today.nukz.net: Almanac April 18

Clarence Seward Darrow (April 18, 1857 – March 13, 1938) was an American lawyer and leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union.

He was best known for defending teenage thrill killers Leopold and Loeb in their trial for murdering 14-year-old Robert "Bobby" Franks (1924) and defending John T. Scopes in the Scopes "Monkey" Trial (1925), in which he opposed William Jennings Bryan (statesman, noted orator, and 3-time presidential candidate). Called a "sophisticated country lawyer", he remains notable for his wit and agnosticism, which marked him as one of the most famous American lawyers and civil libertarians.

Events

1025 – Boleslaw Chrobry is crowned in Gniezno, becoming the first King of Poland.
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.
1797 – The Battle of Neuwied – French victory against the Austrians.
1831 – The University of Alabama is founded.
1848 – 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.
1880 – An F4 tornado strikes Marshfield, Missouri, killing 99 people and injuring 100.
1881 – Billy the Kid escapes from the Lincoln County jail in Mesilla, New Mexico.
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 – Quetzaltenango, the second largest city of Guatemala, is destroyed by an earthquake.
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.
1924 – Simon & Schuster publishes the first crossword puzzle book.
1936 – The first Champions Day is celebrated in Detroit, Michigan.
1930 – BBC Radio announces that there is no news on that day.
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 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 Abdal Nasser seizes power in Egypt.
1955 – 29 nations meet at Bandung, Indonesia, for the first Asian-African Conference.
1958 – A United States federal court rules that poet Ezra Pound be released from an insane asylum.
1961 – The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, a cornerstone of modern international relations, is adopted.
1961 – CONCP is founded in Casablanca as a united front of African movements opposing Portuguese colonial rule.
1974 – The Prime Minister of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto inaugurates Lahore dry port.
1980 – The Republic of Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) comes into being, with Canaan Banana as the country's first President. The Zimbabwe Dollar replaces the Rhodesian Dollar as the official currency.
1981 – The longest professional baseball game is begun in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The game is suspended at 4:00 the next morning and finally completed on June 23.
1983 – A suicide bomber destroys the United States embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 63 people.
1988 – The United States launches Operation Praying Mantis against Iranian naval forces in the largest naval battle since World War II.
1992 – General Abdul Rashid Dostum revolts against President Mohammad Najibullah of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and allies with Ahmed Shah Massoud to capture Kabul.
1996 – In Lebanon, at least 106 civilians are killed when the Israel Defense Forces shell the UN compound at Quana where more than 800 civilians had taken refuge.
2007 – The Supreme Court of the United States upholds the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act in a 5-4 decision.
2007 – A series of bombings, two of them being suicides, occur in Baghdad, killing 198 and injuring 251.

