Starting this week, in addition to posting events in outdoor history, I've decided to highlight other events making history that relate to the outdoors in general, including but not limited to, anniversaries, and significant issues related to the environment, countries and states, and travel.

May 18, 1980: Mount St. Helens, in Washington state, erupted after being dormant for 123 years.

May 18, 1642: The city of Montreal was founded by the French.

May 20, 1927: Charles Lindbergh began the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight, departing from Long Island aboard the Spirit of Saint Louis.

May 20, 1932: Amelia Earhart took off from Newfoundland to become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic.

May 20, 1978: Mavis Hutchinson, 53, became the first woman to run across America. The 3,000-mile trek took her 69 days. She ran an average of 45 miles each day.

May 20, 2002: East Timor became the newest nation.

May 21, 1542: Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto died while searching for gold on the banks of the Mississippi River.

May 22, 1972: Ceylon became Sri Lanka.

May 24, 1883: The Brooklyn Bridge, linking Manhattan and Brooklyn in New York City, opened to traffic.

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