Today is Wednesday, April 18, the 109th day of 2012. There are 257 days left in the year.

Today’s highlight:

On April 18, 1942, an air squadron from the USS Hornet led by Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle raided Tokyo and other Japanese cities during World War II.

On this date:

In 1775, Paul Revere began his famous ride from Charlestown to Lexington, Mass., warning American colonists that the British were coming.

In 1831, the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa was officially opened.

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 1910, suffragists showed up at the U.S. Capitol with half a million signatures demanding that women have the right to vote.

In 1912, the RMS Carpathia, carrying survivors of the Titanic disaster, arrived in New York.

In 1934, the first laundromat (called a “washateria”) opened in Fort Worth, Texas.

In 1942, the first World War II edition of The Stars and Stripes was published as a weekly newspaper.

In 1945, famed American war correspondent Ernie Pyle, 44, was killed by Japanese gunfire on the Pacific island of Ie Shima, off Okinawa.

In 1949, the Republic of Ireland was proclaimed.

In 1954, Gamal Abdel Nasser seized power, becoming prime minister of Egypt.

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.

Ten years ago: 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). Amtrak’s Auto Train derailed near Crescent City, Fla., killing four passengers. Afghanistan’s former king, Mohammad Zaher Shah, returned to his country after 29 years in exile. A small plane slammed into a skyscraper in Milan, Italy, killing the plane’s sole occupant and two other people. Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl died near Colla Micheri, Italy, at age 87.

Five years ago: The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling, upheld the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act. Four large bombs exploded in mainly Shiite locations of Baghdad, killing at least 183 people. Mark Buehrle of the Chicago White Sox faced the minimum 27 batters in a 6-0 no-hit victory over the Texas Rangers. Curtis Strange and Hubert Green joined the World Golf Hall of Fame.

One year ago: Standard &Poor’s lowered its long-term outlook for the U.S. government’s fiscal health from “stable” to “negative.” Crystal Mangum, who’d falsely accused three Duke lacrosse players of raping her, was charged with murdering her boyfriend, Reginald Daye. Kenya’s Geoffrey Mutai won the Boston Marathon in a record time of 2:03:02, while fellow Kenyan Caroline Kilel won the women’s race in 2:22:36. The Los Angeles Times won a Pulitzer Prize for revealing that officials in Bell, Calif., were paying themselves exorbitant salaries; but for the first time in the Pulitzers’ 95-year history, no award was given in the category of breaking news. Jennifer Egan’s novel “A Visit From the Goon Squad” won the Pulitzer for fiction.

Associated Press