2020 United States presidential election
2019
United States presidential election: Joe Biden launches his presidential campaign..
May-18
Historical Events on May 18
May
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Santa Fe High School shooting
A school shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas kills ten people.
2018
Cubana de Aviación Flight 0972
Cubana de Aviación Flight 972 crashes in Santiago de las Vegas after takeoff from José Martí International Airport in Havana, Cuba, killing 112 of the 113 people on board.
2018
2015 Colombian landslide
At least 78 people die in a landslide caused by heavy rains in the Colombian town of Salgar.
2015
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
The LTTE are defeated by the Sri Lankan government, ending almost 26 years of fighting between the two sides.
2009
2006 Nepalese revolution
2006
The post Loktantra Andolan government passes a landmark bill curtailing the power of the monarchy and making Nepal a secular country..
Hubble Space Telescope
A second photo from the Hubble Space Telescope confirms that Pluto has two additional moons, Nix and Hydra.
2005
Gaza Strip
Israeli troops finish withdrawing from the Gaza Strip, ceding the area to the Palestinian National Authority to govern.
1994
Nørrebro
Riots in Nørrebro, Copenhagen, caused by the approval of the four Danish exceptions in the Maastricht Treaty referendum. Police open fire against civilians for the first time since World War II and injure 11 demonstrators.
1993
Somalia
Northern Somalia declares independence from the rest of Somalia as the Republic of Somaliland.
1991
TGV
1990
In France, a modified TGV train achieves a new rail world speed record of 515.3 km/h (320.2 mph)..
Mount St. Helens
Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington, United States, killing 57 people and causing $3 billion in damage.
1980
Gwangju Uprising
Students in Gwangju, South Korea begin demonstrations calling for democratic reforms.
1980
Likud
Likud party wins the 1977 Israeli legislative election, with Menachem Begin, its founder, as the sixth Prime Minister of Israel.
1977
Nuclear weapons testing
Nuclear weapons testing: Under project Smiling Buddha, India successfully detonates its first nuclear weapon becoming the sixth nation to do so.
1974
Aeroflot Flight 109
1973
Aeroflot Flight 109 is hijacked mid-flight and the aircraft is subsequently destroyed when the hijacker's bomb explodes, killing all 82 people on board..
Kharkiv International Airport
During approach to Kharkiv International Airport, Aeroflot Flight 1491 crashes near Ruska Lozova, killing all 112 aboard.
1972
Apollo program
Apollo program: Apollo 10 is launched.
1969
Eli Cohen
Israeli spy Eli Cohen is hanged in Damascus, Syria.
1965
Operation Passage to Freedom
Operation Passage to Freedom, the evacuation of 310,000 Vietnamese civilians, soldiers and non-Vietnamese members of the French Army from communist North Vietnam to South Vietnam following the end of the First Indochina War, ends.
1955
Jacqueline Cochran
1953
Jacqueline Cochran becomes the first woman to break the sound barrier..
Legislative Yuan
The First Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China officially convenes in Nanking.
1948
World War II
World War II: Battle of Monte Cassino: Conclusion after seven days of the fourth battle as German paratroopers evacuate Monte Cassino.
1944
Deportation of the Crimean Tatars
Deportation of Crimean Tatars by the Soviet Union.
1944
New Deal
New Deal: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs an act creating the Tennessee Valley Authority.
1933
Bath School disaster
1927
The Bath School disaster: Forty-five people, including many children, are killed by bombs planted by a disgruntled school-board member in Bath Township, Michigan..
Nationalist government
After being founded for 20 years, the Nationalist government approves Tongji University to be among the first national universities of the Republic of China.
1927
Evangelism
Evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson disappears in Venice, California.
1926
Seamus Woods
Seamus Woods leads an Irish Republican Army attack on the headquarters of the Royal Irish Constabulary in Belfast.
1922
World War I
World War I: The Selective Service Act of 1917 is passed, giving the President of the United States the power of conscription.
1917
Cinema of India
1912
The first Indian film, Shree Pundalik by Dadasaheb Torne, is released in Mumbai..
Protectorate
The United Kingdom proclaims a protectorate over Tonga.
1900
Supreme Court of the United States
The United States Supreme Court rules in Plessy v. Ferguson that the "separate but equal" doctrine is constitutional.
1896
Khodynka Tragedy
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.
1896
American Civil War
American Civil War: Union forces under Ulysses S. Grant begin the Siege of Vicksburg during the Vicksburg campaign in order to take full control of the Mississippi River.
1863
1860 United States presidential election
1860
United States presidential election: Abraham Lincoln wins the Republican Party presidential nomination over William H. Seward, who later becomes the United States Secretary of State..
National Assembly
Opening of the first German National Assembly (Nationalversammlung) in Frankfurt, Germany.
1848
Disruption of 1843
The Disruption in Edinburgh of the Free Church of Scotland from the Church of Scotland.
1843
John Bellingham
John Bellingham is found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging for the assassination of British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval.
1812
Battle of Las Piedras (1811)
Battle of Las Piedras: The first great military triumph of the revolution of the Río de la Plata in Uruguay led by José Artigas.
1811
Napoleon
1804
Napoleon Bonaparte is proclaimed Emperor of the French by the French Senate..
Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars: The United Kingdom revokes the Treaty of Amiens and declares war on France.
1803
Battle of Tourcoing
Battle of Tourcoing during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition.
1794
United Empire Loyalist
First United Empire Loyalists reach Parrtown (later called Saint John, New Brunswick), Canada, after leaving the United States.
1783
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War begins when Great Britain declares war on France.
1756
1695 Linfen earthquake
1695
The 1695 Linfen earthquake in Shannxi, Qing dynasty causes extreme damage and kills at least 52,000 people..
History of Rhode Island
Slavery in Rhode Island is abolished, although the law is not rigorously enforced.
1652
Dorchester, Boston
In Dorchester, Massachusetts, John Winthrop takes the oath of office and becomes the first Governor of Massachusetts.
1631
Thomas Kyd
Playwright Thomas Kyd's accusations of heresy lead to an arrest warrant for Christopher Marlowe.
1593
Great Siege of Malta
The Great Siege of Malta begins, in which Ottoman forces attempt and fail to conquer Malta.
1565
Alonso de Ojeda
1499
Alonso de Ojeda sets sail from Cádiz on his voyage to what is now Venezuela..
Battle of Buir Lake
During the Battle of Buyur Lake, General Lan Yu leads a Ming army forward to crush the Mongol hordes of Tögüs Temür, the Khan of Northern Yuan.
1388
Matins of Bruges
Bruges Matins, the nocturnal massacre of the French garrison in Bruges by members of the local Flemish militia.
1302
Siege of Acre (1291)
Fall of Acre, the end of Crusader presence in the Holy Land.
1291
Principality of Antioch
The Principality of Antioch, a crusader state, falls to the Mamluk Sultan Baibars in the Siege of Antioch.
1268
Henry II of England
1152
The future Henry II of England marries Eleanor of Aquitaine. He would become king two years later, after the death of his cousin once removed King Stephen of England..
First Crusade
First Crusade: Around 800 Jews are massacred in Worms, Germany.
1096
Louis II of Italy
Louis II of Italy is crowned for the second time as Holy Roman Emperor at Rome, at the age of 47. His first coronation was 28 years earlier, in 844, during the reign of his father Lothair I.
872
Constantine the Great
Emperor Constantine the Great announces free distributions of food to the citizens in Constantinople.
332