May 18

Pre-1600

 * 332 – Emperor Constantine the Great announces free distributions of food to the citizens in Constantinople.
 * 872 – Louis II of Italy is crowned for the second time as Holy Roman Emperor at Rome, at the age of 47. His first coronation was 28 years earlier, in 844, during the reign of his father Lothair I.
 * 1096 – First Crusade: Around 800 Jews are massacred in Worms, Germany.
 * 1152 – The future Henry II of England marries Eleanor of Aquitaine. He would become king two years later, after the death of his cousin once removed King Stephen of England.
 * 1268 – The Principality of Antioch, a crusader state, falls to the Mamluk Sultan Baibars in the Siege of Antioch.
 * 1291 – Fall of Acre, the end of Crusader presence in the Holy Land.
 * 1302 – Bruges Matins, the nocturnal massacre of the French garrison in Bruges by members of the local Flemish militia.
 * 1388 – During the Battle of Buyur Lake, General Lan Yu leads a Ming army forward to crush the Mongol hordes of Tögüs Temür, the Khan of Northern Yuan.
 * 1499 – Alonso de Ojeda sets sail from Cádiz on his voyage to what is now Venezuela.
 * 1565 – The Great Siege of Malta begins, in which Ottoman forces attempt and fail to conquer Malta.
 * 1593 – Playwright Thomas Kyd's accusations of heresy lead to an arrest warrant for Christopher Marlowe.

1601–1900

 * 1631 – In Dorchester, Massachusetts, John Winthrop takes the oath of office and becomes the first Governor of Massachusetts.
 * 1652 – Slavery in Rhode Island is abolished, although the law is not rigorously enforced.
 * 1695 – The 1695 Linfen earthquake in Shannxi, Qing dynasty causes extreme damage and kills at least 52,000 people.
 * 1756 – The Seven Years' War begins when Great Britain declares war on France.
 * 1783 – First United Empire Loyalists reach Parrtown (later called Saint John, New Brunswick), Canada, after leaving the United States.
 * 1794 – Battle of Tourcoing during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition.
 * 1803 – Napoleonic Wars: The United Kingdom revokes the Treaty of Amiens and declares war on France.
 * 1804 – Napoleon Bonaparte is proclaimed Emperor of the French by the French Senate.
 * 1811 – Battle of Las Piedras: The first great military triumph of the revolution of the Río de la Plata in Uruguay led by José Artigas.
 * 1812 – John Bellingham is found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging for the assassination of British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval.
 * 1843 – The Disruption in Edinburgh of the Free Church of Scotland from the Church of Scotland.
 * 1848 – Opening of the first German National Assembly (Nationalversammlung) in Frankfurt, Germany.
 * 1860 – United States presidential election: Abraham Lincoln wins the Republican Party presidential nomination over William H. Seward, who later becomes the United States Secretary of State.
 * 1863 – American Civil War: Union forces under Ulysses S. Grant begin the Siege of Vicksburg during the Vicksburg campaign in order to take full control of the Mississippi River.
 * 1896 – The United States Supreme Court rules in Plessy v. Ferguson that the "separate but equal" doctrine is constitutional.
 * 1896  – Khodynka Tragedy: A mass panic on Khodynka Field in Moscow during the festivities of the coronation of Russian Tsar Nicholas II results in the deaths of 1,389 people.
 * 1900 – The United Kingdom proclaims a protectorate over Tonga.

