April 18 is the 108st day of the year (109nd in leap years) according to the Gregorian calendar. There are 257 days remaining until the end of the year.
Events
- 1906 - city of San Francisco; It was destroyed by the 7,9 magnitude earthquake that lasted for 50 seconds and the fires that followed. 28 buildings were destroyed, nearly 3000 people died and 100 were left homeless.
- 1916 – World War I: The Russian Empire occupied Trabzon, starting the Trabzon Operation.
- 1920 – The Istanbul Government established the Kuva-yi Inzibatiye against the Kuvâ-yi Milliye, which carried out the National Struggle. These forces supported the revolt around Adapazarı; however, he was defeated by the regular troops of the Ankara Government.
- 1923 - Yankee Stadium opened.
- 1936 – The first paper was produced at the Izmit Paper Factory.
- 1939 – War Liability Law was enacted.
- 1939 – Franz von Papen was appointed to the German Embassy in Ankara.
- 1942 – II. World War II: The U.S. bombards Japan with its B-25s, initiating the Doolittle Raid.
- 1946 - The League of Nations is dissolved.
- 1951 – With the signing of the Paris Agreement, the European Coal and Steel Community was established, which is the first step to lay the foundations of today's European Union.
- 1954 – Gamal Abdelnasser took office as prime minister in Egypt, replacing Mohammed Najib.
- 1955 – Bandung Conference: The conference started in Bandung, Indonesia, where 29 non-aligned African and Asian countries came together.
- 1960 – An Investigation Commission was established in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey to investigate the CHP and the press. İnönü said, “It is a dangerous thing to leave this democratic regime and turn it into a oppressive regime. If you continue on this path, I will not be able to save you either."
- 1974 – In Italy, the Red Brigades kidnapped Prosecutor Mario Sossi.
- 1977 – Veli Ballı finished second in the Boston Marathon.
- 1983 – A suicide attack on the US Embassy in Beirut killed 63 people, including the bomber.
- 1986 – A fire broke out in the military ammunition depots in Yahşihan town of Kırıkkale. The town was evacuated.
- 1989 – The first IVF in Turkey was born at Ege University IVF Center in Izmir.
- 1989 – Thousands of students take to the streets in China to demand broader democracy.
- 1992 – General Abdul Reşid Dostum started a revolt against President Mohammad Najibullah to seize the capital Kabul.
- 1993 – President of Pakistan, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, dissolved the Assembly.
- 1996 – Israeli troops bomb a UN settlement in Lebanon: 106 civilians killed.
- 1999 – Early general elections were held in Turkey: DSP became the first party.
- 2002 – Former King of Afghanistan, Zahir Shah, returned to his country after 29 years of exile.
- 2007 – Zirve Publishing House massacre: In the raid on the Zirve Bookstore in Malatya; Three Christians, one German and two Turks, were killed with their throats slit.
- 2009 – The open buffet containing 5 types of food prepared at the 1028th Open Buffet Food Festival organized by Kuşadası Professional Chefs Association within the scope of Tourism Week events entered the Guinness Book of Records.
Births
- 359 – Gratian, Western Roman Emperor (d. 383)
- 1480 – Lucrezia Borgia, Pope VI. Alexander's daughter (d. 1519)
- 1589 – John, Duke of Östergötland (d. 1618)
- 1590 – Ahmed I, 14th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (d. 1617)
- 1771 – Karl Philipp, Austrian prince and field marshal (d. 1820)
- 1772 – David Ricardo, British economist and politician (d. 1823)
- 1805 – Giuseppe De Notaris, Italian botanist (d. 1877)
- 1863 – Leopold Berchtold, Austro-Hungarian politician, diplomat, and statesman (d. 1942)
- 1874 – Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić, Croatian writer (d. 1938)
- 1902 – Giuseppe Pella, Italian Christian Democrat politician and prime minister of Italy from 1953 to 1954 (d. 1981)
- 1905 – George H. Hitchings, American physician and Nobel Prize laureate in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1998)
- 1905 – Yavuz Abadan, Turkish lawyer, politician and writer (d. 1967)
