/year

May 18 in history

224 sourced entries recorded on May 18, from 249 CE to 2025 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 332Constantine 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
  • 363May 18–19 – Galilee earthquake of 363. Petra, capital of the Nabataeans (in modern-day Jordan), is seriously damaged.source
  • 872After his successful campaign against the Saracens, Louis II is crowned as Roman Emperor ("Emperor of the Franks") for the second time and converts the Muwalladun, and the Arab elite.source
  • 997The imperial court decides to pardon Korechika and Takaie, under the illness of Teishi.source
  • 1096May 18–26 – The Worms massacre: Members of the People's Crusade under Emicho besiege Worms in the Rhineland before killing at least 800 Jews, despite the intervention of Bishop Adalbert II. He tries to hide some of them in the bishop's palace, others chose to remain outside its walls. One of the victims is Minna of Worms, an influential Jew among the Christian nobility.source
  • 1190Battle of Iconium: German forces under Frederick I defeat the Seljuk army (40,000 men) in a pitched battle. They are routed, leaving the city at the mercy of the German Crusaders. Frederick does not pursue the Seljuks, because his forces have been weakened by food shortage for the previous weeks. His 23-year-old son, Frederick VI, takes Iconium (modern-day Konya) and proceeds to massacre the citizens. The Germans take booty amounting to 100,000 marks in the Turkish capital.source
  • 1216King John of England assembles a naval force to defend against a French invasion. Bad storms disperse the fleet, and John spends the summer reorganizing defenses across the country. He sees several of his military household desert to the barons, including his half-brother, William Longespée, who is the commander of John's army in the south.source
  • 1268Battle of Antioch: The Principality of Antioch, a crusader state, falls to the Mamluk Sultan Baibars; his destruction of the city of Antioch is so great, as to permanently negate the city's importance.source
  • 1284Jönköping in Sweden is granted town privileges by King Magnus Ladulås.source
  • 1291Siege of Acre: Mamluk forces under Sultan Al-Ashraf Khalil capture Acre after a six-week siege. The Mamluks take the outer wall of the city after fierce fighting. The Military Orders drive them back temporarily, but three days later the inner wall is breached. King Henry II of Cyprus escapes, but the bulk of the defenders and most of the citizens perish in the fighting or are sold into slavery. The surviving knights fall back to the fortified towers and resist for ten days until the Mamluks breakthrough on May 28. The fall of Acre signals the end of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. No effective Crusade is raised to recapture the Holy Land afterward.source
  • 1302Flemish militia kill 2,000 French soldiers in the course of the Matins of Bruges, after Pieter de Coninck and Jan Breydel call on soldiers to kill all of the French occupiers of the city in Flanders. The French Governor of Flanders, Jacques de Châtillon, escapes with a handful of soldiers while disguised as a priest. He arrives in Paris to bring the news of the massacre to King Philip the Fair, who sends an army to capture the city.source
  • 1313Robert the Bruce invades Isle of Man, capturing it in five dayssource
  • 1333Siege of Kamakura in Japan: Forces loyal to Emperor Go-Daigo, led by Nitta Yoshisada, enter and destroy the city, breaking the power of the Hōjō clan over the Kamakura shogunate. The Kamakura period ends, and the Kenmu Restoration under Go-Daigo begins.source
  • 1388At the Battle of Buyur Lake, an invasion force from Ming dynasty China, under General Lan Yu defeats a large Mongolian army led by Uskhal Khan Tögüs Temür, and captures 100 members of the Northern Yuan Dynasty. Uskhal Khan will be killed later while trying to escape. The invading Chinese army destroys Karakorum, the capital of the Mongol Empire.source
  • 1388Cozia Monastery is consecrated in the Principality Wallachia by Prince Mircea the Elder in the town of Călimănești (now in Romania)source
  • 1408Western Schism: In response to the January 12 ultimatum by France, the antipope Benedict publishes a bull directing the excommunication of anyone, including King Charles VI, who attempted to withdraw obedience to the Avignon Papacy. The bull, "a major tactical mistake" by Benedict, gives the leaders of the University of Paris a pretext to declare those who had carried the bull to be guilty of high treason, and to accuse Benedict to be guilty of an attack on the royal dignity and national honor. King Charles then withdraws further support of Pope Benedict and proclaims the neutrality of France in the schism between Avignon and Rome.source
