On This Day In History
Birthdates which occurred on May 18:
1692 Joseph Butler Wantage Berkshire, theologian
1744 Joseph Beer Bohemia clarinetist/composer (5th clarinet flap)
1788 Hugh Clapperton Annan Scotland, African explorer
1798 Ethan Allen Hitchcock Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1870
1815 Thomas Stanhope Bocock representative (Confederacy), died in 1891
1817 James William Denver Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1892
1836 Wilhelm Steinitz Austria, world chess champion (1866-94)
1850 Oliver Heaviside physicist predicted existence of ionosphere
1868 Nicholas II Aleksandrovitsj last tsar of Russia (1894-1917)
1872 Bertrand Russell England, mathematician/philosopher (Nobel 1950)
1883 Walter Gropius Berlin Germany, architect (founded Bauhaus school of design)
1891 Rudolf Carnap philosopher (German Logical Positivist)
1897 Frank Capra Palermo Sicily Italy, movie director (It's a Wonderful Life, Arsenic & Old Lace)
1901 Vincent du Vigneaud US biochemist
1902 [Robert] Meredith Willson Mason City IA, composer (Music Man)
1903 George E Stone Lodz Poland, actor (Viva Villa, Last Mile)
1904 Jacob K Javits (Senator-R-NY)
1911 Big Joe Turner Kansas City MO, blues singer (Corrine Corrina, Shake Rattle & Roll)
1912 Georg von Opel German auto manufacturer
1912 Perry [Pierino] Como Canonsburg PA, singer/TV host (Perry Como Show)
1912 Richard Brooks Philadelphia PA, director (Blackboard Jungle, In Cold Blood)
1917 James Donald Aberdeen Scotland, actor (Bridge on River Kwai, Vikings)
1918 Pope John Paul II [Karol Wojtyla] 264th Roman Catholic pope (1978-2005)
1919 Dame Margot Fonteyn Surrey England, ballerina (Giselle/partner of Nureyev)
1924 Jack Whitaker Philadelphia PA, sportscaster (ABC, CBS)
1928 Pernell Roberts Waycross GA, actor (Adam Cartwright-Bonanza, Trapper John MD)
1930 Don Leslie Lind Midvale UT, astronaut (STS 51-B)
1930 Fred[erick Thomas] Saberhagen US, sci-fi author (Berseker series)
1934 Dwayne Hickman Los Angeles CA, actor (Dobie Gillis, How to Stuff a Wild Bikini)
1937 Brooks Robinson Baltimore Oriole 3rd baseman (1955-77)
1939 Glen Hardin Texas, rocker (Crickets)
1941 Diane McBain Cleveland OH, actress (Surfside Six, Spinout, Donner Pass)
1946 Reggie Jackson "Mr October" baseball rightfielder (Yankees, A's)
1948 Joe Bonsall Philadelphia PA, country singer (Oak Ridge Boys-Elvira)
1949 Rick Wakeman rock keyboardist (Yes-Fish Out of Water)
1952 George Strait Pearsall TX, country singer (All My Ex's Live in Texas, Beyond the Blue Neon)
1978 Jennifer Streblow Oshkosh WI, Miss America-Wisconsin (1997)
Deaths which occurred on May 18:
0323 Alexander III the Great king of Macedonia/conqueror, dies at 32
0526 John I Pope (523-26), dies
1625 Francisco Gómez de Sandoval y Rojas Spanish marquis of Denia, dies
1808 Jacob Albright [Albrecht] German/US preacher, dies at 49
1862 William H Keim US Union Brigadier-General, dies in battle at 48
1864 James Byron Gordon Confederate Brigadier-General, dies at 41
1884 Heinrich R Göppert German paleo-botanist, dies
1911 Gustav Mahler Austrian composer (Children's Death Songs), dies at 50
1949 James T Adams US historian (Pulitzer 1921)
1965 Eduard J Dijksterhuis mathematician (Archimedes), dies at 72
1967 Andy Clyde (Hopalong Cassidy's sidekick), dies at 75
1973 Jeannette Rankin 1st Congresswoman (1917-19, 41-43), dies at 92
1974 Daniel R Topping US owner (New York Yankees), dies at 61
1981 Arthur O'Connell actor (Mr Peepers, Second Hundred Years), dies at 73
1981 William Saroyan US stagewriter (Time of your life), dies at 72
1986 John Bubbles Sublett tap dancer (Black & Bubbles), dies at 84
1987 Wilbur J Cohen 1st employee of Social Security System, dies at 73
1988 Daws Butler cartoon voice (Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound), dies at 71
1990 Jill Ireland actress (Carry on Nurse, Family), dies of cancer at 54
1991 Edwina Booth actress (Trader Horn), dies of heart failure at 86
1992 Lawrence Welk bandleader (L Welk Show), dies of pneumonia at 89
1995 Alexander Gudonov Russian dancer/actor (Witness), dies at 45
1995 Elisha Cook Jr actor (Maltese Falcon, Shane), dies at 91
1995 Elizabeth Montgomery actress (Bewitched), dies of cancer at 62
GWOT Casualties
Iraq
18-May-2003 2 | US: 2 | UK: 0 | Other: 0
US Corporal Douglas Jose Marencoreyes Samawah (near) Non-hostile - vehicle accident
US Specialist Rasheed Sahib Balad Non-hostile - weapon discharge (accid.)
