Today in history: July 18
64 AD: A fire in Rome raged for a week destroying nearly two-thirds of Rome. Some speculated that the emperor Nero had ordered the burning of Rome to indulge his architectural tastes, but he was away in Antium when the conflagration began. Nero used the fire as an opportunity to rebuild Rome in a more orderly Greek style.
• 64 AD: A fire in Rome raged for a week destroying nearly two-thirds of Rome. Some speculated that the emperor Nero had ordered the burning of Rome to indulge his architectural tastes, but he was away in Antium when the conflagration began. Nero used the fire as an opportunity to rebuild Rome in a more orderly Greek style.
• 1762: Peter III, the Russian emperor was murdered (probably with the connivance of his wife, who succeeded him as Catherine II.).
• 1887: Birth of Vidkun Quisling (1887-1945), Norwegian army officer whose collaboration with the Germans in their occupation of Norway during World War II established his name as a synonym for “traitor”.
• 1925: Adolf Hitler published the first volume of his personal manifesto Mein Kampf which he had dictated to Rudolf Hess at Landsberg prison fortress. The second volume was published in 1927. The book made Hitler a millionaire.
• 1968: Intel Corporation, inventor of the microchip, was incorporated.
• 1968: US Senator Edward Kennedy’s car drove off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts killing his 28-year-old companion Mary Jo Kopechne. Kennedy fled the scene of the accident and received a suspended sentence of two months and one year's probation. Chappaquiddick now stands for political nemesis— a shady part of ones past that won't go away.