This Day in History - April 18

Once again, it should be reiterated, that this does not pretend to be a very extensive history of what happened on this day (nor is it the most original - the links can be found down below). If you know something that I am missing, by all means, shoot me an email or leave a comment, and let me know!

310 - St Eusebius begins his reign as Catholic Pope

387 - Bishop Ambrosius of Milan baptizes Augustinus

1025 - Bolesław Chrobry is crowned in Gniezno, becoming the first King of Poland.

1506 - The cornerstone of the present day St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City was laid.

1521 - Cardinal Alexander questions Martin Luther, after Martin Luther confronted the emperor Charles V in the Diet of Worms and refused to retract his views that ultimately would lead to his excommunication.

1663 - Osman declares war on Austria

1676 - Natives attacked Sudbury, Massachusetts.

1775 - Paul Revere rides from Charlestown to Lexington and warns  the locals of the arrival of British troops, preparing them for what would be the true opening battle of the American Revolution, with the "shot hear around the world".

1838 - Wilkes and his group began their expedition to the South Pole.

1847 - American troops defeated almost 17,000 Mexican soldiers commanded by Santa Anna at Cerro Gordo during the Mexican-American War.

1853 - The first ever train to run in Asia, from Bombay to Tanna.

1861 - Colonel Robert E. Lee turned down an offer to command the Union armies for the upcoming war between the states, and he would eventually become the most prominent military leader for the Confederate cause.

1861 - The Battle of Harper's Ferry, in what was then Virginia, but would shortly be a part of West Virginia, when it seceded from Virginia, after Virginia seceded from the Union. Whew! Say that three times fast!

1897 - John J. McDermott, of New York, won the first Boston Marathon with a time of 2:55:10.

1902 - Denmark became the first nation to adopt fingerprinting to identify criminals

1906 - A huge earthquake registering 8.25 ion the richter scale in San Francisco destroyed over 4 square miles, more than three quarters of the city, and killed more than 500.

1923 - The first game was played in the old Yankee Stadium (“the House that Ruth built”). The New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox, 4–1

1937 - Leon Trotsky called for the overthrow of Soviet leader Josef Stalin.

1942 - France's collaborationist Vichy government capitulated to Adolf Hitler and invited Pierre Laval to form a new government.

1946 - League of Nations was dissolved.

1949 - The Republic of Ireland was established.

1955 - Albert Einstein died.

1956 - Egypt & Israel agree to a cease fire

1968 - London Bridge was sold to an American, and it was eventually relocated and rebuilt in Arizona.

1978 - The U.S. Senate voted to hand over the Panama Canal to Panamanian control, scheduled for December 31, 1999.

1989 - Protests by students in Beijing's Tiananmen Square continue.

1999 - Wayne Gretzky played his final game in the NHL for the New York Rangers. He retired as the NHL's all-time leading scorer and holder of 61 individual records.


Below is the list of the websites used to compile this list:

http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory/April-18

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

http://www.historyorb.com/day/april/18

http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/apr18.htm