On This Day — 18 April
2000s
2026
Seven people are killed and fourteen others are injured in a mass shooting in Kyiv, Ukraine
2026 Kyiv shooting
2019
A redacted version of the Mueller report is released to the United States Congress and the public.
Mueller report
2018
King Mswati III of Swaziland announces that his country's name will change to Eswatini.
King of Eswatini
2018
Anti-government protests start in Nicaragua.
Protests against Daniel Ortega
1900s
1996
The Israeli military commits the Qana massacre in a deliberate shelling of a United Nations compound near the village of Qana in southern Lebanon, killing 106 Lebanese civilians who were taking shelter there and wounding over 100 more.
Qana massacre
1988
The United States launches Operation Praying Mantis against Iranian naval forces in the largest naval battle since World War II.
Operation Praying Mantis
1988
In Israel John Demjanjuk is sentenced to death for war crimes committed in World War II, although the verdict is later overturned.
John Demjanjuk
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.
Zimbabwe
1980
The town of Elmore City, Oklahoma holds its first dance in the town's history.
Elmore City, Oklahoma
1972
East African Airways Flight 720 crashes during a rejected takeoff from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, killing 43.
East African Airways Flight 720
1955
Twenty-nine nations meet at Bandung, Indonesia, for the first Asian-African Conference.
Bandung
1954
Gamal Abdel Nasser seizes power in Egypt.
Gamal Abdel Nasser
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.
The Republic of Ireland Act 1948
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.
Operation Big Bang
1946
The International Court of Justice holds its inaugural meeting in The Hague, Netherlands.
International Court of Justice
1946
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.
Jackie Robinson
1945
World War II: Over 1,000 bombers attack the small island of Heligoland, Germany.
Bomber
1945
Italian resistance movement: In Turin, despite the harsh repressive measures adopted by Nazi-fascists, a great pre-insurrectional strike begins.
Italian resistance movement
1943
World War II: Operation Vengeance, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is killed when his aircraft is shot down by U.S. fighters over Bougainville Island.
Operation Vengeance
1942
World War II: The Doolittle Raid on Japan: Tokyo, Yokohama, Kobe and Nagoya are bombed.
World War II
1942
Pierre Laval becomes Prime Minister of Vichy France.
Pierre Laval
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.
Robert Menzies
1938
Superman debuts in Action Comics #1 (cover dated June 1938).
Superman
1930
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.
1930 Costești wooden church fire
1916
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.
Mines on the Italian front (World War I)
1915
World War I: French pilot Roland Garros is shot down and glides to a landing on the German side of the lines.
World War I
1912
The Cunard liner RMS Carpathia brings 705 survivors from the RMS Titanic to New York City.
Cunard Line
1909
Joan of Arc is beatified in Rome.
Joan of Arc
1906
The 7.9 Mw earthquake and fire destroy much of San Francisco, California, killing more than 3,000 people, making one of the worst natural disasters in American history.
1906 San Francisco earthquake
1902
The 7.5 Mw Guatemala earthquake shakes Guatemala with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), killing between 800 and 2,000.
1902 Guatemala earthquake
1800s
1899
The St. Andrew's Ambulance Association is granted a royal charter by Queen Victoria.
St Andrew's First Aid
1897
The Greco-Turkish War is declared between Greece and the Ottoman Empire.
Greco-Turkish War (1897)
1864
Battle of Dybbøl: A Prussian-Austrian army defeats Denmark and gains control of Schleswig. Denmark surrenders the province in the following peace settlement.
Battle of Dybbøl
1857
The Spirits Book by Allan Kardec is published, marking the birth of Spiritualism in France.
The Spirits Book
1847
American victory at the battle of Cerro Gordo opens the way for invasion of Mexico.
Battle of Cerro Gordo
1831
The University of Alabama is founded in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
University of Alabama
Before 1800
1797
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]
War of the First Coalition
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.
Three-fifths Compromise
1775
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.
American Revolution
1738
Real Academia de la Historia ("Royal Academy of History") is founded in Madrid.
Royal Academy of History
1689
Bostonians rise up in rebellion against Sir Edmund Andros.
Boston
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.
Martin Luther
1518
Bona Sforza is crowned as queen consort of Poland.
Bona Sforza
1506
The cornerstone of the current St. Peter's Basilica is laid.
Cornerstone
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.
Republic of Venice
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.
Æthelred I of Northumbria