- 1907 – Miklós Rózsa, Hungarian-American soundtrack composer and Academy Award winner for Best Original Score (d. 1995)
- 1918 – André Bazin, French film critic and film theorist (d. 1958)
- 1921 – Jean Richard, French actor (d. 2001)
- 1922 – Barbara Hale, American actress (d. 2017)
- 1927 – Samuel P. Huntington, American political scientist (d. 2008)
- 1927 – Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Polish journalist, politician and statesman (b. 2013)
- 1930 - Clive Revill, New Zealand character actor
- 1935 – Costas Ferris, Greek film director
- 1940 – Joseph L. Goldstein, American biochemist, geneticist, and Nobel Prize laureate in Physiology or Medicine
- 1941 – Michael D. Higgins, Irish politician, poet, sociologist, author and broadcaster
- 1942 – Robert Christgau, American essayist and music critic
- 1942 – Jochen Rindt, German former Formula 1 driver racing for Austria (d. 1970)
- 1942 – Tınaz Titiz, Turkish politician and former Minister of Culture and Tourism
- 1943 – Zeki Alasya, Turkish theater and cinema artist (d. 2015)
- 1946 Hayley Mills, English actress and singer
- 1947 – Jerzy Stuhr, Polish actor and director
- 1947 – James Woods, American stage and film actor
- 1951 – Barış Pirhasan, Turkish director, screenwriter and poet
- 1955 – Oğuz Sarvan, Turkish dentist and football referee
- 1956 – Eric Roberts, American actor
- 1963 – Conan O'Brien, American comedian
- 1963 – Eric McCormack, Canadian-born American actor, television producer, and writer
- 1964 – Niall Ferguson, Scottish historian
- 1964 – Zazie (Isabelle Marie Anne de Truchis de Varennes), French singer-songwriter and former model
- 1967 – Mesut Yar, Turkish journalist and TV personality
- 1968 – Murat Kekilli, Turkish singer
- 1969 – Serdar Deniz, Turkish actor
- 1970 – Saad Hariri, Lebanese politician and businessman
- 1971 – David Tennant, Scottish actor
- 1972 – Eli Roth, American actor and director
- 1973 – Haile Gebrselassie, Ethiopian record-breaking athlete
- 1975 – Kerim Tekin, Turkish pop music artist and actor (d. 1998)
- 1976 – Melissa Joan Hart, American Actress
- 1977 – Kenan Görgün, Belgian writer of Turkish origin
- 1981 – Derrick Obasohan, American basketball player
- 1982 – David Toledo, former Mexican football player
- 1982 – Sedat İrfan, Turkish football player
- 1984
- B-boy Lilou, French dancer
- America Ferrera, American actress
- 1985 – Rachel Renee Smith, American model, beauty queen and actress
- 1986 – Conrad Logan, Irish football player
- 1987 – Rosie Alice Huntington-Whiteley, British model
- 1988 – Kayleigh McEnany, American political commentator, journalist, and author
- 1989 – Alia Martine Shawkat, American actress and filmmaker
- 1990 – Brittany Leanna Robertson, American actress
- 1992 – Chloe Bennet, American actress and singer
- 1993 - Kazuki Mine, Japanese football player
- 1994 – Moises Arias, Colombian-American actress
- 1995 – Lee Seung-yun, South Korean archer
- 1996 – Aleksey Jigalkovic, Belarusian singer who won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2007
- 1997 – Donny van de Beek, Dutch football player
- 1998 – Yudai Konishi, Japanese football player
Deaths
- 727 – Agallianos Kontoskeles, Byzantine army commander and rebel leader
- 963 – Stefanos, second son of Byzantine emperor Romanos I (reigned 920–944) and Theodora, co-emperor from 924 to 945
- 1558 – Hürrem Sultan (known in Europe as The Red or Roxelana), married wife of Solomon I (b. 1502-06)
- 1674 – John Graunt, English statistician (b. 1620)
- 1690 – Charles Léopold Nicolas Sixte, fifth duke of Lorraine (b. 1643)
- 1802 – Erasmus Darwin, English physician, natural philosopher, physiologist, inventor, and poet (b. 1731)
- 1845 – Nicolas-Théodore de Saussure, Swiss chemist (b. 1767)
- 1853 – William R. King, American politician and diplomat (b. 1786)
- 1869 – Giuseppe Giacinto Moris, Italian botanist (b. 1796)
- 1871 – Ömer Lütfi Pasha, Serdar-i Ekrem of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1806)
- 1873 – Justus von Liebig, German chemist (b. 1803)
- 1898 – Gustave Moreau, French symbolist painter (b. 1826)
- 1936 – Ottorino Respighi, Italian composer (b. 1879)
- 1941 – Alexandros Koryzis, Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1885)
- 1943 – Hafiz Burhan, Turkish singer (b. 1897)
