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Friday, May 18, 2012

The Olympic Flame arrives in the United Kingdom on board a flight from Athens, Greece, ready for the torch relay ahead of the 2012 Olympic Games in July. //www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18093410 (BBC)

Monday, May 18, 2009

Sri Lanka's government declares an end to its civil war with the Tamil Tigers. //www.afp.com/afpcom/en/taglibrary/thematic/actuality (AFP)

Saturday, May 18, 1996

The X Prize Foundation launches the $10 million Ansari X Prize, which is won in 2004, by Burt Rutan's SpaceShipOne.

Thursday, May 18, 1995

Shawn Nelson, 35, goes on a tank rage in San Diego.

Saturday, May 18, 1991

Somaliland withdraws from Somalia.

Friday, May 18, 1990

German reunification: East Germany and West Germany sign a treaty to emerge their economic and social systems, effective July 1.

Sunday, May 18, 1980

May 27 ndash Gwangju Massacre: Students in Gwangju, South Korea begin demonstrations, calling for democratic reforms.

Thursday, May 18, 1978

May 19 ndash Belgian and French paratroopers fly to Zaire to aid the fight against the rebels.

Friday, May 18, 1973

Cod War: Joseph Godber, British Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, announces that Royal Navy frigates will protect British trawlers fishing in the disputed 50-mile limit round Iceland.

Thursday, May 18, 1972

Four troopers of both SAS and SBS are parachuted onto the "RMS Queen Elizabeth 2", off Britain in the Atlantic, after a bomb threat and ransom demand, which turns out to be bogus.

Tuesday, May 18, 1971

The U.S. Congress formally votes to end funding for the American Supersonic Transport program.

Sunday, May 18, 1969

Apollo program: "Apollo 10" (Tom Stafford, Gene Cernan, John Young) is launched, on the full dress-rehearsal for the Moon landing.

Monday, May 18, 1959

Sunday, May 18, 1958

An F-104 Starfighter sets a world speed record of .

Friday, May 18, 1956

Lhotse (main), the fourth highest mountain, is first ascended.

Monday, May 18, 1953

At Rogers Dry Lake, Californian Jackie Cochran becomes the first woman to break the sound barrier (in a F-86 Sabrejet at an average speed of 652.337 miles-per-hour).

Sunday, May 18, 1952

Ann Davison becomes the first woman to single-handedly sail the Atlantic Ocean.
Navigation opens on the Volga-Don Canal, connecting the Caspian Sea basin with that of the Black Sea.
The keel is laid for the U.S. nuclear submarine USS "Nautilus".
Myxomatosis introduced to Europe on the French estate of Dr. Paul Armand Delille.
The Roman Catholic Church bans the books of André Gide.

Tuesday, May 18, 1948

The first Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China officially convenes in Nanking.

Thursday, May 18, 1944

The Crimean Tatars are deported by the Soviet Union.
Battle of Monte Cassino: The Germans evacuate Monte Cassino and Allied forces take the stronghold after a struggle that claimed 20,000 lives.

Saturday, May 18, 1940

Marshal Philippe Pétain is named vice-premier of France.

Thursday, May 18, 1933

New Deal: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signs an act creating the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Wednesday, May 18, 1927

Bath School bombings: Criminal bombings result in 45 deaths, mostly school children, in Bath Township, Michigan.

Tuesday, May 18, 1926

Evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson disappears while visiting a Venice, California beach.

Thursday, May 18, 1922

Sergei Diaghilev, James Joyce, Pablo Picasso, Marcel Proust and Igor Stravinsky dine together in Paris, at the Majestic hotel, their only joint meeting.

Friday, May 18, 1917

WWI: The Selective Service Act passes the U.S. Congress, giving the President the power of conscription.

Wednesday, May 18, 1910

The earth passes through the tail of Comet Halley.

Monday, May 18, 1903

The port of Burgas, Bulgaria opens.

Friday, May 18, 1900

The United Kingdom proclaims a protectorate over Tonga.

Thursday, May 18, 1899

The First Hague Peace Conference was opened in The Hague by Willem de Beaufort, Minister of Foreign Affairs of The Netherlands.

