TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY is Thursday, April 18, the 109th day of 2024. 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 newspaper, 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 M¯aori 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.
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.
1930 A quiet day prompts a BBC news announcer to say ‘‘there is no news’’ at the start of the scheduled 8.45pm bulletin and play music instead.
1934 — The first laundromat, the Washeteria, is opened in Fort Worth, Texas, by J.F. Cantrell.
1942 The first US air raid on mainland Japan in World War 2 bombs Tokyo and other major cities.
1943 — US pilots down plane carrying Pearl Harbour attack Isoroku Yamamoto; the commanderinchief of the Imperial Japanese Navy is killed.
1949 — The Republic of Ireland Act
1948, as passed by the Irish Parliament, comes into force, ending Ireland’s status as a British dominion.
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.
1994 — Cricketer Brian Lara hits 375 runs in one day for the West Indies against England to beat Garfield Sobers' world record.
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.
2017 — 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.
2020 — Canada's worst modern mass shooting as a gunman kills 18 people, including a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer, across Nova Scotia.
Today’s birthdays:
Lucrezia Borgia, Italian noblewoman (14801519); 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); Malcolm Marshall. West Indies cricketer (195899); Jane Leeves, British actress (1961); Maria Bello, US actress (1967); David Tennant, Scottish actor (1971); Haile Gebrselassie, Ethiopian athlete (1973); Melissa Joan Hart, US actress (1976); Kourtney Kardashian, American TV star (1979); America Ferrera, US actress (1984); Britt Robertson, US actress (1990).
Quote of the day:
‘‘Thank God I have no friends.’’ — Kourtney Kardashian, American reality TV star, who was born on this day in 1979.