May 18
1642 - The city of Montreal was founded by the French.
1652 - Rhode Island became the first American colony to pass a law abolishing slavery; however, the law apparently was never enforced.
1804 - Napoleon Bonaparte was proclaimed emperor of France by the French Senate.
1860 - The Republican Party convention in Chicago nominated Abraham Lincoln for president.
1863 - The Siege of Vicksburg began during the Civil War, ending July 4 with a Union victory.
1896 - The Supreme Court endorsed the concept of "separate but equal" racial segregation in Plessy v. Ferguson, a precedent that was overturned in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.
1897 - A public reading of Bram Stoker's new novel "Dracula, or, The Un-dead" was staged in London.
1910 - Halley’s Comet passed by earth, brushing it with its tail.
1920 - Pope John Paul II was born near Krakow, Poland.
1927 - In America’s deadliest school attack, part of a schoolhouse in Bath Township, Michigan, was blown up with explosives planted by local farmer Andrew Kehoe, who then set off a bomb in his truck; the attacks killed 38 children and six adults, including Kehoe, who’d earlier killed his wife. (Authorities said Kehoe, who suffered financial difficulties, was seeking revenge for losing a township clerk election.)
1933 - The Tennessee Valley Authority was created.
1934 - Congress approved, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed, the so-called “Lindbergh Act,” providing for the death penalty in cases of interstate kidnapping.
1951 - The United Nations moved out of its temporary headquarters in Lake Success, New York, for its permanent home in Manhattan.
1953 - Jacqueline Cochran became the first woman to fly faster than the speed of sound.
1969 - Apollo 10 was launched on a mission that served as a dress rehearsal for the first moon landing.
1973 - Harvard law professor Archibald Cox was appointed Watergate special prosecutor by U.S. Attorney General Elliot Richardson.
1974 - India became the world's sixth nuclear power.
1980 - Mount St. Helens in Washington erupted and exploded after lying dormant for 123 years, leaving 57 people dead or missing.
1981 - The New York Native, a gay newspaper, carried a story concerning rumors of "an exotic new disease" among homosexuals; it was the first published report about what came to be known as AIDS.
1994 - Israeli troops withdrew from the Gaza strip after three decades of occupation; Palestinians took over.
1998 - The U.S. government filed an antitrust case against Microsoft, saying the powerful software company had a “choke hold” on competitors that was denying consumers important choices about how they bought and used computers. (The Justice Department and Microsoft reached a settlement in 2001.)
2000 - A bill was finally passed that removed the Confederate flag from the South Carolina statehouse.
2003 - President Megawati Sukarnoputri of Indonesia declared martial law and sent 30,000 troops into Aceh.
2003 - "Les Miserables," the third-longest running show in Broadway history, closed after more than 16 years and 6,680 performances.
2004 - Sonia Gandhi stunned her party, the Indian National Congress, by refusing to accept the prime ministership of India.
2009 - Sri Lanka's 25-year civil war ended with the government announcing it had defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels and killed their leader.
2011 - Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned as head of the International Monetary Fund, saying he wanted to devote all his energy to battling the sexual assault charges he faced in New York. (The charges were later dropped.)
2012 - Social network Facebook made its trading debut with one of the most highly anticipated IPOs in Wall Street history; however, by day’s end, Facebook stock closed up only 23 cents from its initial pricing of $38.
2015 - President Barack Obama ended long-running federal transfers of some combat-style gear to local law enforcement in an attempt to ease tensions between police and minority communities, saying equipment made for the battlefield should not be a tool of American criminal justice.
2017 - President Donald Trump denounced the appointment of a special counsel to investigate his campaign’s potential ties with Russia, repeatedly calling it an unprecedented “witch hunt” that “hurts our country terribly.”
2020 - President Donald Trump said he’d been taking a malaria drug, hydroxychloroquine, and a zinc supplement to protect against the coronavirus despite warnings from his own government that the drug should be administered only in a hospital or research setting. Moderna announced that an experimental vaccine against the coronavirus showed encouraging results in early testing.
2021 - The New York attorney general’s office said it was conducting a criminal investigation into former President Donald Trump’s business empire, expanding what had previously been a civil probe.
Birthdays
21 - Adison Justis (model)
24 - Hannah Palmer (model)
26 - Violett Beane (actress)
26 - Gabriella Brooks (model)
26 - Josefine Pettersen (actress)
30 - Spencer Breslin (actor)
34 - Danielle Victor (reality star)
41 - Allen Leech (actor)
42 - Matt Long (actor)
47 - Jack Johnson (singer)
52 - Tina Fey (actress/comedian)
53 - Martika (singer)
67 - Chow Yun-Fat (actor)
70 - George Strait (singer)
71 - James Stephens (actor)
74 - Joe Bonsall (singer)
76 - Reggie Jackson (baseball player)
81 - Candice Azzara (actress)
84 - Brooks Robinson (baseball player)
98 - Priscilla Pointer (actress)
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Today in Sports History - May 18
1933 - The first major league All-Star Game was announced. It was to be played on July 6 at Comiskey Park as part of the Chicago World's Fair.
1956 - Mickey Mantle hit a home run from both sides of the plate for the third time.
1971 - The Utah Stars defeat the Kentucky Colonels in seven games to win the ABA championship.
1971 - The Montreal Canadiens defeat the Chicago Blackhawks to win the Stanley Cup.
2000 - Mark McGwire (St. Louis Cardinals) passed Mickey Mantle on the home run career list. He ended the game with 539.
2004 - Randy Johnson, 40, became the oldest pitcher in major league history to throw a perfect game, leading the Arizona Diamondbacks over the Atlanta Braves 2-0.
