April 2018 in History

Events in History

Election of Interest

Apr 8 Hungarian parliamentary election won by right-wing Fidesz–KDNP alliance with Viktor Orbán remaining Prime Minister

Event of Interest

Apr 9 US Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois becomes the first senator to give birth while in office

Event of Interest

Apr 10 Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg begins testifying before US Congress about data use and security

Apr 14 National Gardening Day, since 2018 and according to the National Day Calendar
Apr 14 US, UK and French forces carry out airstrikes on sites associated with Syria's chemical weapons program, in response to Douma gas attack

Historic Publication

Apr 17 Former F.B.I. director James Comey publishes his political autobiography “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership”

Apr 17 Protests across India at the rape and murder of an 8-year old Muslim girl in Kathua, Bengalu
Apr 18 Protests begin in Managua, Nicaragua, over proposed changes to social security, protesters beaten by suspected pro-government gangs
Apr 19 King Mswati III of Swaziland changes the name of Swaziland to Eswatini, which translates as the “Land of the Swati”

Election of Interest

Apr 19 Miguel Diaz-Canel is elected Cuba's new president, after former president Raúl Castro steps down

Apr 19 US Senator Tammy Duckworth (Illinois (D)) is the first parent to bring a baby into the Senate chambers, a day after the Senate votes to allow babies on the chamber's floor

Charles to Succeed Elizabeth

Apr 20 Commonwealth countries decide Prince Charles will succeed Queen Elizabeth as the next head of the Commonwealth

Frida Kahlo Barbie Banned

Apr 20 Mexican court bars sales of controversial Frida Kahlo Barbie doll

Apr 22 Bus crash in North Korea kills 36, with most Chinese tourists
Apr 22 Gunman opens fire at a Waffle House in Nashville, Tennessee, killing four before James Shaw Jr. wrestled the rifle from the gunman's hands
Apr 22 Saudi-led coalition airstrike kills more than 20 at a wedding in northwestern Yemen
Apr 23 Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan resigns after 10 years in office after mass protests against him beginning an unconstitutional third term
Apr 23 Mario Abdo Benítez is elected President of Paraguay
Apr 23 Van deliberately driven into pedestrians in Toronto, Canada, killing 10 and injuring 13
Apr 24 Golden State Killer suspect Joseph DeAngelo arrested and charged with eight murders after being identified through genealogy websites
Apr 24 Suffragist Millicent Fawcett is the first woman to have a statue erected in Parliament Square, London, England

Event of Interest

Apr 24 US President Donald Trump hosts his first state dinner for visiting French President Emmanuel Macron

Apr 25 Danish inventor Peter Madsen found guilty of killing and desecrating body of journalist Kim Wall aboard submarine, sentenced to life imprisonment
Apr 25 Indian religious leader Asaram Bapu is sentenced to life for raping a 16-year old girl
Apr 26 Serial killer "Golden State Killer" identified after 40 years as a former police officer, responsible for 12 killings, 50 rapes in California

Event of Interest

Apr 27 German leader Angela Merkel has a 1-day trip to Washington, DC, meeting US President Donald Trump

Summit of Interest

Apr 27 Historic Korean summit, the North's Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in of South Korea agree to officially end Korean war and rid peninsula of nuclear weapons

Apr 27 Mass protests across Spain after 5 men convicted of sexual abuse but not rape of teenage girl during Running of the Bulls festival in Pamplona
Apr 27 More than 40 Tuareg killed over two days by suspected jihadists in Menaka region, Mali
Apr 28 Indian government announces electricity has now reached every Indian village
Apr 28 World's largest child sacrifice, 140 remains uncovered by archaeologists near Trujillo, Peru, dating back 550 years to Chimú civilisation
Apr 29 Sweden's official Twitter account confirms Swedish meatballs actually originated in Turkey
Apr 29 UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd resigns amid immigration scandal involving the Windrush generation
Apr 30 Coordinated double suicide attack kills 36 in Kabul, Afghanistan, including nine journalists
Apr 30 Etienne Terrus art museum in Elne, France, reveals half of its collection are fakes
Apr 30 Pakistani city of Nawabshah sets global record for an April temperature, recording high of 50.2C
Apr 30 Sajid Javid is named UK Home Secretary by Prime Minister Teresa May
Apr 30 World's oldest known spider, a female trapdoor, dies after being killed by a wasp sting in Western Australia, aged 43

Birthdays in History

Apr 23 Prince Louis of Cambridge, second son of Prince William and Catherine, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, 4th in line to the English throne, born in London

Deaths in History

Apr 1 Edward Digby, 12th Baron Digby, British Army (Coldstream Guards) officer, dies at 93

Efraín Ríos Montt (1926-2018)

Apr 1 Guatemalan general and dictator (1982-83) convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity, dies of a heart attack at 91

Winnie Mandela (1936-2018)

Apr 2 South African anti-apartheid activist and ANC politician, dies of a long illness at 81

Apr 3 David Edgerton, American entrepreneur and founder of Burger King, dies of complications of surgery at 90
Apr 6 Daniel Akaka, American educator and politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Hawaii), dies at 93
Apr 6 Julien Van Remoortere [Piet Mortelman], Flemish writer (Fist), dies at 87
Apr 11 Gillian Ayres, British abstract painter and printmaker, dies at 88
Apr 12 John Melcher, American politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Montana), dies at 93

Barbara Bush (1925-2018)

Apr 17 First Lady of the US (1989-93) and wife of George H. W. Bush, dies following long illness at 92

Apr 20 Allan B. Swift, American broadcast journalist and politician (US Representative for Washington (D), 1979-95), dies at 82
Apr 21 Nabi Tajima, Japanese supercentenarian and the last living person certified to have been born in the 19th century, dies at 117
Apr 29 Michael Martin, British politician and Speaker of the House of Commons (2000-09), dies at 72