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This day in history

This day in history: 1 April

Events, births and deaths on this date, ordered by how many people look them up.

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Events57

Born on this day · Died on this day217 · 91

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Key facts

365 historical events, births and deaths are listed for 1 April.
Entries come from Wikipedia’s day pages and are ordered by page views.
2026: The Artemis II lunar flyby mission launches, marking the first crewed flight above low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972.

Holidays and observances

April Fools' Day

Arbor Day (Tanzania)

Christian feast day: April 1 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Christian feast day: Cellach of Armagh

Christian feast day: Frederick Denison Maurice (Church of England)

Christian feast day: Hugh of Grenoble

Christian feast day: Mary of Egypt

Christian feast day: Melito of Sardis

Christian feast day: Tewdrig

Christian feast day: Theodora

Christian feast day: Walric, abbot of Leuconay

Civil Service Day (Thailand)

Events

2026The Artemis II lunar flyby mission launches, marking the first crewed flight above low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972.

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

2011After 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.

2006Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) of the Government of the United Kingdom is enforced, but later merged into National Crime Agency on 7 October 2013.

2004Google launches its Email service Gmail.

2001An 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 i

2001Former President of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milošević surrenders to police special forces, to be tried on war crimes charges.

2001Same-sex marriage becomes legal in the Netherlands, the first contemporary country to allow it.

1999Nunavut is established as a Canadian territory carved out of the eastern part of the Northwest Territories.

1997Comet Hale–Bopp is seen passing at perihelion.

1993NASCAR champion Alan Kulwicki is killed in a plane crash near the Tri-Cities Regional Airport in Blountville, Tennessee.

1989Margaret Thatcher's new local government tax, the Community Charge (commonly known as the "poll tax"), is introduced in Scotland.

1986Communist Party of Nepal (Mashal) cadres attack a number of police stations in Kathmandu, seeking to incite a popular rebellion.

1984Singer Marvin Gaye is shot to death by his father in his home in Arlington Heights, Los Angeles, California.

1979Iran becomes an Islamic republic by a 99% vote, officially overthrowing the Shah.

1976Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak found Apple Computer, Inc.

1974The Local Government Act 1972 of England and Wales comes into effect.

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

1971Bangladesh Liberation War: The Pakistan Army massacre more than a thousand people in Keraniganj Upazila, Bangladesh.

1970A Royal Air Maroc Sud Aviation Caravelle crashes near Berrechid, Morocco, killing 61.

1970President Richard Nixon signs the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act into law.

1969The Hawker Siddeley Harrier, the first operational fighter aircraft with Vertical/Short Takeoff and Landing capabilities, enters service with the Royal Air Force.

1964The British Admiralty, War Office and Air Ministry are replaced by a unified Defence Council of the United Kingdom.

1960The TIROS-1 satellite transmits the first television picture from space.

1955The EOKA rebellion against the British Empire begins in Cyprus, with the goal of unifying with Greece.

1954United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorizes the creation of the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

1949The Government of Canada repeals Japanese-Canadian internment after seven years.

1948Cold War: Communist forces respond to the introduction of the Deutsche Mark by attempting to force the western powers to withdraw from Berlin.

1948Faroe Islands gain autonomy from Denmark.

1947The only mutiny in the history of the Royal New Zealand Navy begins.

1946The 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.

1946The Malayan Union is established. Protests from locals led to the establishment of the Federation of Malaya two years later.

1945World War II: The Tenth United States Army attacks the Thirty-Second Japanese Army on Okinawa.

1944World War II: Navigation errors lead to an accidental American bombing of the Swiss city of Schaffhausen.

1941A military coup in Iraq overthrows the regime of 'Abd al-Ilah and installs Rashid Ali al-Gaylani as Prime Minister.

1941Fântâna Albă massacre: Between two hundred and two thousand Romanian civilians are killed by Soviet Border Troops.

1939Spanish 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.

1937Aden becomes a British crown colony.

1937The Royal New Zealand Air Force is formed as an independent service.

1935India's central banking institution, the Reserve Bank of India, is formed.

