Today in history
Today is Saturday, April 18, the 109th day of 2020. There are 257 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:
1775 — Paul Revere rides from Charlestown to Lexington to warn Massachusetts colonists of the arrival of British troops at the start of the American War of Independence.
1831 — The Sydney Herald, a fourpage weekly newpaper, begins publication with a print run of 750. It became a daily newspaper in 1840, and following John Fairfax’s purchase in 1841, was retitled the Sydney Morning Herald.
1856 — The first ploughing match takes place at
Tokomairiro.
1840 — A month after his arrival at Port Nicholson (Wellington), Samuel Revans publishes the second edition of the New Zealand Gazette, the first newspaper to be printed in New Zealand. Revans had published the first issue in London eight months earlier. The newspaper went through several changes of name, each title less profitable than the previous, before closing in 1844.
1847 — A raid on the Gilfillans’ farm at Matarawa, just east of Whanganui, by six Maori men, left four members of the family dead. Although wounded, John Gilfillan, an artist whose many sketches provide useful insights into Whanganui’s early colonial history, and three of his children were the sole survivors.
1906 — A giant earthquake strikes San Francisco, resulting in fires that devastate the city, and leaving over 1000 dead and 200,000 homeless. 1912 — Turkey announces the closure of the
Dardanelles Strait to shipping.
1914 — A crowd of 28,000 attends the closing of the Auckland Industrial, Agricultural and Mining Exhibition. An estimated 870,000 people attended in its 20 weeks of operation.
1928 — The Milton to Roxburgh railway line is
completed.
1934 — The first laundromat, the Washeteria, is
opened in Fort Worth, Texas, by J.F. Cantrell.
1954 — Gamal Abdel Nasser becomes prime
minister of Egypt.
1968 — London Bridge is sold to American Robert
McCulloch for £1 million, and rebuilt in Arizona.
1974 — The Washington District Court conducting the Watergate proceedings subpoenas President Richard Nixon to produce tape recordings and other material demanded by the special prosecutor.
1980 — The former Rhodesia becomes independent
Zimbabwe.
1993 — In Pakistan, the government of Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif is dismissed by President Ghulam Ishaq Khan in the culmination of his bitter power struggle with the prime minister.
2003 — New Zealand rally driver Possum Bourne is involved in a headon collision while driving over the course before a hillclimb competition at Cardrona. He dies 12 days later.
2013 — The 134yearold fivedayaweek Oamaru Mail and the Christchurch twiceweekly The Star, which was established in 1868, are sold by APN New Zealand Media group to Christchurchbased Mainland Media Ltd. The sale was a move by APN NZ to consolidate holdings.
2014 — During heavy rainfall, a submerged fence is all that saves Roda Davidson from being swept away, after the Kakanui River bursts its banks at the Five Forks bridge. She spent two hours huddled on the roof of her car before being rescued. Heavy rain also caused flooding in Dunedin and Christchurch. Greymouth suffered significant damage after winds of up to 140kmh were recorded.
— An historic payequity agreement is announced by the Government which would mean up to 55,000 lowpaid workers receiving up to a 71% wage increase over the next five years. The announcement is traced back to the damning inquiry five years earlier by former equal opportunities commissioner Judy McGregor and the courtcase victory of resthome worker Kristine Bartlett.
Today’s birthdays:
Alfred Hindmarsh, New Zealand politician (18601918); Peter (Sammy) Henderson, New Zealand Empire Games medalwinner and All Black (19262014); Clive Revill, New Zealandborn British actor (1930); Hayley Mills, British actress (1946); James Woods, US actor (1947); Rick Moranis, US actor (1953); Eric Roberts, US actor (1956); Jane Leeves, British actress (1961);
Maria Bello, US actress (1967); Melissa Joan Hart, US actress (1976); America Ferrera, US actress (1984); Britt Robertson, US actress (1990).