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
\n*1593 - Playwright Thomas Kyd's accusations of heresy lead to an arrest warrant for Christopher Marlowe. \n*1652 - Rhode Island passes the first law in North America making slavery illegal. \n*1631 - In Dorchester, Massachusetts, John Winthrop takes the oath of office and becomes the first Governor of Massachusetts. \n*1765 - Fire destroys one quarter of town of Montreal, Quebec. \n*1783 - Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada: First United Empire Loyalists reach Parrtown. \n*1803 - Napoleonic Wars: The United Kingdom revokes the Treaty of Amiens and declares war on France. \n*1804 - Napoleon Bonaparte is proclaimed Emperor of France by the French Senate.\n*1848 - Opening of first German National Assembly (Nationalversammlung) in Frankfurt, Germany.\n*1863 - American Civil War: The Siege of Vicksburg begins (ends July 4). \n*1869 - Surrender of the Ezo Republic to Japan and its dissolution.\n*1896 - The United States Supreme Court rules in Plessy v. Ferguson that "separate but equal" is constitutional. \n*1900 - The United Kingdom proclaims a protectorate over Tonga. \n*1910 - The earth passes through the tail of Comet Halley. \n*1917 - World War I: The Selective Service Act passes the United States Congress giving the President the power to draft soldiers. \n*1926 - Evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson disappears while visiting a Venice, California beach. \n*1933 - New Deal: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signs an act creating the Tennessee Valley Authority. \n*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. \n*1944 - SS-troops burn down six villages in Brkini hills in south western Slovenia.\n*1948 - The First Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China officially convenes in Nanking.\n*1953 - Rogers Dry Lake, California Jacqueline 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). \n*1958 - An F-104 Starfighter sets a world speed record of 1,404.19 mph. \n*1969 - Apollo program: Apollo 10 launches. \n*1974 - Nuclear test: Under project Smiling Buddha, India successfully detonates its first nuclear weapon becoming the sixth nation to do so. \n*1980 - 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption: Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington killing 57 and causing US$ 3 billion in damage. \n*1995 - Alain Juppé becomes Prime Minister of France.\n*1998 - Microsoft antitrust case: The United States Department of Justice and 20 U.S. states file an antitrust case against Microsoft. \n*2003 - Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut released in the USA on Nintendo GameCube by Sega.\n*2004 - Randy Johnson pitches a perfect game for the Arizona Diamondbacks vs. the Atlanta Braves.
Births
\n*1048 - Omar Khayyam, Persian poet (d. 1123)\n*1711 - Rudjer Josip Boscovich, Croatian atomic theorist (d. 1787)\n*1785 - John Wilson, Scottish writer (d. 1854)\n*1797 - Frederick Augustus II of Saxony, (d. 1854)\n*1850 - Oliver Heaviside, physicist\n*1872 - Lord Bertrand Russell, mathematician and philosopher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in literature 1950 (d. 1970)\n*1883 - Walter Gropius, architect, founder of Bauhaus (d. 1969)\n*1889 - Thomas Midgley, chemist and inventor (d. 1944)\n*1891 - Rudolf Carnap, German philosopher (d. 1970)\n*1892 - Pops Foster, jazz musician (assumed birthdate) (d. 1969)\n* 1892 - Ezio Pinza, Italian-born bass opera singer (d. 1957)\n*1897 - Frank Capra, producer, director, writer (d. 1991)\n*1902 - Meredith Willson, composer (d. 1984)\n*1911 - Big Joe Turner, blues singer (d. 1985)\n*1912 - Walter Sisulu, anti-apartheid activist (d. 2003)\n*1912 - Perry Como, singer (d. 2001)\n*1919 - Dame Margot Fonteyn, ballet dancer (d. 1991)\n*1920 - Pope John Paul II\n*1922 - Kai Winding, jazz musician (d. 1983)\n*1928 - Pernell Roberts, actor\n*1931 - Don Martin, cartoonist (d. 2000)\n*1931 - Robert Morse, actor\n*1937 - Brooks Robinson, Baseball Hall of Famer\n* 1937 - Jacques Santer\n*1939 - Hark Bohm, film director\n*1939 - Batman, comic book superhero\n*1942 - Albert Hammond, musician, composer\n*1944 - Justus Frantz, pianist\n*1946 - Reggie Jackson, Baseball Hall of Famer\n*1949 - Rick Wakeman, musician ("Yes"), composer\n* 1949 - Bill Wallace, musician The Guess Who, Winnipeg\n*1950 - Thomas Gottschalk, show master\n* 1950 - Rodney Milburn, American athlete (d. 1997)\n* 1950 - Mark Mothersbaugh, composer, musician\n*1952 - George Strait, country musician\n*1955 - Chow Yun-Fat, actor\n*1960 - Jari Kurri, Hockey Hall of Famer\n* 1960 - Yannick Noah, tennis player\n*1969 - Martika, Cuban-American singer\n*1970 - Tina Fey, writer, comedienne, actress\n* 1975 - John Higgins, Scottish snooker player\n*1978 - Ricardo Carvalho, football player
Deaths
\n*1807 - John Douglas, Anglican bishop (b. 1721)\n*1808 - Elijah Craig, important to the invention of bourbon whiskey (b. 1738?)\n*1900 - Jean Gaspard Felix Ravaisson-Mollien, French philosopher (b. 1813)\n*1910 - Pauline Garcia-Viardot, singer, composer (b. 1821)\n*1911 - Gustav Mahler, composer (b. 1860)\n*1935 - T. E. Lawrence, soldier ("Lawrence of Arabia") (b. 1888)\n*1973 - Jeannette Rankin, the first woman elected to the United States House of Representatives (b. 1880)\n*1975 - Leroy Anderson, composer\n*1980 - Ian Curtis, band member of Joy Division (b. 1956)\n*1981 - William Saroyan, author (b. 1908)\n*1988 - Daws Butler, voice actor (b. 1916)\n*1995 - Elizabeth Montgomery, actress (b. 1933)\n* 1995 - Alexander Godunov, ballet dancer, actor (b. 1949)\n* 1995 - Elisha Cook Jr, actor\n*1999 - Augustus Pablo, Jamaican reggae singer (b. 1954)\n* 1999 - Betty Robinson, winner of the first Olympic 100 m for women (b. 1911)\n*2003 - Barb Tarbox, anti-smoking crusader (b. 1961)\n*2004 - Elvin Jones, jazz drummer (b. 1927)
Holidays and Observances
\n* international day of museums\n----
May 17 - May 19 - April 18 - June 18 -- listing of all days
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