TODAY IN HISTORY: APRIL 18

 

April 18

 

796 – King Æthelred I of Northumbria is murdered in Corbridge by a group led by his ealdormen, Ealdred and Wada. The patrician Osbald is crowned, but abdicates within 27 days.

1428 – Peace of Ferrara between Republic of Venice, Duchy of Milan, Republic of Florence and House of Gonzaga: ending of the second campaign of the Wars in Lombardy fought until the Treaty of Lodi in 1454, which will then guarantee the conditions for the development of the Italian Renaissance.

1506 – The cornerstone of the current St. Peter's Basilica is laid.

1518 – Bona Sforza is crowned as queen consort of Poland.

1521 – Trial of Martin Luther begins its second day during the assembly of the Diet of Worms. He refuses to recant his teachings despite the risk of excommunication.

1689 – Bostonians rise up in rebellion against Sir Edmund Andros.

1738 – Real Academia de la Historia ("Royal Academy of History") is founded in Madrid.

1775 – American Revolution: The British advancement by sea begins; Paul Revere and other riders warn the countryside of the troop movements.

1783 – Three-Fifths Compromise: The first instance of black slaves in the United States of America being counted as three fifths of persons (for the purpose of taxation), in a resolution of the Congress of the Confederation. This was later adopted in the 1787 Constitution.

1831 – The University of Alabama is founded in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

1847 – American victory at the battle of Cerro Gordo opens the way for invasion of Mexico.

1857 – "The Spirits Book" by Allan Kardec is published, marking the birth of Spiritualism in France.

1864 – Battle of Dybbøl: A Prussian-Austrian army defeats Denmark and gains control of Schleswig. Denmark surrenders the province in the following peace settlement.

1897 – The Greco-Turkish War is declared between Greece and the Ottoman Empire.

1899 – The St. Andrew's Ambulance Association is granted a royal charter by Queen Victoria.

1902 – The 7.5 M_w  Guatemala earthquake shakes Guatemala with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), killing between 800 and 2,000.

1906 – An earthquake and fire destroy much of San Francisco, California.

1909 – Joan of Arc is beatified in Rome.

1912 – The Cunard liner RMS Carpathia brings 705 survivors from the RMS Titanic to New York City.

1915 – French pilot Roland Garros is shot down and glides to a landing on the German side of the lines during World War I.

1916 – White war on the Italian front (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.

1917 – The II Italian Corps in France leaves from Italy for the western front. It will distinguish itself during the Third Battle of the Aisne and the Second Battle of the Marne, in Bligny and on the sector Courmas – Bois du Petit Champ, where it will considerably contribute to stop the German offensive on Eparnay, aimed to outflank Reims.

1930 – The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) announced that "there is no news" in their evening report.

1939 – Robert Menzies, who became Australia's longest-serving prime minister, is 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 – 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.

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 comes into force, declaring Éire to be a republic and severing Ireland's "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 (formerly Rhodesia) comes into being, with Canaan Banana as the country's first President. The Zimbabwean dollar replaces the Rhodesian dollar as the official currency.

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.

2018 – King Mswati III of Swaziland announces that his country's name will change to Eswatini.

2019 – A redacted version of the Mueller report is released to the United States Congress and the public.