Today in History

April 18

1663 - Turks declare war against Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I. 1858 - A 60-day rainfall begins in Chicago.

1906 - Earthquake rocks San Francisco, California, killing about 700 people.

1934 - The first US coin-operated laundry opens in Fort Worth, Texas. 1942 - Lt Gen James Doolittle leads the first US air raid on Japan in the Second World War.

1945 - Soviet Union and Bolivia establish diplomatic relations.

1956 - American film actress Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier III of Monaco.

1980 - Former Rhodesia becomes independent Zimbabwe.

1986 - Angry crowds protest outside American embassies throughout the world as backlash continues against US attack on Libya.

1988 - US Navy destroys two offshore Iranian oil platforms and bombs two frigates in retaliation for a mine explosion that damaged a US frigate.

1990 - Eleven schoolchildren and four others are killed when a school bus is set ablaze during streetfighting in Beirut. 1992 - Former Afghanistan King Mohammad Zahir Shah returns after 20 years exile in Italy.

1993 - Pakistan President Gulam Ishaq Khan sacks Nawaz Sharif as prime minister.

1994 - Brian Lara scores 375 against England to beat Sobers’ record. 1996 - Gunmen massacre 18 Greek tourists outside a Cairo hotel in Egypt.

2007 - 183 people are killed when four bombs explode in Baghdad. 2008 - The son of the Dutch defence chief Gen Peter van Uhm is killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan.

2011 - Emirates Aluminium’s (Emal) smelter plant opens in Al Taweelah, Abu Dhabi.

2012 - Commercial flights are reintroduced between Iraq and Kuwait after 22 years.

2014 - Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika wins fourth term with a landslide.

2015 - Dubai sets up the Mohammad Bin Rashid Space Centre.

2016 - Indian court issues nonbailable arrest warrant against businessman and loan defaulter Vijay Mallya.