April 18



Events

Up to 1900 
 1506 – The cornerstone for the present Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome is laid.
 1518 - Bona Sforza is crowned Queen of Poland.
 1521 - The trial of Martin Luther begins its second day during the assembly of the Diet of Worms.
 1689 - Bostonians rise up in rebellion against Sir Edmund Andros.
 1738 – Madrid's Royal Academy of History is founded.
 1775 – American Revolution: Paul Revere's ride, to warn the countryside of troop movements.
 1797 – France defeats Austria in the Battle of Neuwied.
 1807 - A ferry capsizes in the port of Harwich, Essex, England, killing between 60 and 90 people.
 1831 – The University of Alabama is founded.
 1848 - An American victory at the Battle of Cerro Gordo opens the way for the invasion of Mexico in the Mexican-American War.
 1880 – A tornado in Marshfield, Missouri, kills 99 people.
 1881 – Billy the Kid escapes from Lincoln County jail in Mesilla, New Mexico.
 1888 - British passenger steamer State of Florida sinks in the North Atlantic Ocean after a collision with a sailing ship, killing 130 people.
 1897 – The Greco-Turkish War is declared.

1901  2000 
 1902 – Quetzaltenango, Guatemala is destroyed by an earthquake.
 1906 – 1906 San Francisco earthquake: San Francisco, California is largely destroyed by a major earthquake, and subsequent fires. Estimates suggest that 3,000 people have died, some of them after Mayor Eugene Schmitz orders a shoot-to-kill policy against looters. Operatic tenor Enrico Caruso, who was in the city at the time, fled, never to return.
 1909 - Joan of Arc is beatified in Rome.
 1912 - Cunard liner RMS Carpathia brings 705 survivors from the RMS Titanic sinking to New York City.
 1915 - French pilot Roland Garros is shot down and glides to a landing on the German side of the lines during World War I.
 1923 – The Yankee Stadium opens in New York City.
 1924 - Simon & Schuster publishes the first crossword puzzle book.
 1930 - BBC Radio announces that there is no news for that day.
 1941 - Vichy France announces its withdrawal from the League of Nations.
 1942 – Pierre Laval becomes Prime Minister of Vichy France.
 1945 – World War II: 1,000 bombers attack the island of Heligoland in the North Sea.
 1946 – The International Court of Justice meets for the first time in The Hague.
 1954 – Gamal Abdel Nasser takes power in Egypt.
 1955 – World-famous physicist Albert Einstein dies aged 76.
 1955 - Representatives of 29 nations meet in Bandung, Indonesia, for the first Asian-African Conference.
 1958 - A US Federal Court rules that controversial poet Ezra Pound can be released from an insane asylum.
 1974 - Prime Minister of Pakistan Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto opens Lahore's Dry Port.
 1980 – The Republic of Zimbabwe becomes independent from the UK, with Canaan Banana as its first President. Robert Mugabe becomes Prime Minister, assuming the presidency in 1987.
 1981 – The longest-ever game of professional baseball begins in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
 1983 – The US Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, is hit by a suicide bomber, killing 63 people.
 1988 - The United States launches Operation Praying Mantis against Iranian forces in the Iran-Iraq War.
 1992 – General Abdul Rashid Dostum revolts against President Mohammed Najibullah in Afghanistan.
 1996 – At least 106 civilians in Lebanon are killed when Israeli Defense Forces shell a UN compound in Qana.
 1996 - Islamic fundamentalists carry out a terror attack on a hotel in Cairo, killing 18 Greek tourists, who they mistook for Israelis.

