April 18

For the 1984 Indian film, see April 18 (film).

April 18 in recent years

2024 (Thursday)

2023 (Tuesday)

2022 (Monday)

2021 (Sunday)

2020 (Saturday)

2019 (Thursday)

2018 (Wednesday)

2017 (Tuesday)

2016 (Monday)

2015 (Saturday)

April 18 is the 108th day of the year (109th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 257 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

• 796 – King Æthelred I of Northumbria is murdered in Corbridge by a group led by his ealdormen, Ealdred and Wada. The patrician Osbald is placed on the throne, but is within 27 days abdicated.
• 1025 – Bolesław Chrobry is crowned in Gniezno, becoming the first King of Poland.
• 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.
• 1797 – The Battle of Neuwied: French victory against the Austrians.
• 1807 – The Harwich ferry disaster occurred near the North Sea port of Harwich on the Essex coast (England) in which 60-90 people drowned during the capsizing of a small ferry boat.
• 1831 – The University of Alabama is founded.
• 1848 – 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.
• 1880 – An F4 tornado strikes Marshfield, Missouri, killing 99 people and injuring 100.
• 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 Mw Guatemala earthquake shakes Guatemala with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), killing between 800–2,000.
• 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.
• 1923 – Yankee Stadium, "The House that Ruth Built", opens.
• 1924 – Simon & Schuster publishes the first crossword puzzle book.
• 1930 – BBC reported there was no news, then played out with piano music.
• 1936 – The first Champions Day is celebrated in Detroit, Michigan.
• 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.
• 1946 – The International Court of Justice holds its inaugural meeting in The Hague, Netherlands.
• 1949 – The keel for the aircraft carrier USS United States is laid down at Newport News Drydock and Shipbuilding. However, construction is canceled five days later, resulting in the Revolt of the Admirals.
• 1954 – Gamal Abdel Nasser seizes power in Egypt.
• 1955 – Twenty-nine nations meet at Bandung, Indonesia, for the first Asian-African Conference.
• 1958 – A United States federal court rules that poet Ezra Pound be released from an insane asylum.
• 1961 – The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, a cornerstone of modern international relations, is adopted.
• 1961 – CONCP is founded in Casablanca as a united front of African movements opposing Portuguese colonial rule.
• 1974 – The Prime Minister of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto inaugurates Lahore's dry port.
• 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.
• 1981 – The longest professional baseball game is begun in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The game is suspended at 4:00 the next morning and finally completed on June 23.
• 1983 – A suicide bomber destroys the United States embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 63 people.
• 1988 – The United States launches Operation Praying Mantis against Iranian naval forces in the largest naval battle since World War II.
• 1992 – General Abdul Rashid Dostum revolts against President Mohammad Najibullah of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and allies with Ahmad Shah Massoud to capture Kabul.
• 1996 – In Lebanon, at least 106 civilians are killed when the Israel Defense Forces shell the United Nations compound at Quana where more than 800 civilians had taken refuge.
• 2007 – The Supreme Court of the United States upholds the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act in a 5–4 decision.
• 2007 – A series of bombings, two of them being suicides, occur in Baghdad, killing 198 and injuring 251.
• 2013 – A suicide bombing in a Baghdad cafe kills 27 people and injures another 65.
• 2014 – Sixteen people are killed in an avalanche on Mount Everest.

