Today in history

Today in history

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YEARDAYEVENT
526May 18St. John I, Catholic Pope (523-526), died.
1160May 18Erik IX Helgi (The Saint), King of Sweden, died. According to legends, the king was beheaded and miracles occurred after his death. Uppsala Cathedral was later built on the murder site to house his remains.
1291May 18Sultan of Egypt and his son took the last Christian stronghold of Acre.
1302May 18The weaver Peter de Coningk led a massacre of the Flemish oligarchs at the French garrison (Brugse Metten).
1410May 18Ruprecht, Roman Catholics German king, died.
1587May 18Felix van Cantalice, Italian saint, died.
1596May 18Willem Barents left Amsterdam for Novaya Zemlya.
1604May 18(OS)England and Spain agreed signed the Treaty of London ending the 19 year Anglo-Spanish war.
1619May 18Hugo the Great (1582-1645), Hugo de Groot or Grotius, Dutch scholar, the “Father of Int’l. Law” and author of the 1st treatise on the law of the sea, Mare liberum,” was sentenced to life in prison.
1625May 18Francisco Gómez de Sandoval y Rojas, Spanish marquis of Denia, died.
1631May 18English colony of Massachusetts Bay granted Puritans voting rights and John Winthrop was elected 1st governor of Massachusetts.
1642May 18The Canadian city of Montreal was founded by French colonists.
1643May 18Queen Anne, the widow of Louis XIII, was granted sole and absolute power as regent by the Paris parliament, overriding the late king’s will.
1652May 18A law was passed in Rhode Island banning slavery in the colonies but it caused little stir and seemed unlikely to be enforced.
1653May 18Carel Reyniersz (48), Governor-General of Netherlands and East Indies, died.
1675May 18Jacques Marquette (37), Jesuit, missionary in Chicago, died.
1692May 18Joseph Butler Wantage Berkshire, theologian, was born.
1703May 18Dutch and English troops occupied Cologne.
1711May 18Ruggiero G. Boscovich [Rudzer J Boskovic], Italian astronomer, was born.
1724May 18Johann K. Amman (54), Swiss-Dutch doctor for deaf-mutes, died.
1733May 18Georg Bohm (71), German organist, composer, died.
1767May 18Thaddaus Ferdinand Lipowsky (28), composer, died.
1788May 18Hugh Clapperton, African explorer, was born in Annan, Scotland.
1792May 18Russian troops invaded Poland.
1794May 18The 2nd battle of Bouvines was between France and Austria.
1797May 18Frederik Augustus II, King of Saxon (1836-54), was born.
1803May 18Great Britain declared war on France after General Napoleon Bonaparte continued interfering in Italy and Switzerland.
1804May 18The French Senate proclaimed Napoleon Bonaparte emperor.
1808May 18Jacob Albright [Albrecht] (49), German-US preacher, died.
1828May 18The Battle of Las Piedras, ended the conflict between Uruguay and Brazil.
1829May 18Bernardo Bittoni, composer, died.
1830May 18Karl Goldmark Keszthely, composer, was born in Hungary.
1832May 18Bonafacio Asioli, composer, died.
1836May 18Wilhelm Steinitz was born. The Czech-born world chess champion (1866-94) later became a naturalized American.
1839May 18Carolina [Maria A] Bonaparte (57), countess of Lipona (anagram of Napoli), died and was buried in Bologna.
1843May 18United Free Church of Scotland formed.
1846May 18US troops attacked at the Rio Grande and occupied Matamoros.
1850May 18Oliver Heaviside, physicist who predicted existence of ionosphere, was born.
1851May 18The Amsterdam-Nieuwediep telegraph connection linked.
1852May 18Massachusetts ruled that all school-age children must attend school.
1860May 18The Republican Convention in Chicago nominated Abraham Lincoln for US president and Senator Hannibal Hamlin of Maine as Vice President. Other presidential candidates included William Seward and Salmon Chase.
