April 1 is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 274 days remaining

until the end of the year. April 1 is most notable in the Western world for being April Fools' Day.

Events

527 - Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne.

1318 - Berwick-upon-Tweed is captured by the Scottish from the English.

1340 - Niels Ebbesen kills Gerhard III of Holstein in his bedroom, ending the 1332-1340 interregnum in

Denmark.

1572 - In the Eighty Years' War, the Watergeuzen capture Brielle from the Spaniards, gaining the first

foothold on land for what would become the Dutch Republic.

1789 - In New York City, the United States House of Representatives holds its first quorum and elects

Frederick Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania as its first House Speaker.

1826 - Samuel Morey patents the internal combustion engine.

1854 - Hard Times begins serialisation in Charles Dickens magazine, Household Words.

1857 - Herman Melville publishes The Confidence-Man.

1865 - American Civil War: Battle of Five Forks - In Siege of Petersburg, Confederate General Robert E. Lee

begins his final offensive.

1867 - Singapore becomes a British crown colony.

1873 - The British steamer SS Atlantic sinks off Nova Scotia, killing 547.

1891 - The Wrigley Company is founded in Chicago, Illinois.

1918 - The Royal Air Force is created by merging the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service.

1924 - Adolf Hitler is sentenced to five years in jail for his participation in the "Beer Hall Putsch". However,

he spends only nine months in jail, during which he writes the book Mein Kampf.

1924 - First revenue flight for Belgium's Sabena Airlines

1924 - The Royal Canadian Air Force is formed.

1933 - The recently elected Nazis under Julius Streicher organize a one-day boycott of all Jewish-owned

businesses in Germany, ushering in the series of anti-Semitic acts that will become known as the

Holocaust.

1936 - Formation of the Indian state of Orissa, formerly known as UTKAL.

1937 - Aden becomes a British crown colony.

1939 - Generalísimo Francisco Franco of the Spanish State announces the end of the Spanish Civil War,

when the last of the Republican forces surrender.

1941 - The Blockade Runner Badge for German navy is instituted.

1944 - Accidental American bombing of the Swiss city of Schaffhausen. The bombers were lost.

1945 - World War II: Operation Iceberg - United States troops land on Okinawa in the last campaign of the

war.

1946 - Aleutian Island earthquake: A 7.8 magnitude earthquake near the Aleutian Islands creates a

tsunami that strikes the Hawaiian Islands killing 159 (mostly in Hilo, Hawaii).

1946 - Formation of the Malayan Union.

1948 - Cold War: Berlin Airlift - Military forces, under direction of the Soviet-controlled government in East

Germany, set-up a land blockade of West Berlin.

1948 - Faroe Islands receive autonomy from Denmark.

1949 - Chinese Civil War: Communist Party of China holds unsuccessful peace talks with the Kuomintang in

Beijing, after three years of fighting.

1949 - The twenty-six counties of the Irish Free State become the Republic of Ireland.

1954 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorizes the creation of the United States Air Force Academy in

Colorado.

1955 - The EOKA rebellion starts in Cyprus, with the goal of obtaining the island's independence from the

United Kingdom.

1963 - The soap opera General Hospital has its TV debut.

1967 - The United States Department of Transportation begins operation.

1969 - The Hawker Siddeley Harrier enters service with the RAF.

1970 - President Richard Nixon signs the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act into law, requiring the

Surgeon General's warnings on tobacco products and banning cigarette advertisements on television and

radio in the United States starting on January 1, 1971.

1973 - Project Tiger, a tiger conservation project, is launched in the Corbett National Park,

India.

1974 - In the United Kingdom, the Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties come into being.

1976 - Apple Computer is formed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.

1976 - Conrail takes over operations from six bankrupt railroads in the northeastern U.S..

1976 - Jovian-Plutonian gravitational effect is first reported by the astronomer Patrick Moore.

1978 - Philippine College of Commerce, through a presidential decree, becomes the Polytechnic University

of the Philippines.

1979 - Iran's government becomes an Islamic Republic by a 98% vote, officially overthrowing the Shah.

1980 - New York City's Transit Worker Union 100 begins a strike lasting 11 days.

1981 - Daylight saving time is introduced in the USSR.

1989 - Margaret Thatcher's new local government tax, the Community Charge (commonly known as the

'poll tax'), is introduced in Scotland.

1996 - The Halifax Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia is created.

