May 18

May 18 is the 138th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (139th in leap years). There are 227 days remaining.

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Events

• 1268 – The Principality of Antioch, a crusader state, falls to the Mamluk Sultan Baibars in the Battle of Antioch; Baibars' destruction of the city of Antioch was so great as to permanently negate the city's importance.
• 1593 – Playwright Thomas Kyd's accusations of heresy lead to an arrest warrant for Christopher Marlowe.
• 1652 – Rhode Island passes the first law in North America making slavery illegal.
• 1631 – In Dorchester, Massachusetts, John Winthrop takes the oath of office and becomes the first Governor of Massachusetts.
• 1765 – Fire destroys a large part of Montreal, Quebec.
• 1783 – First United Empire Loyalists reach Parrtown, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada after leaving the United States.
• 1803 – Napoleonic Wars: The United Kingdom revokes the Treaty of Amiens and declares war on France.
• 1804 – Napoleon Bonaparte is proclaimed Emperor of France by the French Senate.
• 1848 – Opening of the first German National Assembly (Nationalversammlung) in Frankfurt, Germany.
• 1863 – American Civil War: The Siege of Vicksburg begins, ending on July 4).
• 1869 – Surrender and dissolution of the Ezo Republic to Japan.
• 1896 – The United States Supreme Court rules in Plessy v. Ferguson that separate but equal is constitutional.
• 1900 – The United Kingdom proclaims a protectorate over Tonga.
• 1910 – The Earth passes through the tail of Comet Halley.
• 1917 – World War I: The Selective Service Act passes the U.S. Congress giving the President the power of conscription.
• 1926 – Evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson disappears while visiting a Venice, California, beach.
• 1927 – The Bath School Disaster: Forty-five people are killed by bombs planted by a disgruntled school-board member in Michigan.
• 1933 – New Deal: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signs an act creating the Tennessee Valley Authority.
• 1944 – World War II: Battle of Monte Cassino – Germans evacuate Monte Cassino and Allied forces take the stronghold after a struggle that claimed 20,000 lives.
• 1944 – Deportation of Crimean Tatars by the Soviet Union government.
• 1944  – World War II: SS troops burn down six villages in the Brkini hills in south western Slovenia.
• 1948 – The First Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China officially convenes in Nanking.
• 1953 – Jackie Cochran becomes the first woman to break the sound barrier (she flew in a F-86 Sabrejet at an average speed of 652.337 miles per hour (1049.835 km/h) at Rogers Dry Lake, California).
• 1958 – An F-104 Starfighter sets a world speed record of 1,404.19 mph (2,259.82 km/h).
• 1969 – Apollo program: Apollo 10 launches.
• 1974 – Nuclear test: Under project Smiling Buddha, India successfully detonates its first nuclear weapon becoming the sixth nation to do so.
• 1974 – Completion of the Warsaw radio mast, the tallest construction ever built at the time. It later collapses on August 8, 1991.
• 1980 – 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption: Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington, killing 57 people and causing $3 billion in damage.
• 1995 – Alain Juppé becomes Prime Minister of France.
• 1998 – United States v. Microsoft: The United States Department of Justice and 20 U.S. states file an antitrust case against Microsoft.
• 2004 – Randy Johnson pitches a perfect game for the Arizona Diamondbacks vs. the Atlanta Braves.

