April 18

### 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.

### 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 writer (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

### 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)