Births

1480 – Lucrezia Borgia, Florentine ruler and daughter of Pope Alexander VI (d. 1519)
1580 – Thomas Middleton, English dramatist (d. 1627)
1590 – Ahmed I, Ottoman Emperor (d. 1617)
1605 – Giacomo Carissimi, Italian composer (d. 1674)
1666 – Jean-Féry Rebel, French Baroque composer and violinist (d. 1747)
1740 – Sir Francis Baring, 1st Baronet, English merchant banker (d. 1810)
1759 – Jacques Widerkehr, Alsatian composer and cellist (d. 1823)
1771 – Karl Philipp Fürst zu Schwarzenberg, Austrian field marshal (d. 1820)
1797 – Adolphe Thiers, French statesman (d. 1877)
1813 – James McCune Smith, African-American doctor and abolitionist (d. 1865)
1819 – Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, Cuban Revolutionary (d. 1874)
1819 – Franz von Suppé, Austrian composer (d. 1895)
1838 – Paul Emile Lecoq de Boisbaudran, French scientist (d. 1912)
1857 – Clarence Darrow, American attorney (d. 1938)
1857 – Alexander Shirvanzade, Armenian playwright and novelist (d. 1935)
1863 – Leopold Graf Berchtold, Austro-Hungarian foreign minister (d. 1942)
1864 – Richard Harding Davis, American author (d. 1916)
1874 – Oskar Ernst Bernhardt, German author (d. 1941)
1874 – Ivana Brlic-Mazuranic, Croatian writer (d. 1938)
1877 – Vicente Sotto, Filipino patriot, author (d. 1950)
1879 – Korneli Kekelidze, Georgian philologist (d. 1962)
1880 – Sam Crawford, baseball player (d. 1968)
1882 – Leopold Stokowski, Polish conductor (d. 1977)
1882 – Isaac Babalola Akinyele, Nigerian tradtional ruler and author (d. 1964)
1888 – Duffy Lewis, American baseball player (d. 1979)
1889 – Jessie Street, Australian suffragette, feminist, and human rights activist (d. 1970)
1893 – Violette Morris, French athlete (d. 1944)
1897 – Ardito Desio, Italian topographer (d. 2001)
1901 – Al Lewis, American lyricist (d. 1967)
1901 – László Németh, Hungarian writer (d. 1975)
1901 – Elene Akhvlediani, Georgian artist (d. 1975)
1902 – Giuseppe Pella, Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1981)
1902 – Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Hasidic Judaism leader (d. 1994)
1904 – Pigmeat Markham, American comedian (d. 1981)
1905 – George H. Hitchings, American scientist, Nobel laureate (d. 1998)
1907 – Miklós Rózsa, Hungarian-born composer (d. 1995)
1911 – Maurice Goldhaber, Austrian-born American physicist (d. 2011)
1914 – Claire Martin, Canadian novelist
1915 – Joy Gresham Lewis, American writer, wife of C. S. Lewis (d. 1960)
1917 – Ty LaForest, Canadian baseball player (d. 1947)
1917 – Frederika of Hanover, Queen Consort of Greece (d. 1981)
1918 – Clifton Hillegass, American publisher (d. 2001)
1918 – Tony Mottola, American guitarist (d. 2004)
1918 – Gabriel Axel, Danish film director
1918 – Shinobu Hashimoto, Japanese screenwriter
1918 – André Bazin, French film critic and theorist (d. 1958)
1919 – Virginia O'Brien, American singer and actress (d. 2001)
1921 – Jean Richard, French actor (d. 2001)
1921 – Simin Daneshvar, Iranian writer and translator (d. 2012)
1922 – Barbara Hale, American actress
1924 – Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, American musician (d. 2005)
1924 – Henry Hyde, American politician (d. 2007)
1925 – Bob Hastings, American actor
1925 – Marcus Schmuck, Austrian mountaineer (d. 2005)
1927 – Samuel P. Huntington, American political scientist (d. 2008)
1930 – Clive Revill, New Zealand born actor
1934 – James Drury, American actor
1934 – George Shirley, American tenor
1935 – Costas Ferris, Greek director
1936 – Tommy Ivo, American race car driver
1937 – Jan Kaplický, British architect of Czech origin
1939 – Thomas J. Moyer, American judge
1940 – Joseph L. Goldstein, American scientist, Nobel laureate
1940 – Mike Vickers, British guitarist and saxophonist (Manfred Mann)
1942 – Jochen Rindt, German-Austrian racer and F1 (posthumous) world champion (d. 1970)
1942 – Steve Blass, American professional baseball player
1942 – Robert Christgau, American music critic
1944 – Robert Hanssen, American spy
1945 – Margaret Hassan, Irish-born aid worker (d. 2004)
1946 – Jean-François Balmer, Swiss actor
1946 – Hayley Mills, English actress
1946 – Skip Spence, Canadian-born guitarist, singer and songwriter (Jefferson Airplane) (d. 1999)
1947 – Kathy Acker, American author (d. 1997)
1947 – Dorothy Lyman, American actress
1947 – Herbert Mullin, American serial killer
1947 – Cindy Pickett, American actress
1947 – James Woods, American actor
1947 – Jerzy Stuhr, Polish film director and actor
