Same-sex marriage in the Netherlands was legalized, making it the first country to do so.
1 April 1175
A Tuesday in history
Weekday
Tuesday
Season
Spring (N. Hemisphere)
Century
12th century
Records
364
- 2001
2001An American Lockheed EP-3 and a Chinese Shenyang J-8 collided in mid-air off Hainan, resulting in an international dispute between the two countries.
1990The longest prison riot in British penal history began at Strangeways Prison in Manchester, lasting 25 days.
1976Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded Apple Computer, Inc. (first logo pictured).
1974A man ignited tires in the crater of Mount Edgecumbe, prompting a false eruption scare later revealed as an April Fools' hoax.
1970U.S. president Richard Nixon signed the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act into law, requiring that a prominent warning by the surgeon general be placed on cigarette packages.
1970The American Motors Corporation introduced its Gremlin, promoted as America's first subcompact car.
1969The Hawker Siddeley Harrier, the first operational fighter aircraft with V/STOL capabilities, entered service with the Royal Air Force.
1963On Her Majesty's Secret Service, the tenth novel of Ian Fleming's James Bond series, was released in the United Kingdom.
- 1955
The British Army's Mobile Defence Corps, intended to assist with civil defence after a nuclear attack, was established by royal warrant.
1952Israel enacted a citizenship law, prior to which the country technically had no citizens.
- 1941
Soviet border guards opened fire on civilians attempting to cross the border from the Soviet Union to Romania near Fântâna Albă, killing between 44 and 3,000 people.
1933English cricketer Wally Hammond set a record for the highest individual score in Test cricket of 336 not out during a match against New Zealand.
1922Under the South Seas Mandate, Japan set up a government in Koror, precipitating large-scale Japanese settlement in Palau.
1918The United Kingdom established the Royal Air Force, near the end of the First World War.
1879The Inland Customs Line, established by the British for the collection of the salt tax in India, was abandoned.
1871The Duke of Buckingham opened the first section of the Brill Tramway, a short railway line to transport goods between his lands and the national rail network.
1865American Civil War: The Union Army under Major General Philip Sheridan (pictured) inflicted more than 2,900 casualties on the Confederates at the Battle of Five Forks.
1833Mexican Texans met at San Felipe de Austin to begin the Convention of 1833.
1346Hundred Years' War: John, Duke of Normandy, laid siege to the town of Aiguillon.
1340A band of warriors led by Niels Ebbesen killed Count Gerhard III, ending Holstein rule in Denmark.
- 1293
Robert Winchelsey left England for Rome to be consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury, but a papal vacancy delayed the ceremony.
1234Richard Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, was defeated by knights loyal to King Henry III of England at the Battle of the Curragh in County Kildare, Ireland.
Photo archive
24 historic images from this day — tap to open the gallery.
What was life like?
Prices, jobs, food, music and everyday routine — the world as it felt to live in.
Sources & fact check
Every claim is traced to primary sources, archives, universities and the press — with an explicit confidence rating. Dossiers are generated once and cached permanently.