Browse Historical Events by Day: What Happened on May 18th?

The Battle of Dover takes place during the First Anglo-Dutch War, with the Dutch Republic gaining a decisive victory over England.

Congress passed the Selective Service Act, which authorized the Federal Government to temporarily expand the military through conscription. The act eventually required all men between the ages of 21 to 45 to register for military service. More

Day of the proclamation of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Georgia from the Russian Empire.

India successfully detonates its first nuclear weapon in the Rajasthan Desert in the municipality of Pokhran. becoming the world’s sixth nuclear power and the first nation outside the five members of the U.N. Security Council—the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, China and France. More

Mount St. Helens erupted in Washington state, killing 57 people. Hundreds of square miles of wilderness were reduced to wasteland. More