May 18 Fun Facts, Trivia and History
May 18 History Highlights
- 1804 – Napoleon Bonaparte is proclaimed Emperor of the French by the French Senate.
- 1860 – Abraham Lincoln won the Republican Party presidential nomination over William H. Seward.
- 1953 – Jackie Cochran became the first woman to break the sound barrier.
- If you were born on May 18th,
You were likely conceived the week of… August 25th (prior year)
1980 Mount St. Helens Eruption
On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens in Washington erupted with a 5.1 magnitude, causing a massive avalanche and killed 57 people. David Johnson was a volcanologist studying Mt. St. Helens from 6 miles away when it erupted. He made a transmission stating: “Vancouver! Vancouver! This is it!” as the volcano erupted. The transmission went dead at this point, and his body was never recovered.
Knowing he would not survive, photographer Robert Landsburg, photographed the event and rewound the film back into its case, put his camera in his backpack, and then laid himself on top of the backpack in an attempt to protect the film. His body was found 17 days later, buried in the ash with his backpack. The film was developed and has provided geologists with valuable documentation of the historic eruption.
May 18 is…
Museum Day
No Dirty Dishes Day
May 18 Birthday Quotes
“Whatever the problem, be part of the solution. Don’t just sit around raising questions and pointing out obstacles.”
– Tina Fey
“When I was a kid, I would go to the record store, where there was a bin of things they didn’t know quite how to classify. Those were my choices.”
– Mark Mothersbaugh
“My only regret in life is that I didn’t spend as much time with my kids as I now wish I had.”
– Perry Como
Like a one-eyed cat peepin’ in a seafood store.
– Big Joe Turner
“No saint, no pope, no general, no sultan, has ever had the power that a filmmaker has; the power to talk to hundreds of millions of people for two hours in the dark.”
– Frank Capra
May 18 Birthdays
1855 – Francis Bellamy, American minister and author (died in 1931)
1897 – Frank Capra, Italian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (died in 1991)
1911 – Big Joe Turner, American blues artist, R&B singer (died in 1985)
1912 – Perry Como, American singer and television host (died in 2001)
1917 – Bill Everett, American comic book author and illustrator (died in 1973)
1931 – Don Martin, American cartoonist, Mad Magazine (died in 2000)
1950 – Mark Mothersbaugh, American singer-songwriter
1970 – Tina Fey, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
1992 – Adwoa Aboah, British fashion model
May 18 History
1910
The Earth passed through the tail of Halley’s Comet.
1912
The first major Indian film, Shree Pundalik, by Dadasaheb Torne, was released in Mumbai.
1926
In one of the first Media Frenzies of Popular Culture, Evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson disappeared while visiting a Venice, California beach.
1946
A UFO, with living creatures inside, was reported by Gosta Carlsson in Sweden.
1952
Professor Willard F. Libby determined the age of Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain, England, at 1848 BC, give or take 275 years.
1956
Lhotse – 27,940 ft (8,516 m) – Nepal/Tibet – First ascent: May 18, 1956, by Fritz Luchsinger and Ernst Reiss
1958
Team Lotus made its Formula One debut in the Monaco Grand Prix.
1959
#1 Hit May 18, 1959 – May 31, 1959: Wilbert Harrison – Kansas City
1963
#1 Hit May 18, 1963 – May 31, 1963: Jimmy Soul – If You Wanna Be Happy
1968
#1 Hit May 18, 1968 – May 3, 1968: Archie Bell & the Drells – Tighten Up
1974
India successfully detonated its first nuclear weapon, becoming the sixth nation in the Nuclear Club.
1974
#1 Hit May 18, 1974 – June 7, 1974: Ray Stevens – The Streak
1980
Ian Curtis of the post-punk band Joy Division committed suicide. The remaining members went on to form New Order.
1985
#1 Hit May 18, 1985 – May 24, 1985: Simple Minds – Don’t You (Forget About Me)
1991
#1 Hit May 18, 1991 – May 24, 1991: Hi-Five – I Like the Way (The Kissing Game)
1994
Israeli troops withdrew from the Gaza Strip, ceding the area to the Palestinian National Authority to govern.
1996
#1 Hit May 18, 1996 – July 12, 1996: Bone Thugs-N-Harmony – Tha Crossroads
1998
Murphy Brown TV series ended on CBS.
2001
Based on William Steig’s 1990 children’s book, Shrek was released in movie theaters.
2005
A photo from the Hubble Space Telescope confirmed that Pluto has two additional moons, Nix and Hydra.
2013
#1 Hit May 18, 2013 – June 21, 2013: Macklemore and Ryan Lewis featuring Ray Dalton – Can’t Hold Us
Today’s Random Trivia and Shower Thoughts
“My phone vibrated in my pocket, as my mother sent me a photo via Messenger” sounds like a description of a Salvador Dali painting.
“Rope a dope” is a boxing technique where you allow your opponent to punch you heavily against the ropes, tiring them out. The ropes absorb most of the impact of the punches.
Jack Nicholson made $35 million from Batman Returns – and he doesn`t appear in the film at all!
Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro are the only two actors to win an Oscar for playing the same character. The first played Vito Corleone in The Godfather; the second played Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II.
The Capital of Sri Lanka is Colombo; Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte (legislative)
“I brought you flours.” – Harold Crick in Stranger Than Fiction
A doctor tells his patient he’s got only six months to live… but the patient doesn’t pay his bill on time, so the doctor gives him another six months. (ta-tish!)
17 out of the 20 tallest statues in the world are Buddhist
“What a dump.” – Rosa Moline (Bette Davis) in Beyond the Forest, 1949
The first porn film was A’Ecu d’Or in 1908.
In James Bond, when in Dr. No’s cave in the 1962 film, he stops to notice a painting found on an easel next to the stairs. It is a copy of a Francisco de Goya painting of Duke Wellington that was stolen in 1961. It was recovered in 1965.
More Pop Culture History Resources
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