Did you know
Rhode Island was the first colony in America to declare independence from Britain on May 4, 1776.
May 18 in History
1652 — Slavery in Rhode Island is abolished, although the law is not rigorously enforced
May 18 spans 63 recorded events across recorded history, from 332 to 2026. Below is a curated digest of the most significant moments tied to this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Historical Events
63 events
332 – 2026
Today in history
More major events on May 18
The featured story and these ranked highlights form a quick summary. Every recorded event remains available in the chronology below.
- 1955 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. Source
- 1993 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. Source
- 1927 After being founded for 20 years, the Nationalist government approves Tongji University to be among its first national universities. Source
Did you know
The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations was established by a royal charter in 1663.
Did you know
Roger Williams founded the colony of Rhode Island in 1636 after being banished from Massachusetts.
Did you know
The state of Rhode Island has a total area of approximately 1,214 square miles, making it the smallest US state.
Did you know
The capital of Rhode Island, Providence, was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams and is the most populous city in the state.
332
Emperor Constantine the Great announces free distributions of food to the citizens in Constantinople.
Roman emperor from 306 to 337
872
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.
1012
Pope Benedict VIII begins his papacy following the death of his predecessor Pope Sergius IV earlier that month.
Head of the Catholic Church from 1012 to 1024
1096
First Crusade: Around 800 Jews are massacred in Worms, Germany.
1096–1099 Christian re-conquest of the Holy Land
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.
1268
The Principality of Antioch, a crusader state, falls to the Mamluk Sultan Baibars in the Siege of Antioch.
Crusader state in the Levant from 1098 to 1268
1291
1302
Bruges Matins, the nocturnal massacre of the French garrison in Bruges by members of the local Flemish militia.
1302 massacre in Bruges and Leliaerts
1388
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 battle between Ming and Northern Yuan
1499
Alonso de Ojeda sets sail from Cádiz on his voyage to what is now Venezuela.
Spanish conquistador, navigator and governor
1565
The Great Siege of Malta begins, in which Ottoman forces attempt and fail to conquer Malta.
Ottoman Empire's invasion of Malta in 1565
1593
Playwright Thomas Kyd's accusations of heresy lead to an arrest warrant for Christopher Marlowe.
16th-century English dramatist
1631
In Dorchester, Massachusetts, John Winthrop takes the oath of office and becomes the first Governor of Massachusetts.
Neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts
1695
The 1695 Linfen earthquake in Shannxi, Qing dynasty causes extreme damage and kills at least 52,000 people.
Earthquake in China
1756
The Seven Years' War begins when Great Britain declares war on France.
Global war among European powers (1756–1763)
1783
First United Empire Loyalists reach Parrtown (later called Saint John, New Brunswick), Canada, after leaving the United States.
Title given to loyalists during the American Revolution who resettled in colonial Canada
1794
Battle of Tourcoing during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition.
1794 battle of the Flanders Campaign during the War of the First Coalition
1803
Napoleonic Wars: The United Kingdom revokes the Treaty of Amiens and declares war on France.
1803–1815 series of wars led by Napoleon
1804
Napoleon Bonaparte is proclaimed Emperor of the French by the French Senate.
French general and emperor (1769–1821)
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.
Battle in the Uruguayan struggle for independence
1812
John Bellingham is found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging for the assassination of British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval.
English merchant who assassinated Prime Minister Spencer Perceval in 1812
1843
The Disruption in Edinburgh of the Free Church of Scotland from the Church of Scotland.
Schism within the Church of Scotland
1848
Opening of the first German National Assembly (Nationalversammlung) in Frankfurt, Germany.
Section of a legislature
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.
1863
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.
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.
Human stampede in Russia in 1896
1900
The United Kingdom proclaims a protectorate over Tonga.
Concept in international relations
1912
The first Indian film, Shree Pundalik by Dadasaheb Torne, is released in Mumbai.
1917
World War I: The Selective Service Act of 1917 is passed, giving the President of the United States the power of conscription.
Global conflict from 1914 to 1918
1922
Seamus Woods leads an Irish Republican Army attack on the headquarters of the Royal Irish Constabulary in Belfast.
Irish Republican Army commander
1926
Evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson disappears in Venice, California.
Preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ
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.
1927 bombing attacks in Bath Township, Michigan
1927
After being founded for 20 years, the Nationalist government approves Tongji University to be among its first national universities.
Government led by the Kuomintang from 1925–1948 in mainland China
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 evacuate Monte Cassino.
Global conflict (1939–1945)
1944
Deportation of Crimean Tatars by the Soviet Union.
1944 Soviet ethnic cleansing and genocide
1948
The First Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China officially convenes in Nanking.
Unicameral national legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan)
1953
Jacqueline Cochran becomes the first woman to break the sound barrier.
American aviator and businesswoman (1906–1980)
1955
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.
Relocation of people from North to South Vietnam (1954–1955)
1962
The French government and representatives of the Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic reach a settlement to end the Algerian war in the Évian Accords.
1958–1962 government-in-exile of the National Liberation Front
1965
Israeli spy Eli Cohen is hanged in Damascus, Syria.
Egyptian-born Israeli spy (1924–1965)
1969
Apollo program: Apollo 10 is launched.
1961–1972 American crewed lunar exploration program
1972
During approach to Kharkiv International Airport, Aeroflot Flight 1491 crashes near Ruska Lozova, killing all 112 aboard.
Commercial airport serving Kharkiv, Ukraine
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.
1973 plane crash caused by hijacker with bomb
1974
Nuclear weapons testing: Under project Smiling Buddha, India successfully detonates its first nuclear weapon becoming the sixth nation to do so.
Controlled detonation of nuclear weapons for scientific or political purposes
1977
Likud party wins the 1977 Israeli legislative election, with Menachem Begin, its founder, as the sixth Prime Minister of Israel.
Israeli right-wing political party
1980
Mount St.
Helens erupts in Washington, United States, killing 57 people and causing $3 billion in damage.
1980
Students in Gwangju, South Korea begin demonstrations calling for democratic reforms.
1980 anti-government protest in South Korea
1980
Rioting spreads to Miami's mostly African-American neighborhoods of Overtown and Liberty City following the previous day's courthouse protests.
Period of civil unrest in Miami, Florida
1990
In France, a modified TGV train achieves a new rail world speed record of 515.3 km/h (320.2 mph).
State-operated intercity high-speed rail service of France
1991
Northern Somalia declares independence from the rest of Somalia as the Republic of Somaliland.
Country in East Africa
1993
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.
1994
Israeli troops finish withdrawing from the Gaza Strip, ceding the area to the Palestinian National Authority to govern.
Autonomous territory in the Middle East
2005
A second photo from the Hubble Space Telescope confirms that Pluto has two additional moons, Nix and Hydra.
NASA/ESA space telescope launched in 1990
2006
The post Loktantra Andolan government passes a landmark bill curtailing the power of the monarchy and making Nepal a secular country.
Political anti-monarchy movement
2009
The LTTE are defeated by the Sri Lankan government, ending almost 26 years of fighting between the two sides.
Tamil militant organisation in Sri Lanka (1976–2009)
2015
At least 78 people die in a landslide caused by heavy rains in the Colombian town of Salgar.
2015 natural disaster in Salgar, Antioquia, Colombia
2018
A school shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas kills ten people.
Mass shooting in Texas, U.S.
2018
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 aviation accident in Cuba
2019
United States presidential election: Joe Biden launches his presidential campaign.
2026
A shooting carried out by two gunmen at the Islamic Center of San Diego results in the deaths of five people, including the perpetrators.
Shooting in San Diego, California, US