On This Day in History - April 1st - Almanac

Today is Saturday, April 1, the 91st day of 2017 with 274 to follow.

This is known as April Fools' Day.

The moon is waxing. Morning stars are Mercury, Neptune and Saturn. Evening stars are Jupiter, Mars, Uranus and Venus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aries. They include German military theorist Prince Otto von Bismarck in 1815; Italian pianist and composer Ferruccio Busoni in 1866; Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff in 1873; actor Lon Chaney Sr. in 1883; actor Wallace Beery in 1885; actor Toshiro Mifune in 1920; author William Manchester (Death of a President) in 1922; author Anne McCaffrey (Dragonriders of Pern) in 1926; actor/singer Jane Powell in 1929 (age 88); football Hall of Fame Coach Bo Schembechler in 1929; actor/singer Debbie Reynolds in 1932; actor Ali MacGraw in 1939 (age 78); Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai in 1940; musician Jimmy Cliff in 1948 (age 69); actor Annette O'Toole in 1952 (age 65); singer Susan Boyle in 1961 (age 56); political commentator Rachel Maddow in 1973 (age 44); reality television personality Jon Gosselin in 1977 (age 40); actor Asa Butterfield in 1997 (age 20).

On this date in history:

In 1826, Samuel Morey was granted a patent on the internal combustion engine.

In 1891, the Wrigley Company is founded in Chicago, Ill., by William Wrigley, Jr., originally selling goods such as soap and baking powder. A year later Wrigley would start packaging packets of gum with each tin of baking powder. The rest is history.

In 1918, toward the end of World War I, the British founded the Royal Air Force. Two months later it began bombing industrial targets in Germany from bases in France.

In 1924, Adolf Hitler was sent to prison for five years after failing to take over Germany by force in the unsuccessful "Beer Hall Putsch."

In 1945, U.S. forces swarmed ashore on the Japanese island of Okinawa to begin what would be one of the longest battles of World War II.

In 1946, a massive earthquake near Alaska's Aleutian Islands created a tsunami that raced south across the Pacific Ocean, slamming into the Hawaiian Islands causing widespread destruction. The two events resulted in more than 165 casualties across three states.

In 1970, President Richard Nixon signed legislation calling for mandatory health warnings on tobacco product packaging and banning cigarette ads on TV and radio, effective January 1, 1971.

In 1976, Apple Inc. was founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.

In 1979, the overthrow of the shah becomes official as Iran votes to become an Islamic republic.

In 1992, U.S. President George H.W. Bush announced a $24 billion aid package for the former Soviet republics.

In 1996, an outbreak of "mad cow" disease forced Britain to plan the mass slaughter of cows.

In 1999, Canada created a new territory, Nunavut, as a means of providing autonomy for the Inuit people.

In 2003, U.S. Marines rescued Pfc. Jessica Lynch, 19, who had been held prisoner in Iraq since an ambush on March 23.

In 2009, Sweden became the fifth European nation to legalize same-sex marriages, joining Norway, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands.

In 2012, Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel peace laureate and voice of the political opposition in Myanmar, won a seat in Parliament less than two years after being freed from nearly two decades of house arrest.

In 2014, a day after undergoing back surgery, world No. 1 Tiger Woods announced he would miss the Masters, a tournament he had won four times, for the first time in his career.

A thought for the day: "The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear." -- Aung San Suu Kyi