1901–present

 * 1912 – The first Indian film, Shree Pundalik by Dadasaheb Torne, is released in Mumbai.
 * 1917 – World War I: The Selective Service Act of 1917 is passed, giving the President of the United States the power of conscription.
 * 1922 – Seamus Woods leads an Irish Republican Army attack on the headquarters of the Royal Irish Constabulary in Belfast.
 * 1926 – Evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson disappears in Venice, California.
 * 1927 – The Bath School disaster: Forty-five people, including many children, are killed by bombs planted by a disgruntled school-board member in Bath Township, Michigan.
 * 1927  – After being founded for 20 years, the Nationalist government approves Tongji University to be among the first national universities of the Republic of China.
 * 1933 – New Deal: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs an act creating the Tennessee Valley Authority.
 * 1944 – World War II: Battle of Monte Cassino: Conclusion after seven days of the fourth battle as German paratroopers evacuate Monte Cassino.
 * 1944  – Deportation of Crimean Tatars by the Soviet Union.
 * 1948 – The First Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China officially convenes in Nanking.
 * 1953 – Jacqueline Cochran becomes the first woman to break the sound barrier.
 * 1955 – Operation Passage to Freedom, the evacuation of 310,000 Vietnamese civilians, soldiers and non-Vietnamese members of the French Army from communist North Vietnam to South Vietnam following the end of the First Indochina War, ends.
 * 1965 – Israeli spy Eli Cohen is hanged in Damascus, Syria.
 * 1969 – Apollo program: Apollo 10 is launched.
 * 1973 – Aeroflot Flight 109 is hijacked mid-flight and the aircraft is subsequently destroyed when the hijacker's bomb explodes, killing all 82 people on board.
 * 1974 – Nuclear weapons testing: Under project Smiling Buddha, India successfully detonates its first nuclear weapon becoming the sixth nation to do so.
 * 1977 – Likud party wins the 1977 Israeli legislative election, with Menachem Begin, its founder, as the sixth Prime Minister of Israel.
 * 1980 – Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington, United States, killing 57 people and causing $3 billion in damage.
 * 1980  – Students in Gwangju, South Korea begin demonstrations calling for democratic reforms.
 * 1990 – In France, a modified TGV train achieves a new rail world speed record of 515.3 km/h (320.2 mph).
 * 1991 – Northern Somalia declares independence from the rest of Somalia as the Republic of Somaliland.
 * 1993 – Riots in Nørrebro, Copenhagen, caused by the approval of the four Danish exceptions in the Maastricht Treaty referendum. Police open fire against civilians for the first time since World War II and injure 11 demonstrators.
 * 1994 – Israeli troops finish withdrawing from the Gaza Strip, ceding the area to the Palestinian National Authority to govern.
 * 2005 – A second photo from the Hubble Space Telescope confirms that Pluto has two additional moons, Nix and Hydra.
 * 2006 – The post Loktantra Andolan government passes a landmark bill curtailing the power of the monarchy and making Nepal a secular country.
 * 2009 – The LTTE are defeated by the Sri Lankan government, ending almost 26 years of fighting between the two sides.
 * 2015 – At least 78 people die in a landslide caused by heavy rains in the Colombian town of Salgar.
 * 2018 – A school shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas kills ten people.
 * 2018  – Cubana de Aviación Flight 972 crashes in Santiago de las Vegas after takeoff from José Martí International Airport in Havana, Cuba, killing 112 of the 113 people on board.
 * 2019 – United States presidential election: Joe Biden announces his presidential campaign.

Pre-1600

 * 1048 – Omar Khayyám, Persian mathematician, astronomer, and poet (d. 1131)
 * 1186 – Konstantin of Rostov (d. 1218)
 * 1450 – Piero Soderini, Italian politician and diplomat (d. 1513)
 * 1537 – Guido Luca Ferrero, Roman Catholic cardinal (d. 1585)

