What Happened in April 1918

Historical Events

Henry Miller's Theater

Apr 1 Henry Miller's Theater opens at 124 W 43rd St NYC

Apr 1 United Kingdom: the Royal Air Force is created from the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps.
Apr 3 US House of Representatives accepts American Creed written by William Tyler
Apr 4 Food riot in Amsterdam
Apr 13 Electrical fire kills 38 mental patients at Oklahoma State Hospital
Apr 14 Douglas Campbell is 1st US ace pilot (shooting down 5th German plane)
Apr 15 22nd Boston Marathon won by Camp Devens relay team; race run as relay for 10-man military teams

France reveals Secret Peace Overtures

Apr 15 The Sixtus Affair: French Minister Georges Clémenceau publishes secret documents showing Austrian Emperor Karl made overtures of peace to France

Prime Minister of France Georges Clémenceau

Apr 16 The British House of Commons passes a new Military Service Bill, taking men up to 55 years old and extending to Ireland

Speaker's Double Play

Apr 18 Cleveland center fielder Tris Speaker turns an unassisted double play

Apr 18 The People's Council of Latvia proclaims the independence of the new country of Latvia

The Red Baron

Apr 20 Manfred von Richthofen, aka The Red Baron, shoots down his 79th and 80th victims marking his final victories before his death the following day

Apr 21 World War I: German fighter ace Baron Manfred von Richthofen "The Red Baron", shot down and killed over Vaux sur Somme in France, Canadian pilot Arthur Roy Brown credited with the kill
Apr 23 Dover Patrol overthrows Germany U-boat in East Sea
Apr 23 Raid of Zeebrugge; the British navy attempts to block German vessels from leaving port by sinking obsolete ships - mostly fails
Apr 27 Giants' 9-0 winning start & Dodgers' 0-9 losing streak are stopped
Apr 29 Tris Speaker ties career outfield record of 4 unassisted double plays
Apr 30 Orange Nassau soccer team forms in Groningen

Events in 1918

Famous Birthdays

Apr 2 Charles White, American artist (The Contribution of the Negro to American Democracy), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1979)
Apr 3 Enrique Iturriaga, Peruvian composer (Sinfonía Junín y Ayacucho), born in Lima, Peru (d. 2019)
Apr 3 Louis Applebaum, Canadian conductor and composer, born in Toronto, Ontario (d. 2000)
Apr 3 Sixten Ehrling, Swedish pianist, conductor (Royal Opera of Stockholm, 1953-60; Detroit Symphony, 1963-73), and educator (Juilliard, 1973-87), born in Malmö, Sweden (d. 2005)
Apr 4 George Jellicoe, Earl Jellicoe, British naval commander and member of the House of Lords (1939-2007), born in Hatfield (d. 2007)
Apr 6 Alfredo Ovando Candía, Bolivian president (d. 1982)
Apr 6 Joan Bernard, English educator (Principal Trevelyan College, Durham) and army officer (WWII Auxiliary Territorial Service), (d. 2012)
Apr 6 Karen [Ingeborg Klinkerfuss], German actress (Sky Murder, All Through the Night, Madame X), born in Berlin, Germany (d. 1967)
Apr 7 Bertie Clarke, West Indian cricket spin bowler (3 Tests, 6 wickets; Barbados, Northamptonshire CCC, Essex CCC), born in Lakes Folly, Barbados (d. 1993)

Bobby Doerr (1918-2017)

Apr 7 American Baseball Hall of Fame second baseman (9 x MLB All Star; Boston Red Sox), born in Junction City, Oregon

Apr 7 Michael "Peanuts" Hucko, American big band jazz and session clarinetist (Glenn Miller's Army-Air Force Band; Lawrence Welk Show), born in Syracuse, New York (d. 2003)
Apr 7 Ronald Howard, British actor (Naked Edge, Come September, Murder She Said), born in Norwood, England (d. 1996)

Betty Ford (1918-2011)

Apr 8 First Lady of the United States (1974-77) and founder of the Betty Ford Center clinic for substance abuse, born in Chicago, Illinois

Apr 8 Glendon Swarthout, American novelist (Where The Boys Are; The Shootist), born in Pickney, Massachusetts (d. 1992)
Apr 8 Lenore Engdahl, American classical pianist, and educator (Boston University School of Music, 1972–83), born in Minneapolis, Minnesota (d. 2018)
Apr 9 Jørn Utzon, Danish architect (Sydney Opera House), born in Copenhagen, Denmark (d. 2008)
Apr 11 Jimmy Lewis, American jazz double bassist and soul electric bassist, born in Nashville, Tennessee (d. 2000)
Apr 11 Richard Wainwright, English politician, Liberal MP for Colne Valley (1966–70), born in Leeds (d. 2003)
Apr 13 A. L. [Audrey] Barker, English writer, born in St Pauls Cray, Kent, England (d. 2002)
Apr 14 Mary Healy, American actress (The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, He Married his Wife), born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 2016)
Apr 15 John Baragrey, American actor (Creeper, The Loves of Carmen), born in Haleyville, Alabama (d. 1975)
Apr 16 Dick Gibson, British racing driver, born in Bourne, Lincolnshire (d. 2010)

