On This Day

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Important events of history that took place in India and elsewhere on today’s date.

18 May

🇮🇳 In India

1966 Panchanan Maheswari, prominent Indian botanist noted chiefly for his invention of the technique of test-tube fertilization of angiosperms, died.

1974 India became the sixth country to become a nuclear power with its first underground atomic bomb test in Pokhran, Rajasthan. The test was named "Smiling Buddha".

🌎 Elsewhere

1048 Omar Khayyam, Persian polymath, mathematician, astronomer, historian, philosopher, and poet, was born. He is the author of Rubáiyát, a lyric poem in quatrains (four-line stanzas).

1804 Napoleon Bonaparte was proclaimed Emperor of France by the French Senate.

1872 Bertrand Russell, British philosopher, logician, and social critic, was born. As an academic, he worked in philosophy, mathematics, and logic.

1931 Japanese pilot Seiji Yoshihara crashed his plane in the Pacific Ocean while trying to be the first to cross the ocean nonstop. He was picked up seven hours later by a passing ship.

1994 Israeli troops withdrew from the Gaza strip after three decades of occupation and Palestinians took over.

⭐ Significance

International Museum Day is an international day held annually, coordinated by the International Council of Museums. The event highlights a specific theme which changes every year reflecting a relevant theme or issue facing museums internationally.

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