- 796 – King Æthelred I of Northumbria is murdered in Corbridge by a group led by his ealdormen, Ealdred and Wada. The patrician Osbald is crowned, but abdicates within 27 days.
- 1506 – The cornerstone of the current St. Peter’s Basilica is laid.
- 1518 – Bona Sforza is crowned as queen consort of Poland.
- 1521 – Trial of Martin Luther begins its second day during the assembly of the Diet of Worms. He refuses to recant his teachings despite the risk of excommunication.
- 1689 – Bostonians rise up in rebellion against Sir Edmund Andros.
- 1738 – Real Academia de la Historia (“Royal Academy of History”) is founded in Madrid.
- 1775 – American Revolution: The British advancement by sea begins; Paul Revere and other riders warn the countryside of the troop movements.
- 1783 – Three-Fifths Compromise: the first instance of black slaves in the United States of America being counted as three fifths of persons (for the purpose of taxation), in a resolution of the Congress of the Confederation. This was later adopted in the 1787 Constitution.
- 1831 – The University of Alabama is founded in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
- 1847 – American victory at the battle of Cerro Gordo opens the way for invasion of Mexico.
- 1857 – “The Spirits Book” by Allan Kardec is published, marking the birth of Spiritualism in France.
- 1864 – Battle of Dybbøl: A Prussian-Austrian army defeats Denmark and gains control of Schleswig. Denmark surrenders the province in the following peace settlement.
- 1897 – The Greco-Turkish War is declared between Greece and the Ottoman Empire.
- 1899 – The St. Andrew’s Ambulance Association is granted a royal charter by Queen Victoria.
- 1902 – The 7.5 Mw Guatemala earthquake shakes Guatemala with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), killing between 800–2,000.
- 1906 – An earthquake and fire destroy much of San Francisco, California.
- 1909 – Joan of Arc is beatified in Rome.
- 1912 – The Cunard liner RMS Carpathia brings 705 survivors from the RMS Titanic to New York City.
- 1915 – French pilot Roland Garros is shot down and glides to a landing on the German side of the lines during World War I.
- 1923 – Yankee Stadium: “The House that Ruth Built” opens.
- 1925 – The International Amateur Radio Union is formed in Paris.
- 1930 – The British Broadcasting Corporation announced that “there is no news” in their evening report.
- 1939 – Robert Menzies, who became Australia’s longest-serving prime minister, is elected as leader of the United Australia Party after the death of Prime Minister Joseph Lyons.
- 1942 – World War II: The Doolittle Raid on Japan: Tokyo, Yokohama, Kobe and Nagoya are bombed.
- 1942 – Pierre Laval becomes Prime Minister of Vichy France.
- 1943 – World War II: Operation Vengeance, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is killed when his aircraft is shot down by U.S. fighters over Bougainville Island.
- 1945 – Over 1,000 bombers attack the small island of Heligoland, Germany.
- 1946 – The International Court of Justice holds its inaugural meeting in The Hague, Netherlands.
- 1949 – The Republic of Ireland Act comes into effect.
- 1949 – The keel for the aircraft carrier USS United States is laid down at Newport News Drydock and Shipbuilding. However, construction is canceled five days later, resulting in the Revolt of the Admirals.
- 1954 – Gamal Abdel Nasser seizes power in Egypt.
- 1955 – Twenty-nine nations meet at Bandung, Indonesia, for the first Asian-African Conference.
- 1980 – The Republic of Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) comes into being, with Canaan Banana as the country’s first President. The Zimbabwean dollar replaces the Rhodesian dollar as the official currency.
- 1983 – A suicide bomber in Lebanon destroys the United States embassy in Beirut, killing 63 people.
- 1987 – The New York Islanders defeat the Washington Capitals 3–2 in Game 7 of their Patrick Division Semifinal series.
- 1988 – The United States launches Operation Praying Mantis against Iranian naval forces in the largest naval battle since World War II.
- 1996 – In Lebanon, at least 106 civilians are killed when the Israel Defense Forces shell the United Nations compound at Qana where more than 800 civilians had taken refuge.
