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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 Petersburg, Virginia, Confederate General Robert E. Lee begins his final offensive.

1867 - Singapore becomes a British crown colony.

1868 - Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute is established in Hampton, Virginia.

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

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

1893 - The United States Navy rank of Chief Petty Officer is created.

1918 - The Royal Flying Corps is replaced by the Royal Air Force.

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

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 be known as the Holocaust.

1934 - Bonnie and Clyde kill two young highway patrolmen near Grapevine, Texas.

1937 - Aden becomes a British crown colony.

1939 - Generalísimo Francisco Franco of the Spanish State announced the end of the Spanish Civil War, when the last of the Republican forces surrendered.

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 hold 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, aiming at the island's independence from Great Britain.

1963 - The debut of the long running soap opera General Hospital on ABC-TV which is still on the air today, while on rival NBC debuted The Doctors which last until 1982.

1967 - The United States Department of Transportation begins operation.

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

1970 - Phil Spector finishes the orchestral overdubs for the upcoming Beatles album, Let It Be, including the songs "Let It Be", "Across the Universe", and "The Long and Winding Road". This causes controversy among Beatles fans who feel that Phil Spector has overproduced the album.

1970 - President Richard Nixon signs the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act into law, requiring surgeon general's warnings on tobacco products and banning cigarette advertisements on television and radio in the United States starting on January 1, 1971.

1970 - American Motors introduces the Gremlin.

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

1974 - In the United Kingdom, new administrative counties come into being.

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

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

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

1980 - New York City's Transit Worker Union 100 goes on strike, lasting 11 days.

1981 - Daylight saving time is introduced in the USSR.

1985 - Villanova defeats Georgetown in one of the biggest upsets in sports history for the national championship in college basketball at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky.

1989 - Margaret Thatcher's new local government tax, the Poll tax, was introduced in Scotland.

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

1999 - Nunavut is established as a Canadian territory carved from 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 - The first legal same-sex marriage in the Netherlands is celebrated.

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

2004 - George W. Bush signs the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, which makes an attack that leads to the death of a mother and her unborn child two criminal charges.

2004 - The first legal same-sex marriage in the Canadian province of Quebec: Michael Hendricks and René Leboeuf wed in Montreal.

2004 - Gmail, an email service from Google launches.

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

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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)

1732 - Joseph Haydn, Austrian composer (d. 1809)

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

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

1815 - Otto von Bismarck, 1st Chancellor of the German Empire (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)

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

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

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

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

1898 - William James Sidis, eccentric genius and child prodigy (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)

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

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

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

1919 - Joseph Murray, American surgeon, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

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

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

1924 - Brendan Byrne, Governor of New Jersey

1926 - Charles Bressler, American tenor

1926 - Anne McCaffrey, American author

1928 - George Grizzard, American actor

1929 - Milan Kundera, Czech writer

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

1929 - Bo Schembechler, American football coach

1929 - Payut Ngaokrachang, Thai animator

1930 - Grace Lee Whitney, American actress

1931 - Rolf Hochhuth, German writer

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

1932 - Debbie Reynolds, American actress

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

1934 - Don Hastings, American television actor

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

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

1938 - Ali MacGraw, American actress

1938 - John Quade, American actor

1939 - Phil Niekro, American baseball pitcher

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, Major League Baseball player

1946 - Ronnie Lane, British musician (The Small Faces and The Faces) (d. 1997)

1947 - Alain Connes, French mathematician

1947 - Norm Van Lier, former NBA basketball player

1947 - Robin Scott, British singer

1948 - Jimmy Cliff, Jamaican musician

1949 - Gérard Mestrallet, French businessman

1949 - Gil Scott-Heron, American musician and composer

1949 - Sammy Nelson, Northern Irish footballer

1950 - Samuel Alito, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court

1952 - Annette O'Toole, American actress

1952 - Bernard Stiegler, French philosopher

1953 - Barry Sonnenfeld, producer and director

1960 - Michael Praed, British actor

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

1970 - Sung Hi Lee, Korean-born model

1971 - Method Man, American musician

1971 - Shinji Nakano, Japanese Formula 1 Driver

1972 - Allen and Albert Hughes, American film directors

1972 - Jesse Tobias, American Musician

1973 - Christian Finnegan, American comedian

1973 - Stephen Fleming, New Zealand cricketer

1974 - Richard Christy, American drummer and sidekick of Howard Stern

1975 - George Bastl, Swiss tennis player

1976 - Clarence Seedorf, Surinamese-Dutch footballer

1980 - Bijou Phillips, American actress

1980 - Randy Orton, American professional wrestler

1980 - Yūko Takeuchi, Japanese actress

1981 - Hannah Spearritt, British singer (S Club 7)

1982 - Sam Huntington, American actor

1983 - Ólafur Ingi Skúlason, Icelandic footballer

1983 - Sean Taylor, American football player

1983 - Franck Ribery, French footballer

1984 - Olga Rei, Russian TV personality

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1085 - Emperor Shenzong of China (b. 1048)

1204 - Eleanor of Aquitaine, wife of Henry II 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, Bishop of Strassburg (b. 1625)

1684 - Roger Williams, English theologian and colonist (b. 1603)

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

1839 - Benjamin Pierce, Governor of New Hampshire (b. 1757)

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

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

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

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

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

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, cosmetic 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)

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)

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

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

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

2000 - Alexander Mackenzie Stuart, Baron Mackenzie-Stuart, president of the European Court of Justice (b. 1924)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2005 - Robert Coldwell Wood, American university president and political appointee (b. 1923)

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

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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.

Japan - The official start of school years in most universities and schools. Also, the official first day of work at companies and offices for new university graduates hires, marked by welcoming ceremonies and speeches.

Canada - Beginning of government's fiscal year.

India - Start of financial year.

Orissa - a state in eastern India celebrates "Utkal Divas", its statehood day.

Brielle celebrates victory of 1572 over Spaniards.

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

In England and Wales, local government reorganisations traditionally happen on April 1.

Pigasus Award announcement.

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Saint Hugh of Grenoble

Saint Waleric

Saint Jacoba