From today's featured article | | | Did you know... | | | Today's articles for improvement | | | | | In the news | | | On this day... | May 18: Flag and Universities Day in Haiti; Day of Revival, Unity, and the Poetry of Magtymguly in Turkmenistan; Sanja Matsuri begins in Tokyo (2013)  - 1863 American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant led his Army of the Tennessee across the Big Black River in preparation for the Siege of Vicksburg.
- 1869 One day after surrendering at the Battle of Hakodate, Enomoto Takeaki turned over Gory kaku to Japanese forces, signaling the collapse of the Republic of Ezo.
- 1927 Disgruntled school board treasurer Andrew Kehoe set off a series of explosives in Bath Township, Michigan's elementary school, which had a final death toll of 45 and is the deadliest mass murder in a school in United States history.
- 1944 World War II: Polish forces under Lieutenant General W adys aw Anders captured Monte Cassino, Italy, after a four-month battle.
- 1955 Operation 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.
- 1980 The stratovolcano Mount St. Helens erupted (pictured), killing 57 people in southern Washington State, reducing hundreds of square miles to wasteland, and causing over US$1 billion in damage.
More anniversaries: May 17 May 18 May 19 | |