On This Day April 1

2003
Iraq War: Neoconservative, and former chief of staff to Vice President Dan Quayle, speaking to Terry Gross on NPR's Fresh Air states, "And on this issue of the Shia in Iraq, I think there's been a certain amount of, frankly, Terry, a kind of pop sociology in America that, you know, somehow the Shia can't get along with the Sunni and the Shia in Iraq just want to establish some kind of Islamic fundamentalist regime. There's almost no evidence of that at all. Iraq's always been very secular."

1992
National Hockey League: The first strike of the NHL begins. It lasted for nine days.

1981
CNN broadcasts a video tape of psychic Tamara Rand predicting the Reagan shooting (March 30), claiming it had been taped January 6. It had actually been taped the day after the shooting.

1979
World's longest survival without food or water: Andreas Mihavecz is locked in a Austrian prison and forgotten about for 18 days.

1978
U.S. Information Agency (USIA): The agency responsible for the government's overseas information and cultural programs, including Voice of America, is founded.

1976
Apple Computer: The company is founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne. Their first product was the Apple I personal computer kit which sold for $666.66.

1972
First major-league baseball strike: The first general player strike in organized baseball's 102-year history begins, lasting 13 days.

1970
Smoking: Pres. Nixon signs the bill banning cigarette commercials on TV.

1967
U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT): The transportation agency begins operation.

1960
First weather satellite: TIROS I (Television and Infra-Red Observation Satellite) is launched.

1954
U.S. Air Force Academy: Congress establishes and authorizes the construction of the Academy. It would be built in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The first recruits were accepted in 1955.

1939
Spanish Civil War: The end of the war is proclaimed when the last of the Republican forces surrender.

1934
Bonnie and Clyde: The duo, along with Henry Methvin, kill two highway patrolmen near Grapevine, Texas.

1924
Adolf Hitler - Beer Hall Putsch: For his involvement in this attempt to overthrow the Bavarian government, the future German leader is sentenced to five years in prison, of which he would serve only nine months. He used this time to write Mein Kampf.

1923
First dance marathon: Alma Cummings wins after six partners and 27 hours of continuous dancing in New York City's Audubon Ballroom.

1917
World War I - First U.S. sailor to killed in the war: John E. Eopolucci is killed when the steamship Aztec is torpedoed and sunk.

1913
First moving assembly line: Henry Ford further advances the assembly line by experimenting with a moving assembly line in his Detroit factory.

1909
First U.S. federal narcotics prohibition: A ban on the importation and smoking of opium goes into effect.

1891
Wrigley's Gum: Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company is founded. It would add chewing gum to its line of products the following year.

1873
RMS Atlantic Disaster: The ship strikes an underwater rock and sinks off the coast of Nova Scotia, killing 546 passengers. Every member of the crew survived.

1865
Civil War - Battle of Five Forks: In Petersburg, Virginia, the last major battle of the war begins.

1826
Internal-combustion engine: American inventor Samuel Morey receives the first U.S. patent for an internal-combustion engine. It was a two-cylinder, two-cycle device fueled by turpentine vapors.

1778
The "$" symbol is created, by Irish-born New Orleans businessman Oliver Pollock.

1634
First U.S. bridge: Massachusetts authorized the construction of a bridge crossing the Neponset River.

1621
First treaty between the colonist and the Indians: The colonist and Wampanoags, led by Massasoit, sign an agreement not to harm each other.

1939
Rudolph Isley, American Grammy-winning singer, with the Isley Brothers. Music: Twist and Shout (1962), This Old Heart of Mine (1966), and It's Your Thing (1970, Grammy).

1938
Ali MacGraw, American actress. Film: Goodbye, Columbus (1969) and Love Story (1970).

1934
Don Hastings, American actor. TV: Captain Video and His Video Rangers (Captain Video's 15-year-old partner, Ranger, on TV's first space series) and As the World Turns (Dr. Bob Hughes).

1932 d. 2003
Gordon Jump, American actor. TV: WKRP In Cincinnati (Mr. Carlson) and the Maytag repairman of the commercials (1989-2003).

1932
Debbie Reynolds (Mary Frances Reynolds), American actress, Miss Burbank (1948).

1929
Jane Powell (Suzzanne Burce), American actress. TV: Growing Pains (Irma Seaver).

1926
Ann McCaffrey, American Hugo Award-winning science fiction writer, author of the Dragonriders of Penn series.

1883 d. 1930
Lon Chaney, Sr., American horror actor, "The Man of a Thousand Faces." Film: The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923, title role) and Phantom of the Opera (1925, title role).

1868 d. 1918
Edmond Rostand, French poet, playwright. Plays: Cyrano de Bergarac (1897).

1815 d. 1898
Prince Otto von Bismarck, Prussian statesman. He created and became first chancellor of the German Empire.

1578 d. 1657
William Harvey, English physician. He discovered the function of the heart and circulatory system.

1984 b. 1939
Marvin Gaye (Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr.), American Grammy-winning Motown singer. He was shot and killed by his father. Music: How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You (1965), I Heard It Through The Grapevine (1969, #1), Let's Get It On (1973, #1), and (Sexual) Healing (1982, Grammy).

1976 b. 1891
Max Ernst, German-born Surrealist artist, and leader of the Cologne Dadaists.

1938 b. ????
Su-Lin, first giant panda in the U.S. It arrived from China in 1936. (Source: Famous First Facts)

1917 b. 1868
Scott Joplin, American musician, composer, rag time piano player. Music: Maple Leaf Rag and The Entertainer.

April 1

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