August 18th, 1227, Genghis Khan, one of the world’s greatest conquerors , dies at the time the Mongol Empire founded by Khan stretched accross Asia.

1920, Tennessee ratifies the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing women’s right to vote. That step gives the Amendment the approval of enough states
 in order to take effect.

1963, James Meredith becomes the first African American to graduate from the University of Mississippi. Meredith’s registration as the university’s first black student followed a legal battle and deadly riots on campus.

1958, Vladimir Nabokov's novel Lolita is first published in the United States. The tale about a middle aged man’s sexual obsession with his teenage stepdaughter still sparks controversy to this day.

1934, Roberto Clemente, one of the first Latin American baseball stars in the United States, is born in Porto Rico.

And 1937, “Do you think if I come back, it's going to be OK by magic. What's going be changed? What's going to be different? We’ll both be wrong. We’ll both lose.”  Actor and director Robert Redford is born in Saint Monica, California. Among his onscreen roles Butch Cassidy in The Sundance Kid, The Sting, All the President’s Men and Out of Africa. Redford is also the founder of the Sundance Film Festival aimed at showcasing works by independent film makers.

Today in History. August 18th. Camille Bohannon, the Associated Press