^{The Doolittle Raid: B-25s prepare to take off from the USS Hornet to attack Tokyo and other Japanese cities, April 18, 1942}

Today in History

• American Revolution: Paul Revere, William Dawes, and others see lights in the Old North Church, warning of a British advance, and ride to warn the countryside. Revere ends up with all the credit. (1775)
• Billy the Kid escapes from the Lincoln County jail (1881)
• An earthquake devastates San Francisco (1906)
• Survivors of RMS Titanic reach New York on the Carpathia (1912)
• Yankee Stadium opens (1923)
• The first crossword puzzle book is published (1924)
• World War II: The Doolittle Raid attacks Tokyo and other Japanese cities (1942)
• World War II: US fighters ambush and kill Admiral 山本 五十六 (Isoroku Yamamoto) (1943)
• The longest game in professional baseball history begins: 33 innings, 8 hours 25 minutes of playing time (1981)

Birthdays

• Lucrezia Borgia, socialite (1480)
• Clarence Darrow, lawyer (1857)
• Pigmeat Markham, entertainer (1904)
• James Drury, actor (1934)
• Robert Hanssen, Soviet spy in the FBI (1944)
• Hayley Mills, actress (1946)
• James Woods, actor (1947)
• Rick Moranis, comedian (1953)
• Jeff Dunham, ventriloquist (1962)
• Conan O’Brien, talk show host (1963)
• Melissa Joan Hart, actress (1976)
• Kourtney Kardashian, socialite (1979)
• America Ferrera, actress (1984)

Deaths

• Erasmus Darwin, natural philosopher (1802)
• Ernie Pyle, journalist (1945)
• Albert Einstein, physicist (1955)
• Ben Hecht, filmmaker (1964)
• Thor Heyerdahl, raft builder (2002)
• Wahoo McDaniel, wrestler (2002)
• Dick Clark, television host (2012)

Holidays and Celebrations