguration of IIT Kharagpur

One of the premier engineering institutes of India, IIT Kharagpur, was inaugurated on August 18, 1951. It was the first Indian Institute of Technology inaugurated in India. The number of IITs has increased to 23 in India, and efforts are on to expand the network for better accessibility of high-quality professional and graduation courses.

Java-Bali power outage in 2005

The Java-Bali outage is considered one of the worst and biggest power outages in recent history. The outage, which lasted for nearly six hours impacted over a 100 million people. The power outage began at 10:23 am (local time) on August 18 in 2005. During the power cut, Jakarta came to a standstill due to complete electricity cut, whereas there were incidents of massive blackouts in parts of Central Java, along with parts of West and East Java.