- 1997 – The Red River flood begins and soon overwhelms the city of Grand Forks, North Dakota. Fire breaks out and spreads in downtown Grand Forks, but high water levels hamper efforts to reach the fire, leading to the destruction of 11 buildings.
- 1999 – Wayne Gretzky, the National Hockey League’s all-time points scorer, plays his final game at Madison Square Garden as a teammate of the New York Rangers in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Gretzky recorded his final career point, an assist, bringing his career point total to 2,857.
- 2007 – A series of bombings, two of them being suicides, occur in Baghdad, killing 198 and injuring 251.
- 2013 – A suicide bombing in a Baghdad cafe kills 27 people and injures another 65.
- 2018 – King Mswati III of Swaziland announces that his country’s name will change to Eswatini.
- 2019 – A redacted version of the Mueller Report is released to the United States Congress and the public.
- 2020 – Coronavirus Pandemic: Europe surpasses 100,000 COVID-19 deaths.
Births on April 18
- 359 – Gratian, Roman emperor (d. 383)
- 588 – K’an II, Mayan ruler (d. 658)
- 812 – Al-Wathiq, Abbasid caliph (d. 847)
- 1446 – Ippolita Maria Sforza, Italian noble (d. 1484)
- 1480 – Lucrezia Borgia, daughter of Pope Alexander VI
- 1503 – Henry II of Navarre, (d. 1555)
- 1534 – William Harrison, English clergyman (d. 1593)
- 1580 – Thomas Middleton, English Jacobean playwright and poet (d. 1627)
- 1590 – Ahmed I, Ottoman Emperor (d. 1617)
- 1605 – Giacomo Carissimi, Italian priest and composer (d. 1674)
- 1666 – Jean-Féry Rebel, French violinist and composer (d. 1747)
- 1740 – Sir Francis Baring, 1st Baronet, English banker and politician (d. 1810)
- 1759 – Jacques Widerkehr, French cellist and composer (d. 1823)
- 1771 – Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg (d. 1820)
- 1772 – David Ricardo, British economist and politician (d. 1823)
- 1794 – William Debenham, English founder of Debenhams (d. 1863)
- 1797 – Adolphe Thiers, French historian and politician, 2nd President of France (d. 1877)
- 1813 – James McCune Smith, African-American physician, apothecary, abolitionist, and author (d. 1865)
- 1819 – Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, Cuban lawyer and activist (d. 1874)
- 1819 – Franz von Suppé, Austrian composer and conductor (d. 1895)
- 1838 – Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran, French chemist and academic (d. 1912)
- 1854 – Ludwig Levy, German architect (d. 1907)
- 1857 – Clarence Darrow, American lawyer (d. 1938)
- 1858 – Dhondo Keshav Karve, Indian educator and activist, Bharat Ratna Awardee (d. 1962)
- 1858 – Alexander Shirvanzade, Armenian playwright and author (d. 1935)
- 1863 – Count Leopold Berchtold, Austrian-Hungarian politician and diplomat, Joint Foreign Minister of Austria-Hungary (d. 1942)
- 1863 – Linton Hope, English sailor and architect (d. 1920)
- 1864 – Richard Harding Davis, American journalist and author (d. 1916)
- 1874 – Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić, Croatian author and poet (d. 1938)
- 1877 – Vicente Sotto, Filipino lawyer and politician (d. 1950)
- 1879 – Korneli Kekelidze, Georgian philologist and scholar (d. 1962)
- 1880 – Sam Crawford, American baseball player, coach, and umpire (d. 1968)
- 1882 – Isaac Babalola Akinyele, Nigerian ruler (d. 1964)
