Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/April 18
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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 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.
April 18: Holy and Great Saturday (Eastern Christianity, 2009); Festival of Matsu (Southeast Asia, 2009); Independence Day in Zimbabwe
- 1025 – Bolesław I Chrobry became the first King of Poland.
- 1506 – Construction of the current St. Peter's Basilica (interior pictured) in Vatican City, to replace the old St. Peter's Basilica built in the 4th century, began.
- 1906 – A major earthquake and resulting fires devastated San Francisco, killing at least 3,000 people and leaving more than half of the city's population homeless.
- 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.
- 1983 – A suicide bomber destroyed the United States Embassy in Beirut with a car bomb, killing over 60 people.
- 1996 – Israeli forces shelled Qana, Lebanon during Operation Grapes of Wrath, killing over 100 civilians and injuring over 110 others at a UN compound.