MONDAY, May 18, 2026

1291-After 100 years of Crusader control, the last Crusader stronghold of Acre is reconquered and destroyed by the Mamluks under Sultan al-Ashraf Khalil

1804-Napoléon Bonaparte is proclaimed Emperor of France by the French Senate

1896-Khodynka Tragedy: A stampeding crowd on Khodynka Field, Moscow, during the coronation festivities for Russian Tsar Nicholas II, causes the deaths of an estimated 1,300 people

1974-India becomes the sixth nation to detonate an atomic bomb

1980-Eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington state triggers the largest landslide in history, killing 57 people and causing over $1 billion in damage

2009-The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam are defeated by the Sri Lankan government, ending the Sri Lankan Civil War and almost 26 years of fighting between the two sides