MONDAY, MAY 18, 2009

Today is Monday, May 18, the 138th day of 2009. There are 227 days left in the year.

1804 _ Napoleon Bonaparte proclaimed Emperor of France

1933 _ Tennessee Valley Act (TVA) Act signed by FDR, to build dams

1934 _ Congress approves ``Lindbergh Act," making kidnapping a capital offense

1944 _ Expulsion of more than 200,000 Tartars from Crimea by Soviet Union begins, they are accused of collaborating with the Germans

1953 _ First woman to break the sound barrier (Jacqueline Cochrane, USA)

1956 _ Mickey Mantle hits homerun from both sides of plate for record third time

1974 _ India becomes sixth nation to explode an atomic bomb

1978 _ Italy legalizes abortion

1982 _ Unification Church founder Reverend Moon Sun-myung convicted of tax evasion

1990 _ East and West Germany sign a monetary union treaty