April 18th

2012
American Bandstand and New Year's Rockin' Eve host Dick Clark died of heart failure.
Dick Clark
2011
Standard & Poor's lowered its long-term outlook for the U.S. government's fiscal health from "stable" to "negative.".
SQL:2011
2007
The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling, upheld a federal ban on a medical procedure that opponents calls partial-birth abortion.
Gonzales v. Carhart
2004
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero ordered a withdrawal of Spanish troops from Iraq.
Spain–United States relations
2002
Afghanistan’s former king, Mohammad Zahir Shah, returned after 29 years in exile.
Humaira Begum
1999
Wayne Gretzky, the National Hockey League's all-time leading scorer, played his last professional game, at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Wayne Gretzky
1989
Thousands of Chinese students demanding democracy tried to storm Communist Party headquarters in Beijing.
2014 Hong Kong protests
1983
A suicide bomber killed 63 people, including 17 Americans, at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon.
Attacks on U.S. diplomatic facilities
1978
The U.S. Senate approved the Panama Canal Treaty, providing for the complete turnover of control of the waterway to Panama on the last day of 1999.
Torrijos–Carter Treaties
1968
London Bridge was sold to an American. It was rebuilt in Arizona.
London Bridge (Lake Havasu City)
1956
Actress Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier of Monaco.
Grace Kelly
1955
Physicist Albert Einstein died at age 76.
Albert Einstein
1954
Colonel Gamal Abdal Nasser seizes power & becomes Prime Minister of Egypt.
Gamal Abdel Nasser
1951
The European Coal and Steel Community, a precursor of the European Union, is established. The Treaty of Paris was signed by France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
European Coal and Steel Community
1949
Ireland becomes an independent republic. Six counties in the northern part of the island remained in the Commonwealth, leading to a decades-long ethno-nationalist conflict that culminated in The Troubles.
History of the Republic of Ireland
1946
The League of Nations went out of business.
League of Nations
1942
An air squadron led by Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle raided Tokyo and other Japanese cities.
Doolittle Raid
1923
The first baseball game was played at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, with New York beating the Boston Red Sox 4-1.
Yankee Stadium (1923)
1906
The Great San Francisco Earthquake destroyed over 4 sq mi. and killed over 500 people.
1906 San Francisco earthquake
1783
Fighting ceases in the American Revolution, eight years to the day since it began.
Peace of Paris (1783)
1775
Paul Revere rode from Charlestown to Lexington to warn Massachusetts colonists of the arrival of British troops during the American Revolution.
Paul Revere
1506
The cornerstone of the current St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, is laid.
Roman Renaissance
1025
Bolesław Chrobry is crowned in Gniezno, becoming the first King of Poland.
Bolesław I the Brave
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