On This Day: 18 May

18 May in Indian history

• 2009The Sri Lanka Army killed Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader and founder of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, to bring an end to the 26-year Sri Lankan civil war.India
• 1974India conducted its first nuclear test explosion at Pokhran, the first confirmed nuclear test by a nation outside the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.India
• 1912The first Indian film, Shree Pundalik by Dadasaheb Torne, is released in Mumbai.India

18 May in world history

• 2018Cubana de Aviación Flight 972 crashes in Santiago de las Vegas after takeoff from José Martí International Airport in Havana, Cuba, killing 112 of the 113 people on board.
• 2005A second photo from the Hubble Space Telescope confirms that Pluto has two additional moons, Nix and Hydra.
• 1996Ireland won the Eurovision song contest for the seventh time, the highest number of wins for any country before Sweden tied it in 2023.
• 1980Rioting spreads to Miami's mostly African-American neighborhoods of Overtown and Liberty City following the previous day's courthouse protests.
• 1977Likud party wins the 1977 Israeli legislative election, with Menachem Begin, its founder, as the sixth Prime Minister of Israel.
• 1955Operation 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, ended.
• 1944World War II: Battle of Monte Cassino: Conclusion after seven days of the fourth battle as German paratroopers evacuate Monte Cassino.
• 1944Deportation of Crimean Tatars by the Soviet Union.
• 1933U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an act establishing the Tennessee Valley Authority to stimulate the economic development of the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly impacted by the Great Depression.
• 1917World War I: The Selective Service Act of 1917 is passed, giving the President of the United States the power of conscription.
• 1896Ruling in the landmark decision Plessy v. Ferguson, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the legality of racial segregation in public transportation under the "separate but equal" doctrine.
• 1863American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant led his Army of the Tennessee across the Big Black River in preparation for the Siege of Vicksburg.
• 1848Opening of the first German National Assembly (Nationalversammlung) in Frankfurt, Germany.
• 1803Napoleonic Wars: The United Kingdom revokes the Treaty of Amiens and declares war on France.
• 1388At the Battle of Buir Lake, a Ming Chinese army led by general Lan Yu defeated the forces of Tögüs Temür, the Mongol khan of Northern Yuan.

Born on 18 May

• 1993Jessica Watson, Australian sailor
• 1948Tom Udall, American lawyer and politician, 28th New Mexico Attorney General, United States Senator from New Mexico
• 1933H. D. Deve Gowda, Indian farmer and politician, 11th Prime Minister of IndiaIndia
• 1921Joan Eardley, British artist (died 1963)
• 1883Walter Gropius, German-American architect, designed the John F. Kennedy Federal Building (died 1969)
• 1777John George Children, English chemist, mineralogist, and zoologist (died 1852)

Died on 18 May

• 2023Jim Brown, American football player, civil rights activist, and actor (born 1936)
• 2009Velupillai Prabhakaran, Sri Lankan rebel leader, founded the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (born 1954)India
• 1998Obaidullah Aleem, Indian-Pakistani poet and author (born 1939)India
• 1909George Meredith, English novelist and poet (born 1828)

Frequently asked questions

What happened on 18 May in history?

2018: Cubana de Aviación Flight 972 crashes in Santiago de las Vegas after takeoff from José Martí International Airport in Havana, Cuba, killing 112 of the 113 people on board. 2009: The Sri Lanka Army killed Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader and founder of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, to bring an end to the 26-year Sri Lankan civil war. 2005: A second photo from the Hubble Space Telescope confirms that Pluto has two additional moons, Nix and Hydra. 1996: Ireland won the Eurovision song contest for the seventh time, the highest number of wins for any country before Sweden tied it in 2023.

What happened on 18 May in Indian history?

2009: The Sri Lanka Army killed Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader and founder of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, to bring an end to the 26-year Sri Lankan civil war. 1974: India conducted its first nuclear test explosion at Pokhran, the first confirmed nuclear test by a nation outside the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. 1912: The first Indian film, Shree Pundalik by Dadasaheb Torne, is released in Mumbai.

Which famous people were born on 18 May?

Jessica Watson, Australian sailor (1993); Tom Udall, American lawyer and politician, 28th New Mexico Attorney General, United States Senator from New Mexico (1948); H. D. Deve Gowda, Indian farmer and politician, 11th Prime Minister of India (1933); Joan Eardley, British artist (died 1963) (1921).

Which day is observed on 18 May?

Baltic Fleet Day (Russia); Day of Remembrance of Crimean Tatar genocide (Ukraine); Independence Day (Somaliland) (unrecognized); International Museum Day; National Speech Pathologist Day (United States).