There are around 35,000 museums in the United States has more museums, a greater number than the combined total of Starbucks and McDonald's locations.
The Prague astronomical clock was first installed in 1410, making it the oldest one in the world still working.
The Prague astronomical clock By Krzysiu "Jarzyna" Szymański
Bacteria can live for centuries, as evidenced by the discovery of bacteria from the ancient Egyptian tombs.
10,000 London school pupils went on strike on May 17, 1972 to march against caning, detention, uniforms and "headmaster dictatorships." Abandoning lessons to march on County Hall, the government thought it so serious MI5 and the Special Branch were involved to spy on "school activists."
Nicholas II of Russia was born in Alexander Palace, Saint Petersburg on May 18, 1868. He was the eldest son of Emperor Alexander III, who was a repressor of all liberal ideas. His mother, Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia (formerly Princess Dagmar of Denmark), was the sister of Britain's Queen Alexandra.
Nicholas, unbreeched at two years old, with his mother, Maria Feodorovna, in 1870
Nicholas was seen as too soft by his hard, demanding father who, not anticipating his own premature death, did nothing to prepare his son for the crown. When his father passed away on November 1, 1894, the 26-year-old Nicholas was poorly prepared to rule. He faced the task of being autocrat of Russia in a time of major turmoil. Nicholas reportedly said “what am I to do. What is to become of Russia? I am not yet prepared to be Tsar.”
During his reign the Russian Empire fell from one of the foremost great powers of the world to economic and military collapse. Nicholas II chose to abdicate as Russian Tsar at the end of the "February Revolution" of 1917. After the Bolsheviks seized power Nicholas and his family were all killed by a firing squad.
Pope Saint John Paul II was born in the Polish town of Wadowice on May 18, 1920. He was the youngest of three children born to Karol Wojtyła, an ethnic Pole and Emilia Kaczorowska. In mid-1938, Wojtyła enrolled at the Jagiellonian University. While studying such topics as philology and various languages, he learned as many as 12 foreign languages, nine of which he used extensively as pope. Karol Wojtyla was ordained to the priesthood on November 1, 1946.
For more May 18 anniversaries, including the marriage of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine, the founding of Boston by John Winthrop and the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in U.S. history, check out OnThatDay.
Today is International Museum Day. The day, held annually on or around May 18, is coordinated by the International Council of Museums. The idea behind IMD is to raise awareness about the fact that, “Museums are an important means of cultural exchange, enrichment of cultures and development of mutual understanding, cooperation and peace among peoples.”
The picture below shows people visiting the Pushkin Fine Arts Museum on International Museum Day
By RIA Novosti archive, image #667778 / Petr Chernov
We get the word ‘museum’ from the Ancient Greeks, who built Musaeums, places holy to the goddesses of art and science, the Muses.
With over 14 million annual visitors, the Palace Museum in Beijing is the most visited Museum in the world. Housed in the Forbidden City, its extensive collection of artwork and artifacts were built upon the imperial collections of the Ming and Qing dynasties.
The Umbrella Covers Museum in Peaks Island, Maine, has more than 1,300 umbrella covers.
In 1887 Scottish vet John Dunlop came up with pneumatic tires to stop his son getting headaches from riding his bumpy tricycle. On May 18, 1889 a cyclist using the 'Dunlop Pneumatic Tyres' won a race in Belfast and the pneumatic cycle tire was on its way. Dunlop's development of the pneumatic tire arrived at a crucial time in the development of road transport. Commercial production began in late 1890 in Belfast.
Dunlop's first pneumatic bicycle tyre National Museum of Scotland. By Geni
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