1601–1900

 * 1631 – Stanislaus Papczyński, Polish priest and saint (d. 1701)
 * 1662 – George Smalridge, English bishop (d. 1719)
 * 1692 – (O.S.) Joseph Butler, English bishop, theologian, and apologist (d. 1752)
 * 1711 – Roger Joseph Boscovich, Ragusan physicist, astronomer, and mathematician (d. 1787)
 * 1777 – John George Children, English chemist, mineralogist, and zoologist (d. 1852)
 * 1778 – Charles Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry, Irish soldier and diplomat, British Ambassador to Austria (d. 1854)
 * 1785 – John Wilson, Scottish author and critic (d. 1854)
 * 1797 – Frederick Augustus II of Saxony (d. 1854)
 * 1822 – Mathew Brady, American photographer and journalist (d. 1896)
 * 1824 – Wilhelm Hofmeister, German botanist (d. 1877)
 * 1835 – Charles N. Sims, American Methodist preacher and 3rd chancellor of Syracuse University (d. 1908)
 * 1850 – Oliver Heaviside, English engineer, mathematician, and physicist (d. 1925)
 * 1851 – James Budd, American lawyer and politician, 19th Governor of California (d. 1908)
 * 1851  – Simon Kahquados, Potawatomi political activist (d. 1930)
 * 1852 – Gertrude Käsebier, American photographer (d. 1934)
 * 1854 – Bernard Zweers, Dutch composer and educator (d. 1924)
 * 1855 – Francis Bellamy, American minister and author (d. 1931)
 * 1862 – Josephus Daniels, American publisher and politician, 41st United States Secretary of the Navy (d. 1948)
 * 1867 – Minakata Kumagusu, Japanese author, biologist, naturalist and ethnologist (d. 1941)
 * 1868 – Nicholas II of Russia (d. 1918)
 * 1869 – Lucy Beaumont, English-American actress (d. 1937)
 * 1871 – Denis Horgan, Irish shot putter and weight thrower (d. 1922)
 * 1872 – Bertrand Russell, British mathematician, historian, and philosopher, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1970)
 * 1876 – Hermann Müller, German journalist and politician, 12th Chancellor of Germany (d. 1931)
 * 1878 – Johannes Terwogt, Dutch rower (d. 1977)
 * 1882 – Babe Adams, American baseball player, manager, and journalist (d. 1968)
 * 1883 – Eurico Gaspar Dutra, Brazilian marshal and politician, 16th President of Brazil (d. 1974)
 * 1883  – Walter Gropius, German-American architect, designed the John F. Kennedy Federal Building (d. 1969)
 * 1886 – Jeanie MacPherson, American actress and screenwriter (d. 1946)
 * 1888 – Hanna Barysiewicz, the oldest female resident of Belarus not registered by the Guinness Book of Records. (d. 2007)
 * 1889 – Thomas Midgley Jr., American chemist and engineer (d. 1944)
 * 1891 – Rudolf Carnap, German-American philosopher and academic (d. 1970)
 * 1892 – Ezio Pinza, Italian-American actor and singer (d. 1957)
 * 1895 – Augusto César Sandino, Nicaraguan rebel leader (d. 1934)
 * 1896 – Eric Backman, Swedish runner (d. 1965)
 * 1897 – Frank Capra, Italian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1991)
 * 1898 – Faruk Nafiz Çamlıbel, Turkish poet, author, and playwright (d. 1973)

