On This Day for May 18 - Eruption of Mount St. Helens, John Paul II is featured, and more

Created: 2020-05-18 10:03 Updated: 2020-05-18 10:03 Notebook: On this Day in History

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May 18

FEATURED BIOGRAPHY

John Paul II

FEATURED EVENT

1980

Eruption of Mount St. Helens

MORE EVENTS ON THIS DAY

2017: American television producer and political consultant Roger Ailes—who was a highly influential figure in the Republican Party, especially as the founding president of the Fox News Channel (1996–16)—died at age 77.

2012: Facebook, an American company offering online social networking services, held its initial public offering, which raised $16 billion. [Test your knowledge of tech companies.]

2004: American baseball player Randy Johnson became the oldest pitcher to throw a perfect game, for the Arizona Diamondbacks against the Atlanta Braves. [Take our quiz about America's favourite pastime.]

1974: India detonated a nuclear weapon in the Rajasthan desert. [Sort fact from fiction in our India quiz.]

Herders' shelter with Lhotse I in the background, Himalayas, Nepal

1956: Swiss climbers Fritz Luchsinger and Ernest Reiss made the first ascent of the Lhotse I mountain in the Himalayas. [How much do you know about mountains?]