18 May in History

1152--Henry II Plantagenet, King of England, marries Eleanor of Aquitane.

1268--The Principality of Antioch, a Crusader state, falls to the forces of Mamluk Sultan Baibars.

1498--Vasco de Gama reaches calcutta, India.

1631--In Dorchester, Massachusetts, John Winthrop becomes the first governor of Massachusetts.

1756--The Seven Years War begins between England and France.

1803--The Treaty of Amiens is revoked by the British, and the Napoleonic Wars resume.

1804--Napoleon I Bonaparte is declared Emperor of the French by the Senate.

1843--The Free Church of Scotland separates from the Church of Scotland.

1860--Abraham Lincoln wins the Republican Party nomination for President.

1863--The Siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi begins.

1896--The United States Supreme Court rules in Plessy vs. Ferguson that the concept of "separate but equal" is Constitutional.

1910--The Earth passes through the tail of Comet Halley.

1917--The Selective Service Act of 1917 is passed by the United States Congress.

1933--The Tennessee Valley Authority is created.

1944--The Battle of Monte Cassino ends as German forces withdraw.

1958--A Lockheed F-104 Starfighter sets a speed record of 1404.19 MPH.

1969--NASA launches Apollo 10.

1974--In Operation Smiling Buddha, India successfully tests a nuclear weapon.

1980--Mount St. Helens, in Oregon, erupts.

1992--The Archivist of the United States Archives officially announces the 27th Amendment of the United States Constitution is in effect.