◆ On this day

May 18

3 sourced moments from May 18 in history: The Senate proclaims Napoleon Bonaparte Emperor of the French (1804); Smiling Buddha: why India's 1974 nuclear test wasn't peaceful; and Mount St. Helens erupts catastrophically in Washington State (1980).

‹

›

F 15 S 16 S 17 M 18 T 19 W 20 T 21

3 things happened on May 18

newest first ↓

1980 Earth & Climate · Natural Disasters

Mount St. Helens erupts catastrophically in Washington State

A magnitude-5.1 quake triggered the largest landslide in recorded history and a lateral blast that killed 57 people in seconds.

Read →

1974 Science · Physics

Smiling Buddha: why India's 1974 nuclear test wasn't peaceful

India called its 1974 Pokhran blast a 'peaceful nuclear explosion'. No such use ever followed, and its leader later admitted it was a weapons test.

Read →

1804 History · Modern

The Senate proclaims Napoleon Bonaparte Emperor of the French

A single decree of the Senate transformed France's republic into a hereditary empire — months before the famous coronation.

Read →