1901–present

 * 1901 – Henri Sauguet, French composer (d. 1989)
 * 1901  – Vincent du Vigneaud, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1978)
 * 1902 – Meredith Willson, American playwright and composer (d. 1984)
 * 1904 – Jacob K. Javits, American colonel and politician, 58th New York Attorney General (d. 1986)
 * 1904  – Shunryū Suzuki, Japanese-American monk and educator (d. 1971)
 * 1905 – Ruth Alexander, pioneering American pilot (d. 1930)
 * 1905  – Hedley Verity, English cricketer and soldier (d. 1943)
 * 1907 – Irene Hunt, American author and educator (d. 2001)
 * 1909 – Fred Perry, English tennis player and academic (d. 1995)
 * 1910 – Ester Boserup, Danish economist and author (d. 1999)
 * 1911 – Big Joe Turner, American blues/R&B singer (d. 1985)
 * 1912 – Richard Brooks, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1992)
 * 1912  – Perry Como, American singer and television host (d. 2001)
 * 1912  – Walter Sisulu, South African politician (d. 2003)
 * 1913 – Jane Birdwood, Baroness Birdwood, Canadian-English publisher and politician (d. 2000)
 * 1914 – Pierre Balmain, French fashion designer, founded Balmain (d. 1982)
 * 1914  – Boris Christoff, Bulgarian-Italian opera singer (d. 1993)
 * 1917 – Bill Everett, American author and illustrator (d. 1973)
 * 1919 – Margot Fonteyn, British ballerina (d. 1991)
 * 1920 – Pope John Paul II (d. 2005)
 * 1920  – Anthony Storr, English psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and author (d. 2001)
 * 1921 – Joan Eardley, British artist (d. 1963)
 * 1921  – Michael A. Epstein, English pathologist and academic (d. 2024)
 * 1922 – Bill Macy, American actor (d. 2019)
 * 1922  – Kai Winding, Danish-American trombonist and composer (d. 1983)
 * 1923 – Jean-Louis Roux, Canadian actor and politician, 34th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (d. 2013)
 * 1923  – Hugh Shearer, Jamaican journalist and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Jamaica (d. 2004)
 * 1924 – Priscilla Pointer, American actress
 * 1924  – Jack Whitaker, American sportscaster (d. 2019)
 * 1925 – Lillian Hoban, American author and illustrator (d. 1998)
 * 1927 – Richard Body, English politician (d. 2018)
 * 1927  – Ray Nagel, American football player and coach (d. 2015)
 * 1928 – Pernell Roberts, American actor (d. 2010)
 * 1929 – Jack Sanford, American baseball player and coach (d. 2000)
 * 1929  – Norman St John-Stevas, Baron St John of Fawsley, English lawyer and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (d. 2012)
 * 1930 – Warren Rudman, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (d. 2012)
 * 1930  – Fred Saberhagen, American soldier and author (d. 2007)
 * 1931 – Don Martin, American cartoonist (d. 2000)
 * 1931  – Robert Morse, American actor (d. 2022)
 * 1931  – Kalju Pitksaar, Estonian chess player (d. 1995)
 * 1931  – Clément Vincent, Canadian farmer and politician (d. 2018)
 * 1933 – Bernadette Chirac, French politician, First Lady of France
 * 1933  – H. D. Deve Gowda, Indian farmer and politician, 11th Prime Minister of India
 * 1933  – Don Whillans, English rock climber and mountaineer (d. 1985)
 * 1934 – Dwayne Hickman, American actor and director (d. 2022)
 * 1936 – Leon Ashley, American singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
 * 1936  – Türker İnanoğlu, Turkish director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2024)
 * 1936  – Michael Sandle, English sculptor and academic
 * 1937 – Brooks Robinson, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 2023)
 * 1937  – Jacques Santer, Luxembourger jurist and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Luxembourg
 * 1938 – Janet Fish, American painter and academic