1948 – Régis Wargnier, French film director and screenwriter
1949 – Geoff Bodine, American race car driver
1950 – Kenny Ortega, American film and TV producer and choreographer
1950 – Paul Callery, football player
1951 – Ricardo Fortaleza, Australian-Filipino boxer
1951 – Pierre Pettigrew, Canadian politician
1953 – Rick Moranis, Canadian comedian
1956 – Anna Kathryn Holbrook, American actress
1956 – Eric Roberts, American actor
1956 – Melody Thomas Scott, American actress
1956 – Poonam Dhillon, Indian actress
1958 – Malcolm Marshall, Barbadian West Indies cricketer (d. 1999)
1961 – Jane Leeves, British actress
1961 – Steve Lombardi, American wrestler
1961 – John Podhoretz, American columnist and political pundit
1961 – Kelly Hansen, American drummer (Summer Lights)
1962 – Jeff Dunham, American comedian
1963 – Eric McCormack, Canadian actor
1963 – Conan O'Brien, American comedian
1963 – Peter Van Loan, Canadian politician
1964 – Niall Ferguson, British historian
1964 – Rithy Panh, Cambodian film director
1964 – Jim Ellison, musician (Material Issue) (d. 1996)
1964 – Mark Berry, aka Bez, dancer in Happy Mondays
1965 – Rob Stenders, Dutch radio discjockey
1966 – Trine Hattestad, Norwegian athlete
1966 – Valeri Kamensky, Russian ice hockey player
1967 – Maria Bello, American actress
1968 – Mary Birdsong, American actress
1968 – David Hewlett, English born Canadian actor
1969 – Princess Sayako of Japan
1969 – Keith R.A. DeCandido, American author
1969 – Stefan Schwarz, Swedish footballer
1970 – Rico Brogna, American baseball player
1970 – Greg Eklund, American musician (Everclear and The Oohlas)
1970 – Saad Hariri, Prime Minister of Lebanon
1970 – François Leroux, Canadian ice hockey player
1970 – Esther Schweins, German actress and comedienne
1970 – Tatiana Stefanidou, Greek television host
1971 – Tamara Braun, American actress
1971 – Russell Payne, English writer
1971 – Samantha Cameron, business executive; wife of UK Prime Minister David Cameron
1971 – David Tennant, Scottish actor
1971 – Oleg Petrov, Russian ice hockey player
1972 – Rosa Clemente, American activist and hip-hop artist
1972 – Eli Roth, American film director
1973 – Derrick Brooks, American football player
1973 – Haile Gebrselassie, Ethiopian athlete
1973 – Brady Clark, American baseball player
1973 – Jad Abumrad, American radio host and producer
1974 – Mark Tremonti, American musician (Creed and Alter Bridge)
1974 – Millie Corretjer, Puerto Rican singer
1974 – Edgar Wright, British director
1976 – Fayray, Japanese singer
1976 – Gavin Creel, American singer
1976 – Jo Gibb, Scottish Actress
1976 – Melissa Joan Hart, American actress
1976 – Sean Maguire, British actor
1976 – Justin Ross, American politician
1977 – Dan Lacouture, NHL hockey player
1977 – Cindy Taylor, Paraguayan supermodel and actress
1979 – Michael Bradley, American basketball player
1979 – Anthony Davidson, British Formula One driver
1979 – Nuria Fergó, Spanish singer
1979 – Kourtney Kardashian, American reality television star
1979 – Matthew Upson, English footballer
1979 – Karl Wolf, Lebanese-born Canadian singer and composer
1980 – Robyn Regehr, Canadian ice hockey player
1980 – Priit Võigemast, Estonian actor
1981 – Brian Buscher, American baseball player
1981 – Milan Jovanovic, Serbian footballer
1982 – Simone Farina, Italian footballer
1982 – Scott Hartnell, NHL hockey player
1982 – Darren Sutherland, Irish boxer (d. 2009)
1982 – Marie-Élaine Thibert, Canadian singer
1983 – Miguel Cabrera, Venezuelan baseball player
1983 – Fodil Hadjadj, Algerian footballer
1984 – America Ferrera, American actress
1985 – Lukasz Fabianski, Polish footballer
1985 – Karl Reindler, Australian racing driver
1985 – Elena Temnikova, Russian singer (Serebro)
1986 – Maurice Edu, American soccer player
1986 – Billy Butler, American baseball player
1986 – Conrad Logan, Irish footballer
1987 – Brett Deledio, Australian Rules football player
1987 – Danny Guthrie, English footballer
1987 – Sandra Lyng Haugen, Norwegian singer
1987 – Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, British model
1988 – Alexander Hauck, South African-born German rugby player
1989 – Alia Shawkat, American actress
1989 – Jessica (Jessica Jung), American-born South Korean singer (Girls' Generation)
1989 – Simas Buterlevicius, Lithuanian basketball player
1990 – Wojciech Szczesny, Polish footballer
1990 – Junior Torunarigha, Nigerian footballer
1993 – Nathan Sykes, British singer
1994 – Moises Arias, American actor
2007 – Hayah bint Hamzah, Princess of Jordan

