18 April in Indian and World History is celebrated, observed, and remembered for various reasons. 18 April is the birth anniversary of Dr. Dhondo Keshav Karve, Chandeshwar Prasad Narayan Singh, and Lalita Pawar.
18 April is also observed as the death anniversary of Tatya Tope, Damodar Hari Chapekar, and Barindra Kumar Ghosh.
Birth Anniversary
18 April in Indian history is celebrated as the birth anniversary of the following personalities:
Dr. Dhondo Keshav Karve (18 April 1858 – 9 November 1962), is considered the greatest social reformer and savior. He ended his entire life doing social service in various obstacles and struggles, proving his statement (‘Where there is a will, there is a way’) to be absolutely true. He was born on 18 April 1858 in Maharashtra.
Chandeshwar Prasad Narayan Singh (18 April 1901 – 1993), an Indian politician. In 1927, he was appointed a member of the Legislative Council of Bihar. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 1977. He was born on 18 April 1901 in Parasgarh, Bihar.
Lalita Pawar (18 April 1916 – 24 February 1998), a famous actress in Hindi cinema. A serious artist living the life of an Indian woman who gave many memorable films to cinema. The role of Manthara in the serial ‘Ramayana’ produced by Ramanand Sagar was also made alive by Lalita Pawar. He was born on 18 April 1916.
Read More: 17 April in Indian and World History
Death Anniversary
18 April in Indian history is observed as the death anniversary of the following personalities:
Tatya Tope (1814 – 18 April 1859), a high position among the leading heroes of the ‘First War of Independence of 1857 AD. Through his military campaigns at many places, this hero fought hard with the British forces in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, etc., and troubled them badly. Adopting the gorilla warfare system, Tatya Tope freed the British forces for sixes. He died 18 April 1859 in Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh.
Damodar Hari Chapekar (24 June 1869 – 18 April 1898), was immortalized among the revolutionary martyrs of India. Damodar Hari Chapekar and his two brothers Balkrishna Chapekar and Vasudev Chapekar have also left their indelible mark on Indian history. These three brothers were influenced by Bal Gangadhar Tilak and were famous by the name ‘Chapekar Bandhu’. He died on 18 April 1898.
Barindra Kumar Ghosh (5 January 1880 – 18 April 1959) an Indian freedom fighter and journalist. He is also known as Barin Ghosh. He was the younger brother of spiritualist Aurobindo Ghosh. The credit for spreading revolutionary ideology in Bengal goes to Barindra Kumar and Bhupendra Nath Dutt, who were the younger brothers of Swami Vivekananda. As a result of the ‘Swadeshi Movement’, Barindra Kumar Ghosh started the publication of the Bengali weekly ‘Yugantar’ in 1906 to propagate revolutionary ideas. He also formed the ‘Maniktalla Party’ in 1907 to coordinate the activities of revolutionary terrorism. In 1908, he was arrested and sentenced to death, but later it was changed to life imprisonment. After spending ten years in Andaman Jail, he spent the rest of his time in journalism. He died on 18 April 1959.
Read More: 16 April in Indian and World History
Notable events on 18 April in Indian and World history
18 April 1612 – Shah Jahan, the emperor of the Mughal Empire, married Mumtaz.
18 April 1842 – Antero de Quental — a prominent Portuguese poet, philosopher, and writer — was born.
18 April 1859 – The leader of the 1857 rebellion, Tatyana Tope, was hanged in 1859.
18 April 1874 – Ivana Brlić Mažuranić — a Croatian writer — was born.
18 April 1882 – Monteiro Lobato — a prominent Brazilian writer, educator, and publisher who is widely regarded as one of the most important figures in Brazilian literature for children — was born.
18 April 1905 – George H. Hitchings an American biochemist, pharmacologist, and Nobel Prize Laureate,
18 April 1906 – The earthquake and fire in San Francisco killed about 4000 people.
18 April 1917 – Mahatma Gandhi selected Champaran in Bihar for the Satyagraha.
18 April 1919 – Esther Afua Ocloo — a Ghanaian businesswoman and pioneer of microlending, a programme of making small loans — was born.
18 April 1923 – Yankee Stadium opened in the Bronx.
18 April 1930 – Surya Sen alias Master Da and 62 men of the Indian Republican Army raided the Chittagong Shastragar.
18 April 1937 – Jan Kaplický, a Czech architect who spent a significant part of his life in the United Kingdom, was born.
18 April 1938 – Kaimook Chuto – the first female Thai sculptor – was born.
18 April 1948 – The International Court of Justice was established in The Hague, Netherlands.
18 April 1950 – Vinoba Bhave started the Bhoodan movement from the village of Pachampally in Andhra Pradesh (now Telangana).
18 April 1955 – The Afro-Asian Conference was organized in Bandung.
18 April 1955 – Albert Einstein a German-born theoretical physicist, and Nobel Prize Laureate, died.
18 April 1971 – The country’s first jumbo jet plane 747 named “Emperor Ashok” landed in Mumbai.
18 April 1978 – Shobha Singh, the father of eminent writer Khushwant Singh, died.
18 April 1994 – West Indies batsman Brian Lara set the world record for most runs in an innings of a Test match by scoring 375 runs.
18 April 2001 – 16 Indian soldiers were martyred due to the firing of the Bangladesh army which entered the Indian border.
18 April 2002 – Mohammad Zahir Shah, the former ruler of Afghanistan, who has been living in Italy since 1973, returned to Kabul.
18 April 2008 – Pakistan postponed the execution of Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh by a month.
18 April 2008 – India and Mexico signed new agreements in the field of civil aviation and energy.
18 April 2008 – Infosys Technologies entered into a five-year agreement with Conseco of the US to provide development and repair services.
18 April 2008 – The US Supreme Court upheld the death penalty by lethal injection.
18 April 2013 – 27 killed, 65 injured in bombings in Iraq’s capital Baghdad.
18 April 2014 – 12 mountaineers of Nepal died in an avalanche on Mount Everest.
World Heritage Day – The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) organizes various activities to celebrate and conserve cultural heritage. It is observed every year on 18 April to honor the human heritage and to acknowledge the efforts of all relevant organizations in the field.