- 1943 – Isoroku Yamamoto, Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy Combined Fleet (b. 1884)
- 1945 – Ernie Pyle, Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist and war correspondent (b. 1900)
- 1945 – Wilhelm, prince of Albania (b. 1876)
- 1949 – Leonard Bloomfield, American linguist (b. 1887)
- 1949 – Otto Nerz, German football player and first manager of the Germany national football team (b. 1892)
- 1955 – Albert Einstein, German physicist and Nobel Prize laureate in Physics (b. 1879)
- 1958 – Maurice Gustave Gamelin, French general (b. 1872)
- 1958 – Noah Young, American actor (b. 1887)
- 1964 – Ben Hecht, American novelist, screenwriter, and director (b. 1894)
- 1967 – Friedrich Heiler, German theologian and historian of religions (b. 1892)
- 1970 – Michał Kalecki, Polish economist (b. 1899)
- 1974 – Marcel Pagnol, French writer, playwright, and director (b. 1895)
- 1976 – Carl Peter Henrik Dam, Danish scientist (b. 1895)
- 1979 – Esengül, Turkish singer (b. 1954)
- 1980 – Suut Kemal Yetkin, Turkish essayist and art historian (b. 1903)
- 1984 – Leopold Lindtberg, Austrian-born Swiss film and theater director (b. 1902)
- 1986 – Marcel Dassault, French aircraft manufacturer (b.1892)
- 1986 – Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock, German naval officer (b. 1911)
- 1988 – Oktay Rifat Horozcu, Turkish poet (b. 1914)
- 1988 – Antonín Puč, Czech former international football player (b. 1907)
- 1989 – Adil Atan, Turkish wrestler (b. 1929)
- 1989 – Candan Tarhan, Turkish football player and coach (b. 1942)
- 1990 – Frédéric Rossif, documentarian influenced by "cinema-reality" (b. 1922)
- 1993 – Elisabeth Jean Frink, English sculptor and printmaker (b. 1930)
- 2002 – Thor Heyerdahl, Norwegian explorer and anthropologist (b. 1914)
- 2003 – Edgar Frank “Ted” Codd, English computer scientist (b. 1923)
- 2003 – Teoman Köprülüler, Turkish politician and former Minister of Commerce (b. 1934)
- 2004 – Gürdal Duyar, Turkish sculptor (b. 1935)
- 2004 – Kamisese Mara, Fijian politician (b. 1920)
- 2007 – Ali Dinçer, Turkish politician (b. 1945)
- 2008 – Joy Page, American actress (b. 1924)
- 2012 – Richard Wagstaff “Dick” Clark Jr., American radio and television producer (b. 1929)
- 2013 – Serkan Acar, Turkish football player (b. 1948)
- 2013 – Pierre Drai, French judge (b. 1926)
- 2013 – Storm Thorgerson, British graphic designer (b. 1944)
- 2015 – Kayıhan Keskinok, Turkish painter (b. 1923)
- 2016 – Adnan Mersinli, Turkish actor (b. 1940)
- 2017 – Yvonne Monlaur, French actress (b. 1939)
- 2017 – Othman Wok, Singaporean politician (b. 1924)
- 2018 – Bruno Sammartino, Italian-American retired professional wrestler (b. 1935)
- 2018 – Ercan Vuralhan, Turkish bureaucrat and politician (b. 1943)
- 2018 – Dale Winton, English DJ, television actor and presenter (b. 1955)
- 2019 – Lyra Catherine McKee, female Northern Irish journalist (b. 1990)
- 2020 – Erik Belfrage, Swedish diplomat, banker and politician (b. 1946)
- 2020 – Gulshan Ewing, Indian journalist and socialite (b. 1928)
- 2020 – Eva Konrad Hawkins, Hungarian-born American marine scientist, biologist, botanist, and academic (b. 1930)
- 2020 – Bob Lazier, American speedway driver (b. 1938)
- 2020 – Urano Navarrini or Urano Benigni, Italian professional football player and manager (b. 1945)
- 2020 – Jacques Rosny, French actor (b. 1939)
- 2020 – Lobsang Thubten Trinley Yarphel was Tibet's 5th Gangchen Tulku Rinpoche. Tibetan-Italian lama of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism (b. 1941)
- 2021 – Naïma Ababsa, Algerian singer (b. 1963)
- 2021 – Erol Demiröz, Turkish actor and director (b. 1940)
- 2021 – Necdet Üruğ, Turkish soldier (b. 1921)
- 2022 – Lidiya Alfeyeva, Soviet-Ukrainian athlete (b. 1946)
- 2022 – Harrison Birtwistle, British opera and western classical composer (b. 1934)
- 2022 – Valerio Evangelisti, Italian writer (b. 1952)
- 2022 – Vyacheslav Trubnikov, Soviet-Russian journalist, political scientist, intelligence officer, and diplomat (b. 1944)
Holidays and special occasions
- World Monuments and Sites Day
- World Amateur Radio and Amateur Radio Day
- Withdrawal of Russian and Armenian troops from Baskale district of Van (1918)