 * 1939 – Patrick Cormack, Baron Cormack, English historian, journalist, and politician (d. 2024)
 * 1939  – Giovanni Falcone, Italian lawyer and judge (d. 1992)
 * 1939  – Gordon O'Connor, Canadian general and politician, 38th Canadian Minister of Defence
 * 1940 – Erico Aumentado, Filipino journalist, lawyer, and politician (d. 2012)
 * 1941 – Gino Brito, Canadian wrestler and promoter
 * 1941  – Malcolm Longair, Scottish astronomer, physicist, and academic
 * 1941  – Miriam Margolyes, English-Australian actress and singer
 * 1942 – Nobby Stiles, English footballer, coach, and manager (d. 2020)
 * 1943 – Jimmy Snuka, Fijian wrestler (d. 2017)
 * 1944 – Albert Hammond, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
 * 1944  – W. G. Sebald, German novelist, essayist, and poet (d. 2001)
 * 1946 – Frank Hsieh, Taiwanese lawyer and politician, 40th Premier of the Republic of China
 * 1946  – Reggie Jackson, American baseball player and sportscaster
 * 1946  – Gerd Langguth, German political scientist and author (d. 2013)
 * 1947 – John Bruton, Irish politician, 10th Taoiseach of Ireland (d. 2024)
 * 1947  – Gail Strickland, American actress
 * 1948 – Joe Bonsall, American country/gospel singer (d. 2024)
 * 1948  – Yi Mun-yol, South Korean author and academic
 * 1948  – Richard Swedberg, Swedish sociologist and academic
 * 1948  – Tom Udall, American lawyer and politician, 28th New Mexico Attorney General, United States Senator from New Mexico
 * 1949 – Walter Hawkins, American gospel music singer and pastor (d. 2010)
 * 1949  – Rick Wakeman, English progressive rock keyboardist and songwriter
 * 1950 – Rod Milburn, American hurdler and coach (d. 1997)
 * 1950  – Mark Mothersbaugh, American singer-songwriter and painter
 * 1951 – Richard Clapton, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * 1951  – Jim Sundberg, American baseball player and sportscaster
 * 1951  – Angela Voigt, German long jumper (d. 2013)
 * 1952 – Diane Duane, American author and screenwriter
 * 1952  – David Leakey, English general and politician
 * 1952  – George Strait, American singer, guitarist and producer
 * 1952  – Jeana Yeager, American pilot
 * 1953 – Alan Kupperberg, American author and illustrator (d. 2015)
 * 1954 – Wreckless Eric, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * 1954  – Eric Gerets, Belgian footballer and manager
 * 1955 – Chow Yun-fat, Hong Kong actor and screenwriter
 * 1956 – Catherine Corsini, French director and screenwriter
 * 1956  – John Godber, English playwright and screenwriter
 * 1957 – Michael Cretu, Romanian-German keyboard player and producer
 * 1957  – Henrietta Moore, English anthropologist and academic
 * 1958 – Rubén Omar Romano, Argentinian-Mexican footballer and coach
 * 1958  – Toyah Willcox, English singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
 * 1959 – Graham Dilley, English cricketer and coach (d. 2011)
 * 1959  – Jay Wells, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
 * 1960 – Brent Ashton, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
 * 1960  – Jari Kurri, Finnish ice hockey player, coach, and manager
 * 1960  – Yannick Noah, French tennis player
 * 1961 – Russell Senior, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * 1963 – Marty McSorley, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
 * 1963  – Sam Vincent, American basketball player and coach
 * 1964 – Ignasi Guardans, Spanish academic and politician
 * 1966 – Renata Nielsen, Polish-Danish long jumper and coach
 * 1966  – Michael Tait, American singer-songwriter and producer
 * 1967 – Nina Björk, Swedish journalist and author
 * 1967  – Heinz-Harald Frentzen, German race car driver
 * 1967  – Nancy Juvonen, American screenwriter and producer, co-founded Flower Films
