April
18
Independence
Day
Zimbabwe : April 18 1980
Events
1025
– Bolesław Chrobry is crowned in Gniezno, becoming
the first King of Poland.
1506 – The cornerstone of the current St. Peter's
Basilica is laid.
1518 – Bona Sforza is crowned as queen consort
of Poland.
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.
1689 – Bostonians rise up in rebellion against
Sir Edmund Andros.
1738 – Real Academia de la Historia ("Royal
Academy of History") is founded in Madrid.
1775 – American Revolution: The British advancement
by sea begins; Paul Revere and other riders warn
the countryside of the troop movements.
1797 – The Battle of Neuwied – French victory
against the Austrians.
1831 – The University of Alabama is founded.
1848 – American victory at the battle of Cerro
Gordo opens the way for invasion of Mexico.
1857 – "The Spirits Book" by Allan Kardec
is published, marking the birth of Spiritualism
in France.
1864 – Battle of Dybbøl: A Prussian-Austrian army
defeats Denmark and gains control of Schleswig.
Denmark surrenders the province in the following
peace settlement.
1880 – An F4 tornado strikes Marshfield, Missouri,
killing 99 people and injuring 100.
1881 – Billy the Kid escapes from the Lincoln
County jail in Mesilla, New Mexico.
1897 – The Greco-Turkish War is declared between
Greece and the Ottoman Empire.
1899 – The St. Andrew's Ambulance Association
is granted a Royal Charter by Queen Victoria.
1902 – Quetzaltenango, the second largest city
of Guatemala, is destroyed by an earthquake.
1906 – An earthquake and fire destroy much of
San Francisco, California.
1909 – Joan of Arc is beatified in Rome.
1912 – The Cunard liner RMS Carpathia brings 705
survivors from the RMS Titanic to New York City.
1915 – French pilot Roland Garros is shot down
and glides to a landing on the German side of
the lines during World War I.
1923 – Yankee Stadium, "The House that Ruth
Built", opens.
1924 – Simon & Schuster publishes the first
crossword puzzle book.
1930 – BBC Radio announces that there is no news
on that day.
1936 – The first Champions Day is celebrated in
Detroit, Michigan.
1942 – World War II: The Doolittle Raid on Japan.
Tokyo, Yokohama, Kobe and Nagoya are bombed.
1942 – Pierre Laval becomes Prime Minister of
Vichy France.
1943 – World War II: Operation Vengeance, Admiral
Isoroku Yamamoto is killed when his aircraft is
shot down by U.S. fighters over Bougainville Island.
1945 – Over 1,000 bombers attack the small island
of Heligoland, Germany.
1946 – The International Court of Justice holds
its inaugural meeting in The Hague, Netherlands.
1949 – The keel for the aircraft carrier USS United
States is laid down at Newport News Drydock and
Shipbuilding. However, construction is canceled
five days later, resulting in the Revolt of the
Admirals.
1954 – Gamal Abdal Nasser seizes power in Egypt.
1955 – 29 nations meet at Bandung, Indonesia,
for the first Asian-African Conference.
1958 – A United States federal court rules that
poet Ezra Pound be released from an insane asylum.
1961 – The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations,
a cornerstone of modern international relations,
is adopted.
1961 – CONCP is founded in Casablanca as a united
front of African movements opposing Portuguese
colonial rule.
1974 – The Prime Minister of Pakistan Zulfikar
Ali Bhutto inaugurates Lahore's dry port.
1980 – The Republic of Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia)
comes into being, with Canaan Banana as the country's
first President. The Zimbabwe Dollar replaces
the Rhodesian Dollar as the official currency.
1981 – The longest professional baseball game
is begun in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The game
is suspended at 4:00 the next morning and finally
completed on June 23.
1983 – A suicide bomber destroys the United States
embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 63 people.
1988 – The United States launches Operation Praying
Mantis against Iranian naval forces in the largest
naval battle since World War II.
1992 – General Abdul Rashid Dostum revolts against
President Mohammad Najibullah of the Democratic
Republic of Afghanistan and allies with Ahmed
Shah Massoud to capture Kabul.
1996 – In Lebanon, at least 106 civilians are
killed when the Israel Defense Forces shell the
UN compound at Quana where more than 800 civilians
had taken refuge.
2007 – The Supreme Court of the United States
upholds the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act in
a 5-4 decision.
2007 – A series of bombings, two of them being
suicides, occur in Baghdad, killing 198 and injuring
251.
Holidays
and observances
Army
Day (Iran)
Christian Feast Day:
Corebus
Galdino della Sala
Eleutherius and Antia
Perfectus
Molaise of Leighlin
April 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Independence Day, celebrates the independence
of Zimbabwe from United Kingdom in 1980.
For details, contact Datacentre
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