Born on this day

2000Rhian Brewster, English footballer

1999Gabe Davis, American football player

1998King Combs, American rapper

1998Mitchell Robinson, American basketball player

1997Álex Palou, Spanish racing driver

1997Asa Butterfield, English actor

1996Sophia Hutchins, American socialite

1995Jofra Archer, Barbadian-English cricketer

1995Logan Paul, American YouTuber, actor and wrestler

1992Deng Linlin, Chinese gymnast

1991Duván Zapata, Colombian footballer

1990Julia Fischer, German discus thrower

1989Christian Vietoris, German racing driver

1989David Ngog, French footballer

1989Jan Blokhuijsen, Dutch speed skater

1988Brook Lopez, American basketball player

1988Robin Lopez, American basketball player

1987Ding Junhui, Chinese professional snooker player

1987Gianluca Musacci, Italian footballer

1987Oliver Turvey, English racing driver

1987Vitorino Antunes, Portuguese footballer

1986Hillary Scott, American country singer-songwriter

1986Nikolaos Kourtidis, Greek weightlifter

1985Beth Tweddle, English gymnast

1985Daniel Murphy, American baseball player

1984Gilberto Macena, Brazilian footballer

1983Ólafur Ingi Skúlason, Icelandic footballer

1983Sean Taylor, American football player (died 2007)

1982Andreas Thorkildsen, Norwegian javelin thrower

1982Taran Killam, American actor, voice artist, comedian, and writer

1981Antonis Fotsis, Greek basketball player

1981Bjørn Einar Romøren, Norwegian ski jumper

1980Bijou Phillips, American actress and model

1980Dennis Kruppke, German footballer

1980Randy Orton, American wrestler

1979Ruth Beitia, Spanish high jumper

1978Anamaria Marinca, Romanian-English actress

1978Antonio de Nigris, Mexican footballer (died 2009)

1978Etan Thomas, American basketball player

1978Mirka Federer, Slovak-Swiss tennis player

Died on this day

2025Johnny Tillotson, American singer-songwriter (born 1938)

2025Val Kilmer, American actor (born 1959)

2024Ed Piskor, American comic book artist (born 1982)

2024Joe Flaherty, American actor, writer, and comedian (born 1941)

2024Lou Conter, American naval commander (born 1921)

2024Mohammad Reza Zahedi, Iranian senior military officer (born 1960)

2024Sami Michael, Iraqi-born Israeli writer and human rights activist (born 1926)

2024Vontae Davis, American football player (born 1988)

2019Vonda N. McIntyre, American science fiction author (born 1948)

2018Steven Bochco, American television writer and producer (born 1943)

2017Lonnie Brooks, American blues singer and guitarist (born 1933)

2017Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Soviet and Russian poet and writer (born 1932)

2015Nicolae Rainea, Romanian footballer and referee (born 1933)

2014Jacques Le Goff, French historian and author (born 1924)

2014King Fleming, American pianist and bandleader (born 1922)

2014Rolf Rendtorff, German theologian and academic (born 1925)

2013Karen Muir, South African swimmer and physician (born 1952)

2013Moses Blah, Liberian general and politician, 23rd President of Liberia (born 1947)

2012Giorgio Chinaglia, Italian-American soccer player and radio host (born 1947)

2012Lionel Bowen, Australian soldier, lawyer, and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Australia (born 1922)

2012Miguel de la Madrid, Mexican banker, academic, and politician, 52nd President of Mexico (born 1934)

2010John Forsythe, American actor (born 1918)

2010Tzannis Tzannetakis, Greek soldier and politician, 175th Prime Minister of Greece (born 1927)

2006In Tam, Cambodian general and politician, 26th Prime Minister of Cambodia (born 1916)

2005Paul Bomani, Tanzanian politician and diplomat, 1st Tanzanian Minister of Finance (b 1925)

2005Robert Coldwell Wood, American political scientist and academic (born 1923)

2004Carrie Snodgress, American actress (born 1945)

2004Ioannis Kyrastas, Greek footballer and manager (born 1952)

2003Leslie Cheung, Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actor (born 1956)

2002Simo Häyhä, Finnish soldier and sniper (born 1905)

Quote of the day

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”

Socrates

Questions people ask

Where do the entries come from?

From Wikipedia’s on-this-day pages for this language, updated once a day and ordered by how often each article is read.

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