- 1882 – Leopold Stokowski, English conductor (d. 1977)
- 1884 – Jaan Anvelt, Estonian educator and politician (d. 1937)
- 1888 – Duffy Lewis, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1979)
- 1889 – Jessie Street, Australian activist (d. 1970)
- 1892 – Eugene Houdry, French-American mechanical engineer and inventor (d. 1962)
- 1893 – Violette Morris, French shot putter and discus thrower (d. 1944)
- 1897 – Ardito Desio, Italian geologist and cartographer (d. 2001)
- 1897 – Per-Erik Hedlund, Swedish skier (d. 1975)
- 1898 – Patrick Hennessy, Irish soldier and businessman (d. 1981)
- 1900 – Bertha Isaacs, Bahamian teacher, tennis player, politician and women’s rights activist (d. 1997)
- 1901 – Al Lewis, American songwriter (d. 1967)
- 1901 – László Németh, Hungarian dentist, author, and playwright (d. 1975)
- 1902 – Waldemar Hammenhög, Swedish author (d. 1972)
- 1902 – Giuseppe Pella, Italian politician, 32nd Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1981)
- 1904 – Pigmeat Markham, African-American comedian, singer, and dancer (d. 1981)
- 1905 – Sydney Halter, Canadian lawyer and businessman (d. 1990)
- 1905 – George H. Hitchings, American physician and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
- 1907 – Miklós Rózsa, Hungarian-American composer and conductor (d. 1995)
- 1911 – Ilario Bandini, Italian businessman and racing driver (d. 1992)
- 1911 – Maurice Goldhaber, Ukrainian Jewish-American physicist and academic (d. 2011)
- 1914 – Claire Martin, Canadian author (d. 2014)
- 1915 – Joy Davidman, Polish-Ukrainian Jewish American poet and author (d. 1960)
- 1916 – Carl Burgos, American illustrator (d. 1984)
- 1916 – Doug Peden, Canadian basketball player (d. 2005)
- 1917 – Ty LaForest, Canadian-American baseball player (d. 1947)
- 1918 – Gabriel Axel, Danish-French actor, director, and producer (d. 2014)
- 1918 – André Bazin, French critic and theorist (d. 1958)
- 1918 – Shinobu Hashimoto, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2018)
- 1918 – Clifton Hillegass, American publisher, founded CliffsNotes (d. 2001)
- 1918 – Tony Mottola, American guitarist and composer (d. 2004)
- 1919 – Virginia O’Brien, American actress and singer (d. 2001)
- 1919 – Esther Afua Ocloo, Ghanaian entrepreneur and pioneer of microlending (d. 2002)
- 1920 – John F. Wiley, American football player and coach (d. 2013)
- 1921 – Jean Richard, French actor and singer (d. 2001)
- 1922 – Barbara Hale, American actress (d. 2017)
- 1922 – Lord Kitchener, Trinidadian singer (d. 2000)
- 1923 – Alfred Bieler, Swiss ice hockey player (d. 2013)
- 1923 – Beryl Platt, Baroness Platt of Writtle, English engineer and politician (d. 2015)
- 1924 – Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2005)
- 1924 – Henry Hyde, American commander, lawyer, and politician (d. 2007)
- 1924 – Roy Mason, English miner and politician, Secretary of State for Defence (d. 2015)
- 1925 – Marcus Schmuck, Austrian mountaineer and author (d. 2005)
- 1926 – Doug Insole, English cricketer (d. 2017)
- 1927 – Samuel P. Huntington, American political scientist, author, and academic (d. 2008)
- 1927 – Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Polish journalist and politician, Prime Minister of Poland (d. 2013)
- 1927 – Charles Pasqua, French businessman and politician, French Minister of the Interior (d. 2015)
