Today is Saturday, April 18, the 108th day of 2009. There are 257 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
On April 18, 1906, a devastating earthquake struck San Francisco, followed by raging fires; estimates of the final death toll range between 3,000 and 6,000.
ON THIS DATE
In 1775, Paul Revere began his famous ride to Lexington, Mass., warning American colonists that the British were coming.
In 1907, San Francisco’s Fairmont Hotel opened, a year to the day after the earthquake.
In 1934, 75 years ago, the first laundromat (called a “washateria”) opened, in Fort Worth, Texas.
In 1942, an air squadron from the USS Hornet led by Lt. Col. James Doolittle raided Tokyo and other Japanese cities.
In 1945, famed American war correspondent Ernie Pyle, 44, was killed by Japanese gunfire on the Pacific island of Ie Shima, off Okinawa.
In 1946, the League of Nations went out of business.
In 1949, the Republic of Ireland was proclaimed.
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 1980, the independent nation of Zimbabwe, formerly Zimbabwe Rhodesia, came into being.
In 1983, 63 people, including 17 Americans, were killed at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, by a suicide bomber.
In 1999, NATO launched its most active day of airstrikes in its assault on Yugoslavia, pummeling refineries, bridges and dozens of other targets in the 25th straight day of attacks. Wayne Gretzky played his last National Hockey League game as his New York Rangers lost to Pittsburgh 2-1 in overtime at Madison Square Garden.
In 2004, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero ordered a withdrawal of Spanish troops from Iraq, trying to calm his uneasy nation after bombings that killed 191 people in Madrid.
In 2008, addressing the United Nations, Pope Benedict XVI said international cooperation needed to solve urgent problems was “in crisis” because decisions rested in the hands of a few powerful nations. Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin gave birth to her fifth child, a son named Trig.
Associated Press
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