April 1

April 1 in recent years

2024 (Monday)

2023 (Saturday)

2022 (Friday)

2021 (Thursday)

2020 (Wednesday)

2019 (Monday)

2018 (Sunday)

2017 (Saturday)

2016 (Friday)

2015 (Wednesday)

April 1 is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 274 days remain until the end of the year. April 1 is most notable in many countries for being April Fools' Day.

Events

• 286 – Emperor Diocletian elevates his general Maximian to co-emperor with the rank of Augustus and gives him control over the Western regions of the Roman Empire.
• 325 – Crown Prince Jin Chengdi, age 4, succeeds his father Jin Mingdi as emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
• 457 – Majorian is acclaimed emperor by the Roman army.
• 527 – Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne.
• 1293 – Robert Winchelsey leaves England for Rome, to be consecrated as Archbishop of Canterbury.
• 1318 – Berwick-upon-Tweed is captured by the Scottish from England.
• 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.
• 1833 – The Convention of 1833, a political gathering of settlers in Mexican Texas to help draft a series of petitions to the Mexican government, begins in San Felipe de Austin
• 1854 – Charles Dickens' Hard Times begins serialisation in his magazine, Household Words.
• 1865 – American Civil War: Battle of Five Forks –
• 1867 – Singapore becomes a British crown colony.
• 1871 – The first stage of the Brill Tramway opened.
• 1873 – The British steamer RMS Atlantic sinks off Nova Scotia, killing 547.
• 1887 – Mumbai Fire Brigade is established.
• 1891 – The Wrigley Company is founded in Chicago, Illinois.
• 1893 – The rank of Chief Petty Officer in the United States Navy is established.
• 1908 – The Territorial Force (renamed Territorial Army in 1920) is formed as a volunteer reserve component of the British Army.
• 1918 – The Royal Air Force is created by the merger of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service.
• 1919 – The Staatliches Bauhaus school was founded by Walter Gropius in Weimar.
• 1922 – Six Irish Catholic civilians are shot and beaten-to-death by a gang of policemen in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
• 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 Mein Kampf.
• 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 a series of anti-Semitic acts.
• 1933 – English cricketer Wally Hammond set a record for the highest individual Test innings of 336 not out, during a Test match against New Zealand.
• 1936 – Orissa formerly known as Kalinga or Utkal becomes a state in India.
• 1937 – Aden becomes a British crown colony. Bombing of Jaén, Spain by Nazi forces.
• 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 the German navy is instituted.
• 1941 – A military coup in Iraq overthrows the regime of 'Abd al-Ilah and installs Rashid Ali as Prime Minister.
• 1944 – Navigation errors lead to an accidental American bombing of the Swiss city of Schaffhausen.
• 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.
• 1946 – Formation of the Malayan Union.
• 1947 – Paul becomes king of Greece, on the death of his childless elder brother, George II.
• 1948 – Cold War: Berlin Airlift – Military forces, under direction of the Russian-controlled government in East Germany, set-up a land blockade of West Berlin.
• 1948 – Faroe Islands receive autonomy from Denmark.
• 1949 – Chinese Civil War: The Communist Party of China holds unsuccessful peace talks with the Kuomintang in Beijing, after three years of fighting.
• 1949 – The Canadian government repeals Japanese Canadian internment after seven years.
• 1949 – The 26 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 against The British Empire begins in Cyprus, with the goal of obtaining the desired unification ("enosis") with Greece.
• 1957 – The BBC broadcasts the spaghetti tree hoax on its current affairs programme Panorama.
• 1959 – Iakovos is enthroned as Greek Orthodox Archbishop of America.
• 1960 – The TIROS-1 satellite transmits the first television picture from space.
• 1967 – The United States Department of Transportation begins operation.
• 1969 – The Hawker Siddeley Harrier enters service with the Royal Air Force.
• 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.
• 1971 – Bangladesh Liberation War: The Pakistan Army massacred over 1,000 people in Keraniganj Upazila, Bangladesh.
• 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 Inc. is formed by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne
• 1976 – Conrail takes over operations from six bankrupt railroads in the Northeastern U.S..
• 1976 – The Jovian–Plutonian gravitational effect hoax is first reported by British astronomer Patrick Moore.
• 1978 – The Philippine College of Commerce, through a presidential decree, becomes the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.
• 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.
• 1992 – Start of the Bosnian war.
• 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 Milošević surrenders to police special forces, to be tried on war crimes charges.
• 2001 – Same-sex marriage becomes legal in the Netherlands, the first country to allow it.
• 2006 – The Serious Organised Crime Agency, dubbed the "British FBI", is created in the United Kingdom.
• 2009 – Croatia and Albania join NATO.
• 2011 – After protests against the burning of the Quran turn violent, a mob attacks a United Nations compound in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, resulting in the deaths of thirteen people, including eight foreign workers.