Spike Milligan (1918-2002)

Apr 16 Irish-British actor and comedian (The Goon Show, 3 Musketeers), born in Ahmednagar, India

Apr 17 Anne Shirley [Dawn Evelyeen Paris], British actress (The Devil and Daniel Webster, Murder My Sweet), born in New York City (d. 1993)

William Holden (1918-1981)

Apr 17 American actor (The Blue Knight, Sunset Boulevard, Sabrina, The Bridge on the River Kwai), born in O'Fallon, Illinois

Apr 18 Cliff Hillegass, American publisher (Cliffsnotes), born in Rising City, Nebraska (d. 2001)
Apr 18 Róbert Zimonyi, Hungarian rowing coxswain (Olympic gold USA men's eight 1964; bronze Hungary coxed pair 1948), born in Sárvár, Hungary (d. 2004)
Apr 18 Roger de Grey, British landscape painter and President of Royal Academy (1984-93) (d. 1995)
Apr 18 Tony Mottola, American jazz guitarist, born in Kearney, New Jersey (d. 2004)
Apr 20 June Storey, Canadian-born American actress (South of the Border), born in Toronto (d. 1991)
Apr 22 Mickey Vernon, American baseball first baseman (7 × MLB All-Star; World Series 1960; AL batting champion 1946, 53), born in Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania (d. 2008)
Apr 23 Anthony Craxton, British TV producer, born in London (d. 1966)
Apr 23 Gordon Hirabayshi, American civil rights activist and WWII internment opponent (Hirabayshi v. United States), born in Seattle, Washington (d. 2012)
Apr 23 Maurice Druon, French writer and journalist (Prix Goncourt), born in Paris (d. 2009)
Apr 25 Astrid Varnay, Swedish soprano (Metropolitan Opera, 1941-56), born in Stockholm, Sweden (d. 2006)
Apr 25 Gérard de Vaucouleurs, French astronomer, born in Paris (d. 1995)
Apr 26 Francina "Fanny" Blankers-Koen, Dutch athlete (Olympic gold 100m, 200m, 80m hurdles, 4x100m relay 1948), born in Lage Vuursche, Netherlands (d. 2004)
Apr 26 Stafford Repp, American actor (Playhouse 90, Batman, Plunder Road), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1974)
Apr 27 John Alfred Scali, American journalist and diplomat, born in Canton, Ohio (d. 1995)
Apr 27 Kirby Stone, American jazz combo leader (Kirby Stone Four - "Baubles Bangles & Beads"), born in New York City (d. 1981)
Apr 27 Sten Rudholm, Swedish jurist, member of the Swedish Academy, born in Karlstad, Sweden (d. 2008)
Apr 29 George Allen, American Pro Football HOF coach (NFL Coach of the Year 1967, 71; LA Rams, Washington Redskins), born in Nelson County, Virginia (d. 1990)
Apr 29 Merv Harvey, Australian cricketer (brother of Neil, Test for Australia), born in Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia (d. 1995)
Apr 30 Don McNeill, American tennis player (French C'ship 1939, US Nat C'ship 1940), born in Chickasha, Oklahoma (d. 1996)

Born in 1918

Famous Weddings

Eugene O'Neill

Apr 12 American Playwright Eugene O'Neill marries second wife novelist Agnes Boulton

Famous Deaths

Apr 1 Karl Valentin, Swedish composer, dies at 64
Apr 5 Paul Vidal de la Blanche, French geographer, dies at 73
Apr 6 John Q. A. Brackett, American politician, 36th Governor of Massachusetts (1890-91), dies at 75
Apr 11 Arthur E Ochse, South African cricket batsman (2 Tests; Transvaal), dies in action WWI at 48
Apr 13 Lavr Georgevich Kornilov, Russian military officer, dies at 47
Apr 20 Karl Ferdinand Braun, German inventor, co-developed wireless telegraphy (Nobel 1909), dies at 67
Apr 20 Reginald Harry Mybirgh Hands, cricketer (1 Test for SA), dies

The Red Baron (1892-1918)

Apr 21 German World War I fighter ace, dies at 25 after his plane is shot down

Apr 26 Cecil Coles, Scottish organist and composer (Behind the Lines), killed during WWI by sniper fire while recovering casualties on the Western Front at 29

Gavrilo Princip (1894-1918)

Apr 28 Bosnian-Serb assassin of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, dies of tuberculosis at 23

On This Day