Today in History

Today is Monday, April 18, the 108th day of 2022. There are 257 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On April 18, 1775, Paul Revere began his famous ride from Charlestown to Lexington, Massachusetts, warning colonists that British Regular troops were approaching.

On this date:

In 1865, Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston surrendered to Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman near Durham Station in North Carolina.

In 1906, a devastating earthquake struck San Francisco, followed by raging fires; estimates of the final death toll range between 3,000 and 6,000.

In 1923, the first game was played at the original Yankee Stadium in New York; the Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox 4-1.

In 1954, Gamal Abdel Nasser seized power as he became prime minister of Egypt.

In 1955, physicist Albert Einstein died in Princeton, New Jersey, at age 76.

In 1966, Bill Russell was named player-coach of the Boston Celtics, becoming the NBA’s first Black coach.

In 1978, the Senate approved the Panama Canal Treaty, providing for the complete turnover of control of the waterway to Panama on the last day of 1999.

In 1983, 63 people, including 17 Americans, were killed at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, by a suicide bomber.

In 2002, police arrested actor Robert Blake in the shooting death of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, nearly a year earlier (Blake was acquitted at his criminal trial but found liable in a civil trial).

In 2015, a ship believed to be carrying more than 800 migrants from Africa sank in the Mediterranean off Libya; only about 30 people were rescued.

In 2016, “Hamilton,” Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hip-hop stage biography of America’s first treasury secretary, won the Pulitzer Prize for drama.

In 2019, the final report from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation was made public; it outlined Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election but did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government. (Mueller offered no conclusion on the question of whether the president obstructed justice.)

Ten years ago: Defense Secretary Leon Panetta apologized for gruesome photographs published in the Los Angeles Times that purported to show U.S. soldiers posing with the bloodied remains of dead insurgents in Afghanistan two years earlier. Dick Clark, the ever-youthful television host and producer who helped bring rock ‘n’ roll into the mainstream on “American Bandstand” and rang in the New Year for the masses at Times Square, died in Santa Monica, California, at age 82.

Five years ago: Turning back to the economic populism that helped drive his election campaign, President Donald Trump signed an order affecting government contracts and U.S. trade agreements, one that he said should help American workers whose jobs were threatened by skilled immigrants; the signing took place at the headquarters of tool manufacturer Snap-on Inc., in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

One year ago: The government announced that half of all adults in the U.S., or almost 130 million people 18 or older, had received at least one COVID-19 shot. Maren Morris won three awards and Luke Bryan was named entertainer of the year at the Academy of Country Music Awards.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Clive Revill is 92. Actor Robert Hooks is 85. Actor Hayley Mills is 76. Actor James Woods is 75. Actor-director Dorothy Lyman is 75. Actor Cindy Pickett is 75. Actor Rick Moranis is 69. Actor Melody Thomas Scott is 66. Actor Eric Roberts is 66. Actor John James is 66. Rock musician Les Pattinson (Echo and the Bunnymen) is 64. Author-journalist Susan Faludi is 63. Actor Jane Leeves is 61. Ventriloquist-comedian Jeff Dunham is 60. Talk show host Conan O’Brien is 59. Actor Eric McCormack is 59. Actor Maria Bello is 55. Actor Mary Birdsong is 54. Actor David Hewlett is 54. Rock musician Greg Eklund (The Oolahs) is 52. Actor Lisa Locicero is 52. Actor Tamara Braun is 51. TV chef Ludovic Lefebvre is 51. Actor Fredro Starr is 51. Actor David Tennant is 51. Rock musician Mark Tremonti is 48. R&B singer Trina (Trina and Tamara) is 48. Actor Melissa Joan Hart is 46. Actor Sean Maguire is 46. Actor Kevin Rankin is 46. Actor Bryce Johnson is 45. Reality TV star Kourtney Kardashian (kar-DASH’-ee-uhn) is 43. Detroit Tigers first baseman and DH Miguel Cabrera is 39. Actor America Ferrera is 38. Actor Tom Hughes is 37. Actor Ellen Woglom (TV: “Marvel’s Inhumans”) is 35. Actor Vanessa Kirby is 34. Actor Alia Shawkat is 33. Actor Britt Robertson is 32. Actor Chloe Bennet is 30. Rock singer Nathan Sykes (The Wanted) is 29. Actor Moises Arias is 28.

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