  • 1412The Treaty of Bourges is signed between King Henry IV of England and Charles, Duke of Orléans, as the Armagnacs offer England full sovereignty over Aquitaine and Gascony in return for 4,000 troops and military aid against the Burgundians and John the Fearless.source
  • 1423The Treaty of Melno signed on September 27 to end the Gollub War between the State of the Teutonic Order (on the Baltic Sea, with a capital at Marienburg) and the alliance of Poland and Lithuania, is ratified by all three parties.source
  • 1437May 18 (Full moon of Nayon 799 M.E.) – In Burma, King Mohnyin Thado of Ava announces that, effective March 30, 1438, the year will be recalibrated after 799 M.E. to will become 2 M.E., as part of the recommendations of his astrologers.source
  • 1452The Battle of Brechin is fought in Scotland between the royalist supporters of Clan Gordon (led by Alexander Gordon, 1st Earl of Huntly) and the rebels of Clan Lindsay, led by Alexander Lindsay, 4th Earl of Crawford. Clan Gordon wins and the Lindsays submit to the authority of King James II.source
  • 1456Second Battle of Oronichea (1456): Ottoman Forces of 15,000 are sent to capture Albania, but are met and swiftly defeated by Skanderbeg's smaller forces.source
  • 1483The coronation of Hans of Oldenburg as King of Denmark takes place at the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen.source
  • 1487The army of the Grand Principality of Moscow begins the siege of Kazan as troops led by Daniil Kholmsky after a dispute begins over the succession to the throne of the Khanate of Kazan.source
  • 1531The third Dalecarlian rebellion in Sweden is settled on St. Eric's Day at Arboga in Denmark when King Christian II returns church bells, confiscated earlier to pay Denmark's debts, to the villages in rebellion.source
  • 1563commission for administration of the Oath of Supremacy to all ecclesiastics and state servants.source
  • 1565Ottoman troops land on the island of Malta, beginning the Great Siege of Malta.source
  • 1593A warrant for the arrest of Christopher Marlowe is issued. On May 20 he presents himself to the Privy Council.source
  • 1595The Treaty of Teusina brings to an end the Russo-Swedish War (1590–95).source
  • 1595The Russo-Swedish War is terminated by the Treaty of Teusina with a victory and territorial gain for Sweden.source
  • 1596Willem Barents leaves Vlie, on his third and final Arctic voyage.source
  • 1629May 14–28 – Huguenot rebellions: After a 15-day siege, Louis XIII of France captures Privas.source
  • 1631In Dorchester, Boston, John Winthrop takes the oath of office, and becomes the first Governor of Massachusetts.source
  • 1642The month-long Siege of Limerick in Ireland begins.source
  • 1643Magistrates of Ypres prohibit the lodging of strangerssource
  • 1647the House of Commons decides to disband the Army.source
  • 1652Rhode Island passes the first law in North America making slavery illegal.source
  • 1668Charles Sedley's comedy The Mulberry-Garden premieres at the Theatre Royal in London.source
  • 1675Misirliohlu Ibrahim Pasha becomes the new ruler of Tripolitania, a province of the Ottoman Empire at the time and now part of the North African nation of Libya. He reigns for 19 months as the Beylerbey of Tripoli.source
  • 1684The French Navy begins a 10-day bombardment of the Italian city of Genoa in the course of the War of the Reunions between France and the Republic of Genoa. During the fight, the French fleet, commanded by Abraham Duquesne, fires almost 13,000 cannonballs, pausing only during a cease-fire on May 21 and May 22, and uses the new technology of explosive bombs. When the bombardment ends on May 28, two-thirds of the city has been destroyed or damaged.source
  • 1693Forces of Louis XIV of France attack Heidelberg, capital of the Electorate of the Palatinate.source
  • 1695The 7.8 magnitude Linfen earthquake in Shanxi Province, Qing Dynasty kills over 50,000 people.source
  • 1703War of the Spanish Succession: The Duke of Marlborough captures the cities of Cologne, Bonn, Limbourg, Huy and Guelders.source
  • 1704Robert Harley becomes Secretary of State for the Northern Department.source