Deaths

1161 – Theobald of Bec, Archbishop of Canterbury
1552 – John Leland, English antiquarian (b. 1502)
1556 – Luigi Alamanni, Italian poet (b. 1495)
1567 – Wilhelm von Grumbach, German adventurer (b. 1503)
1558 – Roxelana, wife of Suleiman the Magnificent
1636 – Julius Caesar, English judge
1650 – Simonds d'Ewes, English antiquarian (b. 1602)
1674 – John Graunt, English statistician (b. 1620)
1689 – George Jeffreys, British Chief Justice (b. 1648)
1732 – Louis Feuillée, French explorer (b. 1660)
1763 – Marie-Josephte Corriveau, popular figure of the New France folklore (b. 1733)
1794 – Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1714)
1796 – Johan Wilcke, Swedish physicist (b. 1732)
1802 – Erasmus Darwin, English physician and botanist (b. 1731)
1859 – Tantya Tope, Indian Revolutionary & General (b. 1814)
1873 – Justus von Liebig, German chemist (b. 1803)
1898 – Gustave Moreau, French painter (b. 1826)
1906 – Luis Martín, Spanish Superior-General of the Society of Jesus (b. 1846)
1917 – Vladimir Serbsky, Russian psychiatrist (b. 1858)
1935 – Panait Istrati, Romanian writer (b. 1884)
1936 – Ottorino Respighi, Italian composer (b. 1879)
1942 – Aleksander Mitt, Estonian speed skater (b. 1903)
1942 – Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, American socialite (b. 1875)
1943 – Isoroku Yamamoto, Japanese admiral. (b. 1884)
1945 – John Ambrose Fleming, English physicist and engineer (b. 1849)
1945 – Ernie Pyle, American journalist (b. 1900)
1945 – Prince William of Wied, sovereign Prince of Albania (b. 1876)
1947 – Jozef Tiso, Slovakian leader (b. 1887), Nazi collaborator and puppet ruler
1949 – Will Hay, English comedian and actor (b. 1888)
1951 – António Óscar Carmona, 97th Prime Minister of Portugal and 11th President of Portugal (b. 1869)
1955 – Albert Einstein, German physicist (b. 1879)
1958 – Maurice Gamelin, French general (b. 1872)
1963 – Meyer Jacobstein, American politician (b. 1880)
1964 – Ben Hecht, American writer (b. 1894)
1965 – Guillermo González Camarena, Mexican inventor (b. 1917)
1967 – Karl Miller, German footballer (b. 1913)
1974 – Marcel Pagnol, French novelist, playwright and filmmaker (b. 1895)
1976 – Mahmoud Younis, Suez Canal nationalization engineer (b. 1911)
1986 – Marcel Dassault, French aircraft industrialist (b.1892)
1988 – Pierre Desproges, French humorist (b. 1939)
1990 – Gory Guerrero, professional wrestler (b. 1921)
1990 – Victoria O'Keefe, British actress (b. 1969)
1992 – Frankie Howerd, English comedian and comic actor (b. 1917)
1993 – Masahiko Kimura, Japanese judoka (b. 1917)
1995 – Arturo Frondizi, President of Argentina (b. 1908)
1995 – Roza Makagonova, Russian actress (b. 1927)
1996 – Brook Berringer, American football player (b. 1973)
1996 – Bernard Edwards, American record producer (b. 1952)
1998 – Terry Sanford, American politician (b. 1917)
2002 – Thor Heyerdahl, Norwegian explorer (b. 1914)
2002 – Wahoo McDaniel, American football player and professional wrestler (b. 1938)
2003 – Edgar F. Codd, English computer scientist (b. 1923)
2004 – Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, first Prime Minister of Fiji and President of Fiji (b. 1920)
2005 – Sam Mills, American football player (b. 1959)
2007 – Iccho Itoh, mayor of Nagasaki (b. 1945)
2009 – Stephanie Parker, Welsh actress (b. 1987)
2011 – Olubayo Adefemi, Nigerian footballer (b. 1985)