December 18

  • 1980 The first H-Block hunger strike for the return of political status ended following the intervention of Cardinal Ó Fiaich.
  • 1919 In the House of Commons, Winston Churchill placed the number of troops currently in Ireland at 43,000, costing the British taxpayer £860,000 per month.
  • 1983 Six people, including two policemen, were killed when an IRA bomb exploded outside Harrod’s department store in London at lunchtime, when the streets were crowded with Christmas shoppers.