On This Day: 18 May

Around 800 Jews are massacred in Worms, Germany, during the First Crusade		1096
Henry, son of Matilda and Geoffrey of Anjou (later Henry II) marries Eleanor of Aquitaine		1152
The Principality of Antioch, a crusader state, falls to the Mamluk Sultan Baibars in the Siege of Antioch		1268
The fall of Acre, the centre of Christian territory in the Holy Land, marks the end of Crusader presence in the Holy Land		1291
A warrant is issued for the arrest of Christopher Marlowe, following accusations of heresy made by playwright Thomas Kyd		1593
Montreal (Ville Marie) founded		1642
Rhode Island passes the first law in English–speaking North America making slavery illegal		1652
Great Britain declares war on France, beginning the Seven Years' War		1756
Britain revokes the Treaty of Amiens (1802) and declares war on France		1803
Napoleon is proclaimed Emperor of France		1804
John Bellingham is sentenced to death by hanging, after being found guilty of the assassination of Prime Minister Spencer Perceval seven days earlier		1812
Edwin Budding, inventor of the lawn mower, signs an agreement for its manufacture. The first customer is Regent's Park Zoo		1830
George Sand's first novel – Indiana – published in France		1832
The Free Church of Scotland is founded, after seceding from the established Church of Scotland		1843
Abraham Lincoln wins the Republican Party presidential nomination over William H. Seward, who later becomes Secretary of State		1860
Eddystone Lighthouse (present building) opened		1882
1,389 people lose their lives in a mass panic on Khodynka Field in Moscow, during festivities marking the coronation of Tsar Nicholas II		1896
The UK proclaims a protectorate over Tonga		1900
Alexandra Palace opens to the public		1901
Halley's Comet passes the sun and Earth passes through its tail		1910
The US Congress passes an Act to give the President the power of conscription		1917
US Christian evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson disappears from Venice Beach, California, after going for a swim. She would reappear in Mexico five weeks later, stating that she had escaped from kidnappers holding her ransom there, but allegations that the story was a hoax intended to conceal a tryst with a lover precipitated a media frenzy that changed the course of her career		1926
British and Polish troops capture Monte Cassino, ending the Fourth (and final) Battle after seven days		1944
US aviation pioneer Jackie Cochran becomes the first woman to break the sound barrier		1953
European Convention on Human Rights comes into force		1954
310,000 Vietnamese civilians, soldiers and non–Vietnamese members of the French Army are evacuated from communist North Vietnam to South Vietnam, following the end of the First Indochina War		1955
The first Wimpy Bar opens in London		1955
First London performance of The Sound of Music		1961
Scores of mods and rockers are sent to jail after Whitsun riots in Margate, Brighton and Bournemouth		1964
Israeli spy Eli Cohen is hanged in Damascus		1965
Aeroflot Flight 109 is hijacked in mid–flight; the aircraft is subsequently destroyed when the hijacker's bomb explodes, killing all 82 people on board		1973
India becomes the world's sixth nuclear power, exploding its first atomic bomb in the Rajahstan desert		1974
Junko Tabei, of Japan, becomes the first woman to climb Everest		1975
Mount St. Helens, in Washington State, erupts, killing 57 people and causing $3 billion's worth of damage		1980
Kevin Moran of Manchester United becomes the first player to be sent off in an FA Cup final		1985
In France, a modified TGV train achieves a new rail world speed record of 515.3 km/h (320.2 mph)		1990
East and West German finance ministers meet in Bonn to sign an agreement on monetary union		1990
Helen Sharman, formerly of the Mars ice–cream team, becomes the first British astronaut		1991
Northern Somalia declares its independence from the rest of Somalia as the Republic of Somaliland (but is not recognised by the international community)		1991
During riots in Copenhagen, caused by the approval of the four Danish exceptions in the Maastricht Treaty referendum, police open fire against civilians for the first time since World War II and injure 11 demonstrators		1993
Israeli troops complete their withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, ceding it to the Palestinian National Authority		1994
Eric Cantona announces his retirement from professional football		1997
The Times "reveals" that the prime minister has declined to appoint a modern–style "people's poet" as the next Poet Laureate and will next week appoint the traditionalist Andrew Motion		1999
Sonia Gandhi, Italian–born Italian–born widow of Rajiv Gandhi, stuns India and the Congress party by announcing that she will not take up the post of prime minister which has previously been held by three members of the family into which she married		2004
A second photo from the Hubble Space Telescope confirms that Pluto has two additional moons – Nix and Hydra		2005
The Nepalese government passes a landmark bill to curtail the power of the monarchy and make Nepal a secular country		2006
Civil war in Sri Lanka ends after almost 26 years, as the government claims victory over the Tamil Tigers		2009
At least 78 people die in a landslide caused by heavy rains in the Colombian town of Salgar		2015
Ten people – eight students and two teachers – die in a school shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas		2018
Of 113 people on board, only one passenger survives when a 39–year–old Boeing 737 crashes shortly after take–off in Havana, Cuba		2018

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On This Day: 18 May