May
18
International
Museum Day
The International Museum Day is a celebration that is held each
year on or about 18 May. Each year, the Advisory Committee of
the International Council of Museums (ICOM) defines a specific
theme for International Museum Day.
“ The event
provides the opportunity for museum professionals to meet the
public and alert them to the challenges that museums face if
they are to be — as in the ICOM definition of museums — 'an
institution in the service of society and of its development'
Events
May 18
332 – Constantine
the Great announced free distributions of food to the citizens
in Constantinople.
1152 – Henry II of England marries Eleanor of Aquitaine.
1268 – The Principality of Antioch, a crusader state, falls
to the Mamluk Sultan Baibars in the Battle of Antioch.
1302 – Bruges Matins, the nocturnal massacre of the French garrison
in Bruges by members of the local Flemish militia.
1498 – Vasco da Gama reaches the port of Calicut, India.
1499 – Alonso de Ojeda sets sail from Cadiz on his voyage to
what is now Venezuela.
1565 – The Siege of Malta begins, in which Ottoman forces attempt
and fail to conquer Malta.
1593 – Playwright Thomas Kyd's accusations of heresy lead to
an arrest warrant for Christopher Marlowe.
1631 – In Dorchester, Massachusetts, John Winthrop takes the
oath of office and becomes the first Governor of Massachusetts.
1652 – Rhode Island passes the first law in English-speaking
North America making slavery illegal.
1756 – The Seven Years' War begins when Great Britain declares
war on France.
1763 – Fire destroys a large part of Montreal, Quebec.
1783 – First United Empire Loyalists reach Parrtown (later called
Saint John), New Brunswick, Canada after leaving the United
States.
1803 – Napoleonic Wars: The United Kingdom revokes the Treaty
of Amiens and declares war on France.
1804 – Napoleon Bonaparte is proclaimed Emperor of the French
by the French Senate.
1811 – Battle of Las Piedras: The first great military triumph
of the revolution of the Río de la Plata in Uruguay led by Jose
Artigas.
1812 – John Bellingham is found guilty and sentenced to death
by hanging for the assassination of British Prime Minister Spencer
Perceval.
1843 – The Disruption in Edinburgh of the Free Church of Scotland
from the Church of Scotland.
1848 – Opening of the first German National Assembly (Nationalversammlung)
in Frankfurt, Germany.
1860 – Abraham Lincoln wins the Republican Party presidential
nomination over William H. Seward, who later becomes the United
States Secretary of State.
1863 – American Civil War: The Siege of Vicksburg begins.
1896 – The United States Supreme Court rules in Plessy v. Ferguson
that the "separate but equal" doctrine is constitutional.
1896 – Khodynka Tragedy: A mass panic on Khodynka Field in Moscow
during the festivities of the coronation of Russian Tsar Nicholas
II results in the deaths of 1,389 people.
1900 – The United Kingdom proclaims a protectorate over Tonga.
1910 – The Earth passes through the tail of Comet Halley.
1912 – The first Indian film, Shree Pundalik by Dadasaheb Torne
is released in Mumbai.
1917 – World War I: The Selective Service Act of 1917 is passed,
giving the President of the United States the power of conscription.
1926 – Evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson disappears while visiting
a Venice, California beach.
1927 – The Bath School Disaster: forty-five people are killed
by bombs planted by a disgruntled school-board member in Michigan.
1927 – After being founded for 20 years, the Government of the
Republic of China approves Tongji University to be among the
first national universities of the Republic of China.
1933 – New Deal: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs an act
creating the Tennessee Valley Authority.
1944 – World War II: Battle of Monte Cassino – Conclusion after
seven days of the fourth battle as German paratroopers evacuate
Monte Cassino.
1944 – Deportation of Crimean Tatars by the Soviet Union government.
1948 – The First Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China officially
convenes in Nanking.
1953 – Jackie Cochran becomes the first woman to break the sound
barrier.
1955 – Operation Passage to Freedom, the evacuation of 310,000
Vietnamese civilians, soldiers and non-Vietnamese members of
the French Army from communist North Vietnam to South Vietnam
following the end of the First Indochina War, ends.
1956 – First ascent of Lhotse 8,516 meters, by a Swiss team.
1958 – An F-104 Starfighter sets a world speed record of 1,404.19
mph (2,259.82 km/h).
1959 – Launch of the National Liberation Committee of Côte d'Ivoire
in Conakry, Guinea.
1965 – Israeli spy Eli Cohen was hanged in Damascus, Syria.
1969 – Apollo program: Apollo 10 is launched.
1974 – Nuclear test: under project Smiling Buddha, India successfully
detonates its first nuclear weapon becoming the sixth nation
to do so.
1974 – Completion of the Warsaw radio mast, the tallest construction
ever built at the time. It collapsed on August 8, 1991.
1980 – 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens: Mount St. Helens erupts
in Washington, United States, killing 57 people and causing
$3 billion in damage.
1980 – Gwangju Massacre: students in Gwangju, South Korea begin
demonstrations calling for democratic reforms.
1983 – In Ireland, the government launches a crackdown, with
the leading Dublin pirate Radio Nova being put off the air.
1990 – In France, a modified TGV train achieves a new rail world
speed record of 515.3 km/h (320.2 mph).
1991 – Northern Somalia declares independence from the rest
of Somalia as the Republic of Somaliland but is not recognized
by the international community.
1993 – EU - riots in Nørrebro, Copenhagen caused by the approval
of the four Danish exceptions in the Maastricht Treaty referendum.
Police opened fire against civilians for the first time since
World War II and injured 11 demonstrators. In total 113 bullets
are fired.
1995 – Shawn Nelson, 35, goes on a tank rampage in San Diego.
2005 – A second photo from the Hubble Space Telescope confirms
that Pluto has two additional moons: Nix and Hydra.
2006 – The post Loktantra Andolan government passes a landmark
bill curtailing the power of the monarchy and making Nepal a
secular country.
2009 – Sri Lankan Civil War: The LTTE are defeated by the Sri
Lankan government, ending almost 26 years of fighting between
the two sides.
2012 – Facebook, Inc. began selling stock to the public and
trading on the NASDAQ.
Holidays
and observances
Battle of
Las Piedras Day (Uruguay)
Christian Feast Day:
Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury
Eric IX of Sweden
Felix of Cantalice
Pope John I
Venantius of Camerino
May 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Flag and Universities Day (Haiti)
Independence Day (Somaliland (unrecognized))
International Museum Day (International)
Revival, Unity, and Poetry of Magtymguly Day (Turkmenistan)
World AIDS Vaccine Day (International)
International AIDS Candlelight Memorial
For details, contact Datacentre
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