April 1
Today is
April Fools' Day.
Trust no one.
Today is also
Edible Book Day.
This date is also marked as
Fossil Fools' Day.
Events
325 Crown Prince
Jin Chengdi, age 4, succeeds his father
Jin Mingdi as emperor of the Eastern Jin dynasty.
528 The
daughter of Emperor Xiaoming of Northern Wei was made the "Emperor" as a male heir of the late emperor by
Empress Dowager Hu, deposed and replaced by
Yuan Zhao the next day, she was the first female monarch in the
history of China, but was not widely recognized.
1293
Robert Winchelsey left England for Rome to be consecrated as Archbishop of Canterbury by the Pope, only to find that there
wasn't one.
1318
Berwick-upon-Tweed is captured by Scotland from England.
1545 Potosν is founded after the discovery of
huge silver deposits in the area. <---Interesting read.
1789 In New York City, the United States House of Representatives holds its first quorum and elects
Frederick Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania as its first Speaker.
1865 American Civil War: Union troops led by Philip Sheridan
decisively defeat Confederate troops led by George Pickett, cutting the Army of Northern Virginia's last supply line.
1873 The White Star steamer
RMS Atlantic sinks off Nova Scotia, killing 547 in one of the worst marine disasters of the 19th century. Particularly interesting part
here.
1891 The
Wrigley Company is founded in Chicago, Illinois.
1924 Adolf Hitler is sentenced to five years imprisonment for his participation in the "
Beer Hall Putsch" but spends only nine months in jail.
1945 World War II: The
Tenth United States Army attacks the Thirty-Second Japanese Army on Okinawa.
1946 The 8.6 Mw
Aleutian Islands earthquake shakes the Aleutian Islands with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VI (Strong). A destructive tsunami reaches the Hawaiian Islands resulting in dozens of deaths, mostly in Hilo, Hawaii.
1947 The only
mutiny in the history of the Royal New Zealand Navy begins.
1954 United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorizes the creation of the
United States Air Force Academy in Colorado.
1960 The
TIROS-1 satellite transmits the first television picture from space.
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 advertising on television and radio in the United States, effective 1 January 1971.
1973
Project Tiger, a tiger conservation project, is launched in the
Jim Corbett National Park, India.
1976 Apple Inc. is formed by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and
Ronald Wayne in Cupertino, California, USA. Ronald Wayne sold his interest in Apple for (ultimately) $2300 (~$9296 in 2016 dollars), had he kept it, his 10% stake would be worth over $75,500,000,000 (says Wikipedia).
1979 Iran becomes an Islamic republic
by a 99% vote, officially overthrowing
the Shah.
1989 Margaret Thatcher's new local government tax, the
Community Charge (commonly known as the "poll tax"), is introduced in Scotland.
1997
Comet HaleBopp is seen passing at perihelion.
2001 An
EP-3E United States Navy surveillance aircraft collides with a Chinese People's Liberation Army Shenyang J-8 fighter jet. The Navy crew makes an emergency landing in Hainan, China and is detained.
2001 Former President of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Slobodan Miloević surrenders to police special forces, to be tried on war crimes charges.
2001 Same-sex marriage becomes legal in the Netherlands,
the first contemporary country to allow it.
2004 Google announces
Gmail to the public.
Births
1697 Antoine Franηois Prιvost, 1815 Otto von Bismarck, 1823 Simon Bolivar Buckner, 1873 Sergei Rachmaninoff

, 1883 Lon Chaney,
Sr., 1885 Wallace Beery, 1885 Clementine Churchill (Winston's main squeeze), 1917 Sydney Newman (co-created Doctor Who), 1920 Toshiro Mifune (
Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, mini-series
Shōgun), 1926 Anne McCaffrey (Dragonriders Of Pern novels), 1928 George Grizzard, 1929 Jonathan Haze (
The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)), 1932 Gordon Jump ("As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly."), 1932 Debbie Reynolds, 1934 Jim Ed Brown♪ ♫, 1939 Rudolph Isley♪ ♫(The Isley Bros), 1939 Ali MacGraw, 1939 Phil Niekro, 1945 John Barbata

(Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship), 1946 Ronnie Lane

(Faces, Small Faces), 1947 Robin Scott♪ ♫(M, known for the song '
Pop Muzik'), 1948 Jimmy Cliff♪ ♫, 1949 Gil Scott-Heron♪ ♫, 1950 Samuel Alito, 1952 Annette O'Toole, 1953 Barry Sonnenfeld, 1954 Jeff Porcaro

(Toto), 1955 Terry Nichols (Oklahoma City federal bldg bomber), 1961 Susan Boyle♪ ♫, 1966 Chris Evans, 1970 Brad Meltzer, 1973 Rachel Maddow (mouth), 1976 David Gilliland

, 1976 David Oyelowo (
Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Butler), 1977 Vitor Belfort (MMA fighter), 1980 Bijou Phillips, 1986 Hillary Scott♪ ♫(Lady Antebellum)
Deaths
1204 Eleanor of Aquitaine, 1839 Benjamin Pierce, 1917 Scott Joplin

, 1922 Hermann Rorschach (best known for developing the
Rorschach test), 1946 Noah Beery, Sr., 1976 Max Ernst

, 1984 Marvin Gaye♪ ♫, 1992 Nigel Preston

(The Cult), 1993 Alan Kulwicki

(came up with
The Polish Victory Lap), 2004 Paul Atkinson♪ ♫(The Zombies), 2004 Aaron Bank (founded the US Army Special Forces), 2004 Carrie Snodgress, 2010 John Forsythe (voice of 'Charlie' on
Charlie's Angels, Dynasty)