Today is Friday, April 18, the 109th day of 2008. There are 257 days left in the year. On this date

Today is Friday, April 18, the 109th day of 2008. There are 257 days left in the year. On this date in 1906, a devastating earthquake strikes San Francisco, followed by raging fires; estimates of the final death toll range between 3,000 and 6,000.

In 1775, Paul Revere begins his famous ride from Charlestown to Lexington, Mass., warning American colonists that the British are coming. In 1907, San Francisco’s Fairmont Hotel opens, a year to the day after the earthquake. In 1934, the first laundromat (called a “washateria”) opens, in Fort Worth, Texas. In 1942, an air squadron from the USS Hornet led by Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle raids Tokyo and other Japanese cities. In 1945, famed American war correspondent Ernie Pyle, 44, is killed by Japanese gunfire on the Pacific island of Ie Shima, off Okinawa.

April 18, 1983: General Motors Fisher Body Plant at Lordstown recalls 24 employees, the first of 400 it hopes to recall as orders improve. If that happens, the plant will have 2,024 hourly and 342 salaried workers on the job and fewer than 300 remaining on layoff.

Four representatives of the World Council of Churches in Youngstown as guests of the Mahoning Valley religious community say the WCC will continue to focus on problems of peace, social justice and world hunger, despite recent criticism, including an unflattering episode of “60 Minutes.”

April 18, 1968: Two men dressed as women and armed with revolvers seize the night deposits of the Loblaw Supermarket on Mahoning Avenue as the store manager and a stockboy were taking the deposit bag to the Mahoning Plaza bank.

Youngstown City Council approves the employment of consulting engineers to determine the rehabilitation needs of more than 35 bridges in the city.

John Richards, a restaurant and tavern owner for more than 30 years, is named Campbell Safety-service director by Mayor Rocco Mico.

April 18, 1958: Youngstown police are questioning 22 juveniles and young men to determine their level of involvement in a gang fight that was broken up by police at Hillman Street and Falls Avenue.

John J. Tobin is indicted on 18 charges of fraud involving $150,136 in false insurance claims. Paul Shade and 13 others are indicted on various other counts in Youngstown’s massive insurance swindle.

Government lawyers produce engineering estimates showing Bethlehem Steel Corp. overestimated the cost of building a new plant to put a better financial face on its proposed merger with Youngstown Sheet Tube. Co.

April 18, 1933: Some of the 400 spectators outside the courtroom of Judge George Gessner become indignant when told that the courtroom would be closed during the testimony of Canfield Lumberman Cyrus Neff, but they disperse quickly. In the nearly empty court room, Neff describes how he placed what he thought was an unloaded shotgun on the pillow beside his sleeping wife to attract her attention, and it went off.

Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. adds another open hearth at the Campbell Works after receiving an order for 2,000 tons of pipe.

Speaking at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, Congressman John G. Cooper, Youngstown Republican, urges the American people to cooperate fully with President Franklin Roosevelt in his relief and various other programs to put the country back on its feet.