Born on May 18
May 18 birthdays & history
If you were born on May 18, you share a birthday with (O.S.) Hanna Barysevich, Pope John Paul II and Bertrand Russell. May 18 babies are Taurus, with emerald as their birthstone and the lily of the valley as their birth flower. May 18 is the 139th day of the year in leap years (138th in other years).
Famous people born on May 18
- 1888(O.S.) Hanna Barysevich, the oldest female resident of Belarus not registered by the Guinness Book of Records.
- 1920Pope John Paul II, Head of the Catholic Church from 1978 to 2005
- 1872Bertrand Russell, British mathematician, historian, and philosopher, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1868Nicholas II, Emperor of Russia from 1894 to 1917
- 1883Walter Gropius, German-American architect, designed the John F. Kennedy Federal Building
- 1897Frank Capra, Italian-American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1970Tina Fey, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
- 1891Rudolf Carnap, German-American philosopher and academic
- 1919Margot Fonteyn, British ballerina
- 1850Oliver Heaviside, English engineer, mathematician, and physicist
What happened on May 18
- 1804Napoleon Bonaparte is proclaimed Emperor of the French by the French Senate.
- 1843The Disruption in Edinburgh of the Free Church of Scotland from the Church of Scotland.
- 1848Opening of the first German National Assembly (Nationalversammlung) in Frankfurt, Germany.
- 1860United States presidential election: Abraham Lincoln wins the Republican Party presidential nomination over William H. Seward, who later becomes the United States Secretary of State.
- 1900The United Kingdom proclaims a protectorate over Tonga.
- 1912The first Indian film, Shree Pundalik by Dadasaheb Torne, is released in Mumbai.
- 1927After being founded for 20 years, the Nationalist government approves Tongji University to be among its first national universities.
- 1948The First Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China officially convenes in Nanking.
- 1953Jacqueline Cochran becomes the first woman to break the sound barrier.
- 1996Ireland won the Eurovision song contest for the seventh time, the highest number of wins for any country before Sweden tied it in 2023.
- 2005The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion publicly debuted at the Electronic Entertainment Expo.
- 2006The Parliament of Nepal unanimously voted to strip King Gyanendra of many of his powers.
Also observed on May 18
- Independence Day (Somaliland) (unrecognized)
- International Museum Day
- National Speech Pathologist Day (United States)
- Revival, Unity, and Poetry of Magtymguly Day (Turkmenistan)
- Teacher's Day (Syria)
Questions, answered
What star sign is May 18?
People born on May 18 are Taurus. Their birthstone is emerald and their birth flower is the lily of the valley.
Which famous people were born on May 18?
(O.S.) Hanna Barysevich (1888), Pope John Paul II (1920), Bertrand Russell (1872), Nicholas II (1868), Walter Gropius (1883), Frank Capra (1897) were all born on May 18.
What happened on May 18 in history?
Among other things: in 1996, Ireland won the Eurovision song contest for the seventh time, the highest number of wins for any country before Sweden tied it in 2023; in 2005, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion publicly debuted at the Electronic Entertainment Expo; in 2006, The Parliament of Nepal unanimously voted to strip King Gyanendra of many of his powers.
Can I get a newspaper front page from May 18?
Yes. The Birthday Gazette makes a personalised vintage-style front page for any May 18 birth year, with their name in the headline, events, famous birthdays and typical US prices. The preview is free and the print files cost $9.
Events, birthdays and observances are adapted from Wikipedia contributors, “May 18”, English Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0 (shortened and filtered). Ranking uses Wikidata (CC0). Sources.