1. In 1938, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the constitutionality of the Fair Labor Standards Act in the case of West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish. The act established a minimum wage and maximum workweek for American workers.

2. On April 18, 1947, the Senate approved the Marshall Plan, a program of economic aid to help rebuild Europe after World War II. The plan ultimately provided $13 billion in aid to help reconstruct Western Europe and strengthen its economies.

3. The Washington Rogues, a semi-professional soccer team, played their first ever home game at Duke Ellington Field on April 18, 2009. The team played in the National Premier Soccer League and drew over 500 fans to their inaugural match.

4. On April 18, 1983, a massive tornado outbreak struck the central and eastern US. In the District of Columbia, winds as high as 75 mph caused damage to several buildings, but no fatalities were reported.

5. Many important events in the civil rights movement occurred on April 18. In 1956, civil rights activists held a protest in front of the White House to demand desegregation of interstate transportation. And in 1968, just days after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., students at Howard University staged a sit-in, prompting a visit from Senator Robert F. Kennedy.