April 18
Events
Pre-1600
1601–1900
1901–present
- 1902 - The 7.5 1902 [Guatemala earthquake|Guatemala earthquake] shakes Guatemala with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII, killing between 800 and 2,000.
- 1906 - The 7.9 1906 [San Francisco earthquake|earthquake] and fire destroy much of San Francisco, California, killing more than 3,000 people, making one of the worst natural disasters in American history.
- 1909 - Joan of Arc is beatified in Rome.
- 1912 - The Cunard liner brings 705 survivors from the to New York City.
- 1915 - World War I: French pilot Roland Garros is shot down and glides to a landing on the German side of the lines.
- 1916 - World 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.
- 1930 - 1930 [Costești wooden church fire|A 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.
- 1938 - Superman debuts in Action Comics #1.
- 1939 - Robert Menzies, who became Australia's longest-serving prime minister, is 1939 [United Australia Party leadership election|elected] as leader of the United Australia Party after the death of Prime Minister Joseph Lyons.
- 1942 - World War II: The Doolittle Raid on Japan: Tokyo, Yokohama, Kobe and Nagoya are bombed.
- 1942 - Pierre Laval becomes Prime Minister of Vichy France.
- 1943 - World War II: Operation Vengeance, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is killed when his aircraft is shot down by U.S. fighters over Bougainville Island.
- 1945 - World War II: Over 1,000 bombers attack the small island of Heligoland, Germany.
- 1945 - Italian resistance movement: In Turin, despite the harsh repressive measures adopted by Nazi-fascists, a great pre-insurrectional strike begins.
- 1946 - The International Court of Justice holds its inaugural meeting in The Hague, Netherlands.
- 1946 - Jackie Robinson makes his regular season debut for the Montreal Royals of the International League, to make them the first integrated modern professional baseball team.
- 1947 - The 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.
- 1949 - The Republic of [Ireland Act 1948|Republic of Ireland Act] comes into force, declaring Éire to be a republic and severing Ireland "association" with the Commonwealth of Nations.
- 1954 - Gamal Abdel Nasser seizes power in Egypt.
- 1955 - Twenty-nine nations meet at Bandung, Indonesia, for the first Asian-African Conference.
- 1972 - East African Airways Flight 720 crashes during a rejected takeoff from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, killing 43.
- 1980 - The Republic of Zimbabwe comes into being, with Canaan Banana as the country's first President. The Zimbabwean dollar replaces the Rhodesian dollar as the official currency.
- 1980 - The town of Elmore City, Oklahoma holds its first dance in the town's history.
- 1988 - The United States launches Operation Praying Mantis against Iranian naval forces in the largest naval battle since World War II.
- 1988 - In Israel John Demjanjuk is sentenced to death for war crimes committed in World War II, although the verdict is later overturned.
- 1996 - The 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.
- 2018 - King Mswati III of Swaziland announces that his country's name will change to Eswatini.
- 2018 - Anti-government protests start in Nicaragua.
- 2019 - A redacted version of the Mueller report is released to the United States Congress and the public.