1861May 18Battle of Sewall’s Point VA was the 1st Federal offense against South.
1862May 18William High Keim (b.1813), US Union Brigadier-General, died in camp of fever in Harrisburg, Pa.
1863May 18Siege of Vicksburg, MS.
1864May 18Jan P. Veth Bayern, Dutch painter, etcher, lithographer, art historian, was born.
1866May 18French Government of De Putte resigned.
1868May 18Nicholas II, the last Russian czar (1894-1917), was born. He and his family, were assassinated by revolutionaries.
1872May 18Bertrand Russell (d.1970), English mathematician, philosopher and social reformer, was born.
1880May 18In the 6th Kentucky Derby George Lewis aboard Fonso won in 2:37½.
1883May 18Walter Gropius (d.1969), architect and founder of the Bauhaus school of design, was born in Berlin, Germany. “The human mind is like an umbrella. It functions best when open.”
1884May 18Heinrich R. Göppert, German paleo-botanist, died.
1885May 18Eurico Gaspar Dutra, President of Brazil (1945-50), was born.
1887May 18Emmanuel Chabrier’s opera “Le Roi Malgré Luis” premiered in Paris, France.
1889May 18Jules Massenet’s opera “Esclarmonde” premiered in Paris, France.
1891May 18Rudolf Carnap, philosopher (German Logical Positivist), was born.
1897May 18Frank Capra, movie director, was born. He is best remembered for “It’s A Wonderful Life.”
1898May 18Juan J. Domenchina, Spanish poet, interpreter (sombra desterrada), was born.
1899May 18The First Hague Peace Conference opened in the Netherlands as 26 nations met on World Goodwill Day. The destruction or seizure of enemy property with no military value was banned at the convention. The czar of Russia had called for a disarmament conference that, for reasons of diplomatic niceties and international rivalries, ended up in The Hague.
1900May 18Britain proclaimed a protectorate over kingdom of Tonga.
1902May 18Meredith Willson (Wilson), composer and lyricist (The Music Man), was born in Mason City, Iowa.
1904May 18Jacob K. Javits, US Senator-R-NY, was born.
1909May 18George Meredith (81), English poet, writer (Diana of Crossways), died.
1910May 18Passage of Earth through tail of Halley’s Comet caused near-panic.
1911May 18Joseph Vernon “Big Joe” Turner, blues singer, was born in Kansas City, MO.
1912May 18Richard Brooks, director (Blackboard Jungle, In Cold Blood), was born in Philadelphia, PA.
1913May 18Perry Como (Pierino Roland Como, d. 2001), singer, was born in Canonsburg, Pa.
1916May 18US pilot Kiffin Rockwell shot down German aircraft.
1917May 18The U.S. Congress passed the Selective Service act, calling up soldiers to fight World War I.
1918May 18Toivo Kuula (34), composer, died.
1919May 18Margot Fonteyn (d.1991), ballet dancer, was born in Surrey, England, as Peggy Hookham.
1922May 18Dutch 2nd Chamber agreed to a 48 hour work week over the previous 45 hours.
1924May 18At the Olympics in Paris the American rugby team beat the French 17-3. Only France Rumania and America fielded rugby teams. Rugby was dismissed from the Olympics after rival fans rioted following the American upset victory.
1926May 18Evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson vanished while visiting a beach in Venice, Calif.; she reappeared a month later, claiming to have been kidnapped.
1927May 18“Slide Lake” in Gros Ventre, WY, collapsed.
1930May 18Joao Marcellino Arroyo (68), composer, died.
1931May 18Japanese pilot Seiji Yoshihara crashed his plane in the Pacific Ocean while trying to be the first to cross the ocean nonstop. He was picked up seven hours later by a passing ship.
1932May 18Luigi Malvese, bootleg gangster, was ambushed and shot to death in front of the Del Monte Barbershop at 720 Columbus Ave, SF, Ca. A police dragnet rounded up some 1,000 “usual suspect” in an attempt to pressure the underworld to rein in its wild men. Louis Dinato, Al Capone’s tailor, was among those rounded up.