1642 - The city of Montreal was founded by the French.
1652 - Rhode Island became the first American colony to pass a law abolishing slavery; however, the law apparently was never enforced.
1804 - Napoleon Bonaparte was proclaimed emperor of France by the French Senate.
1860 - The Republican Party convention in Chicago nominated Abraham Lincoln for president.
1863 - The Siege of Vicksburg began during the Civil War, ending July 4 with a Union victory.
1896 - The Supreme Court endorsed the concept of "separate but equal" racial segregation in Plessy v. Ferguson, a precedent that was overturned in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.
1897 - A public reading of Bram Stoker's new novel "Dracula, or, The Un-dead" was staged in London.
1910 - Halley’s Comet passed by earth, brushing it with its tail.
1920 - Pope John Paul II was born near Krakow, Poland.
1927 - In America’s deadliest school attack, part of a schoolhouse in Bath Township, Michigan, was blown up with explosives planted by local farmer Andrew Kehoe, who then set off a bomb in his truck; the attacks killed 38 children and six adults, including Kehoe, who’d earlier killed his wife. (Authorities said Kehoe, who suffered financial difficulties, was seeking revenge for losing a township clerk election.)
1933 - The Tennessee Valley Authority was created.
1934 - Congress approved, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed, the so-called “Lindbergh Act,” providing for the death penalty in cases of interstate kidnapping.
1951 - The United Nations moved out of its temporary headquarters in Lake Success, New York, for its permanent home in Manhattan.
1953 - Jacqueline Cochran became the first woman to fly faster than the speed of sound.
1969 - Apollo 10 was launched on a mission that served as a dress rehearsal for the first moon landing.
1973 - Harvard law professor Archibald Cox was appointed Watergate special prosecutor by U.S. Attorney General Elliot Richardson.
1974 - India became the world's sixth nuclear power.
1980 - Mount St. Helens in Washington erupted and exploded after lying dormant for 123 years, leaving 57 people dead or missing.
1981 - The New York Native, a gay newspaper, carried a story concerning rumors of "an exotic new disease" among homosexuals; it was the first published report about what came to be known as AIDS.
1994 - Israeli troops withdrew from the Gaza strip after three decades of occupation; Palestinians took over.
1998 - The U.S. government filed an antitrust case against Microsoft, saying the powerful software company had a “choke hold” on competitors that was denying consumers important choices about how they bought and used computers. (The Justice Department and Microsoft reached a settlement in 2001.)
2000 - A bill was finally passed that removed the Confederate flag from the South Carolina statehouse.
2003 - President Megawati Sukarnoputri of Indonesia declared martial law and sent 30,000 troops into Aceh.
2003 - "Les Miserables," the third-longest running show in Broadway history, closed after more than 16 years and 6,680 performances.
2004 - Sonia Gandhi stunned her party, the Indian National Congress, by refusing to accept the prime ministership of India.
2009 - Sri Lanka's 25-year civil war ended with the government announcing it had defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels and killed their leader.
2011 - Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned as head of the International Monetary Fund, saying he wanted to devote all his energy to battling the sexual assault charges he faced in New York. (The charges were later dropped.)
2012 - Social network Facebook made its trading debut with one of the most highly anticipated IPOs in Wall Street history; however, by day’s end, Facebook stock closed up only 23 cents from its initial pricing of $38.
2015 - President Barack Obama ended long-running federal transfers of some combat-style gear to local law enforcement in an attempt to ease tensions between police and minority communities, saying equipment made for the battlefield should not be a tool of American criminal justice.
2017 - President Donald Trump denounced the appointment of a special counsel to investigate his campaign’s potential ties with Russia, repeatedly calling it an unprecedented “witch hunt” that “hurts our country terribly.”
2020 - President Donald Trump said he’d been taking a malaria drug, hydroxychloroquine, and a zinc supplement to protect against the coronavirus despite warnings from his own government that the drug should be administered only in a hospital or research setting. Moderna announced that an experimental vaccine against the coronavirus showed encouraging results in early testing.
2021 - The New York attorney general’s office said it was conducting a criminal investigation into former President Donald Trump’s business empire, expanding what had previously been a civil probe.
Birthdays
21 - Adison Justis (model)
24 - Hannah Palmer (model)
26 - Violett Beane (actress)
26 - Gabriella Brooks (model)
26 - Josefine Pettersen (actress)
30 - Spencer Breslin (actor)
34 - Danielle Victor (reality star)
41 - Allen Leech (actor)
42 - Matt Long (actor)
47 - Jack Johnson (singer)
52 - Tina Fey (actress/comedian)
53 - Martika (singer)
67 - Chow Yun-Fat (actor)
70 - George Strait (singer)
71 - James Stephens (actor)
74 - Joe Bonsall (singer)
76 - Reggie Jackson (baseball player)
81 - Candice Azzara (actress)
84 - Brooks Robinson (baseball player)
98 - Priscilla Pointer (actress)
===========================================
Today in Sports History - May 18
1933 - The first major league All-Star Game was announced. It was to be played on July 6 at Comiskey Park as part of the Chicago World's Fair.
1956 - Mickey Mantle hit a home run from both sides of the plate for the third time.
1971 - The Utah Stars defeat the Kentucky Colonels in seven games to win the ABA championship.
1971 - The Montreal Canadiens defeat the Chicago Blackhawks to win the Stanley Cup.
2000 - Mark McGwire (St. Louis Cardinals) passed Mickey Mantle on the home run career list. He ended the game with 539.
2004 - Randy Johnson, 40, became the oldest pitcher in major league history to throw a perfect game, leading the Arizona Diamondbacks over the Atlanta Braves 2-0.
