Today in History for May 18:
In 1096, the Jews of Worms, in present-day Germany, were massacred by Christian Crusaders on their way to the Holy Land.
In 1281, after 100 years of Christian occupation, Muslim forces besieged the Crusader city of Acre for 33 days. It ended with the storming of the city and the massacre or enslavement of 60,000 Christians.
In 1504, Michelangelo's statue of David was erected in Florence.
In 1642, the city of Montreal was founded by Sieur de Maisonneuve. The site had originally been settled by Jacques Cartier in 1535 and later by Samuel de Champlain, but neither settlement survived.
In 1675, French missionary and explorer Jacques Marquette died near present-day Ludington, Mich.
In 1765, one-quarter of Montreal was destroyed by fire.
In 1785, Saint John, N.B., became the first incorporated city in Canada.
In 1804, the French Senate proclaimed Napoleon Bonaparte emperor.
In 1846, the city of Kingston, Ont., was incorporated.
In 1868, Nicholas II, Russia's last czar, was born. The eldest son of Czar Alexander III contributed to his own unpopularity after taking the throne in 1893. He was overthrown in 1917 and executed with his family by the Bolsheviks the next year.
In 1910, Halley's Comet, as seen from Earth, moved across the Sun.
In 1920, Pope John Paul II was born Karol Wojtyla near Krakow, Poland. In 1978, he became the first non-Italian pontiff in 455 years. He died April 2, 2005. In 2011, he was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI, the fastest on record.
In 1926, evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson vanished while visiting a beach in Venice, Calif. She reappeared a month later, claiming to have been kidnapped.
In 1927, actress Norma Talmadge accidentally left her footprint in wet cement at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Leaving footprints in cement soon became a thing Hollywood stars wanted to do.
In 1944, during the Second World War, Allied forces finally occupied Monte Cassino in Italy after a four-month struggle that claimed some 20,000 lives.
In 1951, the United Nations left its temporary headquarters in Lake Success, New York, for its permanent home in Manhattan.
In 1953, Jacqueline Cochran became the first woman to break the sound barrier as she piloted a North American F-86 Canadair over Rogers Dry Lake, Calif.
In 1966, 45-year-old Paul Joseph Chartier was killed when a home-made bomb exploded in a Parliament Hill washroom. He apparently planned to bomb the House of Commons.
In 1974, India detonated an underground nuclear device.
In 1980, the Mount St. Helens volcano in Washington state erupted. The blast left 57 people dead, took 400 metres off the top of the mountain and blew an ash cloud around the world. Nearly 600 kilometres of forest was blown over -- or killed and left standing.
In 1988, Charles Dawson (Daws) Butler, the voice of Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound and many other cartoon characters, died of a heart attack at age 71.
In 1991, Helen Sharman became the first Briton in space when she and two cosmonauts blasted off aboard the Soviet Soyuz spacecraft on an eight-day mission.
In 1994, Israel's 27-year occupation of the Gaza Strip ended as Israeli troops completed their withdrawal and Palestinian authorities took over.
In 1998, the U.S. government and 20 states launched an anti-trust lawsuit against Microsoft, accusing the software giant of using its operating system to dominate access to the Internet.
In 2001, newspaper magnate Conrad Black announced he was giving up his Canadian citizenship to accept an appointment to Britain's House of Lords. He later became Lord Black of Crossharbour.
In 2004, Randy Johnson, at age 40, became the oldest pitcher in major league history to throw a perfect game. The lefty retired all 27 batters to lead the Arizona Diamondbacks over the Atlanta Braves 2-0.
In 2006, Australian Prime Minister John Howard addressed a joint session of the Parliament in Ottawa, the first Australian leader to do so since 1944.
In 2007, Captain Shawn McCaughey was killed when his Snowbird crashed during rehearsal for an air show at an air force base near Great Falls, Mont. The 31-year-old was the sixth member of the Snowbirds team to be killed in an air crash since 1972.
In 2009, Wayne Allwine, the actor who voiced Mickey Mouse for more than 30 years, died of complications from diabetes. He was 62. Russi Taylor, his wife of 20 years and the voice of Minnie Mouse, was by his side.
In 2010, Col. Geoff Parker, 42, died when a massive car bomb struck a NATO convoy on the edge of the Afghanistan capital of Kabul. He became the highest-ranking Canadian Forces member to die since the mission began in 2002. Five American soldiers and 12 Afghan civilians were also killed.
In 2010, it was announced that Sable Island, a 40-kilometre long crescent-shaped island in the North Atlantic about 300 km southeast of Nova Scotia, would be designated a national park. (Environment Minister Peter Kent did so on Oct. 17, 2011)
In 2010, Canada's top pulp and paper companies agreed to protect 72 million hectares of threatened northern forest in a historic agreement with environmental groups. The Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement was dubbed "the world's largest conservation agreement."
In 2011, while in Ireland on a historic visit, Queen Elizabeth II made a powerful statement expressing "deep sympathy" to all who had suffered as a result of the troubled relations between England and Ireland. She did not apologize for any British actions during the bitter conflicts between the two neighbours but said it was clear mistakes were made.
In 2012, one of the most anticipated IPOs in Wall Street history ended on a flat note, with Facebook's stock closing at $38.23, up 23 cents, raising $16 billion and giving the online social networking company a market value of $105 billion and making it the most valuable U.S. company to ever go public. After a week, the stock prices fell to $31. A lawsuit forced lead investment bank Morgan Stanley to compensate investors who overpaid.
In 2017, a man deliberately steered his speeding car into pedestrians in New York's Times Square, killing a Michigan teenager and injuring 22 others, including a Canadian woman, before it was stopped by steel security barriers. (Richard Rojas, 26, is charged with murder and attempted murder.)
In 2018, a Boeing 737 carrying 113 people on board crashed and erupted in flames shortly after takeoff in Havana. Three female passengers survived the crash but two later died in hospital.
In 2018, a 17-year-old gunman opened fire at the Santa Fe High School in Texas, killing eight students and two teachers; 13 others were injured. He exchanged gunfire with police before surrendering.
In 2019, Canadian trained War of Will bounced back from a bumpy ride in the Kentucky Derby to win the Preakness Stakes. War of Will held off a field that included a riderless Bodexpress who threw Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez just out of the starting gate but still finished the race. Trainer Mark Casse got his first Triple Crown victory, with War of Will unbothered starting from the inside No. 1 post position for the second consecutive race. War of Will was interfered with in the Kentucky Derby, which led to first-place finisher Maximum Security being disqualified.
In 2021, Canada reached a grim milestone in the COVID-19 pandemic today with the death toll climbing to 25,000. The country's first COVID-19 death was recorded on March 9th of 2020.
In 2021, the former Quebec Superior Court justice who led the inquiry into the federal sponsorship scandal in 2004 died. John Gomery was 88. The revelations of kickbacks and illegal fundraising while Jean Chretien's government was in power ultimately helped lead to the defeat of the Liberals under his successor Paul Martin.
In 2022, the 21-year-old Russian soldier on trial in Kyiv pleaded guilty to killing a Ukrainian man in the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In 2022, Parliament created a day to recognize the genocide of Tamil people in Sri Lanka. Lawmakers unanimously adopted a motion to make May 18 of each year Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day.
In 2022, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney stepped down as leader of the United Conservative Party. Kenney said the 51.4 per cent support he garnered in a leadership review was not what he hoped for or expected. Kenney won enough votes to keep his job as leader, but left questions about how many party and government members would continue to follow him.
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The Canadian Press