Today is Friday, April 18, the 109th day of 2008. There are 257 days left in the year.
1834 _ Charles Darwin sails to Rio Santa Cruz up Patagonia
1853 _ First train in Asia (Bombay to Tanna, 36 km)
1906 _ San Francisco earthquake and fire kills nearly 4,000 and destroys 75 percent of the city
1909 _ Joan of Arc declared a saint
1924 _ First crossword puzzle book published (Simon & Schuster)
1927 _ Chiang Kai-shek forms anti-government in China
1934 _ First ``Washateria" (laundromat) opens (Fort Worth, Texas)
1978 _ Senate votes to turn Panama Canal over to Panama on Dec 31, 1999
1980 _ Zimbabwe (formerly Southern Rhodesia) declares independence from U.K.
1994 _ Former President Richard Nixon suffers a stroke and dies four days later