Births

• 1480 – Lucrezia Borgia, Italian daughter of Pope Alexander VI (d. 1519)
• 1503 – Henry II of Navarre, (d. 1555)
• 1590 – Ahmed I, Ottoman sultan (d. 1617)
• 1605 – Giacomo Carissimi, Italian priest and composer (d. 1674)
• 1648 – Jeanne Guyon, French mystic and author (d. 1717)
• 1666 – Jean-Féry Rebel, French violinist and composer (d. 1747)
• 1740 – Sir Francis Baring, 1st Baronet, English banker and politician (d. 1810)
• 1759 – Jacques Widerkehr, French cellist and composer (d. 1823)
• 1771 – Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg (d. 1820)
• 1772 – David Ricardo, English economist and politician (d. 1823)
• 1794 – William Debenham, English founder of Debenhams (d. 1863)
• 1797 – Adolphe Thiers, French historian and politician, 2nd President of France (d. 1877)
• 1813 – James McCune Smith, American physician and author (d. 1865)
• 1819 – Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, Cuban lawyer and activist (d. 1874)
• 1819 – Franz von Suppé, Austrian composer and conductor (d. 1895)
• 1838 – Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran, French chemist and academic (d. 1912)
• 1857 – Clarence Darrow, American lawyer (d. 1938)
• 1857 – Alexander Shirvanzade, Armenian playwright and author (d. 1935)
• 1858 – Dhondo Keshav Karve, Indian educator and activist, Bharat Ratna Awardee (d. 1962)
• 1863 – Count Leopold Berchtold, Austrian-Hungarian politician and diplomat, Joint Foreign Minister of Austria-Hungary (d. 1942)
• 1863 – Linton Hope, English sailor and architect (d. 1920)
• 1864 – Richard Harding Davis, American journalist and author (d. 1916)
• 1874 – Abd-ru-shin, German author (d. 1941)
• 1874 – Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić, Croatian author and poet (d. 1938)
• 1877 – Vicente Sotto, Filipino lawyer and politician (d. 1950)
• 1879 – Korneli Kekelidze, Georgian philologist and scholar (d. 1962)
• 1880 – Sam Crawford, American baseball player, coach, and umpire (d. 1968)
• 1882 – Isaac Babalola Akinyele, Nigerian ruler (d. 1964)
• 1882 – Leopold Stokowski, English conductor (d. 1977)
• 1884 – Jaan Anvelt, Estonian educator and politician (d. 1937)
• 1888 – Duffy Lewis, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1979)
• 1889 – Jessie Street, Australian activist (d. 1970)
• 1893 – Violette Morris, French shot putter and discus thrower (d. 1944)
• 1897 – Ardito Desio, Italian geologist and cartographer (d. 2001)
• 1897 – Per-Erik Hedlund, Swedish skier (d. 1975)
• 1898 – Patrick Hennessy, Irish soldier and businessman (d. 1981)
• 1901 – Al Lewis, American songwriter (d. 1967)
• 1901 – László Németh, Hungarian dentist, author, and playwright (d. 1975)
• 1902 – Waldemar Hammenhög, Swedish author (d. 1972)
• 1902 – Giuseppe Pella, Italian politician, 32nd Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1981)
• 1904 – Pigmeat Markham, American actor, singer, and dancer (d. 1981)
• 1905 – Sydney Halter, Canadian lawyer and businessman (d. 1990)
• 1905 – George H. Hitchings, American physician and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
• 1907 – Miklós Rózsa, Hungarian-American composer and conductor (d. 1995)
• 1911 – Ilario Bandini, Italian businessman and race car driver (d. 1992)
• 1911 – Maurice Goldhaber, Ukrainian-American physicist and academic (d. 2011)
• 1914 – Claire Martin, Canadian author (d. 2014)
• 1915 – Joy Davidman, American poet and author (d. 1960)
• 1916 – Carl Burgos, American illustrator (d. 1984)
• 1916 – Doug Peden, Canadian basketball player (d. 2005)
• 1917 – Ty LaForest, Canadian-American baseball player (d. 1947)
• 1917 – Frederica of Hanover (d. 1981)
• 1918 – Gabriel Axel, Danish-French actor, director, and producer (d. 2014)
• 1918 – André Bazin, French critic and theorist (d. 1958)
• 1918 – Shinobu Hashimoto, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1918 – Clifton Hillegass, American publisher, founded CliffsNotes (d. 2001)
• 1918 – Tony Mottola, American guitarist and composer (d. 2004)