1933May 18The Tennessee Valley Authority Act was signed by President Roosevelt. The TVA proceed to build damns in the Tennessee Valley.
1934May 18TWA began commercial service.
1936May 18Alick Maclean (63), composer, died.
1940May 18German forces under Field Marshal Georg von Kuchler (1881-1968) occupied Antwerp, Netherlands.
1941May 18An Egyptian steamer sank.
1942May 18New York ended night baseball games for the rest of World War II.
1943May 18Allied bombers attacked Pantelleria in the Mediterranean Sea.
1944May 18The Allies in Italy finally captured Monte Cassino, Europe’s oldest Monastic house, after a four-month struggle that claimed some 20,000 lives. The Polish 2nd Army corps, at a staggering loss of life, captured the convent of Monte Cassino.
1947 May 18John Bruton, Prime Minister (Republic of Ireland), was born.
1948May 18“Ballet Ballads” opened at Music Box Theater in NYC for 62 performances.
1949May 18Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America incorporated.
1950May 18“Liar” opened at Broadhurst Theater in NYC for 12 performances.
1951May 18US General Collins predicted the use of atom bomb in Korea.
1952May 18Professor WF Libby said Stonehenge dated back to 1848 BC.
1953May 18Jacqueline Cochran became the first woman to break the sound barrier as she piloted a North American F-86 Canadair over Rogers Dry Lake, Calif.
1954May 18European Convention on Human Rights went into effect.
1955May 1828.7 cm rain fell at Lake Maloya, NM, for a state record.
1956May 18Queen Juliana opened the Rembrandt fairs in Amsterdam.
1957May 18In the 83rd Preakness: Eddie Arcaro aboard Bold Ruler won in 1:56.2.
1960May 18Eileen Fulton began playing Lisa on the TV soap “As the World Turns” and continued for over 30 years.
1961May 18“Donnybrook!” opened at 46th St Theater in NYC for 68 performances.
1963May 18“Beast in Me” closed at Plymouth Theater in NYC after 4 performances.
1964May 18David Frost interviewed Paul McCartney on the BBC.
1965May 18Gene Roddenberry suggested 16 names including Kirk for Star Trek Captain.
1966May 18Paul Althaus (78), German theologist (That Christian Wahrheit), died.
1967May 18Tennessee Gov. Buford Ellington signed a measure repealing the “Monkey Law” against teaching evolution that was used to prosecute John T. Scopes in 1925.
1968May 18In Maryland’s 94th Preakness Ismael Valenzuela aboard Forward Pass won in 1:56.8.
1969May 18“Canterbury Tales” closed at Eugene O’Neill in NYC after 121 performances.
1971May 18The 3rd Bulgarian constitution went into effect.
1972May 18“Me & The Chimp” last aired on CBS-TV.
1973May 18Russian party leader Brezhnev visited West Germany.
1974May 18“The Streak” by Ray Stevens hits #1.
1975May 18Leroy Anderson (b.1908), American composer, died.
1976May 18Zelmar Michelini and Hector Gutierrez, prominent Uruguayan lawmakers, were seized from their homes in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Their bullet-riddled bodies were found days later along with those of suspected rebels suspected guerrillas William Whitelaw and Rosario Barredo.
1978May 18Russian dissident Yuri Orlov was sentenced to 7 years in a strict-regime labor camp. The Russian physicist was arrested Feb 10, 1977.
1980May 18At 8:32 a.m. Mount Saint Helens, in Washington, erupted. It burst 3 times in 24 hours after rumbling for two months and left 57 people dead or missing. The mountain lost over 1,300 feet of elevation and gained a two-mile-long and one mile-wide crater.
1981May 18Arthur O’Connell (73), actor (Mr. Peepers, Second Hundred Years), died.
