May 18 in History

Cubana de Aviación Flight 972 crashes in Santiago de las Vegas after takeoff fro

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

May 18 spans 63 recorded events across recorded history — from 332 – 2026. Below is a curated digest of the most significant moments tied to this date.

By · Wikipedia

Historical Events 63 events 332 – 2026

Did you know

José Martí International Airport is located 20 kilometres southwest of Havana's centre.

Did you know

The airport serves as a hub for Cubana de Aviación and Aerogaviota.

Did you know

Empresa Cubana de Aeropuertos y Servicios Aeronáuticos operates the facility.

Did you know

The airport was formerly known as Rancho Boyeros Airport.

Did you know

Aeroflot, the Soviet airline, previously used the airport as a Latin American hub.


Constantine_the_Great
Emperor Constantine the Great announces free distributions of food to the citizens in Constantinople.
Roman emperor from 306 to 337
Constantine I, also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a pivotal role in elevating the status of Christianity in the Roman Empire, the Edict of Milan decriminalising Christian practice and ceasing Christian persecution. This was a turning point in the Christianisation of the Roman Empire. He founded the city of Constantinople and made it the capital of the Empire, which it remained for over a millennium.
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332
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.
Louis II, sometimes called the Younger, was the king of Italy and emperor of the Carolingian Empire from 844, co-ruling with his father Lothair I until 855, after which he ruled alone.
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872
Pope_Benedict_VIII
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
Pope Benedict VIII was bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 18 May 1012 until 1024. He was born Theophylact of Tusculum to the noble family of the counts of Tusculum. Unusually for a medieval pope, he had strong authority both in Rome and abroad.
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1012
First_Crusade
First Crusade: Around 800 Jews are massacred in Worms, Germany.
1096–1099 Christian re-conquest of the Holy Land
The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, which were initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Middle Ages. Their aim was to return the Holy Land—which had been conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate in the 7th century—to Christian rule. By the 11th century, although Jerusalem had then been ruled by Muslims for hundreds of years, the practices of the Seljuk rulers in the region began to threaten local Christian populations, pilgrimages from the West and the Byzantine Empire itself. The earliest impetus for the First Crusade came in 1095 when Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos sent ambassadors to the Council of Piacenza to request military support in the empire's conflict with the Seljuk-led Turks. This was followed later in the year by the Council of Clermont, at which Pope Urban II gave a speech supporting the Byzantine request and urging faithful Christians to undertake an armed pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
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1096
Henry_II_of_England
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.
Henry II was King of England from 1154 until his death in 1189. During his reign he controlled England, substantial parts of Wales and Ireland, and much of France, an area that was later called the Angevin Empire, and also held power over Scotland for a time and the Duchy of Brittany.
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1152
Principality_of_Antioch
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
The Principality of Antioch was one of the Crusader states created during the First Crusade which included parts of Anatolia and Syria. The principality was much smaller than the County of Edessa or the Kingdom of Jerusalem. It extended around the northeastern edge of the Mediterranean, bordering the County of Tripoli to the south, Edessa to the east, and the Byzantine Empire or the Kingdom of Armenia to the northwest, depending on the date.
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1268
Siege_of_Acre_(1291)
Fall of Acre, the end of Crusader presence in the Holy Land.
Part of the Crusades
The siege of Acre took place in 1291 and resulted in the Crusaders' losing control of Acre to the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt. It is considered one of the most important battles of the period. Although the crusading movement continued for several more centuries, the capture of the city marked the end of further crusades to the Levant. When Acre fell, the Crusaders lost their last major stronghold of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem.
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1291
Matins_of_Bruges
Bruges Matins, the nocturnal massacre of the French garrison in Bruges by members of the local Flemish militia.
1302 massacre in Bruges and Leliaerts
The Matins of Bruges was the nocturnal massacre of the French garrison in Bruges and their Leliaards supporters, a political faction in favour of French rule, on 18 May 1302 by the members of the local Flemish militia. It has been named "Matins" in analogy to the Sicilian Vespers of 1282. The revolt led to the Battle of the Golden Spurs, which saw the Flemish militia defeat French troops on 11 July 1302.
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1302
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 battle between Ming and Northern Yuan
The Battle of Buir Lake was fought between the Ming and Northern Yuan dynasties at the Buir Lake in 1388. The Ming army was led by General Lan Yu, who undertook the military campaign against the Northern Yuan horde led by Tögüs Temür. The Ming army defeated the Northern Yuan horde at the Buir Lake and captured many of their people.
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1388
Alonso_de_Ojeda
Alonso de Ojeda sets sail from Cádiz on his voyage to what is now Venezuela.
Spanish conquistador, navigator and governor
Alonso de Ojeda was a Spanish explorer, governor and conquistador. He is famous for having named Venezuela, which he explored during his first two expeditions, for having been the first European to visit Guyana, Curaçao, Colombia and Lake Maracaibo, and later for founding Santa Cruz. He also travelled to Trinidad, Tobago and Aruba, in some of his travels he journeyed with Amerigo Vespucci and Juan de la Cosa.
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1499
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May 18 in the Blog

Crimean Tatar Deportation — May 18, 1944
Crimean Tatar Deportation — May 18, 1944

230,000 Crimean Tatars vanished in 1944 as Soviet forces swept through Crimea, leaving devastation in their wake that lasted decades

Read the full story
Related questions

More questions about May 18

What happened on May 18?

A featured event on this date is 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. This page also lists 63 events from other years on the same day.

Why is May 18 remembered in history?

May 18 brings together events, births, and deaths across many eras, which makes it useful for seeing how one calendar date connects different historical turning points.

Who was born on May 18?

Notable birthdays on this date include Hala Finley, Travis Hunter, Alina Zagitova.

See birthdays

Who died on May 18?

Notable deaths on this date include Tom Kane, Bruce Nordstrom, Tony O'Reilly.

See deaths
Short answer

What happened on May 18 in history?

On May 18, one notable event in history was 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..

This date currently highlights 63 recorded events on thisDay.info, spanning 332 – 2026.

DateMay 18
Featured year2018
LocationSantiago de las Vegas after takeoff from Jos
Events listed63

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