• 1919 – Virginia O'Brien, American actress and singer (d. 2001)
• 1920 – John F. Wiley, American football player and coach (d. 2013)
• 1921 – Jean Richard, French actor and singer (d. 2001)
• 1922 – Barbara Hale, American actress
• 1922 – Lord Kitchner, Trinidadian singer (d. 2000)
• 1923 – Alfred Bieler, Swiss ice hockey player (d. 2013)
• 1923 – Beryl Platt, Baroness Platt of Writtle, English engineer and politician (d. 2015)
• 1924 – Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2005)
• 1924 – Henry Hyde, American commander, lawyer, and politician (d. 2007)
• 1924 – Roy Mason, English miner and politician, Secretary of State for Defence (d. 2015)
• 1925 – Bob Hastings, American actor (d. 2014)
• 1925 – Marcus Schmuck, Austrian mountaineer and author (d. 2005)
• 1926 – Doug Insole, English cricketer
• 1926 – Günter Meisner, German actor (d. 1994)
• 1927 – Samuel P. Huntington, American political scientist, author, and academic (d. 2008)
• 1927 – Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Polish journalist and politician, Prime Minister of Poland (d. 2013)
• 1927 – Charles Pasqua, French businessman and politician, French Minister of the Interior (d. 2015)
• 1928 – Karl Josef Becker, German cardinal and theologian (d. 2015)
• 1928 – Otto Piene, German sculptor and academic (d. 2014)
• 1929 – Peter Hordern, English soldier and politician
• 1930 – Clive Revill, New Zealand actor and singer
• 1931 – Bill Miles, American director and producer (d. 2013)
• 1934 – James Drury, American actor
• 1934 – George Shirley, American tenor and educator
• 1935 – Brian Clay, Australian rugby league player (d. 1987)
• 1935 – Jerry Dexter, American voice actor (d. 2013)
• 1935 – Costas Ferris, Egyptian-Greek actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1936 – Roger Graef, American-English criminologist, director, and producer
• 1936 – Vladimir Hütt, Estonian physicist and philosopher (d. 1997)
• 1937 – Jan Kaplický, Czech architect, designed the Selfridges Building (d. 2009)
• 1937 – Tatyana Shchelkanova, Russian long jumper and heptathlete (d. 2011)
• 1937 – Teddy Taylor, Scottish journalist and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland
• 1939 – Thomas J. Moyer, American lawyer and judge (d. 2010)
• 1940 – Joseph L. Goldstein, American biochemist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1940 – Jaak Lipso, Estonian basketball player and coach
• 1940 – Mike Vickers, English guitarist, saxophonist, and songwriter (Manfred Mann and The Manfreds)
• 1941 – Michael D. Higgins, Irish sociologist and politician, 9th President of Ireland
• 1942 – Michael Beloff, English lawyer and academic
• 1942 – Steve Blass, American baseball player and sportscaster
• 1942 – Robert Christgau, American journalist and critic
• 1942 – Jochen Rindt, German-Austrian race car driver (d. 1970)
• 1943 – Zeki Alasya, Turkish actor and film director (d. 2015)
• 1944 – Frances D'Souza, Baroness D'Souza, English academic and politician
• 1944 – Robert Hanssen, American FBI agent and spy
• 1944 – Philip Jackson, Scottish sculptor and photographer
• 1945 – Bernard Arcand, Canadian anthropologist and author (d. 2009)
• 1945 – Richard Bausch, American author and academic
• 1945 – Robert Bausch, American author and academic
• 1945 – Margaret Hassan, Irish-Iraqi aid worker (d. 2004)
• 1946 – Jean-François Balmer, Swiss actor
• 1946 – Irene Fernandez, Malaysian activist (d. 2014)
• 1946 – Hayley Mills, English actress
• 1946 – Skip Spence, Canadian-American singer-songwriter, drummer and guitarist (Jefferson Airplane and Moby Grape) (d. 1999)
• 1947 – Kathy Acker, American author and poet (d. 1997)
• 1947 – Moses Blah, Liberian general and politician, 23rd President of Liberia (d. 2013)
• 1947 – Dorothy Lyman, American actress
• 1947 – Cindy Pickett, American actress
• 1947 – Greg Quill, Australian-Canadian singer-songwriter and journalist (d. 2013)
• 1947 – Jerzy Stuhr, Polish actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1947 – James Woods, American actor and producer
