Events
of the day
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'
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