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)
• 1629 – Jean-Henri d'Anglebert, French composer, harpsichordist and organist (d. 1691)
• 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)
• 1721 – Pieter Hellendaal, Dutch organist and violinist, and composer (d. 1799)
• 1732 – Joseph Haydn, Austrian composer (d. 1809)
• 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, German statesman (d. 1898)
• 1815 – Edward Clark, American politician (d. 1880)
• 1834 – James "Big Jim" Fisk, American stock broker and corporate executive (d. 1872)
• 1854 – Bill Traylor, American artist (d. 1949)
• 1856 – Acacio Gabriel Viegas, Indian physician (d. 1933)
• 1865 – Richard Adolf Zsigmondy, Austrian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1929)
• 1866 – Ferruccio Busoni, Italian pianist and composer (d. 1924)
• 1868 – Edmond Rostand, French dramatist (d. 1918)
• 1871 – F. Melius Christiansen, Norwegian violinist and conductor (d. 1955)
• 1873 – Sergei Rachmaninoff, Russian composer, pianist, and conductor (d. 1943)
• 1874 – Ernest William Barnes, English mathematician and theologian (d. 1953)
• 1875 – Edgar Wallace, English writer (d. 1932)
• 1880 – Agha Petros, Assyrian general (d. 1932)
• 1882 – Paul Anspach, Belgian fencer (d. 1991)
• 1883 – Lon Chaney, Sr., American actor (d. 1930)
• 1884 – Laurette Taylor, American actress (d. 1946)
• 1885 – Wallace Beery, American actor (d. 1949)
• 1887 – H. S. Lloyd, British dog breeder (d. 1963)
• 1889 – K. B. Hedgewar, Indian physician and Hindu nationalism advocate (d. 1940)
• 1893 – Cicely Courtneidge, English actress and comedian (d. 1980)
• 1895 – Alberta Hunter, American singer (d. 1984)
• 1895 – Paul Richter, Austrian actor (d. 1961)
• 1897 – Nita Naldi, American actress (d. 1961)
• 1898 – William James Sidis, American mathematician (d. 1944)
• 1899 – Gustavs Celmins, Latvian politician (d. 1968)
• 1901 – Whittaker Chambers, American writer, editor, and defector (d. 1961)
• 1902 – Mary Miles Minter, American actress (d. 1984)
• 1902 – Maria Polydouri, Greek poet (d. 1930)
• 1904 – Sid Field, English comedian and actor (d. 1950)
• 1905 – Gaston Eyskens, Belgian economist and politician (d. 1988)
• 1906 – Aleksandr Yakovlev, Russian engineer and designer (d. 1989)
• 1908 – Abraham Maslow, American psychologist (d. 1970)
• 1909 – Abner Biberman, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1977)
• 1909 – Eddy Duchin, American pianist and bandleader (d. 1951)
• 1911 – Fauja Singh, Indian athlete
• 1912 – Donald Nyrop, American airline executive (d. 2010)
• 1913 – Memos Makris, Greek sculptor (d. 1993)
• 1914 – Lor Tok, Thai comedian and actor (d. 2002)
• 1915 – Otto Wilhelm Fischer, Austrian actor (d. 2004)
• 1917 – Leon Janney, American actor and radio personality (d. 1980)
• 1917 – Dinu Lipatti, Romanian pianist (d. 1950)
• 1917 – Sydney Newman, Canadian producer (d. 1997)
• 1917 – Melville Shavelson, American director, producer and screenwriter (d. 2007)
• 1919 – Joseph Murray, American surgeon, Nobel laureate
• 1920 – Toshirō Mifune, Japanese actor (d. 1997)
• 1921 – William Bergsma, American composer (d. 1994)