From 2001 
 2002 – A light aircraft crashes into the Pirelli building in Milan.
 2002 – Thor Heyerdahl, who became world-famous for his Kon-Tiki expedition, dies at the age of 87.
 2004 – Spain's Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero orders the withdrawal of Spanish troops from Iraq.
 2005 - Start of the Conclave to elect a successor to Pope John Paul II; Joseph Alois Ratzinger is chosen the next day and becomes Pope Benedict XVI.
 2007 – 198 people are killed in a series of bombings across Baghdad.
 2007 - UEFA Euro 2012 is announced as being hosted jointly by Poland and Ukraine.
 2008 - Cricket: The first season of the Indian Premier League begins.
 2013 - A suicide bombing at a café in Baghdad kills 27 people and injures 63.
 2014 - An avalanche on Mount Everest kills 12 people.
 2015 - A terrorist attack in the city of Jalalabad, Afghanistan, kills at least 33 people.
 2017 - Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Theresa May calls for an early general election for June 8.
 2018 - Saudi Arabia's cinemas open for the first time since 1983.
 2018 - NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite is launched.
 2019 - Northern Irish journalist Lyra McKee is shot and killed during rioting in the city of Londonderry.

Births

Up to 1900 
 359 - Gratian, Roman Emperor (d. 383)
 1115 - Gertrud of Süpplingenburg, Saxon noblewoman (d. 1143) 
 1480 – Lucrezia Borgia, Florentine ruler (d. 1519)
 1580 - Thomas Middleton, English dramatist (d. 1621)
 1590 – Ahmed I, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1617)
 1605 – Giacomo Carissimi, Italian composer (d. 1674)
 1647 - Elias Brenner, Finnish-Swedish artist (d. 1717)
 1772 - David Ricardo, English political economist (d. 1823)
 1782 - Georg August Goldfuss, German palaeontologist and zoologist (d. 1848)
 1797 - Adolphe Thiers, 2nd President of France (d. 1877)
 1813 - James McCune Smith, American physician and author (d. 1865)
 1819 – Carlos Cespedes, Cuban revolutionary (d. 1874)
 1838 - Paul Emile Lecoq de Boisbaudran, French chemist (d. 1912)
 1857 – Clarence Darrow, American lawyer (d. 1938)
 1857 - Alexander Shirvanzade, Armenian playwright and novelist (d. 1935)
 1858 – Dhondo Keshav Karve, Indian social reformer (d. 1962)
 1858 – Alexander Shirvanzade, Armenian playwright and novelist (d. 1935)
 1863 – Leopold Graf Berchtold, Austrian-Hungarian foreign minister (d. 1942)
 1863 - Linton Hope, English architect and sailor (d. 1920)
 1864 – Richard Harding Davis, American writer (d. 1916)
 1874 – Oskar Ernst Bernhardt, German writer (d. 1941)
 1877 - Vicente Sotto, Filipino patriot and writer (d. 1950)
 1879 - Korneli Kekelidze, Georgian philologist (d. 1962)
 1880 - Sam Crawford, American baseball player, coach and umpire (d. 1968)
 1882 - Leopold Stokowski, Polish conductor (d. 1977)
 1882 – Isaac Babalola Akinyele, Nigerian ruler and writer (d. 1964)
 1884 - Jaan Anvelt, Estonian Communist revolutionary and writer (d. 1937)
 1889 - Jessie Street, American activist (d. 1970)
 1890 - Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia, Russian royal (d. 1958)
 1893 - Violette Morris, French shot putter and discus thrower (d. 1944)
 1896 - Ha Hye-sok, Korean poet, feminist, writer, painter, educator and journalist (d. 1948)
 1897 – Ardito Desio, Italian topographer (d. 2001)
 1897 - Per-Erik Hedlund, Swedish cross-country skier (d. 1975)

