Events on May 18 in history

Jacqueline Cochran (May 18, 1953)

Jackie Cochran becomes the first woman to break the sound barrier.

Jacqueline Cochran (May 11, 1906 – August 9, 1980) was an American pilot and business executive. She pioneered women's aviation as one of the most prominent racing pilots of her generation. She set numerous records and was the first woman to break the sound barrier on 18 May 1953. Cochran was the wartime head of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) (1943–1944) (along with Nancy Love) which employed about 1000 civilian American women in a non-combat role to ferry planes from factories to port cities, and was later a sponsor of the Mercury 13 women astronaut program.

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Events on 1953

28 Feb

Francis Crick
James Watson and Francis Crick announce to friends that they have determined the chemical structure of DNA; the formal announcement takes place on April 25 following publication in April's Nature (pub. April 2).
6 Mar

Joseph Stalin
Georgy Malenkov succeeds Joseph Stalin as Premier of the Soviet Union and First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
8 Apr

Jomo Kenyatta
Mau Mau leader Jomo Kenyatta is convicted by British Kenya's rulers.
19 Aug

1953 Iranian coup d'état
Cold War: The CIA and MI6 help to overthrow the government of Mohammad Mosaddegh in Iran and reinstate the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
30 Oct

Dwight D. Eisenhower
Cold War: U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower formally approves the top secret document National Security Council Paper No. 162/2, which states that the United States' arsenal of nuclear weapons must be maintained and expanded to counter the communist threat.

Events on May 18 in history

Jacqueline Cochran (May 18, 1953)

References

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Events on 1953

Francis Crick

Joseph Stalin

Jomo Kenyatta

1953 Iranian coup d'état

Dwight D. Eisenhower