• 1921 – Ken Reardon, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2008)
• 1921 – Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith, American musician and songwriter
• 1922 – William Manchester, American historian (d. 2004)
• 1923 – Leora Dana, American actress (d. 1983)
• 1923 – Bobby Jordan, American actor (d. 1965)
• 1924 – Brendan Byrne, American politician
• 1924 – Miodrag Petrović, Serbian actor (d. 2003)
• 1926 – Charles Bressler, American tenor
• 1926 – Gérard La Forest, Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada
• 1926 – John Scott Martin, English actor (d. 2009)
• 1926 – Anne McCaffrey, American author (d. 2011)
• 1927 – Ferenc Puskás, Hungarian soccer player (d.2006)
• 1927 – Walter Bahr, American soccer player
• 1927 – Peter Cundall, Australian horticulturist
• 1927 – Amos Milburn, American pianist (d. 1980)
• 1928 – George Grizzard, American actor (d. 2007)
• 1929 – Jonathan Haze, American actor
• 1929 – Milan Kundera, Czech writer
• 1929 – Payut Ngaokrachang, Thai animator (d. 2010)
• 1929 – Jane Powell, American actress, singer, and dancer
• 1929 – Bo Schembechler, American football coach (d. 2006)
• 1930 – Grace Lee Whitney, American actress
• 1931 – Ita Ever, Estonian actress
• 1931 – Rolf Hochhuth, German writer
• 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 – Jim Ed Brown, American singer (The Browns)
• 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 – Peter Collinson, British director (d. 1980)
• 1936 – Jean-Pascal Delamuraz, Swiss politician (d. 1998)
• 1936 – Tarun Gogoi, Indian politician, Chief Minister of Assam
• 1936 – Abdul Qadeer Khan, Pakistani nuclear scientist
• 1936 – Don Steele, American disc jockey (d. 1997)
• 1937 – Jordan Charney, American actor
• 1937 – Yılmaz Güney, Turkish actor and director (d. 1984)
• 1938 – John Quade, American actor (d. 2009)
• 1939 – Ali MacGraw, American actress
• 1939 – Phil Niekro, American baseball player
• 1939 – Rudolph Isley, American singer (The Isley Brothers)
• 1940 – Wangari Maathai, Kenyan environmentalist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 2011)
• 1941 – Ajit Wadekar, Indian cricketer
• 1942 – Samuel R. Delany, American author
• 1942 – Phil Margo, American musician (The Tokens)
• 1942 – Annie Nightingale, British disc jockey
• 1942 – Richard D. Wolff, American economist
• 1943 – Carol White, British actress (d. 1991)
• 1944 – Rusty Staub, American baseball player
• 1945 – John Barbata, American drummer (The Sentinals, The Turtles, and Jefferson Airplane)
• 1946 – Nikitas Kaklamanis, Greek politician
• 1946 – Ronnie Lane, English musician, songwriter, and producer (Faces and Small Faces) (d. 1997)
• 1946 – Arrigo Sacchi, Italian football coach
• 1946 – Eva Polttila, Finnish news anchor
• 1947 – Alain Connes, French mathematician
• 1947 – Philippe Kirsch, Canadian diplomat and judge
• 1947 – Robin Scott, English singer (M)
• 1947 – Norm Van Lier, American basketball player (d. 2009)
• 1948 – Jimmy Cliff, Jamaican musician, singer, and actor
• 1949 – Gérard Mestrallet, French businessman
• 1949 – Sammy Nelson, Northern Irish footballer