1999 - Nunavut is established as a Canadian territory carved out of the eastern part of the Northwest

Territories.

2001 - An EP-3E United States Navy plane collides with a Chinese People's Liberation Army fighter jet. The

Navy crew makes an emergency landing in Hainan, People's Republic of China and is detained. See Hainan

Island incident.

2001 - Former president of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milošević surrenders to police special

forces, to be tried on charges of war crimes.

2001 - Same-sex marriage becomes legal in the Netherlands, which is the first country to allow it.

2002 - The Netherlands legalizes euthanasia, becoming the first nation in the world to do so.

2006 - The Serious Organised Crime Agency, dubbed the 'British FBI', is created in the United Kingdom.

Births

1220 - Emperor Go-Saga of Japan (d. 1272)

1543 - François de Bonne, duc de Lesdiguières, Constable of France (d. 1626)

1578 - William Harvey, English physician (d. 1657)

1610 - Charles de Saint-Évremond, French soldier (d. 1703)

1640 - Georg Mohr, Danish mathematician (d. 1697)

1647 - John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, English poet (d. 1680)

1697 - Antoine François Prévost, French author and novelist (d. 1763)

1753 - Joseph de Maistre, French diplomat and writer (d. 1821)

1765 - Luigi Schiavonetti, Italian engraver (d. 1810)

1776 - Sophie Germain, French mathematician (d. 1831)

1815 - Otto von Bismarck, 1st Chancellor of Germany (d. 1898)

1815 - Edward Clark, Governor of Texas (d. 1880)

1834 - Big Jim Fisk, American entrepreneur (d. 1872)

1854 - Bill Traylor, American artist (d. 1949)

1856 - Acacio Gabriel Viegas, Indian physician (d. 1933)

1865 - Richard Adolf Zsigmondy, Austrian-born chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1929)

1866 - Ferruccio Busoni, Italian pianist and composer (d. 1924)

1868 - Edmond Rostand, French dramatist (d. 1918)

1873 (N.S.) - Sergei Rachmaninoff, Russian composer, pianist, and conductor (d. 1943)

1875 - Edgar Wallace, English writer (d. 1932)

1880 - Agha Petros, Assyrian general (d. 1932)

1882 - Paul Anspach, Belgian Olympic champion fencer (d. 1991)

1883 - Lon Chaney, Sr., American actor (d. 1930)

1885 - Wallace Beery, American actor (d. 1949)

1893 - Cicely Courtneidge, English actress and comedian (d. 1980)

1895 - Alberta Hunter, American singer (d. 1984)

1897 - Nita Naldi, American actress (d. 1961)

1898 - William James Sidis, American genius (d. 1944)

1899 - Gustavs Celmins, Latvian politician (d. 1968)

1900 - Robert McDowell, Mayor of Maryborough, Queensland (d. 1988)

1901 - Whittaker Chambers, American writer, editor, and defector (d. 1961)

1902 - Maria Polydouri, Greek poet (d. 1930)

1906 - Aleksandr Yakovlev, Russian engineer and airplane designer (d. 1989)

1908 - Abraham Maslow, American psychologist (d. 1970)

1909 - Eddy Duchin, American popular pianist & bandleader (d. 1951)

1914 - Lor Tok, Thai comedian and actor (d. 2002)

1915 - Otto Wilhelm Fischer, Austrian actor (d. 2004)

1917 - Melville Shavelson, American film director, producer and screenwriter (d. 2007)

1919 - Joseph Murray, American surgeon, Nobel laureate

1920 - Toshirō Mifune, Japanese actor (d. 1997)

1921 - Ken Reardon, Canadian ice hockey player

1922 - William Manchester, American historian (d. 2004)

1924 - Brendan Byrne, Governor of New Jersey

1924 - Miodrag Petrović, Serbian actor (d. 2003)

1926 - Charles Bressler, American tenor

1926 - Anne McCaffrey, American author

1927 - Amos Milburn, American pianist (d. 1980)

1928 - George Grizzard, American actor (d. 2007)

1929 - Milan Kundera, Czech-born writer

1929 - Payut Ngaokrachang, Thai animator

1929 - Jane Powell, American dancer, actress, and singer

1929 - Bo Schembechler, American football coach (d. 2006)

1930 - Grace Lee Whitney, American actress

1931 - Rolf Hochhuth, German writer

1931 - Ita Ever, Estonian actress

1932 - Gordon Jump, American actor (d. 2003)