Monday, May 18, 1896

"Plessy v. Ferguson": The U.S. Supreme Court introduces the separate but equal doctrine and upholds segregation.

Thursday, May 18, 1876

Wyatt Earp starts work in Dodge City, Kansas, serving under Marshal Larry Deger.

Wednesday, May 18, 1864

Civil War gold hoax: The "New York World" and the "New York Journal of Commerce" publish a fake proclamation that President Abraham Lincoln has issued a draft of 400,000 more soldiers.

Monday, May 18, 1863

American Civil War: The Siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana by Union forces begins.
American Civil War: The Siege of Vicksburg begins (ends Saturday, July 4, when 30,189 Confederate men surrender).

Friday, May 18, 1860

Abraham Lincoln is selected as the U.S. presidential candidate for the Republican Party.

Thursday, May 18, 1854

Thursday, May 18, 1848

The first German National Assembly (Nationalversammlung) opens in Frankfurt, Germany.

Thursday, May 18, 1843

The Disruption in Edinburgh of the Free Church of Scotland from the Church of Scotland.

Saturday, May 18, 1811

The Battle of Las Piedras is fought near Las Piedras, Banda Oriental, resulting in the first victory for the independentists of Uruguay.

Friday, May 18, 1810

May 25 ndash May Revolution: Armed citizens of Buenos Aires expel the Viceroy and establish a provincial government for Argentina, the first South American state to proclaim independence from Spain.

Friday, May 18, 1804

Napoleon Bonaparte is proclaimed Emperor of the French by the French Senate.

Wednesday, May 18, 1803

The United Kingdom resumes war on France after France refuses to withdraw from Dutch territory.

Sunday, May 18, 1794

Battle of Tourcoing: French troops defeat British forces.

Friday, May 18, 1792

Sunday, May 18, 1783

Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada ndash The first United Empire Loyalists reach Parrtown.

Friday, May 18, 1781

An army sent from Lima put down the rebellions and captures and savagely execute Túpac Amaru II.

Saturday, May 18, 1765

Fire destroys one quarter of the town of Montreal, Quebec.

Tuesday, May 18, 1728

Peter II succeeds Catherine I as Tsar of Russia.

Monday, May 18, 1693

Forces of Louis XIV of France attack Heidelberg, capital of the Electorate of the Palatinate.

Saturday, May 18, 1652

Rhode Island passes the first law in North America making slavery illegal.

Sunday, May 18, 1631

In Dorchester, Massachusetts, John Winthrop takes the oath of office and becomes the first Governor of Massachusetts.
Thirty Years\\' War: Bavaria and France sign the Treaty of Fontainebleau, forming a secret alliance. The secret alliance does not last long, however.
"La Gazette", the first French newspaper, was founded.

Saturday, May 18, 1596

June ndash Sir John Norreys and Sir Geoffrey Fenton travel to Connaught to parley with the local Irish lords.
Willem Barents leaves Vlie on his third and final Arctic voyage.

Thursday, May 18, 1595

Tuesday, May 8, 1565 (Julianian calendar)

Ottoman troops land on the island of Malta, beginning The Great Siege of Malta.

Sunday, May 9, 1456 (Julianian calendar)

Second Battle of Oronichea (1456): Ottoman forces of 15,000 go to capture Albania but are met and swiftly defeated by Skanderbeg's smaller force.

Friday, May 9, 1455 (Julianian calendar)

Battle of Arkinholm: King James II of Scotland defeats the Earl of Douglas.

Thursday, May 9, 1448 (Julianian calendar)

Battle of Oronichea: Peace between Albania and Venice is established.