Births
Pre-1600
1601–1900
- 1605 - Giacomo Carissimi, Italian priest and composer
- 1666 - Jean-Féry Rebel, French violinist and composer
- 1740 - Sir Francis Baring, 1st Baronet, English banker and politician
- 1759 - Jacques Widerkehr, French cellist and composer
- 1771 - Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg
- 1772 - David Ricardo, British economist and politician
- 1794 - William Debenham, English founder of Debenhams
- 1813 - James McCune Smith, African-American physician, apothecary, abolitionist, and author
- 1819 - Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, Cuban lawyer and activist
- 1819 - Franz von Suppé, Austrian composer and conductor
- 1838 - Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran, French chemist and academic
- 1854 - Ludwig Levy, German architect
- 1857 - Clarence Darrow, American lawyer
- 1858 - Dhondo Keshav Karve, Indian educator and activist, Bharat Ratna Awardee
- 1858 - Alexander Shirvanzade, Armenian playwright and author
- 1863 - Count Leopold Berchtold, Austrian-Hungarian politician and diplomat, Joint Foreign Minister of Austria-Hungary
- 1863 - Linton Hope, English sailor and architect
- 1863 - Siegfried Bettmann, founder of the Triumph Motorcycle Company and Mayor of Coventry
- 1864 - Richard Harding Davis, American journalist and author
- 1874 - Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić, Croatian author and poet
- 1877 - Vicente Sotto, Filipino lawyer and politician
- 1879 - Korneli Kekelidze, Georgian philologist and scholar
- 1880 - Sam Crawford, American baseball player, coach, and umpire
- 1882 - Isaac Babalola Akinyele, Nigerian ruler
- 1882 - Leopold Stokowski, English conductor
- 1883 - Aleksanteri Aava, Finnish poet
- 1884 - Jaan Anvelt, Estonian educator and politician
- 1889 - Jessie Street, Australian activist
- 1892 - Eugene Houdry, French-American mechanical engineer and inventor
- 1897 - Ardito Desio, Italian geologist and cartographer
- 1898 - Patrick Hennessy, Irish soldier and businessman
- 1900 - Bertha Isaacs, Bahamian teacher, tennis player, politician and women's rights activist
1901–present
- 1901 - Al Lewis, American songwriter
- 1901 - László Németh, Hungarian dentist, author, and playwright
- 1902 - Waldemar Hammenhög, Swedish author
- 1902 - Giuseppe Pella, Italian politician, 32nd Prime Minister of Italy
- 1904 - Pigmeat Markham, African-American comedian, singer, and dancer
- 1905 - Sydney Halter, Canadian lawyer and businessman
- 1905 - George H. Hitchings, American physician and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1907 - Miklós Rózsa, Hungarian-American composer and conductor
- 1911 - Maurice Goldhaber, Ukrainian-American physicist and academic
- 1914 - Claire Martin, Canadian author
- 1915 - Joy Davidman, Polish-Ukrainian American poet and author
- 1916 - Carl Burgos, American illustrator
- 1918 - Gabriel Axel, Danish-French actor, director, and producer
- 1918 - André Bazin, French critic and theorist
- 1918 - Shinobu Hashimoto, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1918 - Clifton Hillegass, American publisher, founded CliffsNotes
- 1918 - Tony Mottola, American guitarist and composer
- 1919 - Virginia O'Brien, American actress and singer
- 1919 - Esther Afua Ocloo, Ghanaian entrepreneur and pioneer of microlending
- 1920 - John F. Wiley, American football player and coach
- 1921 - Jean Richard, French actor and singer
- 1922 - Barbara Hale, American actress
- 1924 - Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1925 - Marcus Schmuck, Austrian mountaineer and author
- 1926 - Doug Insole, English cricketer
- 1927 - Samuel P. Huntington, American political scientist, author, and academic
- 1927 - Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Polish journalist and politician, Prime Minister of Poland
- 1928 - Karl Josef Becker, German cardinal and theologian
- 1928 - Otto Piene, German sculptor and academic
- 1929 - Peter Hordern, English soldier and politician
- 1930 - Clive Revill, New Zealand actor and singer
- 1930 - Jean Guillou, French organist