• 1948 – Régis Wargnier, French director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1949 – Geoff Bodine, American race car driver
• 1950 – Paul Callery, Australian footballer
• 1950 – Tina Chow, American model and jewelry designer (d. 1992)
• 1950 – Kenny Ortega, American director, producer, and choreographer
• 1950 – Grigory Sokolov, Russian pianist and composer
• 1951 – Ricardo Fortaleza, Australian-Filipino boxer and coach
• 1951 – Pierre Pettigrew, Canadian businessman and politician, 5th Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs
• 1953 – Rick Moranis, Canadian-American actor, comedian, singer and screenwriter
• 1954 – Robert Greenberg, American pianist and composer
• 1956 – Eric Roberts, American actor
• 1957 – Ian Campbell, Australian jumper
• 1957 – Anna Kathryn Holbrook, American actress and educator
• 1958 – Malcolm Marshall, Barbadian cricketer and coach (d. 1999)
• 1958 – Karen Mayo-Chandler, English actress and model (d. 2006)
• 1958 – Thomas Simaku, Albanian-English composer
• 1958 – Tarmo Teder, Estonian poet and critic
• 1959 – Susan Faludi, American journalist and author
• 1959 – Frank Mulholland, Scottish lawyer and politician, Solicitor General for Scotland
• 1960 – Yelena Zhupiyeva-Vyazova, Ukrainian runner
• 1961 – Grandmaster Caz, American rapper and DJ
• 1961 – Kelly Hansen, American singer-songwriter (Foreigner and Hurricane)
• 1961 – Jane Leeves, English actress and dancer
• 1961 – John Podhoretz, American journalist and author
• 1962 – Jeff Dunham, American comedian and ventriloquist
• 1962 – Nick Farr-Jones, Australian rugby player and sportscaster
• 1963 – Mike Mangini, American drummer (Dream Theater, Annihilator, Extreme, and Tribe of Judah)
• 1963 – Eric McCormack, Canadian-American actor and producer
• 1963 – Conan O'Brien, American actor, producer, screenwriter, and talk show host
• 1963 – Phil Simmons, Trinidadian cricketer
• 1963 – Peter Van Loan, Canadian lawyer and politician, 16th Canadian Minister of International Trade
• 1964 – Bez, English drummer and dancer (Happy Mondays and Black Grape)
• 1964 – Jim Ellison, American singer-songwriter (Material Issue) (d. 1996)
• 1964 – Niall Ferguson, Scottish historian and academic
• 1964 – Rithy Panh, Cambodian director and screenwriter
• 1966 – Valeri Kamensky, Russian ice hockey player
• 1967 – Maria Bello, American actress
• 1968 – Mary Birdsong, American actress, singer, and screenwriter
• 1968 – David Hewlett, English-Canadian actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1969 – Keith DeCandido, American author
• 1969 – Stefan Schwarz, Swedish footballer and manager
• 1969 – Robert Změlík, Czech decathlete
• 1970 – Rico Brogna, American baseball player and coach
• 1970 – Greg Eklund, American drummer and guitarist (Everclear and The Oohlas)
• 1970 – Saad Hariri, Saudi Arabian-Lebanese businessman and politician, 66th Prime Minister of Lebanon
• 1970 – François Leroux, Canadian ice hockey player and radio host
• 1970 – Tatiana Stefanidou, Greek journalist and talk show host
• 1971 – Samantha Cameron, English businesswoman, Spouse of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
• 1971 – Oleg Petrov, Russian ice hockey player
• 1971 – Graham Rowntree, English rugby player
• 1971 – Fredro Starr, American rapper and actor (Onyx)
• 1971 – David Tennant, Scottish actor
• 1972 – Rosa Clemente, American journalist and activist
• 1972 – Eli Roth, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1972 – Michael Rutter, English motorcycle racer
• 1973 – Derrick Brooks, American football player
• 1973 – Brady Clark, American baseball player
• 1973 – Haile Gebrselassie, Ethiopian runner
• 1974 – Millie Corretjer, Puerto Rican-American actress and singer
• 1974 – Mark Tremonti, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Creed, Alter Bridge, and Tremonti)
• 1974 – Edgar Wright, English director and screenwriter
• 1975 – GoonRock, American songwriter and producer