Thursday, May 10, 1302 (Julianian calendar)

Bruges Matins, the nocturnal massacre of the French garrison in Bruges by members of the local Flemish militia

Friday, May 11, 1291 (Julianian calendar)

Four towns of the county of Holland (Dordrecht, Haarlem, Leiden and Alkmaar) and two of the county of Zeeland (Middelburg and Zierikzee) accept for the first time to collectively secure a loan by their sovereign, Floris V. This system gives important securities to the lenders and allows the ruler to access the same low interest rates as the cities’ governments.
Al-Ashraf Khalil of Egypt captures Acre, thus exterminating the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem (the final Christian landholding remaining from the Crusades), and ending the Ninth Crusade and effectively all Crusades, by eliminating the possibility of further attacks on the Holy Land (see Siege of Acre (1291)).
The artificial Kunming Lake is constructed as a reservoir for Dadu in Yuan Dynasty in China by famous engineer and astronomer Guo Shoujing.
Emperor Kameyama of Japan establishes the Zen Buddhist temple of Nanzenji in Kyoto.

Friday, May 11, 1268 (Julianian calendar)

Kublai Khan sends an emissary to the Kamakura Shogunate of Japan demanding an acknowledgment of suzerainty and payment of tribute the Japanese refuse, starting a diplomatic back-and-forth lasting until the Mongols attempt to invade in 1274.
The Tibetan monk Drogön Chögyal Phagpa of the Sakya school completes the Phagspa script, which was sponsored by Kublai Khan as a new writing system in his empire.
The Principality of Antioch, a crusader state, falls to the Mamluk Sultan Baibars in the Battle of AntiochBaibars' destruction of the city of Antioch is so great as to permanently negate the city's importance.
The Battle of Xiangyang, a 6-year battle between the Chinese Song Dynasty and the Mongol forces of Kublai Khan, begins in what is today Hubei.
An earthquake in Cilicia kills an estimated 60,000 people.

Wednesday, May 11, 1160 (Julianian calendar)

Derby School is founded at Derby, England.
Erik Jedvardsson is murdered, after which his murderer Magnus Henriksen proclaims himself king of Sweden. He is, however, himself murdered the following year. Eric is soon worshipped as a saint, becoming known as "Eric the Saint" or "Eric the Holy". Though never formally canonized by the pope, he eventually becomes the patron saint of Sweden.
Richard FitzNeal is named Treasurer of the Exchequer of England, and begins writing a handbook for the division, his Dialogus de Scaccario. It will describe the organization of personnel, the duties of each, how to audit sheriff's accounts at Easter and Michaelmas, how to value coinage, and how to draw up receipts."King John" by Warren. Published by University of California Press in 1961. p. 127
The city of Tomar is founded in Portugal by Gualdim Pais.
Large Portuguese offensive in the Alentejo against the Muslims.ref name=picard2000

Sunday, May 11, 1152 (Julianian calendar)

The archbishopric of Nidaros (Trondheim), Norway is established.
The Synod of Kells-Mellifont established the present diocesan system of Ireland (with later modifications) and recognized the primacy of Armagh.
The town of Gorodets (modern Russia) is founded by Prince Yuri Dolgorukiy.
The Church of Ireland acknowledges the Pope's authority.
Eleanor of Aquitaine marries Henry of Anjou after getting her previous marriage to Louis VII annulled. Henry had claimed the County of Anjou, the County of Maine, and the province of Touraine upon the death of his protector Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, the previous year. With the addition of Eleanor's lands, he now controls territory stretching unbroken from Cherbourg to Bayonne."King John" by Warren. Published by the University of California Press in 1961. p. 21

Monday, May 12, 1012 (Julianian calendar)

Pope Benedict VIII succeeds Pope Sergius IV as the 143rd pope.

Saturday, May 16, 526 (Julianian calendar)

Ecclesius, bishop of Ravenna, commissions two new churches, one for Ravenna and one for its port, Classis.
John I dies of starvation after a 3-year reign. Theodoric the Great selects Felix IV as his successor and becomes the 54th pope.
c. 526ndash547 ndash Sanctuary apse's mosaic showing Christ enthroned and flanked by Saint Vitalis and Ecclesius, Basilica of San Vitale (Ravenna) is made.

Wednesday, May 17, 332 (Julianian calendar)

Constantine I announces a free distribution of food to the citizens in Constantinople, similar to the food given out in the city of Rome. The amount is approximately 80,000 rations a day, doled out from 117 distribution points around the city.
Source: Wikipedia