  • 1725the Order of the Bath is founded by King George I.source
  • 1744Howell Harris marries Anne Williams.source
  • 1765Not long after British rule has started over the formerly French colony of Quebec, an accidental fire destroys one quarter of the town of Montreal.source
  • 1765Fire destroys a large part of the town of Montreal, Quebec.source
  • 1776May 15–26 – American Revolution: Battle of the Cedars – British forces skirmish with the American Continental Army around Les Cèdres, Quebec.source
  • 1781A Spanish army sent from Lima puts down the Inca rebellions, and captures and savagely executes Túpac Amaru II.source
  • 1783The first United Empire Loyalists, fleeing the new United States, reach Parrtown in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada.source
  • 1785The city of Saint John, New Brunswick is incorporated.source
  • 1790May 17–18 – Battle of Andros: An Ottoman–Algerian fleet destroys the fleet of the Greek privateer Lambros Katsonis.source
  • 1790The first meeting of the Literary Fund, founded by David Williams ("to assist indigent authors") takes place in London.source
  • 1792War in Defence of the Constitution: Russia invades Poland.source
  • 1794Battle of Tourcoing: French troops defeat British forces.source
  • 1803The Napoleonic Wars begin, when the United Kingdom declares war on France, after France refuses to withdraw from Dutch territory.source
  • 1804Napoleon Bonaparte is proclaimed Emperor of the French by the French Senate.source
  • 1804First French Empire established.source
  • 1807exiled Irish rebel Michael Dwyer is acquitted of a charge of conspiring to mount an Irish insurrection against British rule in New South Wales (Australia), but subsequently stripped of his free settler status.source
  • 1810May 18–25 – May Revolution: Armed citizens of Buenos Aires expel the Viceroy and establish a provincial government for Argentina (the Primera Junta). Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros is removed.source
  • 1811Battle of Las Piedras near Las Piedras, Banda Oriental: The independentists of Uruguay gain their first victory.source
  • 1811June 10 - Second Siege of Badajoz (1811)source
  • 1812John Bellingham is hanged at Newgate Prison.source
  • 1827Red Barn Murder in Suffolk: Maria Marten is shot by her lover.source
  • 1843In Edinburgh, the Free Church of Scotland is disrupted from the Church of Scotland.source
  • 1843the Disruption of the Church of Scotland takes place. Construction of the Triple Kirks in Aberdeen begins.source
  • 1848The 'Frankfurt Parliament' (Nationalversammlung), the first German National Assembly, opens in Frankfurt.source
  • 1848379 deputies assembled in the Kaisersaal in Frankfurt am Main walked solemnly to the Paulskirche to hold the first session of the German national assembly, under its chairman (by seniority) Friedrich Lang. Heinrich von Gagern became first elected president of Frankfurt Parliament.source
  • 1854The Catholic University of Ireland (forerunner of University College Dublin) is founded.source
  • 1859The 1859 United Kingdom general election concludes. It is the first election fought by the new Liberal Party, in which they win a 28 seat majority, with Liberal leader Viscount Palmerston becoming prime minister.source
  • 1862Battle of Barranca Secasource
  • 1869One day after surrendering at the land Battle of Hakodate (begun 4 December 1868), Enomoto Takeaki turns over Goryōkaku to Japanese forces, signaling the collapse of the Republic of Ezo.source
  • 1873Law allowing the formation of limited liability companies.source
  • 1876Wyatt Earp starts work in Dodge City, Kansas, serving under Marshal Larry Deger.source
  • 1882Burnley F.C. in Northern England changes codes, from rugby football to association football.source
  • 1886Eruption on the southern flank of the Mount Etna volcano on Sicily, following a powerful summit explosion. The eruption builds a row of pyroclastic cones, the largest of which is named Monte Gemmellaro (in honour to the Gemmellaro family of volcanologists from Catania who studied Etna in the 19th century). A lava stream comes very close to Nicolosi. Eruptions continue to 7 June 1886.source
  • 1895The first motor race in Italy is held, on a course from Turin to Asti and back, a total of 93 km. Five entrants start the event; only three complete it. It is won by Simone Federman in a four-seat Daimler Omnibus, at an average speed of 15.5 km/h.source