• 1975 – Sergei Terehhov, Estonian footballer and manager
• 1975 – Kerim Tekin, Turkish pop singer and musician (d. 1998)
• 1976 – Gavin Creel, American actor and singer
• 1976 – Fayray, Japanese singer-songwriter and actress
• 1976 – Melissa Joan Hart, American actress, director, and producer
• 1976 – Andrew Ilie, Romanian-Australian tennis player
• 1976 – Sean Maguire, English actor
• 1976 – Justin Ross, American politician
• 1976 – Staffan Strand, Swedish high jumper
• 1977 – Dan LaCouture, American ice hockey player
• 1977 – Cindy Taylor, Paraguayan model and actress
• 1979 – Michael Bradley, American basketball player and coach
• 1979 – Matt Cooper, Australian rugby league player
• 1979 – Anthony Davidson, English race car driver
• 1979 – Kourtney Kardashian, American model and businesswoman
• 1979 – Matthew Upson, English footballer
• 1979 – Karl Wolf, Lebanese-Canadian singer-songwriter and producer (Sky)
• 1980 – Rabiu Afolabi, Nigerian footballer and manager
• 1980 – Justin Levens, American mixed martial artist (d. 2008)
• 1980 – Robyn Regehr, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1981 – Elastinen, Finnish rapper and producer (Fintelligens)
• 1981 – Brian Buscher, American baseball player
• 1981 – Mai Hoshimura, Japanese singer-songwriter and pianist
• 1981 – Milan Jovanović, Serbian footballer
• 1981 – Aldo Ramírez, Colombian footballer
• 1981 – Audrey Tang, Taiwanese computer scientist and academic
• 1982 – Ibrahim al-Asiri, Saudi Arabian terrorist
• 1982 – Greg Camarillo, American football player
• 1982 – Ricardo Colclough, Canadian-American football player
• 1982 – Simone Farina, Italian footballer
• 1982 – Scott Hartnell, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1982 – Blair Late, American singer-songwriter and journalist (B3)
• 1982 – Darren Sutherland, Irish boxer (d. 2009)
• 1982 – Marie-Élaine Thibert, Canadian singer
• 1983 – Miguel Cabrera, Venezuelan baseball player
• 1983 – Reeve Carney, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
• 1983 – Fodil Hadjadj, Algerian footballer
• 1983 – Cheryl Haworth, American weightlifter
• 1983 – Cristina Nardozzi, American model, Miss Massachusetts USA 2005
• 1984 – Sokoudjou, Cameroonian mixed martial artist
• 1984 – Red Bryant, American football player
• 1984 – America Ferrera, American actress and producer
• 1985 – Łukasz Fabiański, Polish footballer
• 1985 – Rachel Smith, Panamanian-American model, Miss USA 2007
• 1985 – Elena Temnikova, Russian singer (Serebro)
• 1986 – Billy Butler, American baseball player
• 1986 – Maurice Edu, American soccer player
• 1986 – Taylor Griffin, American basketball player
• 1986 – Conrad Logan, Irish footballer
• 1986 – Efraín Velarde, Mexican footballer
• 1987 – Brett Deledio, Australian footballer
• 1987 – Danny Guthrie, English footballer
• 1987 – Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, English model and actress
• 1987 – Samantha Jade, Australian singer-songwriter and actress
• 1987 – Ivan Tričkovski, Macedonian footballer
• 1988 – Anagabriela Espinoza, Mexican model, Miss International 2009
• 1988 – Andre Frolov, Estonian footballer
• 1988 – Alexander Hauck, South African-German rugby player
• 1989 – Simas Buterlevičius, Lithuanian basketball player
• 1989 – Jessica Jung, American-South Korean singer, dancer, and actress (Girls' Generation)
• 1989 – Alia Shawkat, American actress
• 1989 – Chaiwat Thongsaeng, Thai model and actor
• 1990 – Henderson Álvarez, Venezuelan baseball player
• 1990 – Jake Howells, English footballer
• 1990 – Britt Robertson, American actress
• 1990 – Wojciech Szczęsny, Polish footballer
• 1990 – Junior Torunarigha, Nigerian footballer
• 1990 – Inna Zlidnis, Estonian footballer
• 1992 – Misa Eguchi, Japanese tennis player
• 1993 – Matt Salisbury, English cricketer
• 1993 – Nathan Sykes, English singer-songwriter (The Wanted)
• 1995 – Divock Origi, Belgian footballer
• 1996 – Ioana Ducu, Romanian tennis player
• 1999 – Michael Andrew, American swimmer

