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On this day in history - April 1

What Happened On This Day – April 1

  • 2001 The Netherlands becomes the first country to allow same-sex marriage

    Despite opposition from conservative factions, gay and lesbian couples are today allowed to marry in many other countries also.

  • 2001 Slobodan Milošević is arrested

    The former President of Serbia was arrested on corruption charges. Later he was put on trial before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague for war crimes during the Yugoslav wars.

  • 1976 Apple Inc. is founded

    The computer company, which has evolved into a multinational corporation and whose best-known product is the iPhone, was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne. In 2012, the company's global revenue amounted to $156 billion.

  • 1957 The BBC broadcasts the spaghetti tree hoax

    The 3-minute film shown on the current affairs program, Panorama, portrayed a Swiss family apparently harvesting spaghetti from a tree. A number of viewers later contacted the BBC to inquire where to find and how to grow such a plant. The hoax is regarded as one of the best April Fools jokes ever pulled.

  • 1939 General Franco proclaims victory in the Spanish civil war

    The dictator ruled Spain until his death in 1975. His regime was responsible for gross human rights violations, including murdering numerous political opponents.

Illustration of stork, signifying birth

Births On This Day,
April 1

  • 1961 Susan Boyle

    Scottish singer

  • 1940 Wangari Maathai

    Kenyan environmentalist, Nobel Prize laureate

  • 1875 Edgar Wallace

    English journalist, author, playwright

  • 1873 Sergei Rachmaninoff

    Russian pianist, composer, conductor

  • 1815 Otto von Bismarck

    German politician, 1st Chancellor of the German Empire

Illustration of tombstone, signifying death

Deaths On This Day,
April 1

  • 2010 John Forsythe

    American actor

  • 1984 Marvin Gaye

    American singer-songwriter

  • 1976 Max Ernst

    German painter, sculptor, poet

  • 1930 Cosima Wagner

  • 1917 Scott Joplin

    American pianist, composer