  • 1895the first motor race in Italy is held. It is run on a course from Turin to Asti and back, a total of 93 km. Five entrants start the event; only three complete it. It is won by Simone Federman in a four-seat Daimler Omnibus, at an average speed of 15.5 km/h.source
  • 1896Plessy v. Ferguson: The U.S. Supreme Court introduces the separate but equal doctrine, and upholds racial segregation.source
  • 1897May 10 – 19 zinc miners die of carbon monoxide poisoning at Snaefell Mine on the Isle of Man.source
  • 1899The First Hague Peace Conference, initiated by Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, is opened in The Hague by Willem de Beaufort, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.source
  • 1900The United Kingdom proclaims a protectorate over Tonga.source
  • 1903The port of Burgas, Bulgaria opens.source
  • 1910June 5 – The Italian rider Carlo Galetti wins the second Giro d'Italia stage bicycle race.source
  • 1911June 6 – The Italian rider Carlo Galetti wins the 3rd Giro d'Italia stage bicycle race.source
  • 1915May 15–21 – The Far Eastern Championship Games take place in Shanghai.source
  • 1917WWI: The Selective Service Act passes the United States Congress, giving the President the power of conscription.source
  • 1917Otilio Montaño Sánchez was a Zapatista general during the Mexican Revolution (born 1887)source
  • 1920Johan Henrik Paasche Thorne, businessperson and politician (born 1843)source
  • 1920Minister of the Interior Mihály Dömötör bans freemasonry by decreesource
  • 1922Sergei Diaghilev, Igor Stravinsky, Pablo Picasso, Marcel Proust, James Joyce, Erik Satie and Clive Bell dine together at the Hotel Majestic in Paris, their only joint meeting.source
  • 1926Evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson disappears, while visiting a Venice, California beach. She reappears nearly a month later claiming to have been kidnapped.source
  • 1927Bath School disaster: A series of violent attacks by a school official results in 45 deaths, mostly of children, in Bath Township, Michigan, United States.source
  • 1928The Shakhty Trial begins.source
  • 1933New Deal: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signs an act creating the Tennessee Valley Authority.source
  • 1936Sada Abe strangled her lover with an obi and then cut off his genitals to carry around with her as a souvenir. When the crime was discovered the next day it became a national sensation and would be the subject of many books and movies over the decades to follow.source
  • 1939The Hòa Hảo religious sect is established in Vietnam, by Huỳnh Phú Sổ.source
  • 1939Louis MacNeice's Autumn Journal: a poem was published.source
  • 1940The 6.9 Mw El Centro earthquake affects California's Imperial Valley with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), causing nine deaths and twenty injuries. Financial losses are around $6 million. Significant damage also occurs in Mexicali, Mexico.source
  • 1944Crimean Tatars are deported by the Soviet Union.source
  • 1944WWII: Deportation of the Crimean Tatars by the government of the Soviet Union.source
  • 1950Peshawar University is established.source
  • 1952Ann Davison becomes the first woman to single-handedly sail the Atlantic Ocean.source
  • 1953At Rogers Dry Lake, Californian Jackie Cochran becomes the first woman to exceed Mach 1, in a North American F-86 Sabre at 652.337 mph.source
  • 1954Selig Brodetsky, Russian-born Israeli mathematician, politician and president of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (born 1888)source
  • 1955Free movement of residents between North and South Vietnam ends.source
  • 1956Lhotse main summit, the fourth highest mountain (on the Nepalese–Tibetan border) is first ascended, by Fritz Luchsinger and Ernst Reiss.source
  • 1956Swiss mountaineers Ernst Reiss and Fritz Luchsinger successfully climbed Lhotse, the world's fourth highest mountain, for the first time.source
  • 1958Jacob Fichman (born 1881), Romanian-born Israeli poet and essayist.source
  • 1958A U.S. Lockheed F-104 Starfighter sets a world speed record of 1404.19 mph.source
  • 1958A Douglas DC-7 on a Sabena flight to Léopoldville crashes in Casablanca, with 65 fatalities and 4 survivors.source
  • 1959The National Liberation Committee of Côte d'Ivoire is launched in Conakry, Guinea.source
  • 1960Real Madrid beat Eintracht Frankfurt 7–3 at Hampden Park, Glasgow, and win the 1959–60 European Cup in Association football, their 5th successive victory in the competition.source
