On this day: 18 May
Events, births and deaths on 18 May. Every date is checked against Wikidata.
Years ago today
1 year ago2025
Nothing recorded for that year.
10 years ago2016
Nothing recorded for that year.
100 years ago1926
Within 10 years of that
- 1920 · Births · John Paul II
- 1922 · Deaths · Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran
- 1919 · Births · Margot Fonteyn
1000 years ago1026
Within 100 years of that
- 1048 · Births · Omar Khayyám
- 978 · Deaths · Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine
Events · 29
- 1302(Julian date)Bruges Matins — conflict
- 1565(Julian date)Siege of Malta — Ottoman Empire's invasion of Malta in 1565
- 16951695 Linfen earthquake — earthquake in China
- 1794Battle of Tourcoing — 1794 battle of the Flanders Campaign during the War of the First Coalition
- 1803Treaty of Amiens — 1802 Treaty during the War of the Second Coalition
- 1804First French Empire — empire of Napoleon I of France, from 1804 to 1815
- 1804Constitution of the Year XII — expired national constitution of the First French Empire
- 1811Battle of Las Piedras — 1811 battle in the Uruguayan struggle for independence
- 1848Frankfurt National Assembly — first parliament for all of Germany (1848-1849)
- 1863Siege of Vicksburg — 1863 battle of the American Civil War
- 1896(Julian date)Khodynka Tragedy — stampede in Russian Empire in 1896
- 1896Plessy v. Ferguson — 1896 U.S. Supreme Court case on racial segregation
- 1927Grauman's Chinese Theatre — movie theater in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA
- 1927Bath School disaster — 1927 bombing attacks in Bath Township, Michigan
- 1933Tennessee Valley Authority — federally-owned electric utility corporation in the United States
- 1944deportation of the Crimean Tatars — ethnic cleansing carried out by the Soviet Union during World War II
- 1972Aeroflot Flight 1491 — 1972 Antonov An-10 crash
- 1973Aeroflot Flight 109 — plane crash caused by hijacker with bomb
- 1974Warsaw radio mast — former radio mast in Poland
- 1974Smiling Buddha — 1974 India's first successful nuclear test
- 1979Ryohin Keikaku — Japanese retail company
- 1980Gwangju Uprising — 1980 anti-government uprising in South Korea
- 19801980 eruption of Mount St. Helens — volcanic eruption
- 1991Somaliland — de facto state in the Horn of Africa
- 1993
- 20152015 Colombian landslide — 2015 natural disaster in Salgar, Antioquia, Colombia
- 2018Cubana de Aviación Flight 972 — Flight crashed on May 18, 2018
- 2018Santa Fe High School shooting — mass shooting in Santa Fe, Texas, United States
- 20262026 Islamic Center of San Diego shooting — mass shooting in San Diego, California, US
Births · 60
- 1048(Julian date)Omar Khayyám — Persian mathematician and poet (1048–1131)
- 1474(Julian date)Isabella d'Este — Italian noble (1474-1539)
- 1692(Julian date)Joseph Butler — English bishop and philosopher (1692–1752)
- 1711Ruđer Josip Bošković — Croat physicist (1711–1787)
- 1797Friedrich August II of Saxony — king of Saxony (1797–1854)
- 1822Mathew Benjamin Brady — American photographer (c. 1823 – 1896)
- 1850Oliver Heaviside — electrical engineer, mathematician and physicist (1850–1925)
- 1868Nicholas II of Russia — 14th and last Emperor of Russia (1894–1917)
- 1872Bertrand Russell — British philosopher and logician (1872–1970)
- 1876Hermann Müller — German politician (1876–1931)
- 1883Walter Gropius — German-American architect (1883–1969)
- 1883Eurico Gaspar Dutra — president of Brazil from 1946 to 1951
- 1889Thomas Midgley — American chemist and engineer (1889–1944)
- 1891Rudolf Carnap — German philosopher and logician (1891–1970)
- 1895Augusto César Sandino — Nicaraguan revolutionary leader (1895–1934)
- 1897Frank Capra — Italian-born American film director (1897–1991)
- 1901Vincent du Vigneaud — American biochemist (1901–1978)
- 1909Fred Perry — English tennis player
- 1912Perry Como — American singer, actor, television personality (1912-2001)
- 1912Richard Brooks — American screenwriter, film director and producer (1912-1992)
- 1912Walter Sisulu — South African anti-apartheid activist and member of the African National Congress (1912-2003)
- 1914Boris Christoff — Bulgarian bass singer (1914–1993)
- 1919Margot Fonteyn — British ballerina
- 1920John Paul II — pope, cardinal, bishop, priest, author
- 1933
Deaths · 60
- 893(Julian date)Stephen I of Constantinople — Patriarch of Constantinople
- 978Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine — Frankish nobleman
- 1160(Julian date)Eric IX of Sweden — 12th-century Swedish King and Saint
- 1401(Julian date)Vladislaus II of Opole — duke of Opole (1332-1401)
- 1410(Julian date)Rupert — King of Germany and Elector Palatine (1352-1410)
- 1526(Julian date)Go-Kashiwabara — emperor of Japan
- 1550(Julian date)Jean, Cardinal of Lorraine — Catholic cardinal (1498-1550)
- 1551(Julian date)Domenico Beccafumi — Italian painter (1486–1551)
- 1675Jacques Marquette — French Jesuit and explorer (1637–1675)
- 1692(Julian date)Elias Ashmole — English antiquarian, politician, officer of arms, astrologer and alchemist (1617-1692)
- 1733Georg Böhm — German composer and organist
- 1781Túpac Amaru II — leader of a large Andean uprising against the Spanish in Peru (1738-1781)
- 1799Pierre-Augustin de Beaumarchais — French playwright, diplomat and polymath (1732–1799)
- 1800Alexander Suvorov — Russian marshal (1730–1800)
- 1900Félix Ravaisson-Mollien — French academic (1813–1900)
- 1909George Meredith — British novelist and poet (1828–1909)
- 1909Isaac Albéniz — Spanish composer (1860-1909)
- 1910Eliza Orzeszkowa — Polish writer
- 1910Pauline Viardot — French mezzo-soprano and composer
- 1911Gustav Mahler — Austrian late-Romantic composer (1860–1911)
- 1916Chen Qimei — Chinese politician (1878-1916)
- 1922Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran — French physician
- 1941Werner Sombart — German economist, sociologist, historian (1863-1941)
- 1955Mary McLeod Bethune — American educator and civil rights leader (1875-1955)
- 1963Ernie Davis — American football player (1939–1963)
Dates verified against Wikidata (CC0). Titles and descriptions come from Wikidata.