May 18
1652 – Rhode Island passes the first law in English-speaking North America making slavery illegal.
1756 – The
Seven Years' War begins when Great Britain declares war on France.
1860 – Abraham Lincoln wins the Republican Party presidential nomination over William H. Seward, who later becomes the United States Secretary of State.
1896 – The United States Supreme Court rules in
Plessy v. Ferguson that the
"separate but equal" doctrine 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.
1910 – The Earth passes through the tail of
Comet Halley.
1933 –
New Deal: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs an act creating the
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).
1944 – World War II:
Battle of Monte Cassino: Conclusion after seven days of the fourth battle as German paratroopers evacuate Monte Cassino.
1953 –
Jackie Cochran becomes the first woman to break the
sound barrier.
1958 – An
F-104 Starfighter sets a world speed record of 1,404.19 mph (2,259.82 km/h).
1980 –
Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington, United States, killing 57 people and causing $3 billion in damage.
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 515.3 km/h (320.2 mph).
2005 – A second photo from the
Hubble Space Telescope confirms that Pluto has two additional moons,
Nix and
Hydra.
Births
1048 – Omar Khayyám; 1822 – Mathew Brady; 1850 – Oliver Heaviside (
Kennelly-Heaviside Layer); 1897 – Frank Capra; 1911 – Big Joe Turner; 1912 – Richard Brooks, Perry Como; 1920 – Pope John Paul II; 1922 – Kai Winding; 1928 – Pernell Roberts; 1931 – Don Martin (cartoonist Mad Magazine); 1943 – Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka; 1946 – Reggie Jackson; 1947 – Gail Strickland (
The Drowning Pool); 1949 – Rick Wakeman; 1950 – Mark Mothersbaugh (Devo); 1952 – George Strait (King George); 1955 – Chow Yun-fat; 1970 – Tina Fey; 1975 – Jack Johnson; 1993 – Jessica Watson
Deaths
1808 –
Elijah Craig (May God bless and keep him); 1911 – Gustav Mahler; 1927 – Andrew Kehoe (mass murderer -
Bath School Disaster, Bath, Michigan); 1955 – Mary McLeod Bethune;
Harry Randall Truman (American owner and caretaker of Mount St. Helens Lodge); 1988 – Daws Butler (voice of Yogi Bear, Quick Draw McGraw, Snagglepuss, and Huckleberry Hound); 1990 – Jill Ireland; 1992 – Skip Stephenson; 1995 – Elisha Cook, Jr.; 1995 – Elizabeth Montgomery ("Bewitched"); 2009 – Wayne Allwine (voice of Mickey Mouse for 32 years -
yes, I sang the song as I typed 'Mickey Mouse'); 2012 – Peter Jones; 2012 – Alan Oakley (designed the
Raleigh Chopper); 2013 – Steve Forrest; 2014 – Jerry Vale