 * 1967  – Mimi Macpherson, Australian environmentalist, entrepreneur and celebrity
 * 1968 – Philippe Benetton, French rugby player
 * 1968  – Ralf Kelleners, German race car driver
 * 1969 – Troy Cassar-Daley, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * 1969  – Martika, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
 * 1969  – Antônio Carlos Zago, Brazilian footballer and manager
 * 1970 – Javier Cárdenas, Spanish singer, television and radio presenter
 * 1970  – Tina Fey, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
 * 1970  – Tim Horan, Australian rugby player and sportscaster
 * 1970  – Billy Howerdel, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
 * 1970  – Vicky Sunohara, Canadian former ice hockey player
 * 1971 – Brad Friedel, American international soccer player, manager and sportscaster
 * 1971  – Mark Menzies, Scottish politician
 * 1971  – Nobuteru Taniguchi, Japanese race car driver
 * 1972 – Turner Stevenson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
 * 1973 – Donyell Marshall, American basketball player and coach
 * 1973  – Aleksandr Olerski, Estonian footballer (d. 2011)
 * 1974 – Nelson Figueroa, American baseball player and sportscaster
 * 1975 – Jem, Welsh singer-songwriter and producer
 * 1975  – John Higgins, Scottish snooker player
 * 1975  – Jack Johnson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * 1975  – Ingvild Kjerkol, Norwegian politician
 * 1976 – Ron Mercer, American basketball player
 * 1976  – Marko Tomasović, Croatian pianist and composer
 * 1976  – Oleg Tverdovsky, Ukrainian-Russian ice hockey player
 * 1977 – Lee Hendrie, English footballer
 * 1977  – Danny Mills, English footballer and sportscaster
 * 1977  – Li Tie, Chinese footballer and manager
 * 1978 – Ricardo Carvalho, Portuguese footballer
 * 1978  – Marcus Giles, American baseball player
 * 1978  – Charles Kamathi, Kenyan runner
 * 1979 – Jens Bergensten, Swedish video game designer, co-designed Minecraft
 * 1979  – Mariusz Lewandowski, Polish footballer
 * 1979  – Michal Martikán, Slovak slalom canoeist
 * 1979  – Milivoje Novaković, Slovenian footballer
 * 1979  – Julián Speroni, Argentinian footballer
 * 1980 – Reggie Evans, American basketball player
 * 1980  – Michaël Llodra, French tennis player
 * 1980  – Diego Pérez, Uruguayan footballer
 * 1981 – Mahamadou Diarra, Malian international footballer
 * 1981  – Ashley Harrison, Australian rugby league player
 * 1982 – Jason Brown, English footballer
 * 1982  – Marie-Ève Pelletier, Canadian tennis player
 * 1983 – Gary O'Neil, English footballer
 * 1983  – Luis Terrero, Dominican baseball player
 * 1983  – Vince Young, American football player
 * 1984 – Ivet Lalova, Bulgarian sprinter
 * 1984  – Simon Pagenaud, French race car driver
 * 1984  – Darius Šilinskis, Lithuanian basketball player
 * 1984  – Joakim Soria, Mexican baseball player
 * 1984  – Niki Terpstra, Dutch cyclist
 * 1985 – Oliver Sin, Hungarian painter
 * 1985  – Henrique Sereno, Portuguese footballer
 * 1986 – Kevin Anderson, South African tennis player
 * 1988 – Taeyang, South Korean singer
 * 1990 – Dimitri Daeseleire, Belgian footballer
 * 1990  – Yuya Osako, Japanese footballer
 * 1990  – Josh Starling, Australian rugby league player
 * 1992 – Adwoa Aboah, British fashion model
 * 1993 – Stuart Percy, Canadian ice hockey player
 * 1993  – Jessica Watson, Australian sailor
 * 1998 – Polina Edmunds, American figure skater
 * 1999 – Laura Omloop, Belgian singer-songwriter
 * 2000 – Ryan Sessegnon, English footballer
 * 2000  – Steven Sessegnon, English footballer
 * 2001 – Emma Navarro, American tennis player
 * 2002 – Alina Zagitova, Russian figure skater
 * 2003 – Travis Hunter, American football player
 * 2009 – Hala Finley, American actress

