April 18Birthdays & History

On this day: April 18 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 796King Æthelred I of Northumbria is murdered in Corbridge by a group led by his ealdormen, Ealdred and Wada. The patrician Osbald is crowned, but abdicates within 27 days.Europe
2. 1428Peace of Ferrara between Republic of Venice, Duchy of Milan, Republic of Florence and House of Gonzaga: ending of the second campaign of the Wars in Lombardy fought until the Treaty of Lodi in 1454, which will then guarantee the conditions for the development of the Italian Renaissance.Europe
3. 1506The cornerstone of the current St. Peter's Basilica is laid.Europe
4. 1518Bona Sforza is crowned as queen consort of Poland.Europe
5. 1521Trial of Martin Luther begins its second day during the assembly of the Diet of Worms. He refuses to recant his teachings despite the risk of excommunication.Europe
6. 1689Bostonians rise up in rebellion against Sir Edmund Andros.North America
7. 1738Real Academia de la Historia ("Royal Academy of History") is founded in Madrid.Europe
8. 1775American Revolution: The British Army advances up the Charles River in Massachusetts to destroy supplies of American militias, while Paul Revere and other riders rapidly warn the countryside.North AmericaEurope
9. 1783Three-Fifths Compromise: The first instance of black slaves in the United States of America being counted as three-fifths of persons (for the purpose of taxation), in a resolution of the Congress of the Confederation. This was later adopted in the 1787 Constitution.North America
10. 1797War of the First Coalition: The Peace of Leoben is signed by Napoleon Bonaparte and Maximilian, Count of Merveldt, creating an armistice between France and Austria, setting the stage for the Treaty of Campo Formio and ending the War of the First Coalition.Europe
11. 1831The University of Alabama is founded in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.North America
12. 1847American victory at the battle of Cerro Gordo opens the way for invasion of Mexico.North AmericaLatin America
13. 1857The Spirits Book by Allan Kardec is published, marking the birth of Spiritualism in France.Europe
14. 1864Battle of Dybbøl: A Prussian-Austrian army defeats Denmark and gains control of Schleswig. Denmark surrenders the province in the following peace settlement.Europe
15. 1897The Greco-Turkish War is declared between Greece and the Ottoman Empire.Middle EastEurope
16. 1899The St. Andrew's Ambulance Association is granted a royal charter by Queen Victoria.Europe
17. 1902The 7.5 Mw Guatemala earthquake shakes Guatemala with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), killing between 800 and 2,000.Latin America
18. 1906The 7.9 Mwearthquake and fire destroy much of San Francisco, California, killing more than 3,000 people, making one of the worst natural disasters in American history.North America
19. 1909Joan of Arc is beatified in Rome.Europe
20. 1912The Cunard liner RMS Carpathia brings 705 survivors from the RMS Titanic to New York City.North America
21. 1915World War I: French pilot Roland Garros is shot down and glides to a landing on the German side of the lines.Europe
22. 1916World War I: During a mine warfare in high altitude on the Dolomites, the Italian troops conquer the Col di Lana held by the Austrian army.Europe
23. 1930A fire kills 118 people at a wooden church in the small Romanian town of Costești, most of them schoolchildren, after starting during Good Friday services.Europe
24. 1938Superman debuts in Action Comics #1 (cover dated June 1938).North America
25. 1939Robert Menzies, who became Australia's longest-serving prime minister, is elected as leader of the United Australia Party after the death of Prime Minister Joseph Lyons.Oceania
26. 1942World War II: The Doolittle Raid on Japan: Tokyo, Yokohama, Kobe and Nagoya are bombed.Asia
27. 1942Pierre Laval becomes Prime Minister of Vichy France.Europe
28. 1943World War II: Operation Vengeance, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is killed when his aircraft is shot down by U.S. fighters over Bougainville Island.North America
29. 1945Italian resistance movement: In Turin, despite the harsh repressive measures adopted by Nazi-fascists, a great pre-insurrectional strike begins.Europe
30. 1945World War II: Over 1,000 bombers attack the small island of Heligoland, Germany.Europe
31. 1946The International Court of Justice holds its inaugural meeting in The Hague, Netherlands.Europe
32. 1946Jackie Robinson makes his regular season debut for the Montreal Royals of the International League, to make them the first integrated modern professional baseball team.North America
33. 1947The Operation Big Bang, the largest non-nuclear man-made explosion to that time, destroys bunkers and military installations on the North Sea island of Heligoland, Germany.Europe
34. 1949The Republic of Ireland Act comes into force, declaring Éire to be a republic and severing Ireland's "association" with the Commonwealth of Nations.Europe
35. 1954Gamal Abdel Nasser seizes power in Egypt.Middle East
36. 1955Twenty-nine nations meet at Bandung, Indonesia, for the first Asian-African Conference.AsiaAfrica
37. 1972East African Airways Flight 720 crashes during a rejected takeoff from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, killing 43.Africa
38. 1978The Ba Chúc massacre begins, which precipitates the Cambodian–Vietnamese War the same year.Asia
39. 1980The Republic of Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) comes into being, with Canaan Banana as the country's first President. The Zimbabwean dollar replaces the Rhodesian dollar as the official currency.Africa
40. 1980The town of Elmore City, Oklahoma holds its first dance in the town's history.North America
41. 1988The United States launches Operation Praying Mantis against Iranian naval forces in the largest naval battle since World War II.North AmericaMiddle East
42. 1988In Israel John Demjanjuk is sentenced to death for war crimes committed in World War II, although the verdict is later overturned.Middle East
43. 1996The Israeli military commits the Qana massacre in a deliberate shelling of a United Nations compound near the village of Qana in southern Lebanon, killing 106 Lebanese civilians who were taking shelter there and wounding over 100 more.Middle East
44. 2018King Mswati III of Swaziland announces that his country's name will change to Eswatini.Africa
45. 2018Anti-government protests start in Nicaragua.Latin America
46. 2019A redacted version of the Mueller report is released to the United States Congress and the public.North America
47. 2026Seven people are killed and fourteen others are injured in a mass shooting in Kyiv, UkraineEurope

Source: Wikipedia "April 18" / CC BY-SA 4.0