On April 18, 1775, Paul Revere began his famous ride from Charlestown to Lexington, Mass., warning American colonists that the British were coming.
In 1906 a devastating earthquake struck San Francisco, followed by raging fires; about 700 people died.
In 1923 the first game was played in Yankee Stadium. The Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox, 4-1.
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 ceased to exist.
In 1949 the Irish republic was proclaimed.
In 1956 actress Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier of Monaco in a civil ceremony.
In 1978 the Senate voted 68-32 to turn the Panama Canal over to Panamanian control on Dec. 31, 1999.
In 1980 Zimbabwe Rhodesia became the independent nation of Zimbabwe.
In 1983 62 people, including 17 Americans, were killed at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut by a suicide bomber.
In 1989 thousands of Chinese students demanding democracy tried to storm Communist Party headquarters in Beijing.
In 2003 Scott Peterson was arrested in San Diego in the death of his wife, Laci, who was eight months’ pregnant when she vanished on Christmas Eve.