  • 1967In Mexico, schoolteacher Lucio Cabañas begins guerrilla warfare in Atoyac de Alvarez, west of Acapulco, in the state of Guerrero.source
  • 1967NASA announces the crew for the Apollo 7 space mission (the first in the Apollo series with a crew): Wally Schirra, Donn F. Eisele, and R. Walter Cunningham.source
  • 1967Tennessee Governor Ellington repeals the "Monkey Law" (officially the Butler Act; see the Scopes Trial).source
  • 1968Mattel's Hot Wheels toy cars are introduced in the United States.source
  • 1968West Bromwich Albion win the English Football Association Cup, defeating Everton 1–0 after extra time. The winning goal is scored by Jeff Astle.source
  • 1969Apollo program: Apollo 10 (Gene Cernan, Tom Stafford, John Young) is launched. It is to be a full rehearsal for the Moon landing, stopping 15 kilometers short of actually reaching the lunar surface.source
  • 1969The Refugee Centres for race riot victims were set up in Kuala Lumpur at Merdeka Stadium, TPCA Stadium, Chinwoo Stadium and Jalan Shaw School.source
  • 1971The U.S. Congress formally votes to end funding for the American Supersonic Transport program.source
  • 1971The Montreal Canadiens win the Stanley Cup against the Chicago Black Hawks. The Canadiens became only the second team in NHL history to win the Cup in Game 7 on the road, and did so after the home team had won each of the previous six games in the series. This also marked Jean Béliveau's last NHL game.source
  • 1973Second Cod War: Joseph Godber, British Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, announces that Royal Navy frigates will protect British trawlers fishing in the disputed 80 km limit around Iceland.source
  • 1973Joseph 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.source
  • 19741974 Australian federal election: Gough Whitlam's Labor government is re-elected with a reduced majority, defeating the Liberal/Country Coalition led by Billy Snedden. Whitlam consequently becomes the first Labor Prime Minister to be re-elected in his own right. The Democratic Labor Party meanwhile loses all five of their Senate seats, effectively wiping them out as a political force.source
  • 19741974 Balkans Cup: Albania is defeated by Yugoslavia 2-0 at Gradski Arena, Skopjesource
  • 1974Nuclear weapons testing: Under Project Smiling Buddha, India successfully detonates its first nuclear weapon, becoming the 6th nation to do so.source
  • 1978Soviet dissident Yuri Orlov is sentenced to 7 years' hard labor, for distributing 'counterrevolutionary material'.source
  • 1978Sarajevo is selected to host the 1984 Winter Olympics, and Los Angeles is selected to host the 1984 Summer Olympics.source
  • 1980In the 1980 Austrian presidential election, Rudolf Kirchschläger is re-elected with the support of both major parties and 80% of the vote.source
  • 1980May 18–27 – Gwangju Uprising: Students in Gwangju, South Korea, begin demonstrations, calling for democratic reforms.source
  • 1980The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens volcano in Washington (state) kills 57 and causes US$3 billion in damage.source
  • 1980Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington, killing 57 and causing US$3 billion in damage.source
  • 1982Falklands War: The British Special Air Service launches Operation Plum Duff, a reconnaissance mission preliminary to Operation Mikado, which is planned to destroy three Argentinean Exocet missiles and five Super Étendard fighter-bombers. Both Operation Plum Duff and Operation Mikado are called off after the Plum Duff insertion is revealed by a helicopter landing in Chile.source
  • 1988May 16–18 – 1988 Gilgit massacre: A revolt by the Shias of Gilgit (in northern Pakistan) is ruthlessly suppressed by the Zia-ul Haq regime.source
  • 1989May 12–25 – San Bernardino train disaster: Southern Pacific freight locomotive SP 7551 East derails in a residential area of San Bernardino, California, killing four and destroying seven houses. On May 25, as a direct result of the derailment, the Calnev Pipeline explodes, killing an additional two people and destroying eleven more houses and 21 cars.source
  • 1990German reunification: East Germany and West Germany sign a treaty to merge their economic and social systems, effective July 1.source
  • 1991Somaliland secedes from Somalia; its independence is not recognised by the international community.source
  • 1994Israeli forces withdraw from Jericho and Gaza City in compliance with the Oslo accords.source
