May 18th, 1897

Born on May 18th, 1897

Age in days, weeks and months
Wow, over 46,000 days old!

Why not celebrate an alternative birthday? In 637 days, exactly on January 22nd, 2026, people who were born on May 18th, 1897 will be 47,000 days old!

... in seconds, minutes and hours

What happened on May 18th?

May 18th, 2005

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion publicly debuted at the Electronic Entertainment Expo.

May 18th, 2009

The Sri Lanka Army killed Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader and founder of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, to bring an end to the 26-year Sri Lankan Civil War.

May 18th, 2006

The Parliament of Nepal unanimously voted to strip King Gyanendra of many of his powers.

May 18th, 1996

Ireland won the Eurovision song contest for the seventh time, the highest number of wins for any country before Sweden tied it in 2023.

May 18th, 1974

India conducted its first nuclear test explosion at Pokhran, the first confirmed nuclear test by a nation outside the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

May 18th, 1965

Eli Cohen, a spy who is credited with gathering significant intelligence used by Israel during the Six-Day War, was publicly hanged in Syria.

May 18th, 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, ended.

May 18th, 1952

First Indochina War: Viet Minh forces overran a French and Laotian garrison at Muong Khoua, leaving only four survivors.

May 18th, 1944

The Soviet Union forcibly deported hundreds of thousands of Crimean Tatars to the Uzbek SSR and elsewhere in the country.

May 18th, 1933

U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an act establishing the Tennessee Valley Authority to stimulate the economic development of the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly impacted by the Great Depression.

May 18th, 1927

Disgruntled school board treasurer Andrew Kehoe set off explosives with timers and a rifle (aftermath pictured), causing the Bath School disaster in the Bath Consolidated School in Michigan, killing 44 people in the deadliest mass murder in a school in United States history.

May 18th, 1863

American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant led his Army of the Tennessee across the Big Black River in preparation for the Siege of Vicksburg.

May 18th, 1695

An earthquake measuring .mw-parser-output .tooltip-dotted{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}Ms7.8 struck Shanxi Province in northern China, resulting in at least 52,600 deaths.

May 18th, 1302

Armed insurrectionists massacred the occupying French garrison in Bruges, Flanders, killing approximately 2,000 people.

May 18th, 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.

Birthdays
... of famous people, actors, celebrities and stars on May 18th

Born on May 18th, 1897

94

Frank Capra

Italian-born American film director (1897–1991)

*May 18th, 1897, Bisacquino †September 3rd, 1991, La Quinta

73

Rodrigo Gómez Gómez

Mexican politician

*May 18th, 1897, Linares †August 14th, 1970, Mexico City

82

Jack Raine

English actor (1897–1979)

*May 18th, 1897, London †May 30th, 1979, South Laguna

Same Day
Who's birthday is on May 18th?

84

Massimo Girotti

Italian actor (1918-2003)

*May 18th, 1918, Mogliano †January 5th, 2003, Rome

84

John Paul II

264th pope of the Catholic Church

*May 18th, 1920, Wadowice †April 2nd, 2005, Apostolic Palace

97

Bertrand Russell

British philosopher and logician (1872–1970)

*May 18th, 1872, Trellech †February 2nd, 1970, Plas Penrhyn

71

Rigobert Günther

German historian of classical antiquity (1928-2000)

*May 18th, 1928, Magdeburg †April 2nd, 2000, Leipzig

56

Heinz-Harald Frentzen

German racing driver

*May 18th, 1967, Mönchengladbach

35

Megumi Taruno

Badminton player

*May 18th, 1988, Fukuoka Prefecture

74

Hermann Diels

German classical scholar (1848–1922)

*May 18th, 1848, Biebrich †June 4th, 1922, Dahlem

78

Peter Grünberg

German physicist, and Nobel Prize in Physics laureate (1939-2018)

*May 18th, 1939, Plzeň †April 7th, 2018, Jülich

72

Ben Feringa

Dutch Nobel laureate in chemistry

*May 18th, 1951, Barger-Compascuum

31

Luke Black

Serbian singer-songwriter (born 1992)

*May 18th, 1992, Čačak

86

Walter Gropius

German-American architect (1883–1969)

*May 18th, 1883, Berlin †July 5th, 1969, Boston

80

Walter Fitzgerald

Actor (1896-1976)

