Friday, April 1

This Day In History

• 1789   The U.S. House of Representatives held its first full meeting in New York City; Frederick Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania was elected the first speaker.
• 1853   Cincinnati, Ohio, became the first U.S. city to pay its firefighters a regular salary.
• 1873   Composer Sergei Rachmaninoff was born in Russia.
• 1918   The Royal Air Force was established in Britain.
• 1933   The Nazi persecution of Jews began in Germany with a boycott of Jewish businesses.
• 1939   The United States recognized the Franco government in Spain following the end of the Spanish Civil War.
• 1945   American forces landed on Okinawa during World War II.
• 1946   Tidal waves struck the Hawaiian Islands, killing more than 170 people.
• 1947   Greece's King George II died.
• 1960   The first U.S. weather satellite, TIROS-1, was launched from Cape Canaveral.
• 1970   President Richard Nixon signed a measure banning cigarette advertising on radio and television.
• 1984   Singer Marvin Gaye was shot to death by his father in Los Angeles.
• 1987   In his first major speech on the epidemic, President Reagan told doctors in Philadelphia, ''We've declared AIDS public health enemy No. 1.''
• 1996   Baseball umpire John McSherry died after collapsing during a game between the Cincinnati Reds and Montreal Expos.
• 1998   U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright dismissed Paula Jones' lawsuit against President Clinton, saying her claims of sexual harassment fell ''far short'' of being worthy of trial.
• 1999   A New Jersey man was arrested and charged with originating the ''Melissa'' e-mail virus.
• 2001   Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was arrested on corruption charges after a 26-hour armed standoff with the police at his Belgrade villa.
• 2003   American troops entered a hospital in Nasiriyah, Iraq, and rescued Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch, who had been held prisoner since her unit was ambushed on March 23.

Happy Birthday To

• 1928   Jane Powell (Suzanne Burce) (actress: Deep in My Heart, Hit the Deck, Small Town Girl, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers)
• 1932   Debbie Reynolds (Mary Frances Reynolds) (actress: Singin’ in the Rain, Tammy and the Bachelor, The Tender Trap, The Unsinkable Molly Brown; singer: Tammy, A Very Special Love; mother of actress, Carrie Fisher)