1924: Adolf Hitler was sentenced to five years in prison for his role in the Beer Hall Putsch; he ultimately served only nine months, during which time he wrote much of Mein Kampf (“My Struggle”).
1939: General Franco proclaims victory in the Spanish Civil War. The dictator ruled Spain until he died in 1975. His regime was responsible for gross human rights violations, including murdering numerous political opponents.
1957: The BBC broadcasts the spaghetti tree hoax. The 3-minute film shown on the current affairs program, Panorama, portrayed a Swiss family harvesting spaghetti from a tree. Several 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.
1962: Nigeria Airways enters the Jet age with a Comet 4 aircraft borrowed from the BOAC (British Airways), which makes its first flight from London to Lagos. The Jet flies at 951km/h, compared to the previous 550km/h propeller-driven passenger airliner.
1970: President Richard Nixon signs legislation officially banning cigarette ads on television and radio. Nixon, who enjoyed the occasional cigar, supported the legislation at the increasing insistence of public health advocates.
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.
1977: The Guardian newspaper fools its readers with a spoof supplement about the islands of San Serriffe.
1979: Following overwhelming support in a national referendum, Ruhollah Khomeini declared Iran an Islamic republic; it marked the end of the Iranian Revolution.
1983: Tens of thousands of campaigners formed a 14-mile human chain from the Royal Ordnance Factory at Burghfield to the US airbase at RAF Greenham Common in Berkshire, in protest at the decision to site cruise missiles at the airbase.
1984: One day short of his 45th birthday, Marvin Gaye is shot and killed by his father, bringing a tragic end to the life of a musical artist at the peak of his career. Gaye was known as “the Prince of Motown,” the soulful voice behind hits as wide-ranging as “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)” and “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology).” Like his label-mate Stevie Wonder, Gaye both epitomized and outgrew the crowd-pleasing sound that made Motown famous.
1990: Up to 1,000 prisoners staged a riot at Strangeways Prison in Manchester in a violent protest against overcrowding. It was the longest prison riot in British history and lasted until the 25th of April. One remand prisoner died.
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.
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.
2004: Google launched Gmail, and five years later the number of people using the e-mail service surpassed one billion.
2020: Shenzhen became the first Chinese city to ban eating cats and dogs.
This decision was made by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Births on This Day
1961 Susan Boyle, 63
Susan Magdalene Boyle is a Scottish singer. She rose to fame in 2009 after appearing as a contestant on the third series of Britain’s Got Talent, singing “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Misérables. As of 2021, Boyle has sold 25 million records.
David Oyelowo, 48 years
David Oyetokunbo Akanji Animamuma Chukwudi Oyelowo OBE was born in Oxford, UK, He is a British actor, director, and producer. His accolades include a Critics’ Choice Award and two NAACP Image Awards as well as nominations for three Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a BAFTA.
Oyelowo rose to prominence for portraying Martin Luther King Jr. in the biographical drama film Selma He is best known for playing MI5 officer Danny Hunter on the British drama series Spooks (known in North America as MI-5) from 2002 to 2004.
William Harvey (1 April 1578 – 3 June 1657)
He was born in Folkestone, Kent. He was an English physician who made influential contributions to anatomy and physiology. He was the first known physician to describe completely, and in detail, the systemic circulation, and properties of blood being pumped to the brain and the rest of the body by the heart, though, earlier writers, such as Realdo Colombo, Michael Servetus, and Jacques Dubois, had provided precursors of the theory. He was 79 years old when he died.
1940: Wangari Maathai (1 April 1940 – 25 September 2011)
Wangarĩ Muta Maathai was a Kenyan social, environmental, and political activist who founded the Green Belt Movement, an environmental non-governmental organization focused on the planting of trees, environmental conservation, and women’s rights. In 2004 she became the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. She died at the age of age 71.
Edgar Wallace (1 April 1875, Greenwich -10 February 1932)
Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace was a British writer of sensational detective, gangster, adventure, and sci-fi novels, plays, and stories. Born into poverty as an illegitimate London child, Wallace left school at the age of 12. He was 56 years old when he died.
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