April 1

Historic Events

2026

The Artemis II lunar flyby mission launches, marking the first crewed flight above low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972. ›

2016

The 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict begins along the Nagorno-Karabakh Line of Contact. ›

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 fourteen people, including seven UN workers. ›

2006

Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) of the Government of the United Kingdom is enforced, but later merged into National Crime Agency on 7 October 2013. ›

2004

Google launches its Email service Gmail. ›

2001

An EP-3E United States Navy surveillance aircraft collides with a Chinese People's Liberation Army Shenyang J-8 fighter jet. The Chinese pilot ejected but is subsequently lost. The Navy crew makes an emergency landing in Hainan, 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 contemporary country to allow it. ›

1999

Nunavut is established as a Canadian territory carved out of the eastern part of the Northwest Territories. ›

1997

Comet Hale–Bopp is seen passing at perihelion. ›

1993

NASCAR champion Alan Kulwicki is killed in a plane crash near the Tri-Cities Regional Airport in Blountville, Tennessee. ›

1989

Margaret Thatcher's new local government tax, the Community Charge (commonly known as the "poll tax"), is introduced in Scotland. ›

1986

Communist Party of Nepal (Mashal) cadres attack a number of police stations in Kathmandu, seeking to incite a popular rebellion. ›

1984

Singer Marvin Gaye is shot to death by his father in his home in Arlington Heights, Los Angeles, California. ›

1979

Iran becomes an Islamic republic by a 99% vote, officially overthrowing the Shah. ›

1976

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak found Apple Computer, Inc. ›

1974

The Local Government Act 1972 of England and Wales comes into effect. ›

1973

Project Tiger, a tiger conservation project, is launched in the Jim Corbett National Park, India. ›

1971

Bangladesh Liberation War: The Pakistan Army massacre more than a thousand people in Keraniganj Upazila, Bangladesh. ›

1970

President Richard Nixon signs the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act into law. ›

1970

A Royal Air Maroc Sud Aviation Caravelle crashes near Berrechid, Morocco, killing 61. ›

1969

The Hawker Siddeley Harrier, the first operational fighter aircraft with Vertical/Short Takeoff and Landing capabilities, enters service with the Royal Air Force. ›

1964

The British Admiralty, War Office and Air Ministry are replaced by a unified Defence Council of the United Kingdom. ›

1960

The TIROS-1 satellite transmits the first television picture from space. ›

1955

The EOKA rebellion against the British Empire begins in Cyprus, with the goal of unifying with Greece. ›

1954

United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorizes the creation of the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. ›

1949

The Government of Canada repeals Japanese-Canadian internment after seven years. ›

1948

Cold War: Communist forces respond to the introduction of the Deutsche Mark by attempting to force the western powers to withdraw from Berlin. ›

1948

Faroe Islands gain autonomy from Denmark. ›

1947

The only mutiny in the history of the Royal New Zealand Navy begins. ›

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. ›

1946

The Malayan Union is established. Protests from locals led to the establishment of the Federation of Malaya two years later. ›

1945

World War II: The Tenth United States Army attacks the Thirty-Second Japanese Army on Okinawa. ›

1944

World War II: Navigation errors lead to an accidental American bombing of the Swiss city of Schaffhausen. ›

1941

Fântâna Albă massacre: Between two hundred and two thousand Romanian civilians are killed by Soviet Border Troops. ›

1941

A military coup in Iraq overthrows the regime of 'Abd al-Ilah and installs Rashid Ali al-Gaylani as Prime Minister. ›

1939

Spanish Civil War: Generalísimo Francisco Franco of the Spanish State announces the end of the Spanish Civil War, when the last of the Republican forces surrender. ›

1937

Aden becomes a British crown colony. ›

1937

The Royal New Zealand Air Force is formed as an independent service. ›

1935

India's central banking institution, the Reserve Bank of India, 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. ›

1924

Adolf Hitler is sentenced to five years fortress confinement for his participation in the "Beer Hall Putsch" but spends only nine months in jail. ›

1924

The Royal Canadian Air Force is formed. ›

1922

In newly formed Northern Ireland, six Catholics are murdered in the Arnon Street killings, one week after six others were killed in the McMahon killings. ›

1918

The Royal Air Force is created by the merger of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service. ›

1908

The Territorial Force (renamed Territorial Army in 1920) is formed as a volunteer reserve component of the British Army. ›

1900

Prince George becomes absolute monarch of the Cretan State. ›

1873

The White Star steamer SS Atlantic sinks off Nova Scotia, killing 547 in one of the worst marine disasters of the 19th century. ›

1867

Singapore becomes a British crown colony. ›

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. ›

1789

In New York City, the United States House of Representatives achieves its first quorum and elects Frederick Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania as its first Speaker. ›

1725

J. S. Bach's later Easter Oratorio in its first version is performed at the Nikolaikirche in Leipzig on Easter Sunday. ›

1572

In the Eighty Years' War, the Watergeuzen capture Brielle from the Seventeen Provinces, gaining the first foothold on land for what would become the Dutch Republic. ›

1081

Alexios I Komnenos overthrows the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros III Botaneiates, and, after his troops spend three days extensively looting Constantinople, is formally crowned on April 4. ›

527

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

285

Roman emperor Diocletian names Maximian his co-emperor ("Augustus"). ›