| 526 |
|
St. John I ends his reign as Catholic Pope. |
| 1643 |
|
Queen Anne, the widow of Louis XIII, is granted sole and absolute power as regent by the Paris parliament, overriding the late king’s will. |
| 1652 |
|
A law is passed in Rhode Island banning slavery in the colonies but it causes little stir and seems unlikely to be enforced. |
| 1792 |
|
Russian troops invade Poland. |
| 1802 |
|
Britain declares war on France. |
| 1804 |
|
Napoleon Bonaparte becomes the Emperor of France. |
| 1828 |
|
The Battle of Las Piedras, between Uruguay and Brazil, ends. |
| 1860 |
|
Abraham Lincoln is nominated for president. |
| 1864 |
|
The fighting at Spotsylvania in Virginia, reaches its peak at the Bloody Angle. |
| 1896 |
|
The Supreme Court’s decision on Plessy v. Ferguson upholds the "separate but equal" policy in the United States. |
| 1904 |
|
Brigand Raizuli kidnaps American Ion H. Perdicaris in Morocco. |
| 1917 |
|
The U.S. Congress passes the Selective Service act, calling up soldiers to fight World War I. |
| 1931 |
|
Japanese pilot Seiji Yoshihara crashes his plane in the Pacific Ocean while trying to be the first to cross the ocean nonstop. He is picked up seven hours later by a passing ship. |
| 1933 |
|
President Franklin Roosevelt signs the Tennessee Valley Authority Act. |
| 1942 |
|
New York ends night baseball games for the rest of World War II. |
| 1944 |
|
The Allies finally capture Monte Cassino in Italy. |
| 1951 |
|
The United Nations moves its headquarters to New York city. |
| 1969 |
|
Two battalions of the 101st Airborne Division assault Hill 937 but cannot reach the top because of muddy conditions. |
| 1974 |
|
India becomes sixth nation to explode an atomic bomb. |
| 1980 |
|
After rumbling for two months, Mount Saint Helens, in Washington, erupts 3 times in 24 hours. |
|
Born on May 18 |
| 1836 |
|
Wilhelm Steinitz, chess champion. |
| 1868 |
|
Nicholas II, the last Russian czar. |
| 1872 |
|
Bertrand Russell, English mathematician, philosopher and social reformer. |
| 1897 |
|
Frank Capra, film director (It’s A Wonderful Life). |
| 1902 |
|
Meredith Willson, composer and lyricist (The Music Man). |
| 1911 |
|
Joseph Vernon "Big Joe" Turner, blues singer. |
| 1918 |
|
John Paul II [Karol Jozef Wojtyla], Roman Catholic pope. |
| 1919 |
|
Margot Fonteyn, English ballet dancer. |
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