May 18
May 18 is the 138th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (139th in leap years). There are 227 days remaining.
Events
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 - Microsoft antitrust case : 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 )
1711 - Rudjer Josip Boscovich , Croatian atomic theorist (d. 1787 )
1778 - Charles William Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry , British noble
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 1950 (d. 1970 )
1883 - Walter Gropius , architect, founder of Bauhaus (d. 1969 )
1889 - Thomas Midgley , chemist and inventor (d. 1944 )
1891 - Rudolf Carnap , German philosopher (d. 1970 )
1892 - Pops Foster , jazz musician (assumed birthdate) (d. 1969 )
1892 - Ezio Pinza , Italian-born bass opera singer (d. 1957 )
1897 - Frank Capra , producer, director, writer (d. 1991 )
1902 - Meredith Willson , composer (d. 1984 )
1911 - Big Joe Turner , blues singer (d. 1985 )
1912 - Walter Sisulu , anti-apartheid activist (d. 2003 )
1912 - Perry Como , 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
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, 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 , Winnipeg
1950 - Thomas Gottschalk , show master
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 Hall of Famer
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 , football player
1982 - Eric West , singer, 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
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 , musician Joy Division (b. 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
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
External links
May 17 - May 19 - April 18 - June 18 -- listing of all days