1932 - Debbie Reynolds, American actress

1933 - Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, French physicist, Nobel laureate

1933 - Dan Flavin, American artist (d. 1996)

1934 - Don Hastings, American actor

1934 - Rod Kanehl, American baseball player (d. 2004)

1934 - Vladimir Posner, Russian journalist

1935 - Larry McDonald, American politician (d. 1983)

1936 - Jean-Pascal Delamuraz, Swiss politician, president of the Confederation in 1989 and 1996 (d. 1998)

1938 - Ali MacGraw, American actress

1938 - John Quade, American actor

1939 - Phil Niekro, American baseball player

1939 - Rudolph Isley, American singer

1940 - Wangari Maathai, Kenyan environmentalist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize

1942 - Samuel R. Delany, American author

1942 - Annie Nightingale, British disc jockey

1944 - Rusty Staub, American baseball player

1945 - John Barbata, American drummer

1946 - Ronnie Lane, English musician (d. 1997)

1946 - Arrigo Sacchi, Italian football coach

1947 - Alain Connes, French mathematician

1947 - M, English singer

1947 - Norm Van Lier, American basketball player

1948 - Jimmy Cliff, Jamaican musician

1949 - Gérard Mestrallet, French businessman

1949 - Sammy Nelson, Northern Irish footballer

1949 - Gil Scott-Heron, American musician and composer

1950 - Samuel Alito, U.S. Supreme Court Justice

1951 - John Philip Abizaid, U.S. Army General, former CENTCOM commander

1952 - Annette O'Toole, American actress

1952 - Bernard Stiegler, French philosopher

1953 - Barry Sonnenfeld, producer and director

1954 - Jeff Porcaro, American drummer (d. 1992)

1955 - Gregg Jarrett, American television anchor

1955 - Humayun Akhtar Khan, Pakistani statesman

1957 - David Gower, English cricketer

1958 - D. Boon, American musician d. 1985)

1960 - Michael Praed, British actor

1962 - Dave Ulliott, English poker player

1964 - Erik Breukink, Dutch cyclist and manager

1964 - Scott Stevens, Canadian ice hockey player

1965 - Mark Jackson, American basketball player

1965 - Robert Steadman, English composer

1966 - Chris Evans, English disc jockey

1967 - Phil Demmel, American musician

1970 - Sung Hi Lee, Korean-born model

1971 - Method Man, American rapper

1971 - Shinji Nakano, Japanese race car driver

1972 - Allen and Albert Hughes, American film directors

1972 - Darren McCarty, Canadian ice hockey player

1972 - Jesse Tobias, American musician

1973 - Christian Finnegan, American comedian

1973 - Stephen Fleming, New Zealand cricketer

1973 - Joe Francis, American adult video producer

1974 - Richard Christy, American drummer

1974 - Hugo Benjamín Ibarra, Argentine footballer

1974 - Sandra Völker, German swimmer

1975 - George Bastl, Swiss tennis player

1975 - John Butler, Australian singer and musician

1976 - Clarence Seedorf, Dutch football player

1977 - Haimar Zubeldia, Spanish cyclist

1978 - Jean-Pierre Dumont, Canadian ice hockey player

1978 - Miroslava Vavrinec, Swiss tennis player

1979 - Ivano Balić, Croatian handballer

1980 - Randy Orton, American professional wrestler

1980 - Bijou Phillips, American actress

1980 - Yūko Takeuchi, Japanese actress

1981 - Antonis Fotsis, Greek basketball player

1981 - Hannah Spearritt, British singer

1981 - Pieter Weening, Dutch cyclist

1981 - Aimee Chan, Miss Hong Kong 2006

1982 - Sam Huntington, American actor

1982 - Gemma Hunt, British children's television presenter

1982 - Taran Killam, American comedian and actor

1983 - Ólafur Ingi Skúlason, Icelandic footballer

1983 - Sean Taylor, American football player (d. 2007)

1984 - Gilberto Macena, Brazilian footballer

1984 - Olga Rei, Russian television personality

1985 - Josh Zuckerman, American actor

1985 - Shay Doron, Israeli basketball player

1986 - Ireen Wüst, Dutch speed skater

1987 - Ding Junhui, Chinese snooker player

1987 - Li Ting, Chinese diver

1988 - Courtney McCool, American gymnast

1989 - Vietoris Krisztián, German racecar driver

Deaths

1085 - Emperor Shenzong of China (b. 1048)

