This Day in History – May 18, 2011

1631 John Winthrop is elected 1st governor of Massachusetts 1642 Montréal Canada founded 1652 Rhode Island enacts 1st law declaring slavery illegal 1803 Britain declares war on France after General Napoleon Bonaparte continues interfering in Italy & Switzerland 1804 Napoleon Bonaparte proclaimed Emperor of France 1830 Edwin Budding of England signs an agreement for manufacture of his invention, the lawn mower – Saturdays are destroyed forever 1852 Massachusetts rules all school-age children must attend school 1860 Republican Party nominates Abraham Lincoln for president 1861 Battle of Sewall’s Point VA-1st Federal offense against South 1863 Siege of Vicksburg MS 1896 US Supreme court affirms “separate but equal” policy (Plessy v Ferguson) 1899 World Goodwill Day-26 nations meet in 1st Hague Peace Conference 1910 Passage of Earth through tail of Halley’s Comet causes near-panic 1917 US passes Selective Service act 1927 Grauman’s Chinese Theater opens in Hollywood CA 1927 Ritz Hotel opens in Boston 1933 Tennessee Valley Act (TVA) Act signed by FDR, to build dams 1934 TWA begins commercial service 1942 NYC ends night baseball games for the rest of WWII 1951 US General Collins predicts use of atom bomb in Korea 1953 1st woman to break the sound barrier (Jacqueline Cochrane, USA) 1954 European Convention on Human Rights goes into effect 1956 Mickey Mantle hits homerun from both sides of plate for record 3rd time 1960 Eileen Fulton begins playing Lisa on As the World Turns (for > 30 years) 1964 David Frost interviews Paul McCartney on the BBC 1964 Supreme Court rules unconstitutional to deprive naturalized citizens of citizenship if they return to home country for more than 3 years 1965 Gene Roddenberry suggests 16 names including Kirk for Star Trek Captain 1967 Silver hits record $1.60 an ounce in London 1969 Apollo 10 (Stafford/Cernan/Young) launched toward lunar orbit 1971 Vampire rapist Wayne Bodens last victim found 1972 John Sebastian makes 63 consecutive free throws while blindfolded 1974 “The Streak” by Ray Stevens hits #1 1980 China People’s Republic launch 1st intercontinental rocket 1980 Mount St Helens blows its top in Washington State, 60 die 1983 Senate revises immigration laws, gives millions of illegal aliens legal status under an amnesty program 1986 Chung Kwung Ying does 2,750 “atomic” hand-stand push-ups 1992 Supreme Court rules states could not force mentally unstable criminal defendants to take anti-psychotic drugs]]]]> ]]>