• 1949 – Gil Scott-Heron, American musician and author (d. 2011)
• 1950 – Samuel Alito, American lawyer and jurist
• 1950 – Loris Kessel, Swiss race car driver (d. 2010)
• 1950 – Daniel Paillé, Canadian politician
• 1951 – John Philip Abizaid, American army general
• 1952 – Annette O'Toole, American actress
• 1952 – Bernard Stiegler, French philosopher
• 1953 – Barry Sonnenfeld, producer and director
• 1954 – Jeff Porcaro, American drummer (Toto and Clover) (d. 1992)
• 1955 – Don Hasselbeck, American football player
• 1955 – Humayun Akhtar Khan, Pakistani statesman
• 1955 – Terry Nichols, American convicted accomplice in the Oklahoma City bombing
• 1956 – Jeffrey Beecroft, American production designer
• 1957 – Andreas Deja, German-American animator
• 1957 – David Gower, English cricketer
• 1957 – Denise Nickerson, American actress
• 1958 – D. Boon, American musician (Minutemen and The Reactionaries) (d. 1985)
• 1959 – Ivan G'Vera, Czech actor
• 1959 – Margita Stefanović, Yugoslav musician (Ekatarina Velika) (d. 2002)
• 1960 – Michael Praed, British actor
• 1961 – Susan Boyle, Scottish singer
• 1961 – Mark White, British guitarist (ABC)
• 1962 – Samboy Lim, Filipino basketball player
• 1962 – Phillip Schofield, English broadcaster and television personality
• 1963 – Teddy Diaz, Filipino guitarist (The Dawn) (d.1988)
• 1964 – Erik Breukink, Dutch cyclist and manager
• 1964 – Kevin Duckworth, American basketball player (d. 2008)
• 1964 – José Rodrigues dos Santos, Portuguese writer, journalist, and educator
• 1964 – Scott Stevens, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1965 – Tomas Alfredson, Swedish director
• 1965 – Mark Jackson, American basketball player
• 1965 – Robert Steadman, English composer
• 1965 – Simona Ventura, Italian television host
• 1966 – Chris Evans, English disc jockey
• 1966 – Craig Kelly, American snowboarder
• 1967 – Phil Demmel, American musician (Machine Head and Vio-Lence)
• 1968 – Julia Boutros, Lebanese singer
• 1968 – Traci Lind, American actress
• 1968 – Andreas Schnaas, German director
• 1969 – Fadl Shaker, Lebanese singer
• 1969 – Dean Windass, English football player
• 1970 – Sung Hi Lee, Korean model
• 1971 – Sonia Bisset, Cuban javelin thrower
• 1971 – Jessica Collins, American actress
• 1971 – Karen Dunbar, Scottish comedienne and actress
• 1971 – Lachy Hulme, Australian actor and screenwriter
• 1971 – Method Man, American rapper (Wu-Tang Clan)
• 1971 – Shinji Nakano, Japanese race car driver
• 1971 – Danielle Smith, Canadian politician
• 1972 – Albert Hughes, American director
• 1972 – Allen Hughes, American director
• 1972 – Darren McCarty, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1972 – Jesse Tobias, American musician (Red Hot Chili Peppers and Splendid)
• 1973 – Christian Finnegan, American comedian, actor, and writer
• 1973 – Stephen Fleming, New Zealand cricketer
• 1973 – Joe Francis, American adult video producer, founder of Girls Gone Wild
• 1973 – Rachel Maddow, American television host and political analyst
• 1973 – Kris Marshall, British actor
• 1973 – Daryn Tufts, American writer, director, producer, and actor
• 1973 – Kym Wilson, Australian actress