18-May-2004 4 | US: 4 | UK: 0 | Other: 0
US Private 1st Class Michael M. Carey Al Anbar Province Non-hostile - drowning
US Staff Sergeant Joseph P. Garyantes Muqdadiyah (near) Hostile - hostile fire - sniper
US Specialist Marcos O. Nolasco Bayji (near) Non-hostile - electrocution
US Staff Sergeant William D. Chaney Landstuhl Reg. Med. Ctr. Non-hostile - illness
Afghanistan
A Good Day
http://icasualties.org/oif/ Data research by Pat Kneisler
Designed and maintained by Michael White
On this day...
0526 St John I ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1096 Crusaders massacre Jews of Worm
1291 Sultan of Egypt & his son take last Christian stronghold of Acre
1619 Hugo the Great sentenced to life in prison
1631 English colony Massachusetts Bay grants puritarian voting right
1631 John Winthrop is elected 1st governor of Massachusetts
1642 Montréal Canada founded
1652 Rhode Island enacts 1st law declaring slavery illegal
1756 England declares war on France
1803 Britain declares war on France after General Napoleon Bonaparte continues interfering in Italy & Switzerland
1804 Napoleon Bonaparte proclaimed Emperor of France
1830 Edwin Budding of England signs an agreement for manufacture of his invention, the lawn mower - Saturdays are destroyed forever
1843 United Free Church of Scotland forms
1846 US troops attack Rio Grande occupying Matamoros
1852 Massachusetts rules all school-age children must attend school
1860 Republican Party nominates Abraham Lincoln for president
1861 Battle of Sewall's Point VA-1st Federal offense against South
1863 Siege of Vicksburg MS
1864 Battle of Yellow Bayou LA (Bayou de Glaize, Old Oaks)
1897 Irish Music Festival 1st held (Dublin)
1897 New York Giant William Joyce sets record of 4 triples in 1 game
1904 American Ion Perdicaris kidnapped in Morocco ("This government wants Perdicaris alive or Raisuli dead,")
1910 Passage of Earth through tail of Halley's Comet causes near-panic
1911 President/dictator José Porfirio Diaz of México term ends
1916 US pilot Kiffin Rockwell shoots down German aircraft
1918 TNT explosion in chemical factory in Oakdale PA kills 200
1926 Evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson vanished in Venice CA; She showed up a month later & said she had been kidnapped (THE BALLAD OF AIMEE McPHERSON)
1927 Grauman's Chinese Theater opens in Hollywood CA
1933 Tennessee Valley Act (TVA) Act signed by FDR, to build dams
1934 Congress approves "Lindbergh Act", makes kidnapping a capital offense
1934 Jimmie Foxx hits 1st homerun in Comiskey Park center field bleachers
1941 Jewish veterans honor their dead
1944 Expulsion of more than 200,000 Tartars from Crimea by Soviet Union begins, they are accused of collaborating with the Germans
1944 Polish 2nd Army corps captures convent of Monte Cassino Italy
1947 A's catcher Warren Rosar catches his 147th game without an error
1948 Arab Legion captures fort on Mount Scopus
1948 Saudi Arabia joins invasion of Israel
1952 Professor WF Libby said Stonehedge dates back to 1848 BC
1953 1st woman to break the sound barrier (Jacqueline Cochrane, USA)
1956 Mickey Mantle hits homerun from both sides of plate for record 3rd time
1963 "If You Wanna Be Happy" by Jimmy Soul hits #1
1964 Supreme Court rules unconstitutional to deprive naturalized citizens of citizenship if they return to home country for more than 3 years
1965 Gene Roddenberry suggests 16 names including Kirk for Star Trek Captain
1967 Tennessee Governor Ellington repeals "Monkey Law", upheld in 1925 Scopes Trial
1968 Al Kaline hits his 307th homerun, surpassing Hank Greenberg as a Tiger
1971 President Nixon rejects the 60 demands of Congressional Black Caucus
1972 "Me & The Chimp" last airs on CBS-TV (Oh the humanity!)
