May 18

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

• International day of museums

  External links

• BBC: On This Day

May 17 - May 19 - April 18 - June 18 -- listing of all days