Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/April 18
This is a list of selected April 18 anniversaries that appear in the "On this day" section of the Main Page. To suggest a new item, in most cases, you can be bold and edit this page. Please read the selected anniversaries guidelines before making your edit. However, if your addition might be controversial or on a day that is or will soon be on the Main Page, please post your suggestion on the talk page instead.
Please note that the events listed on the Main Page are chosen based more on relative article quality and to maintain a mix of topics, not based solely on how important or significant their subjects are. Only four to five events are posted at a time and thus not everything that is "most important and significant" can be listed. In addition, an event is generally not posted this year if it is also the subject of the scheduled featured article, featured list or picture of the day.
To report an error when this appears on the Main Page, see Main Page errors. Please remember that this list defers to the supporting articles, so it is best to achieve consensus and make any necessary changes there first.
Images
Use only ONE image at a time
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Damage from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake -
St. Peter's Basilica in 2004 -
Saint Peter's Basilica by Giovanni Paolo Pannini -
A B-25 launching from the USS Hornet during Col. Doolittle's Raid
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Boleslaus I of Poland
Ineligible
| Blurb | Why ineligible |
|---|---|
| 1025 – Bolesław I Chrobry became the first King of Poland. | refimprove section, unreferenced section |
| 1961 – The Soviet Pluton planetary radar performed the world's first successful radiolocation of the planet Venus. | stub |
| 1983 – A suicide bomber destroyed the United States Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, killing over 60 people with a car bomb. | needs more footnotes |
| 1988 – Iran–Iraq War: U.S. naval forces attacked Iranian forces in retaliation for the Iranian mining of the Persian Gulf and the subsequent damage to the American frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts. | refimprove section |
| 1992 – General Abdul Rashid Dostum revolted against the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and allied with Ahmad Shah Massoud to capture the Kabul. | Need to verify date -- Dostum's article says 18 Apr, but Civil war in Afghanistan (1989–1992) makes it seem like he defected earlier |
Eligible
- 1942 – World War II: Sixteen B-25 Mitchell bombers from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet carried out the Doolittle Raid, the first Allied attack on the Japanese home islands.
- 1996 – Israeli forces shelled Qana, Lebanon, during Operation Grapes of Wrath, killing over 100 civilians and injuring over 110 others at a UN compound.
Notes
- Battles of Lexington and Concord appears on April 19; the midnight ride and the battles should not both appear in the same year for variety's sake.
April 18: Independence Day in Zimbabwe (1980); Fast of the Firstborn begins at dawn and Passover begins at sunset (Judaism, 2011); Patriots' Day (Massachusetts and Maine, 2011)
- 1506 – Construction of the current St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, to replace the old basilica built in the 4th century, began.
- 1775 – American Revolutionary War: Colonists Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel Prescott began a "midnight ride" from Boston to Lexington to warn residents about the impending arrival of British troops.
- 1906 – A major earthquake and resulting fires devastated San Francisco (damage pictured), killing at least 3,000 people and leaving more than half of the city's population homeless.
- 1947 – In one of the largest non-nuclear single explosive detonations in history, the Royal Navy set off 4,000 tonnes of surplus ammunition in an unsuccessful attempt to destroy the island of Heligoland, Germany.