May 18

1268 – The crusader forces holding the city of Antioch are defeated by the forces of the moslem Mamluk Sultan Rukn al-Din Baibars

1291 – The crusader forces holding the city of Acre are defeated by the forces of the moslem Mamluk Sultan Salāh ad-Dīn Khalil, ending the presence of crusaders in the Holy Land.

1565 – Ottoman moslem forces besiege the island of Malta, held by the Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, more commonly known as Knights Hospitaller.

1631 – John Winthrop takes the oath of office as the first Governor of Massachusetts in Dorchester.

1841 – The Bartleson–Bidwell Party, led by Captain John Bartleson and John Bidwell, became the first American emigrants to attempt a wagon crossing from Missouri to California using the Oregon Trail.

1860 – Abraham Lincoln wins the Republican Party presidential nomination over William H. Seward.

1896 – In the case of Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court rules that the “separate but equal” racial doctrine is constitutional.

1917 – Congress passes the Selective Service Act of 1917, giving the President the power of conscription for military service.

1927 – 43 people, including 38 children, are killed by dynamite bombs planted under the Bath Consolidated School in Bath Township, Michigan, by disgruntled school board member Andrew Kehoe, so far the most deadly attack on a school.

1933 – President Roosevelt signs an act creating the Tennessee Valley Authority.

1953 – Piloting the only CL-13 Mark 3 version of the F-86 Sabre over Edwards Air Force Base, California, U.S. Air Force Reserve LTC Jackie Cochran becomes the first woman to break the sound barrier

1969 – Apollo 10, the dress rehearsal for the moon landing, with astronauts Thomas P. Stafford, John W. Young and Eugene A. Cernan aboard is launched from the Kennedy Space Center.

1980 – Mount St. Helens in Skamania County, Washington, erupts, killing 57 people and causing $3 billion in damage.

2005 – The Hubble Space Telescope takes a photo that astronomers will use to confirm that Pluto has 2 additional moons, adding Nix and Hydra to Charon, Kerberos and Styx.

2015 – At least 78 people die in a landslide caused by heavy rains in the Colombian town of Salgar.

2018 – Using a shotgun and a revolver, a student at the high school in Santa Fe, Texas kills 10 people including 8 students and wounds 13 others before being wounded by police and surrendering.