French footballer Cantona bids adieu
1997 - French striker Eric Cantona retired from professional football, his club Manchester United announced. Cantona, 31, has had a moderate season with United, although the club retained the English Premier League title, their fourth league triumph in five seasons. Cantona has had a colourful history in his years with the club, most famously in 1995 when he took a flying kick at a Crystal Palace fan and ended up in court. Club chairman Martin Edwards announced Cantona’s retirement at a hastily-arranged news conference at the club’s Old Trafford ground. Cantona was not at the news conference but the club read a statement on his behalf. “I’ve played professional football for 13 years, which is a long time. I now wish to do other things,” the statement read.
May 18
1642 - The Canadian city of Montreal is founded.
1804 - Napoleon Bonaparte is proclaimed emperor of France.
1830 - Edwin Budding of England signs an agreement for the manufacture of his invention, the lawn mower.
1899 - The first Hague Peace Conference opens in the Netherlands.
1910 - Haley’s Comet is seen from Earth as it moves across the Sun.
1914 - The Mariner becomes the first cargo-carrying steamboat to pass through the Panama Canal.
1951 - United Nations moves its headquarters to New York City.
1967 - United Nations agrees to Egyptian demand to withdraw forces from Gaza Strip.
1969 - Apollo 10 is launched on a mission that serves as a dress rehearsal for the first moon landing.
1974 - India tests a nuclear bomb for the first time, in the deserts of Rajasthan.
1991 - China suffers one of the biggest floods in its history, at least 200,000 people killed.
1994 - Israel withdraws from the Gaza Strip, ending 27 years of occupation.
2005 - Palestinian legislature approves a new electoral law to elect two-thirds of the legislators in district voting.
2006 - Nepal’s parliament votes to cut the king’s powers.
2008 - The Al Saja’a Industrial Area’s recycling plant opens in Sharjah.
2011 - Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigns as head of the International Monetary Fund as he faces charges of attempted rape.
2014 - Thirty-two children are burned to death when their bus catches fire and explodes in northern Colombia.
2015 - The Dubai World Trade Centre is established as a free zone.