*May 18th, 1896, Keyham †December 20th, 1976, Hammersmith

82

Meredith Willson

American composer, conductor, musical arranger, flautist, bandleader and playwright (1902-1984)

*May 18th, 1902, Iowa †June 15th, 1984, Santa Monica

90

Robert Morse

American actor

*May 18th, 1931, Newton †April 20th, 2022, Los Angeles

88

Henri Sauguet

French composer

*May 18th, 1901, Bordeaux †June 22nd, 1989, Paris

64

Ezio Pinza

Italian opera singer (1892-1957)

*May 18th, 1892, Rome †May 9th, 1957, Stamford

38

Hedley Verity

English cricketer (1905-1943)

*May 18th, 1905, Headingley †July 31st, 1943, Caserta

68

Pierre Balmain

French fashion designer (1914–1982)

*May 18th, 1914, Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne †June 29th, 1982, Neuilly-sur-Seine

61

Nathaniel Parker

British actor

*May 18th, 1962, London

38

Augusto Nicolás Calderón Sandino

Nicaraguan revolutionary (1895-1934)

*May 18th, 1895, Niquinohomo †February 21st, 1934, Managua

Same year
Born in 1897

82

Dirk Stikker

Politician and badminton player (1897-1979)

*February 5th, 1897, Winschoten †December 23rd, 1979, Wassenaar

64

William Faulkner

American writer (1897–1962)

*September 25th, 1897, New Albany †July 6th, 1962, Byhalia

66

Pierre Loeb

French Jewish galerist and art dealer persecuted by Nazis (1897-1964)

*September 24th, 1897, Paris †May 4th, 1964

41

Amelia Earhart

American aviation pioneer and author

*July 24th, 1897, Atchison †January 5th, 1939, Howland Island

80

Ludwig Erhard

Chancellor of West Germany (1963–1966)

*February 4th, 1897, Fürth †May 5th, 1977, Bonn

76

Paavo Nurmi

Finnish middle and long distance runner (1897-1973)

*June 13th, 1897, Turku †October 2nd, 1973, Helsinki

80

Paul VI

Head of the Catholic Church from 1963 to 1978

*September 26th, 1897, Concesio †August 6th, 1978, Castel Gandolfo

58

Irène Joliot-Curie

French scientist (1897-1956)

*September 12th, 1897, 13th arrondissement of Paris †March 17th, 1956, Paris

64

Georges Bataille

French intellectual and literary figure

*September 10th, 1897, Billom †July 9th, 1962, Paris

47

Joseph Goebbels

Nazi politician and Propaganda Minister (1897–1945)

*October 29th, 1897, Rheydt †May 1st, 1945, Berlin

96

Marian Anderson

African-American contralto (1897–1993)

*February 21st, 1897, Philadelphia †April 8th, 1993, Portland

94

Judith Anderson

Australian stage and screen actress (1897–1992)

*February 10th, 1897, Adelaide †January 3rd, 1992, Santa Barbara

76

Kate O'Brien

Irish novelist, playwright and activist

*December 3rd, 1897, Limerick †August 13th, 1974, Canterbury

90

Viola Dana

Actress (1897-1987)

*June 26th, 1897, Brooklyn †July 3rd, 1987, Woodland Hills

78

Thornton Wilder

American playwright and novelist (1897–1975)

*April 17th, 1897, Madison †December 7th, 1975, Hamden

78

Alfredo Bracchi

Italian writer and actor (1897-1976)

*December 30th, 1897, Milan †October 11th, 1976, Milan

75

Lester B. Pearson

14th Prime Minister of Canada, from 1963 to 1968

*April 23rd, 1897, Toronto †December 27th, 1972, Ottawa

72

Everett Bradley

American pentathlete

*May 19th, 1897, Cedar Rapids †July 25th, 1969, Wichita

105

Mary Ellis

American opera singer (1897–2003)

*June 15th, 1897, New York City †January 30th, 2003, London

77

Fredric March

American actor (1897–1975)

*August 31st, 1897, Racine †April 14th, 1975, Los Angeles

Birthdays of famous people

Public holidays on May 18th

Fixed holidays (Christian feast day) which are celebrated on May 18th.

Date as a Roman numeral / digit

Leap year

No: With 365 days 1897 is a normal year and no leap year.

Calendar
May 1897