Reuters historical calendar - November 18

London, Nov 17 (Reuters) Following are some of the major events to have occurred on November 18 since 1900: 1905 - Prince Charles of Denmark was elected first king of Norway after the restoration of its independence. He took the old Norse name of Haakon VII.

1928 - Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse made his first appearance at the Colony Theatre in New York in a film called ''Steamboat Willie''.

1935 - The League of Nations' economic sanctions on Italy for its invasion of Abyssinia (now Ethiopia) took effect.

1970 - West Germany and Poland initialled a treaty recognising the Oder-Neisse line as a border and pledging to respect each other's territorial integrity.

1978 - Jim Jones, an American pastor, led 914 of his followers to their deaths at Jonestown, Guyana by taking cyanide-laced drinks.

Cult members who refused were shot.

1993 - Black and white leaders in South Africa approved a new democratic constitution which gave blacks the vote.

2002 - James Coburn, American film actor, died. Among his most notable films were the spy spoof ''Our Man Flint'' and his 1960 breakthrough ''The Magnificent Seven.'' 2003 - The Supreme Judicial Court in Massachusetts ruled the state could not deny homosexuals the right to marry, making Massachusetts the first US state to recognise gay marriage.

2004 - Russia formally ratified the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, clearing the way for the environment pact to come into force in February 2005.

**2005 - At least 74 people were killed when suicide bombers blew themselves up inside two Shi'ite mosques in the eastern Iraqi town of Khanaqin.

**2005 - Burkina Faso's Blaise Compaore stormed to a third consecutive term with a landslide victory in presidential polls.

Reuters SHB GC1021