On This Day: April 18

Updated April 17, 2012, 2:28 pm

On April 18, 1906, a major earthquake struck San Francisco and set off
raging fires. More than 3,000 people died.

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On April 18, 1857, Clarence Darrow, the defense attorney in many dramatic criminal trials, was born. Following his death on March 13, 1938, his obituary appeared in The Times.

Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »

On This Date

By The Associated Press

1775 Paul Revere began his ride from Charlestown to Lexington, Mass., warning American colonists that the British were coming.

1923 The first baseball game was played at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, with New York beating the Boston Red Sox 4-1.

1942 An air squadron led by Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle raided Tokyo and other Japanese cities.

1946 The League of Nations went out of business.

1949 The Irish Republic was proclaimed.

1955 Physicist Albert Einstein died at age 76.

1956 Actress Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier of Monaco.

1978 The U.S. Senate voted 68-32 to turn the Panama Canal over to Panamanian control in 1999.

1983 A suicide bomber killed 63 people, including 17 Americans, at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon.

1989 Thousands of Chinese students demanding democracy tried to storm Communist Party headquarters in Beijing.

1999 Wayne Gretzky, the National Hockey League’s all-time leading scorer, played his last professional game, at Madison Square Garden in New York.

2004 Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero ordered a withdrawal of Spanish troops from Iraq.

2007 The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling, upheld a federal ban on a medical procedure that opponents calls partial-birth abortion.

2011 Standard & Poor’s lowered its long-term outlook for the U.S. government’s fiscal health from “stable” to “negative.”

Current Birthdays

By The Associated Press

Comedian-talk show host Conan O’Brien turns 49 years old today.

AP Photo/Chris Pizzello

Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera turns 29 years old today.

AP Photo/Paul Sancya

1934 James Drury, Actor (“The Virginian”), turns 78

1946 Hayley Mills, Actress, turns 66

1947 James Woods, Actor, turns 65

1953 Rick Moranis, Actor, turns 59

1956 Eric Roberts, Actor, turns 56

1956 Melody Thomas Scott, Actress (“The Young and the Restless”), turns 56

1961 Jane Leeves, Actress (“Frasier”), turns 51

1963 Eric McCormack, Actor (“Will and Grace”), turns 49

1967 Maria Bello, Actress, turns 45

1976 Melissa Joan Hart, Actress (“Sabrina the Teenage Witch”), turns 36

1979 Kourtney Kardashian, Reality TV star, turns 33

1984 America Ferrera, Actress (“Ugly Betty’), turns 28

1990 Britt Robertson, Actress (“The Secret Circle”), turns 22

Historic Birthdays

Clarence Darrow 4/18/1857 – 3/13/1938 American defense lawyer; represented Eugene V. Debs and John T. Scopes.Go to obituary »

39 Lucrezia Borgia 4/18/1480 – 6/24/1519
Italian Renaissance noblewoman of the Borgia family

79 Gaetano Vestris 4/18/1729 – 9/23/1808
French ballet dancer

61 George Henry Lewes 4/18/1817 – 11/28/1878
English philosopher, critic, actor, scientist and editor

55 Carlos Cespedes 4/18/1819 – 3/22/1874
Cuban revolutionary; early fighter for independence from Spain

104 Dhondo Keshav Karve 4/18/1858 – 11/9/1962
Indian social reformer; supported the education of women

80 Max Weber 4/18/1881 – 10/4/1961
Russian-born American painter, printmaker and sculptor

95 Leopold Stokowski 4/18/1882 – 9/13/1977
English-born American conductor

93 George H. Hitchings 4/18/1905 – 2/27/1998
American Nobel Prize-winning pharmacologist (1988)

79 Little Brother Montgomery 4/18/1906 – 9/6/1985
American jazz pianist and vocalist

1775	Paul Revere began his ride from Charlestown to Lexington, Mass., warning American colonists that the British were coming.
1923	The first baseball game was played at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, with New York beating the Boston Red Sox 4-1.
1942	An air squadron led by Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle raided Tokyo and other Japanese cities.
1946	The League of Nations went out of business.
1949	The Irish Republic was proclaimed.
1955	Physicist Albert Einstein died at age 76.
1956	Actress Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier of Monaco.
1978	The U.S. Senate voted 68-32 to turn the Panama Canal over to Panamanian control in 1999.
1983	A suicide bomber killed 63 people, including 17 Americans, at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon.
1989	Thousands of Chinese students demanding democracy tried to storm Communist Party headquarters in Beijing.
1999	Wayne Gretzky, the National Hockey League’s all-time leading scorer, played his last professional game, at Madison Square Garden in New York.
2004	Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero ordered a withdrawal of Spanish troops from Iraq.
2007	The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling, upheld a federal ban on a medical procedure that opponents calls partial-birth abortion.
2011	Standard & Poor’s lowered its long-term outlook for the U.S. government’s fiscal health from “stable” to “negative.”

1934	James Drury, Actor (“The Virginian”), turns 78
1946	Hayley Mills, Actress, turns 66
1947	James Woods, Actor, turns 65
1953	Rick Moranis, Actor, turns 59
1956	Eric Roberts, Actor, turns 56
1956	Melody Thomas Scott, Actress (“The Young and the Restless”), turns 56
1961	Jane Leeves, Actress (“Frasier”), turns 51
1963	Eric McCormack, Actor (“Will and Grace”), turns 49
1967	Maria Bello, Actress, turns 45
1976	Melissa Joan Hart, Actress (“Sabrina the Teenage Witch”), turns 36
1979	Kourtney Kardashian, Reality TV star, turns 33
1984	America Ferrera, Actress (“Ugly Betty’), turns 28
1990	Britt Robertson, Actress (“The Secret Circle”), turns 22

39	Lucrezia Borgia 4/18/1480 – 6/24/1519 Italian Renaissance noblewoman of the Borgia family
79	Gaetano Vestris 4/18/1729 – 9/23/1808 French ballet dancer
61	George Henry Lewes 4/18/1817 – 11/28/1878 English philosopher, critic, actor, scientist and editor
55	Carlos Cespedes 4/18/1819 – 3/22/1874 Cuban revolutionary; early fighter for independence from Spain
104	Dhondo Keshav Karve 4/18/1858 – 11/9/1962 Indian social reformer; supported the education of women
80	Max Weber 4/18/1881 – 10/4/1961 Russian-born American painter, printmaker and sculptor
95	Leopold Stokowski 4/18/1882 – 9/13/1977 English-born American conductor
93	George H. Hitchings 4/18/1905 – 2/27/1998 American Nobel Prize-winning pharmacologist (1988)
79	Little Brother Montgomery 4/18/1906 – 9/6/1985 American jazz pianist and vocalist