- 1928 – Karl Josef Becker, German cardinal and theologian (d. 2015)
- 1928 – Otto Piene, German sculptor and academic (d. 2014)
- 1929 – Peter Hordern, English soldier and politician
- 1930 – Clive Revill, New Zealand actor and singer
- 1931 – Bill Miles, American director and producer (d. 2013)
- 1934 – James Drury, American actor (d. 2020)
- 1934 – George Shirley, African-American tenor and educator
- 1935 – Brian Clay, Australian rugby league player (d. 1987)
- 1935 – Costas Ferris, Egyptian-Greek actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1936 – Roger Graef, American-English criminologist, director, and producer
- 1936 – Vladimir Hütt, Estonian physicist and philosopher (d. 1997)
- 1936 – “TV” Tommy Ivo, American actor and drag racer
- 1937 – Jan Kaplický, Czech architect, designed the Selfridges Building (d. 2009)
- 1937 – Tatyana Shchelkanova, Russian long jumper and heptathlete (d. 2011)
- 1937 – Teddy Taylor, Scottish journalist and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland
- 1939 – Glen Hardin, American pianist and arranger
- 1939 – Thomas J. Moyer, American lawyer and judge (d. 2010)
- 1940 – Joseph L. Goldstein, American biochemist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1940 – Mike Vickers, English guitarist, saxophonist, and songwriter
- 1941 – Michael D. Higgins, Irish sociologist and politician, 9th President of Ireland
- 1942 – Michael Beloff, English lawyer and academic
- 1942 – Steve Blass, American baseball player and sportscaster
- 1942 – Robert Christgau, American journalist and critic
- 1942 – Jochen Rindt, German-Austrian racing driver (d. 1970)
- 1944 – Kathy Acker, American author and poet (d. 1997)
- 1944 – Frances D’Souza, Baroness D’Souza, English academic and politician
- 1944 – Robert Hanssen, American FBI agent and double agent
- 1944 – Philip Jackson, Scottish sculptor and photographer
- 1945 – Bernard Arcand, Canadian anthropologist and author (d. 2009)
- 1945 – Richard Bausch, American novelist and short story writer
- 1945 – Robert Bausch, American novelist and short story writer
- 1946 – Hayley Mills, English actress
- 1946 – Tommy Shannon, American bass guitarist
- 1947 – Moses Blah, Liberian general and politician, 23rd President of Liberia (d. 2013)
- 1947 – Dorothy Lyman, American actress
- 1947 – Cindy Pickett, American actress
- 1947 – Jerzy Stuhr, Polish actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1947 – James Woods, American actor and producer
- 1948 – Régis Wargnier, French director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1949 – Geoff Bodine, American race car driver
- 1950 – Paul Callery, Australian footballer
- 1950 – Tina Chow, American model and jewelry designer (d. 1992)
- 1950 – Kenny Ortega, American director, producer, and choreographer
- 1950 – Grigory Sokolov, Russian pianist and composer
- 1951 – Ricardo Fortaleza, Australian-Filipino boxer and coach
- 1951 – Pierre Pettigrew, Canadian businessman and politician, 5th Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs
- 1953 – Rick Moranis, Canadian-American actor, comedian, singer and screenwriter
- 1954 – Robert Greenberg, American pianist and composer
- 1956 – Chris Jones, English footballer
- 1956 – Eric Roberts, American actor
- 1957 – Ian Campbell, Australian jumper
- 1958 – Gabi Delgado-López, Spanish-German singer, co-founder of D.A.F.
