Anniversaries and commemorations come and go daily. Most of us, even the best historians, miss most occasions. If we think of history as events then we are faced with a continually showering in the grains of sand. Nevertheless, we do pick out certain patterns in the remembrance of historical dates. The blog here reminds us of some dates where the local, state, national, and global perspectives entwine.
On 18, Saturday May 1844, Richard McCarty, American politician, died (b. 1780)
On 18, Tuesday May 1869, Harold William Grimwade, soldier, born (died 1949)
On 18, Tuesday May 1869, One day after surrendering at the land Battle of Hakodate (begun 4 December 1868), Enomoto Takeaki turns over Goryōkaku to Japanese forces, signaling the collapse of the Republic of Ezo.
On 18, Tuesday May 1869, Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria, Bavarian military leader, last Bavarian crown prince, born (d. 1955)
On 18, Sunday May 1919, Margot Fonteyn, English ballet dancer, born (d. 1991)
On 18, Thursday May 1944, WWII: Battle of Monte Cassino: The Germans evacuate Monte Cassino and Allied forces led by Władysław Anders from Polish II Corps, take the stronghold after a struggle that has claimed 20,000 lives.
On 18, Thursday May 1944, Deportation of the Crimean Tatars by the government of the Soviet Union.
On 18, Monday May 1959, The National Liberation Committee of Côte d’Ivoire is launched in Conakry, Guinea.
On 18, Monday May 1959, Apsley Cherry-Garrard, Antarctic explorer, died (b. 1886)
On 18, Monday May 1959, Enrique Guaita, Argentinian footballer, died (b. 1910)
On 18, Sunday May 1969, Apollo program: Apollo 10 (Tom Stafford, Gene Cernan, John Young) is launched as a full rehearsal for the Moon landing, but stops 15 kilometers short of actually reaching the lunar surface.
On 18, Sunday May 1969, Martika, American singer, born
On 18, Friday May 1979, Mariusz Lewandowski, Polish footballer, born
On 18, Friday May 1979, Jens Bergensten (“Jeb”), Swedish game designer and co-founder of the game company Mojang, born
On 18, Thursday May 1989, At the Premiers’ Conference, the Commonwealth cuts $550 million from payments, grants and loans to the states.
On 18, Thursday May 1989, Shreevats Goswami, Indian cricketer, born
On 18, Tuesday May 1999, Teo Halm, American actor, born
On 18, Tuesday May 1999, Betty Robinson, American athlete, died (b. 1911)
On 18, Monday May 2009, Jerzy Zubrzycki, 89, sociologist, died
On 18, Monday May 2009, Following more than a quarter-century of fighting, the Sri Lankan Civil War ends with the total military defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
On 18, Monday May 2009, Wayne Allwine, American voice actor, died (b. 1947)
On 18, Monday May 2009, Velupillai Prabhakaran, Sri Lankan militant, died (b. 1954)
On 18, Sunday May 2014, Dobrica Ćosić, Serbian writer and politician, President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, died (b. 1921)
On 18, Sunday May 2014, Wubbo Ockels, Dutch astronaut and physicist, died (b. 1946)
On 18, Sunday May 2014, Gordon Willis, American cinematographer, died (b. 1931)
Other On This Day days in history
Neville Buch
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