May 18 is the 138th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (139th in leap years). There are 227 days remaining.
- 1593 - Playwright Thomas Kyd's accusations of heresy lead to an arrest warrant for Christopher Marlowe.
- 1652 - Rhode Island passes the first law in North America making slavery illegal.
- 1631 - In Dorchester, Massachusetts[?], John Winthrop takes the oath of office and becomes the first Governor of Massachusetts.
- 1765 - Fire destroys one quarter of town of Montreal, Quebec.
- 1783 - Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada- First United Empire Loyalists reach Parrtown.
- 1803 - Napoleonic Wars: The United Kingdom revokes the Treaty of Amiens and declares war on France.
- 1804 - Napoleon Bonaparte is proclaimed Emperor of France by the French Senate.
- 1863 - American Civil War: The Siege of Vicksburg begins (ends July 4).
- 1896 - The United States Supreme Court rules in Plessy v. Ferguson that "separate but equal" is constitutional.
- 1900 - The United Kingdom proclaims a protectorate over Tonga.
- 1910 - The earth passes through the tail of Comet Halley.
- 1917 - World War I: The Selective Service Act passes the United States Congress giving the President the power to draft soldiers.
- 1926 - Evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson disappears while visiting a Venice, California beach.
- 1933 - New Deal: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signs an act creating the Tennessee Valley Authority.
- 1944 - World War II: Battle of Monte Cassino - Germans evacuate Monte Cassino and Allied forces take the stronghold after a struggle that claimed 20,000 lives.
- 1953 - Rogers Dry Lake[?], California Jacqueline Cochran becomes the first woman to break the sound barrier (she flew in a F-86 Sabrejet[?] at an average speed of 652.337 miles-per-hour).
- 1958 - An F-104 Starfighter sets a world speed record of 1,404.19 mph.
- 1969 - Apollo program: Apollo 10 launches.
- 1974 - Nuclear test: Under project Smiling Buddha, India successfully detonates its first nuclear weapon becoming the sixth nation to do so.
- 1980 - Mount Saint Helens erupts in Washington killing 57 and causing US$ 3 billion in damage.
- 1998 - Microsoft antitrust case: The United States Department of Justice and 20 U.S. states file an antitrust case against Microsoft.
- 2003 - Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut released in the USA on Nintendo GameCube by Sega.
- 1048 - Omar Khayyam, mathematician and poet (+ 1123)
- 1711 - Rudjer Josip Boscovich, atomic theorist (+ 1787)
- 1785 - John Wilson, Scottish writer (+ 1854)
- 1797 - Frederick Augustus II of Saxony, (+ 1854)
- 1850 - Oliver Heaviside, physicist
- 1872 - Lord Bertrand Russell, mathematician and philosopher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in literature 1950 (+ 1970)
- 1883 - Walter Gropius, architect, founder of Bauhaus (+ 1969)
- 1889 - Thomas Midgley, chemist and inventor (+ 1944)
- 1891 - Rudolf Carnap, German philosopher (+ 1970)
- 1897 - Frank Capra, producer, director, writer (+ 1991)
- 1902 - Meredith Willson[?], composer (+ 1984)
- 1911 - Big Joe Turner, blues singer (+ 1985)
- 1912 - Walter Sisulu, anti-apartheid activist (+ 2003)
- 1912 - Perry Como[?], singer (+ 2001)
- 1919 - Dame Margot Fonteyn[?], ballet dancer (+ 1991)
- 1920 - Pope John Paul II
- 1922 - Kai Winding, jazz musician (+ 1983)
- 1928 - Pernell Roberts[?], actor
- 1931 - Robert Morse[?], actor
- 1937 - Brooks Robinson[?], Baseball Hall of Famer
- 1939 - Hark Bohm[?], film director
- 1942 - Albert Hammond[?], musician, composer
- 1944 - Justus Frantz[?], pianist
- 1946 - Reggie Jackson, Baseball Hall of Famer
- 1949 - Rick Wakeman, musician ("Yes"), composer
- 1949 - Bill Wallace[?], musician The Guess Who[?], Winnipeg
- 1950 - Thomas Gottschalk, show master
- 1950 - Mark Mothersbaugh, composer, musician
- 1952 - George Strait, country musician
- 1955 - Chow Yun-Fat, actor
- 1960 - Yannick Noah[?], tennis player
- 1969 - Martika, Cuban-American singer
- 1970 - Tina Fey, writer, comedienne, actress
- 1807 - John Douglas, Anglican bishop
- 1808 - Elijah Craig, important to the invention of bourbon whiskey
- 1900 - Jean Gaspard Felix Ravaisson-Mollien, French philosopher
- 1910 - Pauline Garcia-Viardot, singer, composer
- 1911 - Gustav Mahler, composer
- 1935 - T. E. Lawrence, soldier ("Lawrence of Arabia")
- 1973 - Jeannette Rankin, the first woman elected to the United States House of Representatives
- 1980 - Ian Curtis, band member of Joy Division
- 1981 - William Saroyan, author
- 1988 - Daws Butler[?], voice actor
- 1995 - Elizabeth Montgomery[?], actress
- 1995 - Alexander Godunov[?], ballet dancer, actor
- 1995 - Elisha Cook Jr.[?], actor
- 1999 - Augustus Pablo, Jamaican reggae singer
- 1999 - Betty Robinson, winner of the first Olympic 100 m for women
- 1999 - Gene Sarazen, golfer, aged 97
See Also:
May 17 - May 19 - April 18 - June 18 -- listing of all days
January, February, March, April, May, June, July,
August, September, October, November, December