• 1974 – Beatriz Batarda, Portuguese actress
• 1974 – China Chow, British actress
• 1974 – Richard Christy, American drummer and radio personality
• 1974 – Colby Donaldson, American television host and actor
• 1974 – Hugo Benjamín Ibarra, Argentine footballer
• 1974 – Sandra Völker, German swimmer
• 1975 – George Bastl, Swiss tennis player
• 1975 – John Butler, Australian singer and musician (The John Butler Trio)
• 1976 – Aaron Goodwin, American paranormal investigator and cameraman
• 1976 – David Oyelowo, English-Nigerian actor
• 1976 – Clarence Seedorf, Dutch footballer
• 1977 – Vitor Belfort, Brazilian mixed martial artist
• 1977 – Jon Gosselin, American television personality
• 1977 – Haimar Zubeldia, Spanish cyclist
• 1978 – Antonio de Nigris, Mexican footballer (d. 2009)
• 1978 – Jean-Pierre Dumont, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1978 – J. J. Feild, English-American actor
• 1978 – Anamaria Marinca, Romanian actress
• 1978 – Etan Thomas, American basketball player
• 1978 – Miroslava Vavrinec, Swiss tennis player
• 1979 – Ivano Balić, Croatian handballer
• 1980 – Dennis Kruppke, German footballer
• 1980 – Randy Orton, American wrestler
• 1980 – Bijou Phillips, American actress
• 1980 – Yūko Takeuchi, Japanese actress
• 1981 – Asli Bayram, Turkish-German model and actress
• 1981 – Aimee Chan, Canadian model and actress, Miss Hong Kong 2006
• 1981 – Antonis Fotsis, Greek basketball player
• 1981 – Hannah Spearritt, British singer and actor (S Club 7)
• 1981 – Bjoern Einar Romoeren, Norwegian skijumper
• 1982 – Sam Huntington, American actor
• 1982 – Taran Killam, American comedian and actor
• 1983 – John Axford, Canadian baseball player
• 1983 – Tamati Ellison, New Zealand rugby player
• 1983 – Lance Hohaia, New Zealand rugby league player
• 1983 – Jussi Jokinen, Finnish ice hockey player
• 1983 – Matt Lanter, American actor and model
• 1983 – Sergey Lazarev, Russian singer (Smash!!)
• 1983 – Ólafur Ingi Skúlason, Icelandic footballer
• 1983 – Sean Taylor, American football player (d. 2007)
• 1984 – Gilberto Macena, Brazilian footballer
• 1985 – Daniel Murphy, American baseball player
• 1985 – Beth Tweddle, English gymnast
• 1985 – Josh Zuckerman, American actor
• 1986 – Shunichi Miyamoto, Japanese musician and actor
• 1986 – Hillary Scott, American singer (Lady Antebellum)
• 1986 – Ireen Wüst, Dutch speed skater
• 1987 – Kayla Collins, American model
• 1978 – Ding Junhui, Chinese snooker player
• 1987 – Li Ting, Chinese diver
• 1987 – Gianluca Musacci, Italian footballer
• 1987 – Oliver Turvey, British racing driver
• 1988 – Brook Lopez, American basketball player
• 1988 – Robin Lopez, American basketball player
• 1988 – Courtney McCool, American gymnast
• 1989 – Jan Blokhuijsen, Dutch speed skater
• 1989 – David N'Gog, French footballer
• 1989 – Vietoris Krisztián, German race car driver
• 1989 – Labrinth, English singer
• 1993 – Blair Fowler , Youtube beauty guru
• 1993 – Keito Okamoto, Japanese singer (Hey! Say! JUMP)
• 1993 – Nico Schulz, German footballer
• 1997 – Asa Butterfield, English actor
• 1998 – Lydia Waters, English actress

