Today in History: The First Paper Was Produced at the İzmit Paper Factory

April 18 is the 108nd (109rd in leap years) day of the year according to the Gregorian calendar. The number of days left until the end of the year is 257.

Railways

• 18 April 1923 Samsun-Çeşamba line construction started.

Events

• 1906 - city of San Francisco; It was destroyed by the 7,9 magnitude earthquake that lasted for 50 seconds and the fires that followed. 28 buildings were destroyed, nearly 3000 people died and 100 were left homeless.
• 1920 – The Istanbul Government established the Kuva-yi Inzibatiye against the Kuvâ-yi Milliye, which carried out the National Struggle. These forces supported the revolt around Adapazarı; however, he was defeated by the regular troops of the Ankara Government.
• 1923 - Yankee Stadium opened.
• 1936 – The first paper was produced at the Izmit Paper Factory.
• 1946 - The League of Nations is dissolved.
• 1951 – With the signing of the Paris Agreement, the European Coal and Steel Community was established, which is the first step to lay the foundations of today's European Union.
• 1954 – Gamal Abdelnasser took office as prime minister in Egypt, replacing Mohammed Najib.
• 1955 – Bandung Conference: The conference started in Bandung, Indonesia, where 29 non-aligned African and Asian countries came together.
• 1960 – An Investigation Commission was established in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey to investigate the CHP and the press. İnönü said, “It is a dangerous thing to leave this democratic regime and turn it into a oppressive regime. If you continue on this path, I will not be able to save you either."
• 1974 – In Italy, the Red Brigades kidnapped Prosecutor Mario Sossi.
• 1977 – Veli Ballı finished second in the Boston Marathon.
• 1983 – A suicide attack on the US Embassy in Beirut killed 63 people, including the bomber.
• 1986 – A fire broke out in the military ammunition depots in Yahşihan town of Kırıkkale. The town was evacuated.
• 1989 – The first IVF in Turkey was born at Ege University IVF Center in Izmir.
• 1989 – Thousands of students take to the streets in China to demand broader democracy.
• 1992 – General Abdul Reşid Dostum started a revolt against President Mohammad Najibullah to seize the capital Kabul.
• 1993 – President of Pakistan, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, dissolved the Assembly.
• 1996 – Israeli troops bomb a UN settlement in Lebanon: 106 civilians killed.
• 1999 – Early general elections were held in Turkey: DSP became the first party.
• 2002 – Former King of Afghanistan, Zahir Shah, returned to his country after 29 years of exile.
• 2007 – Zirve Publishing House massacre: In the raid on the Zirve Bookstore in Malatya; Three Christians, one German and two Turks, were killed with their throats slit.

Births

• 359 – Gratian, Western Roman Emperor (d. 383)
• 1589 – John, Duke of Östergötland (d. 1618)
• 1590 – Ahmed I, 14th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (d. 1617)
• 1772 – David Ricardo, British economist and politician (d. 1823)
• 1805 – Giuseppe De Notaris, Italian botanist (d. 1877)
• 1905 – George H. Hitchings, American physician and Nobel Prize laureate in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1998)
• 1905 – Yavuz Abadan, Turkish lawyer, politician and writer (d. 1967)
• 1907 – Miklós Rózsa, Hungarian-American soundtrack composer and Academy Award winner for Best Original Score (d. 1995)
• 1927 – Samuel P. Huntington, American political scientist (d. 2008)
• 1940 – Joseph L. Goldstein, American biochemist, geneticist, and Nobel Prize laureate in Physiology or Medicine
• 1942 – Tınaz Titiz, Turkish politician and former Minister of Culture and Tourism
• 1943 – Zeki Alasya, Turkish theater and cinema artist (d. 2015)
• 1947 – James Woods, American stage and film actor
• 1951 – Barış Pirhasan, Turkish director, screenwriter and poet
• 1955 – Oğuz Sarvan, Turkish dentist and football referee
• 1963 – Conan O'Brien, American comedian
• 1964 – Zazie (Isabelle Marie Anne de Truchis de Varennes), French singer-songwriter and former model
• 1967 – Mesut Yar, Turkish journalist and TV personality
• 1968 – Murat Kekilli, Turkish singer
• 1969 – Serdar Deniz, Turkish actor
• 1971 – David Tennant, Scottish actor
• 1973 – Haile Gebrselassie, Ethiopian record-breaking athlete
• 1975 – Kerim Tekin, Turkish pop music artist and actor (d. 1998)
• 1984 – America Ferrera, American actress
• 1985 – Rachel Renee Smith, American model, beauty queen and actress
• 1987 – Rosie Alice Huntington-Whiteley, British model
• 1988 – Kayleigh McEnany, American political commentator, journalist, and author
• 1989 – Alia Martine Shawkat, American actress and filmmaker
• 1990 – Brittany Leanna Robertson, American actress
• 1992 – Chloe Bennet, American actress and singer
• 1993 - Kazuki Mine, Japanese football player
• 1994 – Moises Arias, Colombian-American actress
• 1995 – Lee Seung-yun, South Korean archer
• 1996 – Aleksey Jigalkovic, Belarusian singer who won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2007
• 1997 – Donny van de Beek is a Dutch football player.

