May 18
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(Redirected from 18 May)
May 18 is the 138th day of the year (139th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 227 days remaining after May 18 until the end of the year.
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[change] Events
- 44 BC – Comet Caesar is discovered by Chinese astronomers.
- 1152 – Henry II of England marries Eleanor of Aquitaine.
- 1498 – Vasco da Gama reaches Calicut, in southern India.
- 1499 – Alonso de Ojeda sets sail from Cadiz on a voyage to present-day Venezuela.
- 1565 – The Siege of Malta begins as the Ottomans unsuccessfully attempt to conquer Malta.
- 1631 – John Winthrop becomes the 1st Governor of Massachusetts.
- 1652 – Rhode Island passes the first law in North America that declares Slavery illegal.
- 1756 – The Seven Years' War begins as Great Britain declares war on France.
- 1763 – Fire destroys a large part of Montreal.
- 1803 – Napoleonic Wars: The United Kingdom declares war on France.
- 1811 – Uruguayan forces under Jose Artigas defeat Spanish colonial troops in the Battle of Las Piedras.
- 1812 – John Bellingham is sentenced to death for killing Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Spencer Perceval.
- 1843 – Disruption in Edinburgh of the Free Church of Scotland from the Church of Scotland
- 1860 – Abraham Lincoln wins the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States, ahead of William H. Seward.
- 1863 – American Civil War: The Siege of Vicksburg begins.
- 1896 – Khodynka tragedy: Mass panic at the coronation celebration of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia in Moscow results in 1,389 people being killed.
- 1900 – The UK declares Tonga a British protectorate.
- 1910 – Earth passes through the tail of Halley's Comet.
- 1912 – The first Indian film, Shree Mandalik, is released in Bombay.
- 1927 – Bath School disaster: 45 people are killed by bombs planted by Andrew Kehoe, who is also killed, at Bath School in Michigan.
- 1944 – World War II: German paratroopers abandon Monte Cassino after severe fighting.
- 1944 – Deporting of Crimean Tatars by the Soviet Government begins.
- 1951 – In Lund, Sweden, Tetra Pak is introduced, developed by Erik Wallenberg, through an idea by Ruben Rausing.
- 1953 – Jackie Cochran becomes the first woman to break the sound barrier.
- 1956 – First ascent of Lhotse, in the Himalayas, at 8,516 metres above sea level, by a Swiss team.
- 1969 – Apollo 10 is launched.
- 1974 – India tests nuclear weapons.
- 1974 – The Warsaw Radio Mast is completed. It collapses on August 8, 1991.
- 1980 – South Korean students in Gwangju begin pro-democracy protests, which are violently crushed, killing 297.
- 1980 – Mount St. Helens in Washington state erupts. A large amount of destruction is caused as many trees and wildlife perish, and darkness falls over the nearby area. 57 people are killed, including Harry Randall Truman, who famously refused to leave the area prior to the eruption. It is the costliest volcanic disaster in US history.
- 1991 – Northern Somalia declares independence as the Republic of Somaliland, which, to this day, remains unrecognised internationally.
- 1991 – Helen Sharman becomes the first Briton in space.
- 1995 – Former United States Army veteran Shawn Nelson goes on a tank rampage in San Diego, California.
- 2005 – The Hubble Space Telescope confirms the discovery of Pluto's moons Nix and Hydra.
- 2009 – The Sri Lankan Civil War comes to an end, as government forces defeat the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
- 2012 – Facebook puts its shares onto the Stock Exchange.