1132 - St-Hugues, Bishop of Grenoble (b. 1053)

1204 - Eleanor of Aquitaine, mother of Richard I of England and John of England

1205 - King Amalric II of Jerusalem (b. 1145)

1528 - Francisco de Peñalosa, Spanish composer

1580 - Alonso Mudarra, Spanish composer

1621 - Cristofano Allori, Italian painter (b. 1577)

1637 - Niwa Nagashige, Japanese warlord (b. 1571)

1682 - Franz Egon of Fürstenberg, Bavarian Catholic archbishop (b. 1625)

1787 - Floyer Sydenham, English classical scholar (b. 1710)

1791 - Richard Butler American soldier (b. 1743)

1839 - Benjamin Pierce, American politician (b. 1757)

1865 - Giuditta Pasta, Italian soprano (b. 1797)

1872 - Frederick Maurice, English theologian (b. 1805)

1872 - William Frederick Horry, English convicted murderer (b. 1843)

1878 - John Corry Wilson Daly, Canadian politician (b. 1796)

1890 - David Wilber, American politician (b. 1820)

1914 - Rube Waddell, American baseball player (b. 1876)

1917 - Scott Joplin, American musician and composer (b. 1868)

1922 - Emperor Karl I of Austria (b. 1887)

1930 - Cosima Wagner, daughter of Franz Liszt and wife of Richard Wagner (b. 1837)

1946 - Noah Beery, American actor (b. 1882)

1947 - King George II of Greece (b. 1890)

1950 - Charles R. Drew, American physician (b. 1904)

1965 - Helena Rubinstein, Polish-born American cosmetics manufacturer (b. 1870)

1966 - Flann O'Brien, Irish humorist (b. 1911)

1968 - Lev Davidovich Landau, Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1908)

1976 - Max Ernst, German artist (b. 1891)

1979 - Bruno Coquatrix, French music impresario (b. 1910)

1979 - Barbara Luddy, American actress (b. 1908)

1981 - Eua Sunthornsanan, Thai composer and bandleader (b. 1910)

1984 - Marvin Gaye, American singer (b. 1939)

1986 - Erik Bruhn, Danish ballet dancer, choreographer (b. 1928)

1988 - Jim Jordan, American actor (Fibber McGee) (b. 1896)

1991 - Martha Graham, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1894)

1993 - Alan Kulwicki, American race car driver (b. 1954)

1994 - Robert Doisneau, French photographer (b. 1912)

1996 - Florence Buchsbaum, French theater director (b. 1926)

1996 - John McSherry, American baseball umpire (b. 1944)

1997 - Norman Carr, British conservationist (b. 1912)

1998 - Gene Evans, American actor (b. 1922)

1998 - Rozz Williams, American musician (Christian Death) (b. 1963)

1999 - Jesse Stone, American record producer (b. 1901)

2000 - Alexander Mackenzie Stuart, Baron Mackenzie-Stuart, Scottish jurist (b. 1924)

2001 - Olivia Barclay, British astrologer (b. 1919)

2001 - Jo-Jo Moore, American baseball player (b. 1908)

2001 - Trinh Cong Son, Vietnamese composer (b. 1939)

2002 - Simo Hayha, Finnish marksman (b. 1905)

2003 - Leslie Cheung, Hong Kong actor and singer (b. 1956)

2004 - Carrie Snodgress, American actress (b. 1946)

2004 - Nilo Soruco, Bolivian songwriter (b. 1927)

2005 - Alexander Brott, Canadian violinist and composer (b. 1915)

2005 - Harald Juhnke, German entertainer (b. 1929)

2005 - Jack Keller, American songwriter (b. 1936)

2005 - Ioannis Kyrastas, Greek footballer and manager (b. 1952)

2005 - Robert Coldwell Wood, American educator (b. 1923)

2006 - In Tam, Cambodian politician (b. 1916)

2007 - Herb Carneal, American sports broadcaster (b. 1923)

Holidays and Observances

April 1 is known as April Fool's Day or All Fools' Day in many countries.

Last day of the Assyrian New Year Celebration.

Roman Empire - Veneralia celebrated to honor Venus.

Brielle celebrates the victory of 1572 over the Spaniards.

In San Marino, two Captains Regent, elected by Parliament, take office for six months.

Užupis - Residents celebrate their independence on Užupis Day.

In the Roman Catholic Church calendar:

Saint Hugh of Grenoble

Saint Waleric