Historical Events on 18 May

Historical Events on 18 May

1152 - Henry II of England marries Eleanor of Aquitaine.
1268 - The Principality of Antioch, a crusader state, falls to the Mamluk Sultan Baibars in the Battle of Antioch.
1302 - Bruges Matins, the nocturnal massacre of the French garrison in Bruges by members of the local Flemish militia.
1498 - Vasco da Gama reaches the port of Calicut, India.
1593 - Playwright Thomas Kyd's accusations of heresy lead to an arrest warrant for Christopher Marlowe.
1631 - In Dorchester, Massachusetts, John Winthrop takes the oath of office and becomes the first Governor of Massachusetts.
1652 - Rhode Island passes the first law in North America making slavery illegal.
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 the French by the French Senate.
1811 - Battle of Las Piedras: The first great military triumph of the revolution of the Río de la Plata in Uruguay lead by Jose Artigas.
1848 - Opening of the first German National Assembly (Nationalversammlung) in Frankfurt, Germany.
1863 - American Civil War: The Battle of Vicksburg begins.
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.
1896 - Khodynka 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.
1897 - Dracula, a novel by Irish author Bram Stoker is published.
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 of 1917 is passed, giving the President of the United States 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 D. Roosevelt signs an act creating the Tennessee Valley Authority.
1944 - World War II: Battle of Monte Cassino - Conclusion after seven days of the fourth battle as German paratroopers ("Fallschirmjäger") evacuate Monte Cassino.
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.
1958 - An F-104 Starfighter sets a world speed record of 2,259.82 km/h (1,404.19 mph).
1959 - Launching of the National Liberation Committee of Côte d'Ivoire in Conakry, Guinea.
1969 - Apollo program: Apollo 10 is launched.
1974 - Completion of the Warsaw radio mast, the tallest construction ever built at the time. It later collapses on August 8, 1991.
1974 - Nuclear test: Under project Smiling Buddha, India successfully detonates its first nuclear weapon becoming the sixth nation to do so.
1980 - 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption: Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington, killing 57 people and causing $3 billion in damage.
1980 - Gwangju Massacre: Students in Gwangju, South Korea begin demonstrations, calling for democratic reforms.
1983 - In Ireland, the government launches a crackdown, with the leading Dublin pirate Radio Nova being put off the air.
1990 - In France, a modified TGV train achieves a new rail world speed record of 515.3km/h.
1991 - Northern Somalia declares independence from the rest of Somalia as the Republic of Somaliland but is unrecognised by the international community.
1991 - Helen Sharman from Sheffield becomes the first Briton to orbit in space.
1992 - The Archivist of the United States officially announces the Twenty-seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution.
1993 - EU-riots in Nørrebro, Copenhagen caused by the approval of the four Danish exceptions in the Maastricht Treaty referendum. Police opened fire against civilians for the first time since World War II and injured 11 demonstrators. In total 113 bullets were
1998 - United States v. Microsoft: The United States Department of Justice and 20 U.S. states file an antitrust case against Microsoft.
2006 - The post Loktantra Andolan government passes a landmark bill curtailing the power of the monarchy and making Nepal a secular country.