18 April 1161
Death of Theobald of Bec, Archishop of Canterbury. Bec had held office during the wars between Stephen and Matilda and the early years of the reign of Henry II. He was succeeded by his protégé, one Thomas Becket.
18 April 1552
Death of English poet and antiquary John Leland. Leland made a number of journeys around England and Wales towards the end of Henry VIII‘s reign, recording his observations. His notebooks became known as ‘The Itinerary’.
18 April 1882
Death of Sir Henry Cole, organiser of the 1851 Great Exhibition.
18 April 1930
Listeners who tuned in to hear BBC Radio’s Good Friday evening news broadcast were informed that “there is no news”.
18 April 1943
Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto, commander of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, was killed when the plane in which he was flying was ambushed and shot down by american fighters near the Solomon Islands.
18 April 1949
The Republic of Ireland Act comes into force. Ireland ceases to be a member of the commonwealth and King George VI ceases to act as Irish head of state in international relations.
18 April 1983
When a suicide bomber drives a van packed with explosives into the compound of the US embassy in Beirut, 63 people are killed and more than 120 injured.
!["Screenshot]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2010/09/Screenshot-2021-09-09-at-17.22.22-8857e91.png?quality=45&resize=556,556" "\"Screenshot")