Deaths

• 1161 – Theobald of Bec, French-English archbishop (b. 1090)
• 1552 – John Leland, English poet and historian (b. 1502)
• 1556 – Luigi Alamanni, Italian poet and politician (b. 1495)
• 1567 – Wilhelm von Grumbach, German adventurer (b. 1503)
• 1587 – John Foxe, English historian and author (b. 1516)
• 1636 – Julius Caesar, English judge and politician (b. 1557)
• 1650 – Simonds d'Ewes, English lawyer and politician (b. 1602)
• 1674 – John Graunt, English demographer and statistician (b. 1620)
• 1689 – George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys, Welsh judge and politician, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1648)
• 1732 – Louis Feuillée, French astronomer, geographer, and botanist (b. 1660)
• 1763 – Marie-Josephte Corriveau, Canadian murderer (b. 1733)
• 1794 – Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden, English lawyer, judge, and politician, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1714)
• 1796 – Johan Wilcke, Swedish physicist and academic (b. 1732)
• 1802 – Erasmus Darwin, English physician and botanist (b. 1731)
• 1832 – Jeanne-Elisabeth Chaudet, French painter (b. 1761)
• 1859 – Tatya Tope, Indian general (b. 1814)
• 1864 – Juris Alunāns, Latvian philologist and linguist (b. 1832)
• 1873 – Justus von Liebig, German chemist and academic (b. 1803)
• 1898 – Gustave Moreau, French painter and academic (b. 1826)
• 1906 – Luis Martín, Spanish religious leader, 24th Superior-General of the Society of Jesus (b. 1846)
• 1913 – Harrison Clark, American soldier (b. 1842)
• 1917 – Vladimir Serbsky, Russian psychiatrist and academic (b. 1858)
• 1936 – Milton Brown, American singer and bandleader (Light Crust Doughboys) (b. 1903)
• 1936 – Ottorino Respighi, Italian composer and conductor (b. 1879)
• 1938 – George Bryant, American archer (b. 1878)
• 1942 – Aleksander Mitt, Estonian speed skater (b. 1903)
• 1942 – Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, American heiress, sculptor and art collector, founded the Whitney Museum of American Art (b. 1875)
• 1943 – Isoroku Yamamoto, Japanese admiral (b. 1884)
• 1945 – John Ambrose Fleming, English physicist and engineer, invented the vacuum tube (b. 1849)
• 1945 – William, Prince of Albania (b. 1876)
• 1945 – Ernie Pyle, American journalist and soldier (b. 1900)
• 1947 – Jozef Tiso, Slovak priest and politician, President of Slovakia (b. 1887)
• 1949 – Will Hay, English actor and director (b. 1888)
• 1951 – Óscar Carmona, Portuguese field marshal and politician, 11th President of Portugal (b. 1869)
• 1955 – Albert Einstein, German-American physicist, engineer, and academic (b. 1879)
• 1958 – Maurice Gamelin, Belgian-French general (b. 1872)
• 1959 – Irving Cummings, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1888)
• 1959 – Percy Smith, English footballer and manager (b. 1880)
• 1963 – Meyer Jacobstein, American academic and politician (b. 1880)
• 1964 – Ben Hecht, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1894)
• 1965 – Guillermo González Camarena, Mexican engineer (b. 1917)
• 1967 – Karl Miller, German footballer (b. 1913)
• 1974 – Marcel Pagnol, French author, playwright, and director (b. 1895)
• 1976 – Mahmoud Younis, Egyptian engineer (b. 1911)
• 1986 – Marcel Dassault, French businessman, founded Dassault Aviation (b. 1892)