Pre-1600

 * 526 – Pope John I
 * 893 – Stephen I of Constantinople (b. 867)
 * 932 – Ma Shaohong, general of Later Tang
 * 947 – Emperor Taizong of the Liao Dynasty
 * 978 – Frederick I, duke of Upper Lorraine
 * 1065 – Frederick, Duke of Lower Lorraine (b. c. 1003)
 * 1096 – Minna of Worms, Jewish martyr killed during the Worms massacre (1096)
 * 1160 – Eric Jedvardsson (King Eric IX) of Sweden (since 1156); (b. circa 1120)
 * 1297 – Nicholas Longespee, Bishop of Salisbury
 * 1401 – Vladislaus II of Opole (b. 1332)
 * 1410 – Rupert of Germany, Count Palatine of the Rhine (b. 1352)
 * 1550 – Jean, Cardinal of Lorraine (b. 1498)
 * 1551 – Domenico di Pace Beccafumi, Italian painter (b. 1486)

1601–1900

 * 1675 – Stanisław Lubieniecki, Polish astronomer, historian, and theologian (b. 1623)
 * 1675  – Jacques Marquette, French-American missionary and explorer (b. 1637)
 * 1692 – Elias Ashmole, English astrologer and politician (b. 1617)
 * 1721 – Maria Barbara Carillo, victim of the Spanish Inquisition (b.1625)
 * 1733 – Georg Böhm, German organist and composer (b. 1661)
 * 1780 – Charles Hardy, English-American admiral and politician, 29th Colonial Governor of New York (b. 1714)
 * 1781 – Túpac Amaru II, Peruvian indigenous rebel leader (b. 1742)
 * 1792 – Levy Solomons, Canadian merchant and fur trader (b. 1730)
 * 1795 – Robert Rogers, English colonel (b. 1731)
 * 1799 – Pierre Beaumarchais, French playwright and publisher (b. 1732)
 * 1800 – Alexander Suvorov, Russian general (b. 1729)
 * 1807 – John Douglas, Scottish bishop and scholar (b. 1721)
 * 1808 – Elijah Craig, American minister, inventor, and educator, invented Bourbon whiskey (b. 1738)
 * 1844 – Richard McCarty, American lawyer and politician (b. 1780)
 * 1853 – Lionel Kieseritzky, Estonian-French chess player (b. 1806)
 * 1867 – Clarkson Stanfield, English painter (b. 1793)
 * 1889 – Isabella Glyn, Scottish-English actress (b. 1823)
 * 1900 – Félix Ravaisson-Mollien, French archaeologist and philosopher (b. 1813)

