History of the Day for:
April 1
- 1789: The U.S. House of Representatives held its first full meeting in New York City.
- 1826: Samuel Mory patented the internal combustion engine.
- 1853: Cincinnati became the first U.S. city to pay its firefighters a regular salary.
- 1864: The Travelers Insurance Company issued the first travel accident policy to James Batterson.
- 1873: Composer Sergei Rachmaninoff was born in Russia.
- 1918: The Royal Air Force was established in Britain.
- 1931: Pitcher Jackie Mitchell became the first woman to play in organized baseball when she was signed by the Chattanooga Baseball Club.
- 1933: Nazi Germany began persecuting Jews with a boycott of Jewish-owned businesses.
- 1939: The U.S. recognized the Franco government in Spain following the end of the Spanish civil war.
- 1944: Navigation errors lead to an accidental American bombing of the Swiss city of Schaffhausen.
- 1945: World War II: Operation Iceberg – American forces invaded Okinawa.
- 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.
- 1956: Newscaster Chet Huntley began his successful news career with NBC.
- 1960: The first weather satellite, TIROS-One, was launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla.
- 1963: "General Hospital" premiered on ABC.
- 1970: President Nixon signed a bill prohibiting cigarette advertising on radio and television.
- 1985: George Plimpton played an April Fool's joke on readers of "Sports Illustrated" when he introduced readers to Sidd Finch, a 28-year-old aspiring monk who could throw a 168 mph fastball.
- 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.
- 1997: Comet Hale-Bopp is seen passing over perihelion.
- 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 surveillance aircraft collides with a Chinese People's Liberation Army Shenyang J-8 fighter jet. The Navy crew makes an emergency landing in Hainan, People's Republic of China and is detained.
- 2001: Former President of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Slobodan Miloševic surrenders to police special forces, to be tried on charges of war crimes.
- 2001: Same-sex marriage becomes legal in the Netherlands, the first country to allow it.
- 2002: The Netherlands legalizes euthanasia, becoming the first nation in the world to do so.
- 2004: Google introduces its Gmail product to the public. The launch is met with skepticism on account of the launch date.
- 2006: The Serious Organised Crime Agency, dubbed the 'British FBI', is created in the United Kingdom.