- 1931 - Bill Miles, American director and producer
- 1934 - James Drury, American actor
- 1934 - George Shirley, African-American tenor and educator
- 1935 - Costas Ferris, Egyptian-Greek actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1936 - Roger Graef, American-English criminologist, director, and producer
- 1936 - Vladimir Hütt, Estonian physicist and philosopher
- 1937 - Keiko Abe, Japanese marimba player and composer
- 1937 - Jan Kaplický, Czech architect, designed the Selfridges Building
- 1939 - Glen Hardin, American pianist and arranger
- 1939 - Thomas J. Moyer, American lawyer and judge
- 1940 - Joseph L. Goldstein, American biochemist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1940 - Mike Vickers, English guitarist, saxophonist, and songwriter
- 1941 - Michael D. Higgins, Irish sociologist and politician, 9th President of Ireland
- 1942 - Michael Beloff, English lawyer and academic
- 1942 - Robert Christgau, American journalist and critic
- 1942 - Jochen Rindt, German-Austrian racing driver
- 1944 - Kathy Acker, American author and poet
- 1944 - Philip Jackson, Scottish sculptor and photographer
- 1945 - Bernard Arcand, Canadian anthropologist and author
- 1946 - Hayley Mills, English actress
- 1947 - Moses Blah, Liberian general and politician, 23rd President of Liberia
- 1947 - Jerzy Stuhr, Polish actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1947 - James Woods, American actor and producer
- 1948 - Régis Wargnier, French director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1950 - Grigory Sokolov, Russian pianist and composer
- 1953 - Rick Moranis, Canadian-American actor, comedian, singer and screenwriter
- 1953 - Sk. Mujibur Rahman, Bengali politician
- 1954 - Robert Greenberg, American pianist and composer
- 1956 - Eric Roberts, American actor
- 1958 - Gabi Delgado-López, Spanish-German singer, co-founder of D.A.F.
- 1958 - Malcolm Marshall, Barbadian cricketer and coach
- 1959 - Susan Faludi, American journalist, author and feminist
- 1960 - Yelena Zhupiyeva-Vyazova, Ukrainian runner
- 1961 - Jane Leeves, English actress and dancer
- 1961 - John Podhoretz, American journalist and author
- 1962 - Jeff Dunham, American ventriloquist and comedian
- 1963 - Eric McCormack, Canadian-American actor
- 1963 - Conan O'Brien, American television host, comedian, and podcaster
- 1964 - Niall Ferguson, Scottish historian and academic
- 1967 - Maria Bello, American actress
- 1969 - Keith DeCandido, American author
- 1970 - Saad Hariri, Saudi Arabian-Lebanese businessman and politician, 33rd Prime Minister of Lebanon
- 1970 - Willie Roaf, American football player
- 1971 - David Tennant, Scottish actor
- 1972 - Rosa Clemente, American journalist and activist
- 1972 - Eli Roth, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1973 - Derrick Brooks, American football player
- 1973 - Haile Gebrselassie, Ethiopian runner
- 1974 - Edgar Wright, English filmmaker
- 1976 - Melissa Joan Hart, American actress
- 1979 - Matt Cooper, Australian rugby league player
- 1979 - Kourtney Kardashian, American television personality
- 1981 - Audrey Tang, Taiwanese Minister of Digital Affairs and programmer
- 1983 - Miguel Cabrera, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1984 - America Ferrera, American actress
- 1985 - Łukasz Fabiański, Polish footballer
- 1986 - Tina Bru, Norwegian politician
- 1988 - Vanessa Kirby, English actress
- 1989 - Jessica Jung, South Korean-American singer, songwriter, actress, author, fashion designer and businesswoman
- 1989 - Alia Shawkat, American actress
- 1990 - Wojciech Szczęsny, Polish footballer
- 1992 - Chloe Bennet, American actress
- 1993 - Mika Zibanejad, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1994 - Aminé, American singer-songwriter
- 1995 - Divock Origi, Belgian footballer
- 1996 - Ski Mask the Slump God, American rapper
Deaths
Pre-1600
- 727 - Agallianos Kontoskeles, Byzantine commander and rebel leader
- 850 - Perfectus, Spanish monk and martyr
- 909 - Dionysius II, Syriac Orthodox patriarch of Antioch
