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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