March 31

April 1

380 entries in history

April 2
Events
56
Births
217
Deaths
90
Holidays
17

⭐ Featured

2001

Same-sex marriage in the Netherlands was legalized, making it the first country to do so.

2001

An 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.

1990

The longest prison riot in British penal history began at Strangeways Prison in Manchester, lasting 25 days.

56 results

2016

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

2011

After 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.

2006

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

2004

Google launches its Email service Gmail.

2001

An 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 is detained.

2001

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

2001

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

1999

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

1997

Comet Hale–Bopp is seen passing at perihelion.

1993

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

1989

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

1986

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

1984

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

1979

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

1976

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak found Apple Computer, Inc.

1974

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

1973

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

1971

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

1970

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

1970

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

1969

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

1964

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

1960

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

1955

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

1954

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

1949

Chinese Civil War: The Chinese Communist Party holds unsuccessful peace talks with the Nationalist Party in Beijing, after three years of fighting.

1949

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

1948

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

1948

Faroe Islands gain autonomy from Denmark.

1947

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

1946

The 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.

1946

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

1945

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

1944

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

1941

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

1941

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

1939

Spanish 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.

1937

Aden becomes a British crown colony.

1937

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

1935

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

1933

The recently elected Nazis under Julius Streicher organize a one-day boycott of all Jewish-owned businesses in Germany, ushering in a series of anti-Semitic acts.

1924

Adolf Hitler is sentenced to five years fortress confinement for his participation in the "Beer Hall Putsch" but spends only nine months in jail.

1924

The Royal Canadian Air Force is formed.

1922

In newly formed Northern Ireland, six Catholics are murdered in the Arnon Street killings, one week after six others were killed in the McMahon killings.

1918

The Royal Air Force is created by the merger of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service.

1908

The Territorial Force (renamed Territorial Army in 1920) is formed as a volunteer reserve component of the British Army.

1900

Prince George becomes absolute monarch of the Cretan State.

1873

The White Star steamer SS Atlantic sinks off Nova Scotia, killing 547 in one of the worst marine disasters of the 19th century.

1867

Singapore becomes a British crown colony.

1865

American Civil War: Union troops led by Philip Sheridan decisively defeat Confederate troops led by George Pickett, cutting the Army of Northern Virginia's last supply line during the Siege of Petersburg.

1833

The Convention of 1833, a political gathering of settlers in Mexican Texas to help draft a series of petitions to the Mexican government, begins in San Felipe de Austin.

1789

In New York City, the United States House of Representatives achieves its first quorum and elects Frederick Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania as its first Speaker.

1725

J. S. Bach's later Easter Oratorio in its first version is performed at the Nikolaikirche in Leipzig on Easter Sunday.

1572

In the Eighty Years' War, the Watergeuzen capture Brielle from the Seventeen Provinces, gaining the first foothold on land for what would become the Dutch Republic.

1081

Alexios I Komnenos overthrows the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros III Botaneiates, and, after his troops spend three days extensively looting Constantinople, is formally crowned on April 4.

527

Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne.