Court cases
On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. An 1896 ruling by the Supreme Court was used to defend racial segregation in all public facilities because it conformed to the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection in “separate but equal” accommodations on rail cars. The landmark decision in the civil rights movement was brought on by a young girl, Linda Brown, who had been denied permission to attend a public school that was closer to her home because of the color of her skin. The decision brought an end to federal tolerance of racial segregation and none too soon.
Natural disasters
Mount St. Helens, a volcano south of Seattle, erupted May 18, 1980, triggering a massive avalanche, killing 57 people. Ash fell as far away as Minnesota, clogging carburetors and stranding motorists. Fourteen miles of a nearby river were buried with debris up to 150 feet deep. For the residents who refused to evacuate, their end was unfortunate, though some have been immortalized as heroes in monuments.
Nuclear proliferation
On May 18, 1974, India became the sixth nation in the world to become a nuclear power after detonating a fission bomb similar to the one the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima. The previous nuclear five-nation monopoly was broken and the end result was a nuclear arms race between India and Pakistan. India didn’t perform any more tests until 1998, but the interim period was filled with a bevy of long-range ballistic missile development in both countries. The scientists who successfully performed the first test on the anniversary of Buddha’s Enlightenment were reported to have sent the message: “Buddha has smiled.” Seems like Buddha and nukes don’t go together…
Naval warfare
The Invincible Armada, a massive Spanish fleet consisting of 130 ships, carrying 2,500 guns and 30,000 men, set sail from Lisbon on May 19, 1588, to transport an invasion force from the Netherlands to Britain. Storms delayed the armada, which didn’t arrive at the coast of England until July, and the British were waiting. The range of the superior British guns won the prolonged battle and the end result was the armada retreating home to Spain, having lost half of the ships it started with by the time it returned to port. The decisive victory established England as a world-class naval power and ended the reign of close-quarter warfare, including boarding and skirmishing, making a buccaneer’s life much more difficult.
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