[change] Births
- 1048 – Omar Khayyam, Persian mathematician, poet and philosopher (d. 1131)
- 1186 – Konstantin of Rostov, Prince of Novgorod (d. 1218)
- 1610 – Stefano della Bella, Italian printmaker (d. 1664)
- 1797 – King Frederick Augustus II of Saxony (d. 1854)
- 1822 – Matthew Brady, American photographer (d. 1896)
- 1848 – Hermann Alexander Diels, German philologist (d. 1922)
- 1851 – James Budd, 19th Governor of California (d. 1908)
- 1868 – Tsar Nicholas II of Russia (d. 1918)
- 1872 – Bertrand Russell, British philosopher (d. 1970)
- 1876 – Hermann Mueller, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1931)
- 1883 – Eurico Gaspar Dutra, President of Brazil (d. 1974)
- 1883 – Walter Gropius, German architect (d. 1969)
- 1889 – Gunnar Gunnarsson, Icelandic writer (d. 1975)
- 1889 – Thomas Midgley, Jr., American chemist and inventor (d. 1944)
- 1891 – Rudolf Carnap, German philosopher (d. 1970)
- 1897 – Frank Capra, American film director (d. 1991)
- 1901 – Vincent du Vigneaud, American chemist (d. 1978)
- 1909 – Fred Perry, British tennis player (d. 1995)
- 1911 – Big Joe Turner, American blues musician (d. 1985)
- 1912 – Walter Sisulu, South African activist (d. 2003)
- 1912 – Perry Como, American singer (d. 2001)
- 1912 – Richard Brooks, American director (d. 1992)
- 1913 – Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, President of India (d. 1996)
- 1913 – Charles Trenet, French singer and songwriter (d. 2001)
- 1919 – Margot Fonteyn, British dancer (d. 1991)
- 1920 – Pope John Paul II (d. 2005)
- 1923 – Hugh Shearer, Prime Minister of Jamaica (d. 2004)
- 1933 – Bernadette Chirac, former First Lady of France
- 1937 – Jacques Santer, Luxembourg statesman
- 1939 – Giovanni Falcone, Italian magistrate and anti-Mafia judge (d. 1992)
- 1941 – Miriam Margolyes, British actress
- 1942 – Albert Hammond, British musician
- 1942 – Nobby Stiles, English footballer
- 1946 – Frank Hsieh, Taiwanese Premier
- 1947 – John Bruton, Irish Taoiseach
- 1949 – Rick Wakeman, British musician
- 1950 – Thomas Gottschalk, German entertainer
- 1955 – Chow Yun-Fat, Hong Kong actor
- 1958 – Toyah Willcox, British actress and singer
- 1960 – Yannick Noah, French tennis player
- 1962 – Nanne Grönvall, Swedish singer
- 1970 – Tina Fey, American actress and comedienne
- 1971 – Brad Friedel, American soccer player
- 1975 – Flozell Adams, American football player
- 1975 – John Higgins, Scottish snooker player
- 1975 – Jem, Welsh singer
- 1975 – Jack Johnson, American singer, songwriter and surfer
- 1977 – Danny Mills, English footballer
- 1978 – Ricardo Carvalho, Portuguese footballer
- 1979 – Mariusz Lewandowski, Polish footballer
- 1979 – Milivoje Novakovic, Slovenian footballer
- 1980 – Michael Llodra, French tennis player
- 1980 – Diego Perez, Uruguayan footballer
- 1981 – Mahamadou Diarra, Malian footballer
- 1987 – Luisana Lopilato, Argentine actress, singer and model
- 1988 – Taeyang, South Korean singer
- 1992 – Spencer Breslin, American actor
- 1993 – Jessica Watson, Australian sailor
- 1999 – Laura Omloop, Belgian singer
[change] Deaths
- 1401 – Wladyslaw Opolczyk, Central European politician (b. 1332)
- 1584 – Ikeda Motosuke, Japanese samurai commander (b. 1559)
- 1721 – Dawit III of Ethiopia (b. 1695)
- 1781 – Tupac Amaru II, Peruvian Indian revolutionary (b. 1742)
- 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?)
- 1812 – John Bellingham, assassin of Spencer Perceval
- 1829 – Maria Josepha of Saxony, Queen Consort of Spain (b. 1803)
- 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)
- 1922 – Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran, French doctor, won the 1907 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1845)
- 1927 – Andrew Kehoe, perpetrator of Bath School disaster
- 1955 – Mary McLeod Bethune, American educator and activist (b. 1875)
- 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 – Harry Randall Truman, Guardian of Mt. St. Helens (b. 1896)
- 1980 – David A. Johnston, American volcanologist (b. 1949)
- 1980 – Reid Blackburn, American photojournalist (b. 1952)
- 1980 – Ian Kevin 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, American actress (b. 1933)
- 1995 – Alexander Godunov, ballet dancer and actor (b. 1949)
- 1995 – Elisha Cook Jr., actor (b. 1903)
- 1995 – Shawn Nelson, US Army veteran (b. 1959)
- 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)
- 2007 – Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, French physicist (b. 1932)
- 2009 – Velupillai Prabhakaran, Sri Lankan leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (b. 1954)
- 2009 – Wayne Allwine, American actor (b. 1954)
- 2009 – Dolla, American rapper (b. 1987)
- 2010 – Edoardo Sanguineti, Italian writer (b. 1930)
- 2012 – Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, German baritone and conductor (b. 1925)
[change] Observances
- International Museum Day
- World AIDS vaccine Day
- Independence Day (Somaliland)
- Battle of Las Piedras Day (Uruguay)
