Today in History....May 18

On this day in …

* 1804, the French Senate proclaimed Napoleon Bonaparte emperor

* 1927, a schoolhouse in Bath, Mich., was blown up with explosives planted by local farmer Andrew Kehoe, who then set off a dynamite-laden automobile; the attacks killed 38 children and six adults, including Kehoe, who had earlier killed his wife

* 1953, Jacqueline Cochran became the first woman to break the sound barrier as she piloted a North American F-86 Canadair over Rogers Dry Lake, Calif

* 1967, Tennessee Gov. Buford Ellington signed a measure repealing the law against teaching evolution that was used to prosecute John T. Scopes in 1925

* 1980, the Mount St. Helens volcano in Washington state exploded, leaving 57 people dead or missing

* 1982, a jury in New York City convicted the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, founder and leader of the Unification Church, of tax evasion and conspiracy. (Moon served 13 months in prison.)

* 2002, India and Pakistan exchanged fire across their shared border, renewing fears the countries were on the brink of nuclear war over the Himalayan region of Kashmir.

* 2006, while visiting one of the busiest crossing sectors between the U.S. and Mexico, President Bush said in Yuma, Ariz., that it made sense to put up fencing along parts of the border but not to block off the entire 2,000 mile length to keep out illegal immigrants.