April 18 in history — What Happened Today in History

Gamal Abdel Nasser seizes power in Egypt.

The Republic of Ireland Act comes into force, declaring Éire to be a republic and severing Ireland's "association" with the Commonwealth of Nations.

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.

The International Court of Justice holds its inaugural meeting in The Hague, Netherlands.

Jackie Robinson makes his regular season debut for the Montreal Royals of the International League, to make them the first integrated modern professional baseball team.

World War II: Over 1,000 bombers attack the small island of Heligoland, Germany.

Italian resistance movement: In Turin, despite the harsh repressive measures adopted by Nazi-fascists, a great pre-insurrectional strike begins.

World War II: Operation Vengeance, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is killed when his aircraft is shot down by U.S. fighters over Bougainville Island.

World War II: The Doolittle Raid on Japan: Tokyo, Yokohama, Kobe and Nagoya are bombed.

Pierre Laval becomes Prime Minister of Vichy France.

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.

Superman debuts in Action Comics #1 (cover dated June 1938).

A fire kills 118 people at a wooden church in the small Romanian town of Costești, most of them schoolchildren, after starting during Good Friday services.

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.

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

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

Joan of Arc is beatified in Rome.

The 7.9 Mwearthquake and fire destroy much of San Francisco, California, killing more than 3,000 people, making one of the worst natural disasters in American history.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The University of Alabama is founded in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

War of the First Coalition: The Peace of Leoben is signed by Napoleon Bonaparte and Maximilian, Count of Merveldt, creating an armistice between France and Austria, setting the stage for the Treaty of Campo Formio and ending the War of the First Coalition.[citation needed]

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.

American Revolution: The British Army advances up the Charles River in Massachusetts to destroy supplies of American militias, while Paul Revere and other riders rapidly warn the countryside.

Audrey Tang, Taiwanese Minister of Digital Affairs and programmer

Matt Cooper, Australian rugby league player

Kourtney Kardashian, American television personality

Melissa Joan Hart, American actress

Andrew Ng, British-born American artificial intelligence researcher

Edgar Wright, English filmmaker

Derrick Brooks, American football player

Haile Gebrselassie, Ethiopian runner

Rosa Clemente, American journalist and activist

Eli Roth, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter

David Tennant, Scottish actor

Saad Hariri, Saudi Arabian-Lebanese businessman and politician, 33rd Prime Minister of Lebanon

Willie Roaf, American football player

K. D. Wentworth, American author (born 1951)

Germaine Tillion, French ethnologist and anthropologist (born 1907)

Kamisese Mara, Fijian politician, 2nd President of Fiji (born 1920)

Thor Heyerdahl, Norwegian ethnographer and explorer (born 1914)

Arturo Frondizi, Argentinian lawyer and politician, 32nd President of Argentina (born 1908)

Oktay Rıfat Horozcu, Turkish poet and playwright (born 1914)

Marcel Pagnol, French author, playwright, and director (born 1895)

Guillermo González Camarena, Mexican engineer (born 1917)

Ben Hecht, American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1894)

Meyer Jacobstein, American academic and politician (born 1880)

Maurice Gamelin, Belgian-French general (born 1872)

Albert Einstein, German-American physicist, engineer, and academic (born 1879)

Óscar Carmona, Portuguese field marshal and politician, 11th President of Portugal (born 1869)