May 18Birthdays & History

On this day: May 18 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 332Emperor Constantine the Great announces free distributions of food to the citizens in Constantinople.Middle East
2. 872Louis II of Italy is crowned for the second time as Holy Roman Emperor at Rome, at the age of 47. His first coronation was 28 years earlier, in 844, during the reign of his father Lothair I.Europe
3. 1012Pope Benedict VIII begins his papacy following the death of his predecessor Pope Sergius IV earlier that month.Europe
4. 1096First Crusade: Around 800 Jews are massacred in Worms, Germany.Europe
5. 1152The future Henry II of England marries Eleanor of Aquitaine. He would become king two years later, after the death of his cousin once removed King Stephen of England.Europe
6. 1268The Principality of Antioch, a crusader state, falls to the Mamluk Sultan Baibars in the Siege of Antioch.Middle East
7. 1291Fall of Acre, the end of Crusader presence in the Holy Land.Middle EastEurope
8. 1302Bruges Matins, the nocturnal massacre of the French garrison in Bruges by members of the local Flemish militia.Europe
9. 1388During the Battle of Buyur Lake, General Lan Yu leads a Ming army forward to crush the Mongol hordes of Tögüs Temür, the Khan of Northern Yuan.Asia
10. 1499Alonso de Ojeda sets sail from Cádiz on his voyage to what is now Venezuela.Latin America
11. 1565The Great Siege of Malta begins, in which Ottoman forces attempt and fail to conquer Malta.EuropeMiddle East
12. 1593Playwright Thomas Kyd's accusations of heresy lead to an arrest warrant for Christopher Marlowe.Europe
13. 1631In Dorchester, Massachusetts, John Winthrop takes the oath of office and becomes the first Governor of Massachusetts.North America
14. 1652Slavery in Rhode Island is abolished, although the law is not rigorously enforced.North America
15. 1695The 1695 Linfen earthquake in Shannxi, Qing dynasty causes extreme damage and kills at least 52,000 people.Asia
16. 1756The Seven Years' War begins when Great Britain declares war on France.Europe
17. 1783First United Empire Loyalists reach Parrtown (later called Saint John, New Brunswick), Canada, after leaving the United States.North America
18. 1794Battle of Tourcoing during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition.Europe
19. 1803Napoleonic Wars: The United Kingdom revokes the Treaty of Amiens and declares war on France.Europe
20. 1804Napoleon Bonaparte is proclaimed Emperor of the French by the French Senate.Europe
21. 1811Battle of Las Piedras: The first great military triumph of the revolution of the Río de la Plata in Uruguay led by José Artigas.Latin America
22. 1812John Bellingham is found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging for the assassination of British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval.Europe
23. 1843The Disruption in Edinburgh of the Free Church of Scotland from the Church of Scotland.Europe
24. 1848Opening of the first German National Assembly (Nationalversammlung) in Frankfurt, Germany.Europe
25. 1860United States presidential election: Abraham Lincoln wins the Republican Party presidential nomination over William H. Seward, who later becomes the United States Secretary of State.North America
26. 1863American Civil War: Union forces under Ulysses S. Grant begin the Siege of Vicksburg during the Vicksburg campaign in order to take full control of the Mississippi River.North America
27. 1896Khodynka Tragedy: A mass panic on Khodynka Field in Moscow during the festivities of the coronation of Russian Tsar Nicholas II results in the deaths of 1,389 people.Europe
28. 1896The United States Supreme Court rules in Plessy v. Ferguson that the "separate but equal" doctrine is constitutional.North America
29. 1900The United Kingdom proclaims a protectorate over Tonga.EuropeOceania
30. 1912The first Indian film, Shree Pundalik by Dadasaheb Torne, is released in Mumbai.Asia
31. 1917World War I: The Selective Service Act of 1917 is passed, giving the President of the United States the power of conscription.North America
32. 1922Seamus Woods and Roger McCorley lead an Irish Republican Army attack on the headquarters of the Royal Irish Constabulary in Belfast.Europe