• 1988 – Pierre Desproges, French journalist and actor (b. 1939)
• 1988 – Oktay Rıfat Horozcu, Turkish poet and playwright (b. 1914)
• 1990 – Gory Guerrero, American wrestler and trainer (b. 1921)
• 1993 – Masahiko Kimura, Japanese martial artist and wrestler (b. 1917)
• 1995 – Arturo Frondizi, Argentinian lawyer and politician, 32nd President of Argentina (b. 1908)
• 1996 – Brook Berringer, American football player (b. 1973)
• 1996 – Bernard Edwards, American bass player and producer (Chic and The Power Station) (b. 1952)
• 1997 – Edward Barker, English cartoonist (b. 1950)
• 1997 – Don Pietromonaco, American actor and radio host (b. 1935)
• 1998 – Terry Sanford, American lieutenant and politician, 65th Governor of North Carolina (b. 1917)
• 2002 – Thor Heyerdahl, Norwegian ethnographer and explorer (b. 1914)
• 2002 – Wahoo McDaniel, American football player and wrestler (b. 1938)
• 2003 – Edgar F. Codd, English-American soldier, pilot, and computer scientist (b. 1923)
• 2004 – Kamisese Mara, Fijian politician, 2nd President of Fiji (b. 1920)
• 2005 – Sam Mills, American football player and coach (b. 1959)
• 2007 – Iccho Itoh, Japanese politician (b. 1945)
• 2008 – Germaine Tillion, French ethnologist and anthropologist (b. 1907)
• 2008 – Kay Linaker, American actress and screenwriter (b. 1913)
• 2011 – Olubayo Adefemi, Nigerian footballer (b. 1985)
• 2012 – Dick Clark, American television host and producer, founded Dick Clark Productions (b. 1929)
• 2012 – Cora Hansen, American-Canadian super-centenarian (b. 1899)
• 2012 – René Lépine, Canadian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1929)
• 2012 – John O'Neil, American baseball player and manager (b. 1920)
• 2012 – K. D. Wentworth, American author (b. 1951)
• 2013 – Cordell Mosson, American bass player (Parliament-Funkadelic) (b. 1952)
• 2013 – Steuart Pringle, English general (b. 1928)
• 2013 – Goran Švob, Croatian philosopher and author (b. 1947)
• 2013 – Storm Thorgerson, English graphic designer (b. 1944)
• 2013 – Anne Williams, English activist (b. 1951)
• 2014 – Guru Dhanapal, Indian director and producer (b. 1959)
• 2014 – Sanford Jay Frank, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1954)
• 2014 – Deon Jackson, American singer-songwriter (b. 1946)
• 2014 – Eduard Kosolapov, Russian footballer (b. 1976)
• 2014 – David McClarty, Northern Irish politician (b. 1951)
• 2014 – Brian Priestman, English conductor and academic (b. 1927)
• 2014 – Dylan Tombides, Australian footballer (b. 1994)
• 2015 – Roger Lobo, Macanese-Hong Kong businessman and politician (b. 1923)
• 2015 – Erwin Waldner, German footballer (b. 1933)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Corebus
  • Eleutherius and Antia
  • Galdino della Sala
  • Molaise of Leighlin
  • Perfectus
  • Plato of Sakkoudion
  • April 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Cyril VI of Constantinople
• Anniversary of the Victory over the Teutonic Knights in the Battle of the Ice, 1242 (Russia)
• Army Day (Iran)
• Coma Patient's Day (Poland)
• Independence Day (Zimbabwe), celebrates the independence of Zimbabwe from the United Kingdom in 1980.
• International Day For Monuments and Sites (International)
• Invention Day (Japan)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada