April 18
1775 - Paul Revere rode from Charlestown to Lexington to warn Massachusetts colonists of the arrival of British troops during the American Revolution.
1906 - The Great San Francisco Earthquake and resulting fires destroyed over four square miles of the city and killed more than 3,000 people.
1938 - Comic book hero "Superman" made his debut in Action Comics No. 1. The comic sold at the time for 10 cents a copy. (In 2014, a nearly flawless original copy was sold on eBay for $3.2 million.)
1942 - An air squadron led by Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle raided Tokyo and other Japanese cities.
1946 - The League of Nations went out of business.
1949 - The Irish Republic was proclaimed.
1955 - Physicist Albert Einstein died at age 76.
1956 - American actress Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier of Monaco.
1968 - London Bridge was sold to an American. It was dismantled and rebuilt in Arizona.
1978 - The U.S. Senate voted to hand over control of the Panama Canal to Panama on December 31, 1999.
1983 - A suicide bomber killed 63 people, including 17 Americans, at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon.
1988 - An Israeli court convicted John Demjanjuk, a retired auto worker from Cleveland, of committing war crimes at the Treblinka death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland. (However, Israel's Supreme Court later overturned the conviction.)
1989 - Thousands of Chinese students demanding democracy tried to storm Communist Party headquarters in Beijing.
2002 - Afghanistan's former king, Mohammad Zahir Shah, returned after 29 years in exile.
2004 - Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero ordered a withdrawal of Spanish troops from Iraq.
2007 - The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling, upheld a federal ban on a medical procedure that opponents called partial-birth abortion.
2011 - Standard & Poor's lowered its long-term outlook for the U.S. government's fiscal health from "stable" to "negative."
2012 - American Bandstand and New Year's Rockin' Eve host Dick Clark died at age 82.
2013 - The FBI released surveillance camera images of two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing and asked for the public's help in identifying them, hours after President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama attended an interfaith service at a Roman Catholic cathedral.
2013 - Randy Newman, Heart, Rush, Public Enemy, Donna Summer, Albert King, and producers Quincy Jones and Lou Adler were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame during a ceremony in Los Angeles.
Birthdays
24 - Moises Arias (actor)
26 - Chloe Bennett (actress)
28 - Britt Robertson (actress)
29 - Alia Shawkat (actress)
30 - Vanessa Kirby (actress)
31 - Ellen Woglom (actress)
31 - Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (actress)
31 - Samantha Jade (singer)
34 - America Ferrera (actress)
35 - Miguel Cabrera (baseball player)
39 - Kourtney Kardashian (reality star)
41 - Bryce Johnson (actor)
42 - Kevin Rankin (actor)
42 - Sean Maguire (actor)
42 - Melissa Joan Hart (actress)
47 - David Tennant (actor)
48 - Lisa Locicero (actress)
50 - David Hewlett (actor)
50 - Mary Birdsong (actress)
51 - Maria Bello (actress)
55 - Eric McCormack (actor)
55 - Conan O'Brien (TV host)
56 - Jeff Dunham (comedian)
57 - Jane Leeves (actress)
62 - John James (actor)
62 - Eric Roberts (actor)
62 - Melody Thomas Scott (actress)
65 - Rick Moranis (actor)
71 - Cindy Pickett (actress)
71 - James Woods (actor)
72 - Hayley Mills (actress)
81 - Robert Hooks (actor)
84 - James Drury (actor)
88 - Clive Revill (actor)
==============================
Today in Sports History - April 18
1923 - The first game was played in Yankee Stadium, dubbed "the House that Ruth built". The Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox 4-1.
1942 - The Toronto Maple Leafs defeat the Detroit Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup.
1959 - The Montreal Canadiens defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs to win the Stanley Cup.
1962 - The Boston Celtics defeat the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games to win the NBA championship. Bill Russell led the Celtics with 30 points and 40 rebounds in game seven, giving the Celtics their fourth straight NBA title.
1963 - The Toronto Maple Leafs defeat the Detroit Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup.
1964 - Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers becomes the first major league pitcher to strike out the side on just nine pitches.
1966 - The first Major League baseball game played on AstroTurf took place at the Houston Astrodome as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Astros 6-3.
1966 - Bill Russell was named player-coach of the Boston Celtics, becoming the NBA's first black head coach.
1981 - A Minor League baseball game between the Rochester Red Wings and the Pawtucket Red Sox at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, becomes the longest professional baseball game in history: 8 hours and 25 minutes/33 innings (the 33rd inning is not played until June 23).
1982 - The Atlanta Braves win a National League record 11th straight game to open the season.
1985 - Tulane University abolished its 72-year-old basketball program. The reason was charges of fixed games, drug abuse, and payments to players. (The program was reinstated in 1988.)
1987 - Mike Schmidt of the Philadelphia Phillies hits his 500th career home run.
1991 - John Stockton of the Utah Jazz breaks his own NBA single-season assists record with 1,136.
1995 - Joe Montana announces his retirement from football.
1999 - Wayne Gretzky, the National Hockey League's all-time leading scorer, played his last professional game, at Madison Square Garden in New York. During the game Gretzky got his 2,857th NHL point. He retired as the NHL's all-time leading scorer and holder of 61 individual records.
2005 - It was announced the NFL's "Monday Night Football" would leave ABC in 2006 for a new home with ESPN. "Monday Night Football" had been on ABC since 1970.