1901–present

 * 1908 – Louis-Napoléon Casault, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1823)
 * 1909 – Isaac Albéniz, Spanish pianist and composer (b. 1860)
 * 1909  – George Meredith, English novelist and poet (b. 1828)
 * 1910 – Eliza Orzeszkowa, Polish author and publisher (b. 1841)
 * 1910  – Pauline Viardot, French soprano and composer (b. 1821)
 * 1911 – Gustav Mahler, Austrian composer and conductor (b. 1860)
 * 1916 – Chen Qimei, Chinese revolutionary (b. 1878)
 * 1922 – Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran, French physician and parasitologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1845)
 * 1941 – Werner Sombart, German economist and sociologist (b. 1863)
 * 1943 – Ōnishiki Daigorō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 28th Yokozuna (b. 1883)
 * 1947 – Hal Chase, American baseball player and manager (b. 1883)
 * 1955 – Mary McLeod Bethune, American educator and activist (b. 1875)
 * 1956 – Maurice Tate, English cricketer (b. 1895)
 * 1958 – Jacob Fichman, Israeli poet and critic (b. 1881)
 * 1963 – Ernie Davis, American football player, coach, and manager (b. 1939)
 * 1968 – Frank Walsh, Australian politician, 34th Premier of South Australia (b. 1897)
 * 1971 – Aleksandr Gennadievich Kurosh, Russian mathematician and theorist (b. 1908)
 * 1973 – Jeannette Rankin, American social worker and politician (b. 1880)
 * 1974 – Harry Ricardo, English engine designer and researcher (b. 1885)
 * 1975 – Leroy Anderson, American composer and conductor (b. 1908)
 * 1980 – Victims of Mount St. Helens eruption:
 * Reid Blackburn, American photographer and journalist (b. 1952)
 * David A. Johnston, American volcanologist and geologist (b. 1949)
 * 1980  – Ian Curtis, English singer-songwriter (b. 1956)
 * 1981 – Arthur O'Connell, American actor (b. 1908)
 * 1981  – William Saroyan, American novelist, playwright, and short story writer (b. 1908)
 * 1987 – Mahdi Amel, Lebanese journalist, poet, and academic (b. 1936)
 * 1989 – Dorothy Ruth, American horse breeder and author (b. 1921)
 * 1990 – Jill Ireland, English actress (b. 1936)
 * 1995 – Elisha Cook, Jr., American actor (b. 1903)
 * 1995  – Alexander Godunov, Russian-American ballet dancer and actor (b. 1949)
 * 1995  – Brinsley Le Poer Trench, 8th Earl of Clancarty, Irish ufologist and historian (b. 1911)
 * 1995  – Elizabeth Montgomery, American actress (b. 1933)
 * 1998 – Obaidullah Aleem, Indian-Pakistani poet and author (b. 1939)
 * 1999 – Augustus Pablo, Jamaican singer, keyboard player, and producer (b. 1954)
 * 1999  – Betty Robinson, American runner (b. 1911)
 * 2000 – Stephen M. Wolownik, Russian-American composer and musicologist (b. 1946)
 * 2001 – Irene Hunt, American author and illustrator (b. 1907)
 * 2004 – Elvin Jones, American drummer and bandleader (b. 1927)
 * 2006 – Jaan Eilart, Estonian geographer, ecologist, and historian (b. 1933)
 * 2007 – Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1932)
 * 2008 – Joseph Pevney, American actor and director (b. 1911)
 * 2008  – Roberto García-Calvo Montiel, Spanish judge (b. 1942)
 * 2009 – Dolla, American rapper (b. 1987)
 * 2009  – Wayne Allwine, American voice actor, sound effects editor and Foley artist (b. 1947)
 * 2009  – Velupillai Prabhakaran, Sri Lankan rebel leader, founded the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (b. 1954)
 * 2012 – Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, German opera singer and conductor (b. 1925)
 * 2012  – Peter Jones, English-Australian drummer and songwriter (b. 1967)
 * 2012  – Alan Oakley, English bicycle designer, designed the Raleigh Chopper (b. 1927)
 * 2013 – Aleksei Balabanov, Russian director and screenwriter (b. 1959)
 * 2013  – Jo Benkow, Norwegian soldier and politician (b. 1924)
 * 2013  – Steve Forrest, American actor (b. 1925)
 * 2013  – David McMillan, American football player (b. 1981)
 * 2013  – Lothar Schmid, German chess player (b. 1928)
 * 2014 – Dobrica Ćosić, Serbian politician, 1st President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (b. 1921)
 * 2014  – Hans-Peter Dürr, German physicist and academic (b. 1929)
 * 2014  – Kaiketsu Masateru, Japanese sumo wrestler (b. 1948)
 * 2014  – Chukwuedu Nwokolo, Nigerian physician and academic (b. 1921)
 * 2014  – Wubbo Ockels, Dutch physicist and astronaut (b. 1946)
 * 2015 – Halldór Ásgrímsson, Icelandic accountant and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Iceland (b. 1947)
 * 2015  – Raymond Gosling, English physicist and academic (b. 1926)
 * 2015  – Jean-François Théodore, French businessman (b. 1946)
 * 2017 – Roger Ailes, American businessman (b. 1940)
 * 2017  – Chris Cornell, American singer (b. 1964)
 * 2017  – Jacque Fresco, American engineer and academic (b. 1916)
 * 2019 – Austin Eubanks, American addiction recovery advocate, survivor of the Columbine shooting (b. 1981)
 * 2020 – Ken Osmond, American actor and police officer (b. 1943)
 * 2021 – Charles Grodin, American actor and talk show host (b. 1935)
 * 2021  – Yolanda Tortolero, Venezuelan politician
 * 2023 – Jim Brown, American football player, civil rights activist, and actor (b. 1936)
 * 2024 – Bruce Nordstrom, American businessman (b. 1933)
 * 2024 – Tony O'Reilly, Irish rugby player and businessman (b. 1936)
 * 2024 – Alice Stewart, American political commentator (b. 1966)

Holidays and observances

 * Christian feast day:
 * Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury
 * Eric IX of Sweden
 * Felix of Cantalice
 * Pope John I
 * Venantius of Camerino
 * May 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
 * Baltic Fleet Day (Russia)
 * Day of Remembrance of Crimean Tatar genocide (Ukraine)
 * Independence Day (Somaliland) (unrecognized)
 * International Museum Day
 * National Speech Pathologist Day (United States)
 * Mullivaikkal Remembrance Day (Sri Lankan Tamils)
 * Revival, Unity, and Poetry of Magtymguly Day (Turkmenistan)
 * Teacher's Day (Syria)