Births

• 1048 – Omar Khayyam, Persian poet (d. 1123)
• 1616 – Johann Jakob Froberger, German composer (d. 1667)
• 1711 – Rudjer Josip Boscovich, Croatian atomic theorist (d. 1787)
• 1778 – Charles William Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry
• 1785 – John Wilson, Scottish writer (d. 1854)
• 1797 – Frederick Augustus II of Saxony (d. 1854)
• 1850 – Oliver Heaviside, physicist (d. 1925)
• 1872 – Lord Bertrand Russell, mathematician and philosopher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in literature (d. 1970)
• 1883 – Walter Gropius, German architect (d. 1969)
• 1889 – Thomas Midgley, chemist and inventor (d. 1944)
• 1891 – Rudolf Carnap, German philosopher (d. 1970)
• 1892  – Ezio Pinza, Italian-born bass (d. 1957)
• 1897 – Frank Capra, American producer, director, and writer (d. 1991)
• 1902 – Meredith Willson, American composer (d. 1984)
• 1911 – Big Joe Turner, American blues singer (d. 1985)
• 1912 – Walter Sisulu, South African anti-apartheid activist (d. 2003)
• 1912  – Perry Como, American singer (d. 2001)
• 1918 – George Welch, pilot and war hero (d. 1954)
• 1919 – Dame Margot Fonteyn, ballet dancer (d. 1991)
• 1920 – Pope John Paul II (d. 2005)
• 1920  – Lucia Mannucci, Italian singer (Quartetto Cetra)
• 1922 – Kai Winding, jazz musician (d. 1983)
• 1928 – Pernell Roberts, actor
• 1929 – Jack Sanford, baseball player
• 1931 – Don Martin, cartoonist (d. 2000)
• 1931  – Robert Morse, actor
• 1937 – Brooks Robinson, Baseball Hall of Famer
• 1937  – Jacques Santer, Luxembourg statesman
• 1939 – Hark Bohm, film director
• 1942 – Albert Hammond, musician and composer
• 1944 – Justus Frantz, pianist
• 1946 – Reggie Jackson, Baseball Hall of Famer
• 1949 – Rick Wakeman, musician (Yes), composer
• 1949  – Bill Wallace, musician (The Guess Who)
• 1950 – Thomas Gottschalk, German TV show host
• 1950  – Rodney Milburn, American athlete (d. 1997)
• 1950  – Mark Mothersbaugh, composer, musician
• 1952 – George Strait, country musician
• 1955 – Chow Yun-Fat, actor
• 1960 – Jari Kurri, hockey player
• 1960  – Yannick Noah, tennis player
• 1969 – Martika, Cuban-American singer
• 1970 – Tina Fey, writer, comedienne, actress
• 1975 – John Higgins, Scottish snooker player
• 1975  – Jack Johnson, musician
• 1978 – Ricardo Carvalho, footballer
• 1982 – Eric West, singer and actor

Deaths

• 1799 – Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, French playwright (b. 1732)
• 1807 – John Douglas, Anglican bishop (b. 1721)
• 1808 – Elijah Craig, important to the invention of bourbon (b. 1738?)
• 1900 – Jean Gaspard Felix Ravaisson-Mollien, French philosopher (b. 1813)
• 1909 – George Meredith, English novelist and poet (b. 1828)
• 1910 – Pauline Garcia-Viardot, singer, composer (b. 1821)
• 1911 – Gustav Mahler, Austrian composer (b. 1860)
• 1956 – Maurice Tate, English cricketer (b. 1895)
• 1973 – Jeannette Rankin, first woman elected to the United States House of Representatives (b. 1880)
• 1975 – Leroy Anderson, American composer (b. 1908)
• 1980 – Ian Curtis, British musician, singer/lyricist with Joy Division (b. July 15, 1956)
• 1981 – William Saroyan, American author (b. 1908)
• 1988 – Daws Butler, voice actor (b. 1916)
• 1995 – Elizabeth Montgomery, actress (b. 1933)
• 1995  – Alexander Godunov, ballet dancer and actor (b. 1949)
• 1995  – Elisha Cook Jr., actor (b. 1903)
• 1999 – Augustus Pablo, Jamaican singer (b. 1954)
• 1999  – Betty Robinson, Olympic runner (b. 1911)
• 2000 – Stephen M. Wolownik, Russian musician and arranger (b. 1946)
• 2003 – Anna Santisteban, organizer of the Miss Universe contest (b. 1914)
• 2003  – Barb Tarbox, anti-smoking crusader (b. 1961)
• 2004 – Elvin Jones, jazz drummer (b. 1927)

Holidays and observances

• International day of museums
• International day of the internet

External links

• BBC: On This Day

May 17 – May 19 – April 18 – June 18 — listing of all days