2020
Shenzhen became the first Chinese city to ban eating cats and dogs.
This decision was geared by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Source
2005
NASA celebrated April Fool’s Day by telling the world that they found water on Mars.
Source
2001
The Netherlands became the first country in the world to allow same-sex marriage.
Source
1999
Canada formed the territory of Nunavut to recognize the traditional lands of their native Inuit people.
Source
1984
Marvin Gaye died after his father shot him twice in Los Angeles.
The event happened when he tried to break up an argument between his parents. Medics announced his death upon their arrival.
Source
1976
Apple was launched from the home of Steve Jobs and with the help of Steve Wozniak.
Their first personal computers were personally assembled and went on sale in July 1976.
Source
1944
The US Air Force accidentally bombed the Swiss city of Schaffhausen.
Schaffhausen lies on a small strip of land which is almost completely nestled within Germany’s borders, so when the US bombers’ navigation went slightly awry, they thought they were bombing Germany. 40 Swiss Civilians lost their lives that day. President Franklin D. Roosevelt personally wrote a letter of apology to the mayor of Schaffhausen, along with a gift of four million US dollars.
Source
1934
Bonnie and Clyde shot two highway patrolmen outside Grapevine, Texas.
Both patrolmen were relatively young and helped turn public sentiment against the infamous criminal duo.
Source
1872
The first edition of The Standard was published in London.
Source
1867
Great Britain claimed The Straits Settlements as crown colonies: Singapore, Penang, and Malacca.
The Settlements became answerable directly to the Colonial Office in London instead of the government of British India, based in Calcutta.
Source
1748
The lost Roman city of Pompeii was rediscovered by a Spanish engineer Rocque Joaquin de Alcubierre.
Source
1545
The Bolivian city of Potosà was founded after vast deposits of silver were discovered in the mountains nearby.
Source