- 1958 – Malcolm Marshall, Barbadian cricketer and coach (d. 1999)
- 1959 – Susan Faludi, American journalist and author
- 1959 – Frank Mulholland, Lord Mulholland, Scottish judge, former Solicitor General for Scotland and Lord Advocate
- 1960 – John Chiedozie, Nigerian international footballer
- 1960 – Yelena Zhupiyeva-Vyazova, Ukrainian runner
- 1961 – Kelly Hansen, American singer-songwriter
- 1961 – Jane Leeves, English actress and dancer
- 1961 – John Podhoretz, American journalist and author
- 1962 – Jeff Dunham, American comedian and ventriloquist
- 1962 – Nick Farr-Jones, Australian rugby player and sportscaster
- 1963 – Eric McCormack, Canadian-American actor and producer
- 1963 – Conan O’Brien, American actor, producer, screenwriter, and talk show host
- 1963 – Phil Simmons, Trinidadian cricketer
- 1963 – Peter Van Loan, Canadian lawyer and politician, 16th Canadian Minister of International Trade
- 1964 – Niall Ferguson, Scottish historian and academic
- 1964 – Rithy Panh, Cambodian director and screenwriter
- 1966 – Valeri Kamensky, Russian ice hockey player
- 1967 – Maria Bello, American actress and writer
- 1969 – Keith DeCandido, American author
- 1969 – Stefan Schwarz, Swedish footballer and manager
- 1969 – Robert Změlík, Czech decathlete
- 1970 – Rico Brogna, American baseball player and coach
- 1970 – Greg Eklund, American drummer and guitarist
- 1970 – Saad Hariri, Saudi Arabian-Lebanese businessman and politician, 33rd Prime Minister of Lebanon
- 1970 – François Leroux, Canadian ice hockey player and radio host
- 1970 – Tatiana Stefanidou, Greek journalist and talk show host
- 1971 – Oleg Petrov, Russian ice hockey player
- 1971 – Graham Rowntree, English rugby player
- 1971 – David Tennant, Scottish actor
- 1972 – Rosa Clemente, American journalist and activist
- 1972 – Eli Roth, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1972 – Michael Rutter, English motorcycle racer
- 1973 – Derrick Brooks, American football player
- 1973 – Brady Clark, American baseball player
- 1973 – Haile Gebrselassie, Ethiopian runner
- 1974 – Millie Corretjer, Puerto Rican-American actress and singer
- 1974 – Mark Tremonti, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1976 – Gavin Creel, American actor and singer
- 1976 – Melissa Joan Hart, American actress, director, and producer
- 1976 – Andrew Ilie, Romanian-Australian tennis player
- 1976 – Justin Ross, American politician
- 1976 – Staffan Strand, Swedish high jumper
- 1977 – Dan LaCouture, American ice hockey player
- 1977 – Cindy Taylor, Paraguayan model and actress
- 1979 – Michael Bradley, American basketball player and coach
- 1979 – Ethan Cohn, American actor
- 1979 – Matt Cooper, Australian rugby league player
- 1979 – Anthony Davidson, English racing driver
- 1979 – Kourtney Kardashian, American model and businesswoman
- 1980 – Rabiu Afolabi, Nigerian footballer and manager
- 1980 – Justin Levens, American mixed martial artist (d. 2008)
- 1981 – Brian Buscher, American baseball player
- 1981 – Milan Jovanović, Serbian footballer
- 1981 – Aldo Ramírez, Colombian footballer
- 1981 – Audrey Tang, Taiwanese computer scientist and academic
- 1982 – Ibrahim al-Asiri, Saudi Arabian terrorist
- 1982 – Greg Camarillo, American football player
- 1982 – Ricardo Colclough, Canadian-American football player
- 1982 – Simone Farina, Italian footballer
- 1982 – Scott Hartnell, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1982 – Blair Late, American singer-songwriter and journalist
- 1982 – Darren Sutherland, Irish boxer (d. 2009)
- 1982 – Marie-Élaine Thibert, Canadian singer
- 1983 – Miguel Cabrera, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1983 – Reeve Carney, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
- 1984 – Red Bryant, American football player
- 1984 – America Ferrera, American actress and producer
- 1985 – Łukasz Fabiański, Polish footballer
- 1986 – Billy Butler, American baseball player
