Daily Calendar for April 1st, 2019

The Old Farmer's Almanac daily calendar gives you quick reference for the significant events on any day throughout the year.

April Fools' Day

The term "All Fools," was probably meant as a deliberate stab at All Saints (November 1) and All Souls (November 2) Day. Although the origin of playing practical jokes and pranks on this day is hazy, many folklorists believe it may go back to 16th-century France. At that time, New Year's Day was March 25, with a full week of partying and exchanging gifts until April 1. In 1582, the Gregorian calendar moved New Year's Day to January 1. Those who forgot or refused to honor the new calendar were teasingly called, "April Fool!" Weather folklore states, "If it thunders on All Fools Day, it brings good crops of corn and hay."

Every Year

• All Fools' Day

• April Fools' Day

• Born : Fred & George Weasley (characters in Harry Potter series)

• Month of April

1850s

• Born 1852: Edwin Austin Abbey (illustrator)

• 1853: In Ohio, the Cincinnati Fire Department became the first full-time, salaried fire department in the U.S.

1910s

• Died 1917: Scott Joplin (ragtime musician & composer)

1930s

• Born 1932: Debbie Reynolds (actress)

• Born 1932: Gordon Jump (actor)

1940s

• 1945: The U.S. invasion of Okinawa began (WW II)

1950s

• 1954: The United States Air Force Academy is established

1960s

• 1960: The satellite Tiros I was launched from Cape Canaveral and eventually transmitted thousands of photographs showing the distribution of Earth's cloud formations

1980s

• Born 1980: Randy Orton (professional wrestler)

• Died 1984: Marvin Gaye (singer)

• Born 1988: Courtney McCool (gymnast)

1990s

• Died 1991: Martha Graham (dancer & choreographer)

• 1999: Nunavut territory created

2000s

• 2002: The Netherlands legalized euthanasia

• 2007: French acrobat Willy Martignon broke the world record for longest-distance somersaulting slam dunk

2010s

• Died 2010: John Forsythe (actor)

• Died 2015: Misao Okawa (Japanese woman who was recognized as the world's oldest person at the time. She was born on March 5, 1898, and died at age 117.)

• Died 2019: Dan Robbins (artist who created paint-by-numbers pictures)