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 destroyed over 4 sq mi. and killed over 500 people.
1923
The first game was played in Yankee Stadium (“the House that Ruth built”). Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox 4–1.
1956
Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier of Monaco.
1968
London Bridge was sold to an American. It was rebuilt in Arizona.
1978
The U.S. Senate voted to hand over the Panama Canal to Panamanian control on Dec. 31, 1999.
2002
Afghanistan’s former king, Mohammad Zahir Shah, returned after 29 years in exile.
2012
American Bandstand and New Year’s Rockin’ Eve host Dick Clark died of heart failure.
Birthdays
Clarence Darrow
1857–1938, American lawyer, born in Kinsman, Ohio.
Lucrezia Borgia
noblewoman (1480)
Carlos Manuel de Cespedes
revolutionist (1819)
Max Weber
painter (1881)
Leopold Stokowski
conductor (1882)
Conan O’Brien
talk-show host (1963)