1901  1950 
 1901 – Al Lewis, American lyricist (d. 1967)
 1901 – Elene Akhvlediani, Georgian artist (d. 1975)
 1902 – Giuseppe Pella, Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1981)
 1905 – George H. Hitchings, American scientist (d. 1998)
 1907 – Miklos Rozsa, Hungarian composer (d. 1995)
 1911 – Maurice Goldhaber, Austrian-American physicist (d. 2011)
 1914 - Claire Martin, Canadian writer (d. 2014)
 1917 – Frederika of Hanover, Queen Consort of Greece (d. 1981)
 1918 – Gabriel Axel, Danish movie director, screenwriter and actor (d. 2014)
 1918 - Harry Firth, Australian racing driver (d. 2014)
 1918 - Shinobu Hashimoto, Japanese screenwriter (d. 2018)
 1918 - André Bazin, French critic and theorist (d. 1958)
 1919 - Vondell Darr, American actress (d. 2012)
 1921 - Jean Richard, French actor (d. 2001)
 1922 - Barbara Hale, American actress (d. 2017)
 1924 - Clarence Gatemouth Brown, American blues guitarist (d. 2005)
 1924 - Roy Mason, British politician (d. 2015)
 1925 - Bob Hastings, American actor (d. 2014)
 1926 - Harry Volkman, American meteorologist (d. 2015)
 1927 – Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Polish writer, journalist and politician (d. 2013)
 1927 - Charles Pasqua, French politician (d. 2015)
 1927 – Samuel P. Huntington, American political scientist (d. 2008)
 1928 - Otto Piene, German artist (d. 2014)
 1928 - Karl Josef Becker, German theologian and cardinal (d. 2015)
 1929 - Mario Francesco Pompedda, Italian cardinal (d. 2006)
 1930 - Jean Guillou, French composer and organist
 1931 - Klas Lestander, Swedish biathlete
 1933 - Enrico Crispolti, Italian art critic, curator and art historian (d. 2018)
 1934 – James Drury, American actor
 1934 - Pedro Tenorio, Governor of the Northern Marianas (d. 2018)
 1936 - Tarcisio Gitti, Italian politician (d. 2018)
 1937 – Jan Kaplicky, Czech-British architect (d. 2009)
 1937 - Teddy Taylor, British politician (d. 2017)
 1940 – Joseph L. Goldstein, American scientist
 1940 – Mike Vickers, British musician and composer
 1940 - Ira von Fürstenberg, Italian socialite, actress and jewellery designer
 1941 – Michael D. Higgins, 9th President of Ireland
 1942 – Jochen Rindt, Austrian racecar driver (d. 1970)
 1943 - Zeki Alasya, Turkish actor and director (d. 2015)
 1944 - Albin Planinc, Yugoslavian chess player (d. 2008)
 1944 – Robert Hanssen, American double agent
 1944 - Frances D'Souza, Baroness D'Souza, English academic and politician
 1945 – Margaret Hassan, Irish aid worker (d. 2004)
 1946 - Hayley Mills, British actress
 1946 - Irene Fernandez, Malaysian activist (d. 2014)
 1946 - Janet Kagan, American writer (d. 2008)
 1947 – Jerzy Stuhr, Polish actor and director
 1947 – Moses Blah, Liberian politician (d. 2013)
 1947 – Cindy Pickett, American actress
 1947 – James Woods, American actor
 1947 - Herbert Mullin, American serial killer
 1950 - Kenny Ortega, American director, producer and choreographer

1951  1975 
 1953 - Rick Moranis, Canadian-American actor, singer and screenwriter
 1956 – Eric Roberts, American actor
 1956 - Melody Thomas Scott, American actress
 1956 - Roberto Calderoli, Italian politician
 1958 - Malcolm Marshall, Barbadian cricketer
 1959 - Frank Mulholland, Scottish lawyer
 1960 - Neo Rauch, German artist
 1960 - J. Christopher Stevens, American diplomat (d. 2012)
 1961 - Jane Leeves, British actress
 1961 – Steve Lombardi, American professional wrestler
 1963 – Eric McCormack, Canadian actor
 1963 – Conan O'Brien, American comedian
 1963 - Universo 2000, Mexican professional wrestler (d. 2018)
 1964 – Niall Ferguson, British historian
 1964 - Rithy Panh, Cambodian documentary moviemaker
 1966 - Valeri Kamensky, Russian ice hockey player
 1966 - Trine Hattestad, Norwegian javelin thrower
 1966 - Camille Coduri, English actress
 1967 – Maria Bello, American actress
 1968 – David Hewlett, English-Canadian actor
 1969 - Princess Sayako of Japan
 1970 - Esther Schweins, German actress
 1970 – Saad Hariri, Lebanese Prime Minister
 1971 – Samantha Cameron, wife of David Cameron
 1971 – David Tennant, Scottish actor
 1971 – Oleg Petrov, Russian ice hockey player
 1972 - Rosa Clemente, American journalist and activist
 1972 - Eli Roth, American director
 1972 - Lars Christiansen, Danish handball player
 1973 – Haile Gebrselassie, Ethiopian runner
 1973 - Arnaud Beltrame, French gendarme (d. 2018)
 1974 - Mark Tremonti, American musician
 1974 - Edgar Wright, English director and writer

