12 History Lessons + 6 Births & 5 Deaths for April 18, 2025
Today’s History:
- 1506 – Construction begins on St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, one of the holiest Catholic shrines.
- 1775 – Paul Revere begins his midnight ride from Boston to warn American colonial militia of approaching British forces.
- 1906 – A devastating 7.9 magnitude earthquake hits San Francisco, killing over 3,000 and destroying much of the city.
- 1923 – Yankee Stadium, “The House That Ruth Built,” officially opens in New York City.
- 1942 – The Doolittle Raid: U.S. bombers strike Tokyo in the first American attack on the Japanese mainland during WWII.
- 1946 – The League of Nations holds its final session and is formally dissolved.
- 1955 – Albert Einstein signs his final letter, urging the control of nuclear weapons.
- 1980 – The Republic of Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) achieves independence from the United Kingdom.
- 1983 – A suicide bombing at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut kills 63 people.
- 2002 – Robert Hanssen, FBI agent and convicted spy, is sentenced to life in prison without parole.
- 2014 – NASA’s Kepler mission confirms the discovery of Kepler-186f, an Earth-sized planet in a habitable zone.
- 2020 – U.S. protests erupt over pandemic lockdown orders, with armed demonstrators in several state capitals.
Today’s Birthdays:
- 1947 – James Woods, actor (Casino, Salvador) (78)
- 1963 – Conan O’Brien, comedian and late-night TV host (62)
- 1976 – Melissa Joan Hart, actress (Clarissa Explains It All, Sabrina the Teenage Witch) (49)
- 1981 – Alexis Bledel, actress (Gilmore Girls, The Handmaid’s Tale) (44)
- 1985 – Luka Modrić, Croatian soccer star and Ballon d’Or winner (40)
- 1993 – Moises Arias, actor (Hannah Montana, The Kings of Summer) (32)
Today’s Deaths:
- 1955 – Albert Einstein, theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate (76)
- 1959 – Irving Cummings, actor and film director (The Story of Alexander Graham Bell) (70)
- 1988 – Clifton Hillegass, creator of CliffsNotes study guides (70)
- 2011 – Elisabeth Sladen, British actress (Doctor Who, The Sarah Jane Adventures) (65)
- 2021 – Walter Mondale, former U.S. Vice President under Jimmy Carter (93)
Our revenue comes from a combination of direct subscriptions from users and commissions earned by affiliate commissions from sponsors’ links and banners. Some of the links you click may be affiliate links that generate that revenue.