- 1986 – Maurice Edu, American soccer player
- 1986 – Taylor Griffin, American basketball player
- 1986 – Conrad Logan, Irish footballer
- 1986 – Efraín Velarde, Mexican footballer
- 1987 – Brett Deledio, Australian footballer
- 1987 – Danny Guthrie, English footballer
- 1987 – Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, English model and actress
- 1987 – Samantha Jade, Australian singer-songwriter and actress
- 1987 – Ivan Tričkovski, Macedonian footballer
- 1988 – Andre Frolov, Estonian footballer
- 1988 – Alexander Hauck, South African-German rugby player
- 1989 – Jessica Jung, Korean American singer, songwriter, actress, and fashion designer
- 1990 – Henderson Álvarez, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1990 – Anna van der Breggen, Dutch cyclist
- 1990 – Jake Howells, English footballer
- 1990 – Wojciech Szczęsny, Polish footballer
- 1990 – Junior Torunarigha, Nigerian footballer
- 1993 – Matt Salisbury, English cricketer
- 1993 – Nathan Sykes, English singer-songwriter
- 1995 – Divock Origi, Belgian footballer
- 1996 – Mariah Bell, American figure skater
- 1996 – Ioana Ducu, Romanian tennis player
- 1997 – Matthias Blübaum, German chess grandmaster
- 1997 – Donny van de Beek, Dutch footballer
Deaths on April 18
- 727 – Agallianos Kontoskeles, Byzantine commander and rebel leader
- 850 – Perfectus, Spanish monk and martyr
- 909 – Dionysius II, Syriac Orthodox patriarch of Antioch
- 943 – Fujiwara no Atsutada, Japanese nobleman and poet (b. 906)
- 963 – Stephen Lekapenos, co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire
- 1161 – Theobald of Bec, French-English archbishop (b. 1090)
- 1176 – Galdino della Sala, Italian archdeacon and saint
- 1552 – John Leland, English poet and historian (b. 1502)
- 1555 – Polydore Vergil, English historian (b. 1470)
- 1556 – Luigi Alamanni, Italian poet and politician (b. 1495)
- 1567 – Wilhelm von Grumbach, German adventurer (b. 1503)
- 1587 – John Foxe, English historian and author (b. 1516)
- 1636 – Julius Caesar, English judge and politician (b. 1557)
- 1650 – Simonds d’Ewes, English lawyer and politician (b. 1602)
- 1674 – John Graunt, English demographer and statistician (b. 1620)
- 1689 – George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys, Welsh judge and politician, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1648)
- 1732 – Louis Feuillée, French astronomer, geographer, and botanist (b. 1660)
- 1742 – Arvid Horn, Swedish general and politician (b. 1664)
- 1763 – Marie-Josephte Corriveau, Canadian murderer (b. 1733)
- 1794 – Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden, English lawyer, judge, and politician, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1714)
- 1796 – Johan Wilcke, Swedish physicist and academic (b. 1732)
- 1802 – Erasmus Darwin, English physician and botanist (b. 1731)
- 1832 – Jeanne-Elisabeth Chaudet, French painter (b. 1761)
- 1859 – Tatya Tope, Indian general (b. 1814)
- 1864 – Juris Alunāns, Latvian philologist and linguist (b. 1832)
- 1873 – Justus von Liebig, German chemist and academic (b. 1803)
- 1898 – Gustave Moreau, French painter and academic (b. 1826)
- 1906 – Luis Martín, Spanish religious leader, 24th Superior-General of the Society of Jesus (b. 1846)
- 1912 – Martha Ripley, American physician (b. 1843)
- 1917 – Vladimir Serbsky, Russian psychiatrist and academic (b. 1858)
- 1923 – Savina Petrilli, Italian religious leader (b. 1851)
- 1936 – Milton Brown, American singer and bandleader (b. 1903)
- 1936 – Ottorino Respighi, Italian composer and conductor (b. 1879)
- 1938 – George Bryant, American archer (b. 1878)
- 1942 – Aleksander Mitt, Estonian speed skater (b. 1903)
- 1942 – Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, American heiress, sculptor and art collector, founded the Whitney Museum of American Art (b. 1875)
- 1943 – Isoroku Yamamoto, Japanese admiral (b. 1884)
- 1945 – John Ambrose Fleming, English physicist and engineer, invented the vacuum tube (b. 1849)
