1506: Construction of the current St. Peter’s Basilica begins. St. Peter’s in Vatican City is one of the world’s most important Catholic sites.
1775: The midnight ride of Paul Revere. Paul Revere, a renowned silversmith, is better remembered as a folk hero of the American Revolution who this night in 1775 made a dramatic ride on horseback to warn Boston-area residents of an imminent attack by British troops.
1906: A massive earthquake destroys San Francisco. About 3000 people died in the disaster. Over 80 percent of the city was destroyed by the quake and resulting fires.
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1949: The first ‘Bob-a-Job week’ began when 440,000 British Scouts started a nationwide campaign to raise the £22,000 needed to cover the deficits of the Scout movement. In the first year, £60,000 was raised. The variety of jobs undertaken included a 13-year-old who spent four hours cleaning the silver at 10 Downing Street.
1949: Ireland becomes an independent republic
Six counties in the northern part of the island remained in the Commonwealth, leading to a decades-long ethno-nationalist conflict that culminated in The Troubles.
1951: The European Coal and Steel Community, a precursor of the European Union, is established. The Treaty of Paris was signed by France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
1968: London Bridge was sold for £1m to American oil tycoon Robert McCullough. He decided to knock it down, brick by brick, and have it rebuilt at Lake Havasu in the United States.
1980: Rhodesia became Zimbabwe at midnight and independent from Britain. Canaan Banana was the President and Robert Mugabe the Prime Minister.
1983: Suicide bomber destroys U.S. embassy in Beirut. The U.S. embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, is almost destroyed by a car-bomb explosion that kills 63 people, including the suicide bomber and 17 Americans. The terrorist attack was carried out in protest of the U.S. military presence in Lebanon.
1986: Guinness, the giant brewery business, won their battle to take over the equally large spirits combine, the Distillers Group. The manner of the takeover was later investigated by the Director of Public Prosecutions and led to arrests of top financial figures including the Guinness chief executive, James Saunders.
1989: Chinese students protest against the government. Thousands of Chinese students continue to take to the streets in Beijing to protest government policies and issue a call for greater democracy in the communist People’s Republic of China (PRC). The protests grew until the Chinese government ruthlessly suppressed them in June during what came to be known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre.
2014: Mt. Everest sees its single deadliest day. On April 18, 2014, 16 Nepali mountaineering guides, most of them ethnic Sherpas, were killed by an avalanche on Mt. Everest. It was the single deadliest accident in the history of the Himalayan peak, which rises more than 29,000 feet above sea level and lies across the border between Nepal and China.
BIRTHS ON THIS DAY APRIL 18
David Mark, 77
David Alechenu Bonaventure Mark GCON was born in Otukpo in 1948. He is a retired Nigerian Army brigadier general and politician. He served as the 12th president of the Nigerian Senate from 2007 to 2015 and was the Senator for Benue South senatorial district from 1999 to 2019. He is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party.
John Chiedozie, 64 years
John Okechukwu Chiedozie was born in Owerri in 1960. He is a former professional football player who played for Orient, Notts County, Tottenham Hotspur, Derby County, and Chesterfield and represented Nigeria at international level on nine occasions.
America Ferrera, 40 years
America Georgina Ferrera is an American actress, director, and television producer who turns 40 today. She has received numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to a nomination for an Academy Award.
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