1983May 18The US Senate passed the Simpson-Mazzoli bill for immigration reform. It offered millions of illegal aliens legal status under an amnesty program.
1985May 18In the 111th Preakness: Pat Day aboard Tank’s Prospect won in 1:53.4.
1986May 18“Singin’ in the Rain” closed at the Gershwin Theater in NYC after 367 performances.
1987May 18Sen. Paul Simon of Illinois entered the Democratic presidential race.
1988May 18Daws Butler (b.1916), cartoon voice (Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound), died.
1989May 18In China a million protestors filled Tiananmen Square.
1990May 18The TV movie “Return To Green Acres” aired.
1991May 18“Hansel” won the 116th running of the Preakness Stakes.
1992May 18The Supreme Court ruled that states may not force mentally unstable criminal defendants to take anti-psychotic drugs while on trial unless a good reason is shown to require the medication.
1993May 18Voters in Denmark ratified the European Community’s Maastricht Treaty on closer economic and political union.
1994May 18The Tropical Butterfly Garden at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo opened.
1995May 18Triumphant US Republicans pushed a historic budget through the House that they said would wring an unprecedented $1.4 trillion in savings from federal budgets over the next seven years.
1996May 18Louis Quatorze won the Preakness.
1997May 18“King David” opened at New Amsterdam Theater in NYC.
1998May 18The US Justice Dept. filed an antitrust action against Microsoft Corp. for embedding its own browser in its operating system, thus limiting competition from others such as Netscape. The Justice Department and Microsoft reached a settlement in 2001.
1999May 18Pres. Clinton declared for the first time that he would consider ground troops in Kosovo if he becomes convinced that the NATO bombing strategy would not bring victory.
2000May 18Sante Kimes and Kenneth Kimes, mother-and-son grifters, were convicted in New York of murdering Irene Silverman in a plot to steal her elegant townhouse mansion. The body of the 82-year-old millionaire widow has never been found.
2001May 18Brazil ordered consumers and businesses to cut energy use by 20% due to shortages created by drought. Rationing was to start June 1.
2002May 18War Emblem won the Preakness Stakes, setting up a shot at the Triple Crown. However, he came up short at the Belmont Stakes, which was won by long shot Sarava.
2003May 18“Les Miserables” closed on Broadway after more than 16 years and 6,680 performances.
2004May 18Randy Johnson (40) pitched a perfect game to lead the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 2-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves.
2005May 18President Bush offered his unqualified support for Egypt’s political reform process as he received PM Ahmed Nazief at the White House.
2006May 18Prisoners with makeshift weapons battled guards trying to save a detainee pretending to commit suicide at the US prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The coordinated attack left six prisoners injured.
2007May 18The White House and Congress failed to strike a deal after exchanging competing offers on an Iraq war spending bill that Democrats said should set a date for US troops to leave.
2008May 18In SF the 97th running of the Bay to Breakers drew some 60,000 participants, of which 33,000 had officially registered.
2009May 18The US Justice Department accused Wyeth, one of the nation’s biggest drug makers, of cheating Medicaid programs out of hundreds of millions of dollars by overcharging for a stomach acid drug.
2010May 18Arizona voters approved a 1% sales tax increase.
2011May 18The US slapped sanctions on Syrian Pres. Bashar Assad and six of his senior officials for human rights abuses.
2012May 18Pres. Obama pledged that the United States will keep providing emergency aid to feed the world’s hungry and said that firms had committed $3 billion to improve agriculture.
2013May 18Arkansas Treasurer Martha Shoffner was arrested in an FBI sting operation. She accused of taking at least $36,000 from a broker who later came to manage a large share of the state’s $3.3 billion stock and bond portfolio.
2014May 18Bosnian officials said over 300 landslides triggered by unprecedented rains have left hundreds of people homeless. The floods and landslides unearthed minefield warning signs from the 1992-95 war and, in many cases, the unexploded booby traps themselves.
Source: Timelines of History
  

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