View Historical Events by Day:
Explore the historical events that shaped our world on May 18th. From major milestones to cultural achievements, see what happened on this day in history. Dates for earlier events may be approximate.
Note: Sources for the historical content shown, include research and reviews of relevant Online History Resources or printed material. When possible, we show a link to a source which provides additional or unique perspective about the event.
We do our best to provide accurate information but would appreciate being notified if any incorrect information is found. You may do so by using our Feedback link.
Persian mathematician, astronomer, and poet, Omar Khayyam, was born on May 18, 1048, in Nishapur, Khorasan (modern-day Iran). A giant of the Islamic Golden Age, he is renowned for developing the Jalali calendar, which was more precise than the Gregorian calendar, geometric solutions to cubic equations and writing the famous quatrains poems. (Rubaiyat)
Henry Plantagenet, (later King Henry II of England) marries Eleanor of Aquitaine on May 18, 1152, in Poitiers, France, just weeks after her marriage annulment from Louis VII of France.
The strategic union formed the Angevin Empire combining Henry’s territories in Normandy and Anjou with Eleanor’s vast inheritance of Aquitaine, also creating a powerful but often turbulent .alliance.
Eleanor of Aquitaine marries Henry Plantagenet, the duke of Normandy, on May 18, 1152 just weeks after her marriage to Louis VII of France was annulled. Henry later became King Henry II of England, on December 19, 1154, following his coronation at Westminster Abbey, succeeding King Stephen, after a treaty was signed in 1153 designating him as heir, following years of civil war.
The strategic union formed the Angevin Empire combining Henry’s territories in Normandy and Anjou with Eleanor’s vast inheritance of Aquitaine, also creating a powerful but often turbulent alliance.
%20At%20the%20National%20Library%20of%20Whales%20-%20Portrait_of_-%20PD%20-%20R1.jpg?auto=format,compress&fit=clip&max-w=1600)
Abraham Lincoln, a former one term, U.S. Representative from Illinois, secures the Republican Party's nomination for President, on May 18, 1860, beating Senator William H. Seward of New York, who was considered the front-runner. Lincoln went on to win the 1860 election, becoming the first Republican president. The Republican Party was founded in 1854.
The US Supreme Court, (Chief Justice: Melville Weston Fuller) rules, on May 18, 1896, Plessy v. Ferguson by a vote of 7-1, upholding the constitutionality of racial segregation under the doctrine of "separate but equal". This ruling allowed for the continued discrimination against African Americans and solidified Jim Crow laws in the South.
The court reasoned that segregation did not violate the 14th Amendment as long as facilities for both races were equal. Justice John Marshall Harlan was the lone dissenter from the Court's decision, arguing that the Constitution was color-blind and that the United States had no class system. Accordingly, all citizens should have equal access to civil rights. More
Congress passed the Selective Service Act, on May 18, 1917, authorizing the United States federal government to raise a national army for service in World War and to temporarily expand the military through conscription. The act eventually required all men between the ages of 21 to 45 to register for military service. More
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed, on May 18, 1933, the Act establishing the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) as part of Roosevelt's New Deal to improve the Tennessee River Valley, and address issues like flood control, navigation, and to produce electrical power along the Tennessee River and its tributaries.
The TVA is a federally owned corporation in the United States that operates as a public utility and regional economic development agency. More
Jacqueline Cochran makes history on May 18, 1953, by becoming the first woman to break the sound barrier. She achieve this record piloting a Canadair F-86 Sabre jet aircraft. During her aviation career, from the 1930s through the 1960s, Jacqueline Cochran set more speed and altitude records than any contemporary pilot, male or female.
During World War II, she was instrumental in the formation of the Women's Air Force Service Pilots (WASPs). Cochran received the Distinguished Service Medal for her leadership of the WASP and three Distinguished Flying Cross awards for other records. She was also a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve. More
India successfully detonates its first nuclear weapon, on May 18, 1974, in the Rajasthan Desert in the municipality of Pokhran. becoming the world’s sixth nuclear power and the first nation outside the five members of the U.N. Security Council—the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, China and France. More
.jpg?auto=format,compress&fit=clip&max-w=1600)
Mount St. Helens erupted in Washington State, on May 18, 1980 causing the most destructive volcanic event in U.S. history, killing 57 people, turning Hundreds of square miles of wilderness into wasteland and reducing Mt St. Helens summit elevation by approximately 1,300 feet. More
Somaliland claimed its independence on May 18, 1991. Officially the Republic of Somaliland, it is an unrecognized de facto sovereign state in the Horn of Africa. Its claimed territory has an area of 68,000 square miles with approximately 5.7 million residents.