From 1976 
 1976 – Melissa Joan Hart, American actress
 1976 – Rodrigo de la Serna, Argentine actor
 1976 – Sean Maguire, English actor
 1977 – Hassan El Fakri, Norwegian footballer
 1977 – Jonathan Rowson, Scottish chess player
 1979 – Matthew Upson, English footballer
 1979 – Kourtney Kardashian, American reality TV personality
 1979 – Anthony Davidson, British racing driver
 1980 – Rabiu Afolabi, Nigerian footballer
 1980 – Carolina Crescentini, Italian actress
 1980 – Robyn Regehr, Canadian ice hockey player
 1981 – Milan Jovanovic, Serbian footballer
 1982 – Simone Farina, Italian footballer
 1983 – Miguel Cabrera, Venezuelan baseball player
 1983 – Hernán Rengifo, Peruvian footballer
 1984 – America Ferrera, American actress
 1985 – Lukasz Fabianski, Polish footballer
 1985 – Rachel Smith, American model
 1986 – Maurice Edu, American soccer player
 1986 – Mateusz Rutkowski, Polish ski jupmer
 1987 – Danny Guthrie, English footballer
 1987 – Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, British model and actress
 1987 – Samantha Jade, Australian singer-songwriter
 1987 – Cara Maria Wayans, American actress
 1988 – Anagabriela Espinoza, Mexican model
 1989 – Hannah Wang, Australian actress
 1989 – Jessica, Korean-American actress, model and singer (Girls' Generation)
 1990 – Wojciech Szczesny, Polish footballer
 1990 – Britt Robertson, American actress
 1992 – Chloe Bennet, American actress and singer
 1993 – Nathan Sykes, British singer (The Wanted)
 1995 – Divock Origi, Belgian footballer
 1996 – Ski Mask the Slump God, American rapper and songwriter
 2007 – Hayah bint Hamzah, Princess of Jordan

Deaths

Up to 1900 
 1143 - Gertrud of Süpplingenburg, Saxon noblewoman (b. 1115) 
 1161 – Theobald of Bec, Archbishop of Canterbury
 1556 – Luigi Alamanni, Italian poet (b. 1495)
 1567 – Wilhelm von Grumbach, German adventurer (b. 1503)
 1674 – John Graunt, English statistician (b. 1620)
 1794 – Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1714)
 1796 - Johan Wilcke, Swedish physicist (b. 1732)
 1802 – Erasmus Darwin, English physician and botanist (b. 1731)
 1832 - Jeanne-Elisabeth Chaudet, French painter (b. 1761)
 1859 - Tatya Tope, Indian general (b. 1814)
 1864 - Juris Alunans, Latvian philologist (b. 1832)
 1873 – Justus von Liebig, German scientist (b. 1803)
 1898 – Gustave Moreau, French painter (b. 1826)