Deaths

• 1558 – Hürrem Sultan (known in Europe as The Red or Roxelana), married wife of Solomon I (b. 1502-06)
• 1674 – John Graunt, English statistician (b. 1620)
• 1690 – Charles Léopold Nicolas Sixte, fifth duke of Lorraine (b. 1643)
• 1802 – Erasmus Darwin, English physician, natural philosopher, physiologist, inventor, and poet (b. 1731)
• 1845 – Nicolas-Théodore de Saussure, a Swiss chemist who was interested in plant physiology and made important developments with his work in the field (b. 1767)
• 1853 – William R. King, American politician and diplomat (b. 1786)
• 1869 – Giuseppe Giacinto Moris, Italian botanist (b. 1796)
• 1871 – Ömer Lütfi Pasha, Serdar-i Ekrem of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1806)
• 1873 – Justus von Liebig, German chemist (b. 1803)
• 1898 – Gustave Moreau, French symbolist painter (b. 1826)
• 1935 – Panait Istrati, Romanian writer (b. 1884)
• 1936 – Ottorino Respighi, Italian composer (b. 1879)
• 1941 – Alexandros Koryzis was Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1885)
• 1943 – Hafiz Burhan, Turkish singer (b. 1897)
• 1943 – Isoroku Yamamoto, Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy Combined Fleet (b. 1884)
• 1945 – Wilhelm, prince of Albania (b. 1876)
• 1949 – Leonard Bloomfield, American linguist (b. 1887)
• 1949 – Otto Nerz, German football player and first manager of the Germany national football team (b. 1892)
• 1955 – Albert Einstein, German physicist and Nobel Prize laureate in Physics (b. 1879)
• 1958 – Maurice Gustave Gamelin, French general (b. 1872)
• 1958 – Noah Young, American actor (b. 1887)
• 1964 – Ben Hecht, American novelist, screenwriter, and director (b. 1894)
• 1967 – Friedrich Heiler, German theologian and historian of religions (b. 1892)
• 1970 – Michał Kalecki, Polish economist (b. 1899)
• 1974 – Marcel Pagnol, French writer, playwright, and director (b. 1895)
• 1976 – Carl Peter Henrik Dam, Danish scientist (b. 1895)
• 1979 – Esengül, Turkish singer (b. 1954)
• 1980 – Suut Kemal Yetkin, Turkish essayist and art historian (b. 1903)
• 1984 – Leopold Lindtberg, Austrian-born Swiss film and theater director (b. 1902)
• 1986 – Marcel Dassault, French aircraft manufacturer (b.1892)
• 1986 – Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock, German naval officer (b. 1911)
• 1988 – Oktay Rifat Horozcu, Turkish poet (b. 1914)
• 1988 – Antonín Puč, Czech former international football player (b. 1907)
• 1989 – Adil Atan, Turkish wrestler (b. 1929)
• 1989 – Candan Tarhan, Turkish football player and coach (b. 1942)
• 1990 – Frédéric Rossif, documentarian influenced by "cinema-reality" (b. 1922),
• 1993 – Elisabeth Jean Frink, English sculptor and printmaker (b. 1930)
• 1995 – Arturo Frondizi, Argentine politician (b. 1909)
• 2002 – Thor Heyerdahl, Norwegian explorer and anthropologist (b. 1914)
• 2003 – Edgar Frank “Ted” Codd, English computer scientist (b. 1923)
• 2003 – Teoman Köprülüler, Turkish politician and former Minister of Commerce (b. 1934)
• 2004 – Gürdal Duyar, Turkish sculptor (b. 1935)
• 2007 – Ali Dinçer, Turkish politician (b. 1945)
• 2008 – Joy Page, American actress (b. 1924)
• 2012 – Richard Wagstaff “Dick” Clark Jr., American radio and television producer (b. 1929)
• 2013 – Serkan Acar, Turkish football player (b. 1948)
• 2013 – Pierre Drai, French judge (b. 1926)
• 2013 – Storm Thorgerson, British graphic designer (b. 1944)
• 2016 – Adnan Mersinli, Turkish actor (b. 1940)
• 2017 – Yvonne Monlaur, French actress (b. 1939)
• 2018 – Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino, Italian-American retired professional wrestler (b. 1935)
• 2018 – Ercan Vuralhan, Turkish bureaucrat and politician (b. 1943)
• 2019 – Lyra Catherine McKee, female Northern Irish journalist (b. 1990)
• 2020 – Urano Navarrini or Urano Benigni, Italian professional football player and manager (b. 1945)
• 2020 – Lobsang Thubten Trinley Yarphel was Tibet's 5th Gangchen Tulku Rinpoche. Tibetan-Italian lama of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism (b. 1941)
• 2021 – Erol Demiröz, Turkish actor and director (b. 1940)
• 2021 – Necdet Üruğ, Turkish soldier (b. 1921)

Holidays and special occasions

• World Monuments and Sites Day
• World Amateur Radio and Amateur Radio Day
• Withdrawal of Russian and Armenian troops from Baskale district of Van (1918)