Historical Events On April 18

Today is Good Friday, April 18, the 108th day of 2014. There are 257 days left in the year. In 1906, a devastating earthquake struck San Francisco, followed by raging fires; estimates of the final
death toll range between 3,000 and 6,000.

In 1923, the first game was played at the original Yankee Stadium in New York; the Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox 4-1.

In 1944, the ballet "Fancy Free," with music by Leonard Bernstein (BURN'-styn) and choreography by Jerome Robbins, premiered in New York.

In 1949, the Republic of Ireland was proclaimed.

In 1954, Gamal Abdel Nasser seized power as he became prime minister of Egypt.

In 1955, physicist Albert Einstein died in Princeton, N.J., at age 76.

In 1978, the Senate approved the Panama Canal Treaty, providing for the complete turnover of control of the waterway to Panama on the last day of 1999.

In 1983, 63 people, including 17 Americans, were killed at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, by a suicide bomber.

Five years ago: President Barack Obama offered a spirit of cooperation to America's hemispheric neighbors at the Summit of the Americas in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. The White House said President Barack Obama was "deeply disappointed" at news Iran had convicted American journalist Roxana Saberi of spying for the United States and sentenced her to eight years in prison.