1901  2000 
 1905 - Juan Valera, Spanish writer, diplomat and politician (b. 1824)
 1906 - Luis Martín, Spanish Superior-General of the Society of Jesus (b. 1846)
 1936 - Ottorino Respighi, Italian composer (b. 1879)
 1941 - Alexandros Koryzis, Prime minister of Greece (b. 1885) 
 1942 – Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, American sculptor and art collector (b. 1875)
 1943 – Isoroku Yamamoto, Japanese admiral (b. 1884)
 1945 – John Ambrose Fleming, English physicist and engineer (b. 1849)
 1945 – Ernie Pyle, American journalist (b. 1900)
 1945 – William, Prince of Albania (b. 1876)
 1947 – Jozef Tiso, Slovakian politician (b. 1887)
 1949 – Ulrich Salchow, Swedish figure skater (b. 1877)
 1951 – Antonio Oscar Carmona, Portuguese politician (b. 1869)
 1955 – Albert Einstein, German physicist and Nobel laureate (b. 1879)
 1957 - Ben W. Hooper, 33rd Governor of Tennessee (b. 1870)
 1958 – Maurice Gamelin, French general (b. 1872)
 1964 - Ben Hecht, American director, producer and screenwriter (b. 1894)
 1965 - Guillermo Gonzalez Camarena, Mexican inventor and engineer (b. 1917)
 1974 – Marcel Pagnol, French writer and movie maker (b. 1895)
 1976 - Mahmoud Younis, Egyptian engineer (b. 1911)
 1988 - Pierre Desproges, French journalist, comedian and actor (b. 1939)
 1991 - Gabriel Celaya, Spanish poet (b. 1911)
 1992 - Frankie Howerd, English comedian and actor (b. 1917)
 1993 - Masahiko Kimura, Japanese judoka (b. 1917)
 1995 – Arturo Frondizi, President of Argentina (b. 1908)
 1996 - Piet Hein, Danish scientist, mathematician and inventor (b. 1905)
 1998 - Terry Sanford, 65th Governor of North Carolina (b. 1917)

From 2001 
 2002 – Thor Heyerdahl, Norwegian explorer, ethnographer, zoologist  and writer (b. 1914)
 2004 – Kamisese Mara, first Prime Minister of Fiji (b. 1920)
 2007 – Iccho Itoh, Japanese politician, Mayor of Nagasaki (b. 1945)
 2008 - Germaine Tillion, French anthropologist (b. 1907)
 2011 – Pietro Ferrero Jr., Italian businessman (b. 1963)
 2011 – William Donald Schaefer, American politician (b. 1921)
 2012 – Dick Clark, American radio and television host, and producer (b. 1929)
 2013 - Storm Thorgerson, British graphic designer (b. 1944)
 2014 - Dylan Tombides, Australian footballer (b. 1994)
 2014 - Brian Priestman, British maestro and conductor (b. 1927)
 2014 - Derek Cooper, British broadcaster and food naturalist (b. 1925)
 2014 - Andrew Sessler, American physicist (b. 1928)
 2015 - Mario Pirani, Italian journalist (b. 1925)
 2015 - Erwin Waldner, German footballer (b. 1933)
 2016 - Yuri Bychkov, Russian art historian (b. 1931)
 2016 - Cox Habbema, Dutch actress (b. 1944)
 2016 - Eva Henning, Swedish actress (b. 1920)
 2016 - Sir John Leslie, 4th Baronet, Irish aristocrat and media personality (b. 1916)
 2016 - Johan van Minnen, Dutch journalist and politician (b. 1932)
 2017 - Yvonne Monlaur, French actress (b. 1939)
 2017 - Jaak Panksepp, Estonian-American neuroscientist (b. 1943)
 2018 - Luisa Pastor Lillo, Spanish politician (b. 1948)
 2018 - Bruno Sammartino, Italian-American professional wrestler (b. 1935)
 2018 - Henk Schouten, Dutch footballer (b. 1932)
 2018 - Jeanne Wilson, American swimmer (b. 1926)
 2018 - Dale Winton, English television presenter (b. 1955)
 2019 - Jameel Jalibi, Pakistani linguist, writer and academic (b. 1929)
 2019 - Con de Lange, South African-Scottish cricketer (b. 1981)
 2019 - Lyra McKee, Northern Irish journalist (b. 1990)
 2019 - Lorraine Warren, American paranormal investigator (b. 1927)

Observances 
 Independence Day (Zimbabwe)
 Invention Day (Japan)
 International Day of Monuments and Sites
 Army Day (Iran)

Days of the year