- 943 - Fujiwara no Atsutada, Japanese nobleman and poet
- 963 - Stephen Lekapenos, co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire
- 1161 - Theobald of Bec, French-English archbishop
- 1176 - Galdino della Sala, Italian archdeacon and saint
- 1430 - John III, Count of Nassau-Siegen, German count
- 1552 - John Leland, English poet and historian
- 1555 - Polydore Vergil, English historian
- 1556 - Luigi Alamanni, Italian poet and politician
- 1567 - Wilhelm von Grumbach, German adventurer
- 1587 - John Foxe, English historian and author
1601–1900
- 1636 - Julius Caesar, English judge and politician
- 1650 - Simonds d'Ewes, English lawyer and politician
- 1674 - John Graunt, English demographer and statistician
- 1689 - George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys, Welsh judge and politician, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain
- 1732 - Louis Feuillée, French astronomer, geographer, and botanist
- 1742 - Arvid Horn, Swedish general and politician
- 1763 - Marie-Josephte Corriveau, Canadian murderer
- 1794 - Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden, English lawyer, judge, and politician, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain
- 1796 - Johan Wilcke, Swedish physicist and academic
- 1802 - Erasmus Darwin, English physician and botanist
- 1832 - Jeanne-Elisabeth Chaudet, French painter
- 1859 - Tatya Tope, Indian general
- 1864 - Juris Alunāns, Latvian philologist and linguist
- 1873 - Justus von Liebig, German chemist and academic
- 1890 - Paweł Bryliński, Polish sculptor
- 1898 - Gustave Moreau, French painter and academic
1901–present
- 1906 - Luis Martín, Spanish religious leader, 24th Superior-General of the Society of Jesus
- 1912 - Martha Ripley, American physician
- 1917 - Vladimir Serbsky, Russian psychiatrist and academic
- 1923 - Savina Petrilli, Italian religious leader
- 1936 - Milton Brown, American singer and bandleader
- 1936 - Ottorino Respighi, Italian composer and conductor
- 1938 - George Bryant, American archer
- 1942 - Aleksander Mitt, Estonian speed skater
- 1942 - Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, American heiress, sculptor and art collector, founded the Whitney Museum of American Art
- 1943 - Isoroku Yamamoto, Japanese admiral
- 1945 - John Ambrose Fleming, English physicist and engineer, invented the vacuum tube
- 1945 - Ernie Pyle, American journalist and soldier
- 1947 - Jozef Tiso, Slovak priest and politician, President of Slovakia
- 1951 - Óscar Carmona, Portuguese field marshal and politician, 11th President of Portugal
- 1955 - Albert Einstein, German-American physicist, engineer, and academic
- 1958 - Maurice Gamelin, Belgian-French general
- 1963 - Meyer Jacobstein, American academic and politician
- 1964 - Ben Hecht, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1965 - Guillermo González Camarena, Mexican engineer
- 1974 - Marcel Pagnol, French author, playwright, and director
- 1988 - Oktay Rıfat Horozcu, Turkish poet and playwright
- 1995 - Arturo Frondizi, Argentinian lawyer and politician, 32nd President of Argentina
- 2002 - Thor Heyerdahl, Norwegian ethnographer and explorer
- 2004 - Kamisese Mara, Fijian politician, 2nd President of Fiji
- 2008 - Germaine Tillion, French ethnologist and anthropologist
- 2012 - Dick Clark, American television host and producer, founded Dick Clark Productions
- 2012 - René Lépine, Canadian businessman and philanthropist
- 2012 - Robert O. Ragland, American musician
- 2012 - K. D. Wentworth, American author
- 2013 - Goran Švob, Croatian philosopher and author
- 2013 - Anne Williams, English activist
- 2014 - Guru Dhanapal, Indian director and producer
- 2014 - Sanford Jay Frank, American screenwriter and producer
- 2014 - Brian Priestman, English conductor and academic
- 2019 - Lyra McKee, Irish journalist
- 2022 - Harrison Birtwistle, British composer
- 2024 - Dickey Betts, American guitarist, singer, songwriter and composer
- 2024 - Mandisa, American gospel singer
Holidays and observances