33. 1926Evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson disappears in Venice, California.North America
34. 1927The Bath School disaster: Forty-five people, including many children, are killed by bombs planted by a disgruntled school-board member in Bath Township, Michigan.North America
35. 1927After being founded for 20 years, the Nationalist government approves Tongji University to be among its first national universities.Asia
36. 1933New Deal: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs an act creating the Tennessee Valley Authority.North America
37. 1944World War II: Battle of Monte Cassino: Conclusion after seven days of the fourth battle as German paratroopers evacuate Monte Cassino.Europe
38. 1944Deportation of Crimean Tatars by the Soviet Union.Europe
39. 1948The First Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China officially convenes in Nanking.Asia
40. 1953Jacqueline Cochran becomes the first woman to break the sound barrier.North America
41. 1955Operation Passage to Freedom, the evacuation of 310,000 Vietnamese civilians, soldiers and non-Vietnamese members of the French Army from communist North Vietnam to South Vietnam following the end of the First Indochina War, ends.AsiaEurope
42. 1962The French government and representatives of the Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic reach a settlement to end the Algerian war in the Évian Accords.EuropeAfrica
43. 1965Israeli spy Eli Cohen is hanged in Damascus, Syria.Middle East
44. 1969Apollo program: Apollo 10 is launched.World
45. 1972During approach to Kharkiv International Airport, Aeroflot Flight 1491 crashes near Ruska Lozova, killing all 112 aboard.Europe
46. 1973Aeroflot Flight 109 is hijacked mid-flight and the aircraft is subsequently destroyed when the hijacker's bomb explodes, killing all 82 people on board.Europe
47. 1974Nuclear weapons testing: Under project Smiling Buddha, India successfully detonates its first nuclear weapon becoming the sixth nation to do so.Asia
48. 1977Likud party wins the 1977 Israeli legislative election, with Menachem Begin, its founder, as the sixth Prime Minister of Israel.Middle East
49. 1980Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington, United States, killing 57 people and causing $3 billion in damage.North America
50. 1980Students in Gwangju, South Korea begin demonstrations calling for democratic reforms.Asia
51. 1980Rioting spreads to Miami's mostly African-American neighborhoods of Overtown and Liberty City following the previous day's courthouse protests.North AmericaAfrica
52. 1990In France, a modified TGV train achieves a new rail world speed record of 515.3 km/h (320.2 mph).Europe
53. 1991Northern Somalia declares independence from the rest of Somalia as the Republic of Somaliland.Africa
54. 1993Riots in Nørrebro, Copenhagen, caused by the approval of the four Danish exceptions in the Maastricht Treaty referendum. Police open fire against civilians for the first time since World War II and injure 11 demonstrators.Europe
55. 1994Israeli troops finish withdrawing from the Gaza Strip, ceding the area to the Palestinian National Authority to govern.Middle East
56. 2005A second photo from the Hubble Space Telescope confirms that Pluto has two additional moons, Nix and Hydra.World
57. 2006The post Loktantra Andolan government passes a landmark bill curtailing the power of the monarchy and making Nepal a secular country.Asia
58. 2009The LTTE are defeated by the Sri Lankan government, ending almost 26 years of fighting between the two sides.Asia
59. 2015At least 78 people die in a landslide caused by heavy rains in the Colombian town of Salgar.Latin America
60. 2018A school shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas kills ten people.North America
61. 2018Cubana de Aviación Flight 972 crashes in Santiago de las Vegas after takeoff from José Martí International Airport in Havana, Cuba, killing 112 of the 113 people on board.Latin America
62. 2019United States presidential election: Joe Biden launches his presidential campaign.North America
63. 2026A shooting carried out by two gunmen at the Islamic Center of San Diego results in the deaths of five people, including the perpetrators.North America

Source: Wikipedia "May 18" / CC BY-SA 4.0