Deaths

• 1085 – Emperor Shenzong of Song (b. 1048)
• 1132 – St. Hugues, Bishop of Grenoble (b. 1053)
• 1204 – Eleanor of Aquitaine (b. 1122)
• 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)
• 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)
• 1890 – Alexander F. Mozhayskiy, Russian aviation pioneer (b. 1825)
• 1897 – Jandamarra, Indigenous-Australian resistance leader (b. c. 1873)
• 1914 – Rube Waddell, American baseball player (b. 1876)
• 1917 – Scott Joplin, American musician and composer (b. 1868)
• 1922 – Charles I of Austria (b. 1887)
• 1930 – Cosima Wagner, Hungarian daughter of Franz Liszt and widow of Richard Wagner (b. 1837)
• 1946 – Noah Beery, Sr., American actor (b. 1882)
• 1947 – King George II of Greece (b. 1890)
• 1950 – Charles R. Drew, American physician (b. 1904)
• 1962 – Jussi Kekkonen, Finnish major (b. 1910)
• 1965 – Helena Rubinstein, Polish-American cosmetics manufacturer (b. 1870)
• 1966 – Flann O'Brien, Irish humorist (b. 1911)
• 1967 – Dang Van Ngu, Vietnamese doctor and intellectual (b. 1910)
• 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 (The Moonglows) (b. 1939)
• 1984 – Elizabeth Goudge, English writer (b. 1900)
• 1985 – Douglass Wallop, American novelist and playwright (b. 1920)
• 1986 – Erik Bruhn, Danish ballet dancer, choreographer (b. 1928)
• 1988 – Jim Jordan, American actor (b. 1896)
• 1991 – Martha Graham, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1894)
• 1991 – Jaime Guzmán, Chilean politician (b. 1946)
• 1992 – Michael Havers, British barrister and politician (b. 1923)
• 1992 – Nigel Preston, English drummer (The Cult) (b. 1959)
• 1993 – Alan Kulwicki, American race car driver (b. 1954)
• 1994 – Robert Doisneau, French photographer (b. 1912)
• 1995 – Lucy Rie, American potter (b. 1902)
• 1995 – H. Adams Carter, American Alpine Club President, 10th Mountain Division trainer (b. 1914)
• 1996 – Jean Le Moyne, Canadian journalist and politician (b. 1913)
• 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, Shadow Project, and Premature Ejaculation) (b. 1963)
• 1999 – Jesse Stone, American musician and songwriter (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 Häyhä, Finnish sniper (b. 1905)
• 2002 – Gavin Pfuhl, South African cricketer (b. 1947)
• 2003 – Leslie Cheung, Hong Kong actor and singer (b. 1956)
• 2004 – Paul Atkinson, British guitarist (The Zombies) (b. 1946)
• 2004 – Aaron Bank, American Office of Strategic Services officer and founder of the US Army Special Forces (b. 1902)
• 2004 – Ioannis Kyrastas, Greek footballer and manager (b. 1952)
• 2004 – Carrie Snodgress, American actress (b. 1946)
• 2004 – Nilo Soruco, Bolivian singer-songwriter (b. 1927)
• 2005 – Paul Bomani, Tanzanian politician and ambassador (b 1925)
• 2005 – Alexander Brott, Canadian violinist and composer (b. 1915)
• 2005 – Harald Juhnke, German actor (b. 1929)
• 2005 – Jack Keller, American songwriter (b. 1936)
• 2005 – Robert Coldwell Wood, American political scientist and educator (b. 1923)
• 2006 – In Tam, Cambodian politician (b. 1916)
• 2007 – Herb Carneal, American sportscaster (b. 1923)
• 2008 – Jake Warren, Canadian diplomat (b. 1921)
• 2010 – John Forsythe, American actor (b. 1918)
• 2010 – Tzannis Tzannetakis, Greek politician, 175th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1927)
• 2012 – Ekrem Bora, Turkish actor (b. 1934)
• 2012 – Lionel Bowen, Australian politician (b. 1922)
• 2012 – Giorgio Chinaglia, Italian footballer (b. 1947)
• 2012 – Miguel de la Madrid, Mexican politician, President of Mexico (b.1934)
• 2012 – Leila Denmark, American pediatrician (b. 1898)
• 2012 – Jamaa Fanaka, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1942)
• 2012 – Jerry Lynch, American baseball player (b. 1930)
• 2012 – N. K. P. Salve, Indian politician (b. 1921)

Holidays and observances

• April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day
• Christian Feast Day:
  • Cellach of Armagh
  • Hugh of Grenoble
  • Melito of Sardis
  • Tewdrig
  • Theodora
  • Walric, abbot of Leuconay
  • April 1 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Civil Service Day (Thailand)
• Earliest day on which Sizdah Be-dar can fall, while April 2 is the latest; celebrated on the 13th day after vernal equinox. (Iran)
• Edible Book Day
• Fossil Fools Day
• Kha b-Nisan, the Assyrian New Year (Assyrians)
• Islamic Republic Day (Iran)
• Orissa Day (Orissa, India)
• The Capture of Brielle, marked a turning point in the uprising of the Low Countries against Spain in the Eighty Years' War. (Brielle)
• The start of Miyako Odori, an annual geiko dance celebration. (Gion District, Kyoto, Japan)
• Užupis Day, celebrate the independence of Užupis.
• Veneralia, in honor of Venus. (Roman Empire)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

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