  • 1994The Flavr Savr, a genetically modified tomato, is deemed safe for consumption by the FDA, becoming the first commercially grown genetically engineered food to be granted a license for human consumption.source
  • 1996The X Prize Foundation launches the $10,000,000 Ansari X Prize.source
  • 1998The Department of Justice files an antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft, alleging its Windows operating system unfairly takes market share from Netscape's Navigator.source
  • 2005The border town of Qorasuv is claimed to be under control of a new Islamic administration led by Baxtiyor Rahimov.source
  • 2005English whisky is re-established in England.source
  • 2006May 18–20 – The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 takes place in Athens, Greece, and is won by Finnish band entrant Lordi with the song "Hard Rock Hallelujah".source
  • 2009Following more than 25 years of fighting, the Sri Lankan Civil War ends with the total military defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.source
  • 2009May 11–24 – Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched to refurbish the Hubble Space Telescope on May 11, landing at Edwards Air Force Base May 24.source
  • 2011Porto beats Braga 1–0 in the 2011 UEFA Europa League final at the Aviva Stadium.source
  • 2012Human rights groups speak out against unsanitary conditions of the Lomé prison which led to prisoner deathssource
  • 2013May 14–18 – The Eurovision Song Contest 2013 takes place in Malmö, Sweden, and is won by Danish entrant Emmelie de Forest with the song "Only Teardrops".source
  • 2013May 16-18: Malta participates in the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest.source
  • 2014May 13–19 – 2014 Southeast Europe floods. 57 deaths in Serbia.source
  • 2018The Federal Customs Service of Russia signs a contract with the Geneva-based testing and inspection company, SGS, on carrying out cargo monitoring through three "trade corridors" between Georgia and Russia, two of which run through the breakaway entities of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and the third one on the Zemo Larsi-Kazbegi border crossing point in the undisputed section of Georgia–Russia border. This comes as part of the Swiss-mediated agreement between the two neighboring countries signed on 9 November 2011.source
  • 2018Cubana de Aviación Flight 972 crashed shortly after take-off near José Martí International Airport in Havana, Cuba, killing 112 people and leaving only one survivor.source
  • 2018Cubana de Aviación Flight 972 crashes shortly after takeoff from the José Martí International Airport, killing all but one of the 113 people on board.source
  • 20192019 Australian federal election: Scott Morrison's Liberal/National Coalition government is narrowly re-elected, defeating the Labor Party led by Bill Shorten.source
  • 2019May 14–18 – The Eurovision Song Contest 2019 takes place in Tel Aviv, Israel, and is won by Dutch entrant Duncan Laurence with the song "Arcade".source
  • 2021May 18–May 22 – The Eurovision Song Contest 2021 is held in Rotterdam, Netherlands, after the cancellation of the 2020 contest due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The contest is won by Italian entrants Måneskin with the song "Zitti e buoni".source
  • 2022Around 200 anti-government militants block a road in Gorno-Badakhshan, Tajikistan, which links the country to China. Some of the militants, armed with firearms and petrol bombs, later ambush a security convoy on the same road. Eight militants and one officer are killed, while 13 officers are injured and more than 70 militants are arrested. The Tajik interior ministry later say the attack was an attempt to "destabilise the social and political situation" in the region.source
  • 20252025 Romanian presidential election: Following the annulment of the previous election, Bucharest mayor Nicușor Dan wins in the second round, beating George Simion.source

Births

  • 1048Omar Khayyam, Persian mathematician and poet (died 1131)source
  • 1186Konstantin of Rostov, Prince of Novgorod (died 1218)source
  • 1281Agnes of Austria, queen consort of Hungary (House of Árpád) (died 1364)source
  • 1423Lady Katherine Percy, English nobility (died 1475)source
  • 1450Piero Soderini, Florentine statesman (died 1513)source
  • 1452Henry the Younger of Poděbrady, Bohemian nobleman (died 1492)source
  • 1474Isabella d'Este, Marquise of Mantua (died 1539)source
  • 1610Stefano della Bella, Italian printmaker (died 1664)source
