This Day in History April
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This Day in History
April 1
1621 At the Plymouth settlement in present- day Massachusetts, English colonists make a defensive alliance with Massasoit, chief of the Wampanoags
c. 1700 English pranksters begin popularizing the annual tradition of April Fools’ Day by playing practical jokes on each other—some historians believe it started in 1582 with the switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar, which officially shifted New Year’s Day from March 25 to January 1
1859 Justus Azel Seelye, Mr. Seeley’s great-great- great-grandfather, dies in Pleasant Grove, Utah, at the age of 79
1877 Edward Schieffelin begins his search for silver in southern Arizona, leading to his discovery of the famed Tombstone Lode
1918 Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) is formed—it would play an important role in the Allies’ victory in World War II in the 1940s
1924 Adolf Hitler is sentenced to five years in prison for leading an unsuccessful attempt by the Nazis to overthrow the German government—he was released after 9 months
1945 50,000 U.S. troops land on the Japanese island of Okinawa, beginning the bloodiest battle of World War II in the Pacific theater
1946 An undersea earthquake off the coast of Alaska triggers a massive tsunami that kills 159 people in Hawai’i
1963 The soap opera General Hospital premieres on ABC—its 14,557 episodes are the 2nd highest in U.S. television history behind the soap opera Guiding Light (15,762 episodes), which finished broadcasting in 2009
1970 President Richard Nixon signs legislation banning cigarette ads on television and radio
1983 Australian band Men at Work releases its second studio album, Cargo
1984 The day before his 45th birthday, international recording star Marvin Gaye is shot and killed by his own father in his parents’ home after an argument
1985 In one of the greatest upsets in sports history, #8 seed Villanova (24-10) defeats #1 seed Georgetown (35-3) to win the NCAA men’s basketball championship— Georgetown had defeated Villanova twice during the regular season
1989 American band the Bangles score their second #1 hit in the U.S. with “Eternal Flame,” but break up less than six months later—lead singer Susanna Hoffs was Mr. Seeley’s #1 celebrity crush when he was in junior high
1989 American rock band Living Colour makes a splash as musical guest on Saturday Night Live, performing “Cult of Personality” and “Open Letter (to a Landlord”
1992 NHL players strike for the first time in league history—it lasted 10 days
2008 On April Fools’ Day, YouTube tricks users with the popular bait- and-switch prank called Rickrolling by featuring video links that actually lead to Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” music video
2020 Country music legend Dolly Parton makes a $1 million donation to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center to help fund research for a coronavirus vaccine
2021 Today is Opening Day for the 2021 Major League Baseball season, with all 30 teams scheduled to start on the same day for the first time since 1968—the Arizona Diamondbacks start the season on the road against the San Diego Padres
2021 Volkswagen stated this morning that yesterday’s announcement that the company was changing its name to “Voltswagen” as part of its investment in electric vehicles was an April Fools’ joke
2021 President Joe Biden’s Cabinet meets in person for the first time today at the White House—the 25-person group will discuss, among other things, the first part of Biden’s new infrastructure plan that was unveiled yesterday
2021 Roy Williams, who led North Carolina to three men’s basketball national championships, retires from coaching at age 70—he posted a record of 903-264 in 33 years at Kansas and North Carolina
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