- 1945 – Ernie Pyle, American journalist and soldier (b. 1900)
- 1947 – Jozef Tiso, Slovak priest and politician, President of Slovakia (b. 1887)
- 1951 – Óscar Carmona, Portuguese field marshal and politician, 11th President of Portugal (b. 1869)
- 1955 – Albert Einstein, German-American physicist, engineer, and academic (b. 1879)
- 1958 – Maurice Gamelin, Belgian-French general (b. 1872)
- 1959 – Irving Cummings, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1888)
- 1959 – Percy Smith, English footballer and manager (b. 1880)
- 1963 – Meyer Jacobstein, American academic and politician (b. 1880)
- 1964 – Ben Hecht, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1894)
- 1965 – Guillermo González Camarena, Mexican engineer (b. 1917)
- 1967 – Karl Miller, German footballer (b. 1913)
- 1974 – Marcel Pagnol, French author, playwright, and director (b. 1895)
- 1986 – Marcel Dassault, French businessman, founded Dassault Aviation (b. 1892)
- 1988 – Pierre Desproges, French journalist and actor (b. 1939)
- 1988 – Oktay Rıfat Horozcu, Turkish poet and playwright (b. 1914)
- 1995 – Arturo Frondizi, Argentinian lawyer and politician, 32nd President of Argentina (b. 1908)
- 1996 – Brook Berringer, American football player (b. 1973)
- 1996 – Bernard Edwards, American bass player and producer (b. 1952)
- 1997 – Edward Barker, English cartoonist (b. 1950)
- 1998 – Terry Sanford, American lieutenant and politician, 65th Governor of North Carolina (b. 1917)
- 2002 – Thor Heyerdahl, Norwegian ethnographer and explorer (b. 1914)
- 2002 – Wahoo McDaniel, American football player and wrestler (b. 1938)
- 2003 – Edgar F. Codd, English-American soldier, pilot, and computer scientist (b. 1923)
- 2004 – Kamisese Mara, Fijian politician, 2nd President of Fiji (b. 1920)
- 2005 – Sam Mills, American football player and coach (b. 1959)
- 2006 – Mercedes Palomino, Spanish-born Quebec actor and theatre director (b. 1913)
- 2007 – Iccho Itoh, Japanese politician (b. 1945)
- 2008 – Germaine Tillion, French ethnologist and anthropologist (b. 1907)
- 2012 – Dick Clark, American television host and producer, founded Dick Clark Productions (b. 1929)
- 2012 – René Lépine, Canadian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1929)
- 2012 – K. D. Wentworth, American author (b. 1951)
- 2013 – Cordell Mosson, American bass player (b. 1952)
- 2013 – Steuart Pringle, English general (b. 1928)
- 2013 – Goran Švob, Croatian philosopher and author (b. 1947)
- 2013 – Anne Williams, English activist (b. 1951)
- 2014 – Guru Dhanapal, Indian director and producer (b. 1959)
- 2014 – Sanford Jay Frank, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1954)
- 2014 – Eduard Kosolapov, Russian footballer (b. 1976)
- 2014 – David McClarty, Northern Irish politician (b. 1951)
- 2014 – Brian Priestman, English conductor and academic (b. 1927)
- 2014 – Dylan Tombides, Australian footballer (b. 1994)
- 2015 – Roger Lobo, Macanese-Hong Kong businessman and politician (b. 1923)
- 2015 – Erwin Waldner, German footballer (b. 1933)
- 2016 – Aleah Stanbridge, Swedish singer (b. 1977)
- 2017 – Vic Albury, Major League pitcher (b. 1947)
- 2018 – Bruno Sammartino, Italian professional wrestler (b. 1935)
- 2018 – Dale Winton, British television presenter (b. 1955)
- 2019 – Lorraine Warren, American paranormal investigator. (b. 1927)
Holidays and observances on April 18
- Christian feast day:
- Apollonius the Apologist
- Corebus
- Cyril VI of Constantinople (Eastern Orthodox Church)
- Eleutherius and Antia
- Galdino della Sala
- Molaise of Leighlin
- Perfectus
- Plato of Sakkoudion
- April 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Army Day (Iran)
- Coma Patients’ Day (Poland)
- Friend’s Day (Brazil)
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Zimbabwe from the United Kingdom in 1980.
- International Day For Monuments and Sites
- Invention Day (Japan)
- Victory over the Teutonic Knights in the Battle of the Ice (Russia)