  • 1631Stanislaus Papczyński, Polish priest (died 1701)source
  • 1692(O.S) Joseph Butler, English bishop and philosopher (died 1752)source
  • 1692Joseph Butler, bishop and philosopher (died 1752)source
  • 1701Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, English aristocrat, philanthropist and cricket patron (died 1750)source
  • 1711Roger Joseph Boscovich, Croatian-Italian priest and mathematician (died 1787)source
  • 1776Dennis Pennington, American politician (died 1854)source
  • 1778Charles Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry, British politician (died 1854)source
  • 1822Mathew Brady, American photographer (died 1896)source
  • 1868May 18 (O. S. May 6) – Nicholas II of Russia (died 1918)source
  • 1872Bertrand Russell, British philosopher and mathematician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature (died 1970)source
  • 1883Eurico Gaspar Dutra, minister of war 1936-1945, president 1946-1951source
  • 1897Frank Capra, American film producer, director and writer (died 1991)source
  • 1912Perry Como, American singer (died 2001)source
  • 1919Margot Fonteyn, English ballet dancer (died 1991)source
  • 1920Pope John Paul II (died 2005)source
  • 1959Ranga Yogeshwar, scientistsource
  • 1975John Higgins, Scottish snooker playersource
  • 1983Christian Nduwimana, Burundian football playersource

Deaths

  • 249Jiang Ji (or Zitong), Chinese generalsource
  • 526John I dies of starvation after a 3-year reign. Theodoric the Great selects Pope Felix IV as the 54th pope.source
  • 893Stephen I, patriarch of Constantinople (born 867)source
  • 932Ma Shaohong, general of Later Tangsource
  • 947Tai Zong, emperor of the Liao Dynasty (born 902)source
  • 978Frederick I, duke of Upper Lorrainesource
  • 1065Frederick, duke of Lower Lorrainesource
  • 1090Berthold of Rheinfelden, German noblemansource
  • 1160Erik IX Jedvardsson of Sweden is murdered, after which his murderer Magnus Henriksen proclaims himself king of Sweden as Magnus II. He is murdered in turn the following year, however. Erik is soon worshipped as a saint. Though never formally canonized by Pope Alexander III, he eventually becomes the patron saint of Sweden.source
  • 1160Ibn al-Qalanisi, Arab politician and chroniclersource
  • 1160Erik IX Jedvardsson ("the Holy"), king of Sweden (born 1120)source
  • 1262John Climping, English cleric, chancellor and bishopsource
  • 1291Matthew of Clermont, French nobleman and Marshalsource
  • 1291Matthew of Clermont, French knight and Marshal (birth date unknown)source
  • 1409The Timurid prince Pir Muhammad is assassinated by his own soldiers.source
  • 1410Rupert of Germany, Count Palatine of the Rhine (born 1352)source
  • 1410The death of Rupert, King of the Romans, Elector of Palatine and ruler of Germany, creates a conflict over who will be the successor to the German throne. Rupert's son becomes the new Louis III, Elector Palatine as Ludwig III.source
  • 1525Pietro Pomponazzi, Italian philosopher (born 1462)source
  • 1550Jean, Cardinal of Lorraine, French churchman (born 1498)source
  • 1551Domenico di Pace Beccafumi, Italian painter (born 1486)source
  • 1672Erik Bredal, bishop (born 1608).source
  • 1675Father Jacques Marquette, French missionary and explorer (born 1636)source
  • 1692Elias Ashmole, English antiquarian (born 1617)source
  • 1692Elias Ashmole, antiquarian (born 1617)source
  • 1781Túpac Amaru II, Peruvian indigenous rebel leader (born 1742)source
  • 1781Micaela Bastidas Puyucahua, Peruvian indigenous rebel leader (born 1745)source
  • 1789Arabanoo, cultural mediator between the British settlers and Eora Aboriginalssource
  • 1794Yemmerrawanne dies in England.source
  • 1795Robert Rogers, British Army officer and American colonial frontiersman (born 1731)source
  • 1795Robert Rogers, army officer and author (born 1731)source
  • 1799Pierre Beaumarchais, French writer (born 1732)source
  • 1800Alexander Suvorov, Count of Rymnik (born 1729)source
  • 1800Alexander Suvorov, general, born 1730source
  • 1808Elijah Craig, American minister, inventor (born 1738)source
  • 1909Isaac Albéniz, composer (born 1860)source
  • 1911Gustav Mahler, Austrian composer (born 1860)source
  • 1980May 18–27 - Gwangju massacre: Up to 165 people are killed when a popular uprising in the city of Gwangju is crushed by the South Korean army.source
  • 2017Chris Cornell, 52, American musician and songwriter (Soundgarden, Audioslave, Temple of the Dog), suicide by hanging.source