On This Day, May 18th

1. 1958: Team Lotus enters the world of Formula 1

It was on this day in 1958 that Team Lotus, the Motorsport sister company of Lotus Cars, entered into the first race of the European Racing Season in two single-seat Type 12s. The race was the Monaco Grand Prix, and even though Ferrari may have been the favorite at the time, Team Lotus would go on to become one of the most successful racing teams in history. Behind the wheel at this legendary event was Graham Hill and Cliff Allison, and both performed brilliantly in the qualifying days leading up to the main race. But on race day, the best finish went to Allison with his sixth place — although he was 13 laps behind the leader. Hill would have engine problems and was forced to retire from the race but still managed to finish 26th.

In 1960, Legendary Driver Stirling Moss would get behind the wheel of a revamped Type 18 at the Monaco Grand Prix and would go on to take the victory. Team Lotus would see some of the most famous Formula 1 drivers ever at the helm, such as Mario Andretti and Emerson Fittipaldi. Team Lotus eventually left F1 in 1990 founder Anthony Bruce Chapman passed away. They later returned in 2010.

2. 1980: 24 megaton explosion rocks Mt. Saint Helens

Located about 96 miles south of Seattle on the Cascade Mountain range sits the great volcano known as Mt. St. Helens. On this day in 1980, a sudden 5.1 magnitude earthquake shook the ground at 8:32 am which caused a domino effect that ended in the equivalent of a 24 megaton explosion. Ash, debris, glacier ice, magma and steam shot out of the top of the mountain at more than 650 mph, sending a plume that could be seen as far away as Montana. A little over a month prior to the catastrophic eruption, Mount St Helens showed signs that it was about to blow; people familiar with the mountain spoke of the north side slowly ballooning up as much as six feet per day in some cases. The blast demolished more than a 230 square mile area around the mountain. Heat from the blast is said to have wiped out more than 10 million trees, as well as melting the glacier that used to sit atop the mountain which caused one of the largest mudslides ever recorded. The death toll was said to be around 57, with many more being severely injured.

3. 2004: The Big Unit Randy Johnson throws a perfect game.

On this day in 2004, history is made as the 6 foot 10 inch tall Randy Johnson becomes the oldest pitcher to throw a perfect game at age 40. Johnson was one of the most feared pitchers in baseball, not only because he could throw the ball at close to 100mph all day long (he was once clocked at 102mph) but he also had one of the best sliders in the game. Because he’s so tall and had such long arms, it made it very difficult to judge his pitch. He was a lefty and he had the ability to throw it close to sidearm, which made it extremely difficult for and left handed batter to face him . A perfect game is the highest achievement that a pitcher can get because it is the most difficult. In order to get a perfect game, you must face at least 27 batters and receive 27 outs, no walks, no hits, just strikeouts and outs. Johnson was no stranger to the strikeout; he struck out 13 during his perfect game and was a four time strikeout title holder in the American League.