1775 - Paul Revere rode from Charlestown to Lexington to warn Massachusetts colonists of the arrival of British troops during the American Revolution.
1906 - The Great San Francisco Earthquake and resulting fires destroyed over four square miles of the city and killed more than 3,000 people.
1938 - Comic book hero "Superman" made his debut in Action Comics No. 1. The comic sold at the time for 10 cents a copy. (In 2014, a nearly flawless original copy was sold on eBay for $3.2 million.)
1942 - An air squadron led by Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle raided Tokyo and other Japanese cities.
1946 - The League of Nations went out of business.
1949 - The Irish Republic was proclaimed.
1955 - Physicist Albert Einstein died at age 76.
1956 - American actress Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier of Monaco.
1968 - London Bridge was sold to an American. It was dismantled and rebuilt in Arizona.
1978 - The U.S. Senate voted to hand over control of the Panama Canal to Panama on December 31, 1999.
1983 - A suicide bomber killed 63 people, including 17 Americans, at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon.
1988 - An Israeli court convicted John Demjanjuk, a retired auto worker from Cleveland, of committing war crimes at the Treblinka death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland. (However, Israel's Supreme Court later overturned the conviction.)
1989 - Thousands of Chinese students demanding democracy tried to storm Communist Party headquarters in Beijing.
2002 - Afghanistan's former king, Mohammad Zahir Shah, returned after 29 years in exile.
2004 - Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero ordered a withdrawal of Spanish troops from Iraq.
2007 - The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling, upheld a federal ban on a medical procedure that opponents called partial-birth abortion.
2011 - Standard & Poor's lowered its long-term outlook for the U.S. government's fiscal health from "stable" to "negative."
2012 - American Bandstand and New Year's Rockin' Eve host Dick Clark died at age 82.
2013 - The FBI released surveillance camera images of two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing and asked for the public's help in identifying them, hours after President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama attended an interfaith service at a Roman Catholic cathedral.
2013 - Randy Newman, Heart, Rush, Public Enemy, Donna Summer, Albert King, and producers Quincy Jones and Lou Adler were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame during a ceremony in Los Angeles.
Birthdays
24 - Moises Arias (actor)
26 - Chloe Bennett (actress)
28 - Britt Robertson (actress)
29 - Alia Shawkat (actress)
30 - Vanessa Kirby (actress)
31 - Ellen Woglom (actress)
31 - Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (actress)
31 - Samantha Jade (singer)
34 - America Ferrera (actress)
35 - Miguel Cabrera (baseball player)
39 - Kourtney Kardashian (reality star)
41 - Bryce Johnson (actor)
42 - Kevin Rankin (actor)
42 - Sean Maguire (actor)
42 - Melissa Joan Hart (actress)
47 - David Tennant (actor)
48 - Lisa Locicero (actress)
50 - David Hewlett (actor)
50 - Mary Birdsong (actress)
51 - Maria Bello (actress)
55 - Eric McCormack (actor)
55 - Conan O'Brien (TV host)
56 - Jeff Dunham (comedian)
57 - Jane Leeves (actress)
62 - John James (actor)
62 - Eric Roberts (actor)
62 - Melody Thomas Scott (actress)
65 - Rick Moranis (actor)
71 - Cindy Pickett (actress)
71 - James Woods (actor)
72 - Hayley Mills (actress)
81 - Robert Hooks (actor)
84 - James Drury (actor)
88 - Clive Revill (actor)
==============================
Today in Sports History - April 18
1923 - The first game was played in Yankee Stadium, dubbed "the House that Ruth built". The Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox 4-1.
1942 - The Toronto Maple Leafs defeat the Detroit Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup.
1959 - The Montreal Canadiens defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs to win the Stanley Cup.
1962 - The Boston Celtics defeat the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games to win the NBA championship. Bill Russell led the Celtics with 30 points and 40 rebounds in game seven, giving the Celtics their fourth straight NBA title.
1963 - The Toronto Maple Leafs defeat the Detroit Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup.
1964 - Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers becomes the first major league pitcher to strike out the side on just nine pitches.
1966 - The first Major League baseball game played on AstroTurf took place at the Houston Astrodome as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Astros 6-3.
1966 - Bill Russell was named player-coach of the Boston Celtics, becoming the NBA's first black head coach.
1981 - A Minor League baseball game between the Rochester Red Wings and the Pawtucket Red Sox at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, becomes the longest professional baseball game in history: 8 hours and 25 minutes/33 innings (the 33rd inning is not played until June 23).
1982 - The Atlanta Braves win a National League record 11th straight game to open the season.
1985 - Tulane University abolished its 72-year-old basketball program. The reason was charges of fixed games, drug abuse, and payments to players. (The program was reinstated in 1988.)
1987 - Mike Schmidt of the Philadelphia Phillies hits his 500th career home run.
1991 - John Stockton of the Utah Jazz breaks his own NBA single-season assists record with 1,136.
1995 - Joe Montana announces his retirement from football.
1999 - Wayne Gretzky, the National Hockey League's all-time leading scorer, played his last professional game, at Madison Square Garden in New York. During the game Gretzky got his 2,857th NHL point. He retired as the NHL's all-time leading scorer and holder of 61 individual records.
2005 - It was announced the NFL's "Monday Night Football" would leave ABC in 2006 for a new home with ESPN. "Monday Night Football" had been on ABC since 1970.