1972 John Sebastian makes 63 consecutive free throws while blindfolded
1974 "The Streak" by Ray Stevens hits #1.
1977 Menachem Begin becomes Israel's Prime Minister
1978 Italy legalizes abortion
1978 Russian dissident Yuri Orlov exiled to compulsory work
1980 Mount St Helens blows its top in Washington State, 60 die
1982 Unification Church founder Reverend Sun Myung Moon convicted of tax evasion
1983 Senate revises immigration laws, gives millions of illegal aliens legal status under an amnesty program (Well that worked out real well.)
1986 Chung Kwung Ying does 2,750 "atomic" hand-stand push-ups
1990 Cubs Ryne Sandberg ends 2nd baseman record 123 errorless game streak
1990 East and West Germany sign a monetary union treaty
1990 Judy Carne arrested at JFK airport on an 11 year old drug warrant
1991 USSR launches 2 cosmonauts to MIR space station
1992 Supreme Court rules states could not force mentally unstable criminal defendants to take anti-psychotic drugs
1993 Italian police arrest Mafia boss Benedetto "Nitto" Santapaola
1994 Israel withdraws from the Gaza Strip (again)
1997 Tiger Woods wins Byron Nelson Golf Classic
1998 The US Customs Service end a 3-year sting operation, Operation Casablanca, with the indictment of 3 Mexican banks and 107 people on charges of laundering millions of dollars for drug-smuggling cartels
2004 Randy Johnson (40) pitches a perfect game (Arizona Diamondbacks 2 Atlanta Braves 0.)
Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"
Haiti : Flag Day/University Day
Uruguay : Battle of Las Piedras (1828)
Canada : Victoria Day (1819) (Monday)
National Bike to Work Day
International Pickle Week (Day 3)
Blow Your Top Day
US : Don't Do Dishes Day
US : Visit Your Relatives Day
National Hair Color Month!
Religious Observances
Christian : St Eric of Sweden
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St Venantius, bishop, martyr
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St John I, pope & martyr (523-526)
Lutheran : Commemoration of Erik, King of Sweden, martyr
Religious History
1291 Acre, the last territory in Palestine taken by the first Crusaders, fell to invading Moslem armies. It signalled the end of a Christian "military presence" in the Near East. (Afterwards, friars sought to spread the gospel by preaching instead.)
1631 The General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony decreed that 'no man shall be admitted to the body politic but such as are members of some of the churches within the limits' of the colony. (Separation of church and state was an unthinkable concept in early American colonialism.)
1766 The Church of the United Brethren in Christ was organized in Lancaster, PA, under the leadership of Martin Boehm, 41, and Philip William Otterbein, 39. (It became a branch of the Evangelical United Brethren in 1946.)
1814 In Philadelphia, the General Missionary Convention of the Baptist Denomination in the United States of America for Foreign Missions was established -- the first national organization of Baptists in the U.S. It was later called the Triennial Convention because it met every three years.
1925 Popular evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson, 34, disappeared while on a beach outing. Turning up five weeks later, she claimed to have been kidnapped and held prisoner, before escaping from her abductors.
Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.
Thought for the day :
"God gives us dreams a size too big so that we can grow in them."
