Historic events and some famous births on April 1

 Many important things also happened in the month of April

LAHORE: It was on April 1, 1700 that fun-loving pranksters in Britain had actually started popularising the annual tradition of April Fools’ Day by playing practical jokes on each other and since then, it has been an ideal day to be skeptical of any unusual news---so, beware as your dear ones can spread hoaxes today!

Even prestigious global media houses like the BBC have been participating in the April 1 tradition of reporting outrageous fictional claims that have fooled their audience. For example, on April 1, 1957, the BBC had reported that Swiss farmers were experiencing a record spaghetti crop and showed footage of people harvesting noodles from trees. Numerous viewers were hence fooled but took the BBC joke in a lighter vein.

However, truth is sometimes stranger than pranks as many history-changing events have taken place on April 1. But before we go on to see which important international events had taken place on April 1, it is high time to felicitate a few notable personalities who will be celebrating their birthdays today (Friday).

These personalities include:

The founder of Pakistan's Atomic Bomb project Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan (born 1936), former Federal Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan (born 1955), former England Cricket skipper David Gower (born 1957) and an ex-New Zealand Cricket captain Stephen Fleming (born 1973).

Here follows the chronology of some vital and interesting global events that had taken place in history on April 1:

1778: A New Orleans businessman Oliver Pollock had created the "$" symbol for American dollar.

1789: The US House of Representatives had held its first-ever full meeting.

1867: Singapore, Penang & Malacca had become British crown colonies.

1887: The Bombay Fire Brigade was established.

1889: The first dishwashing machine was marketed in Chicago.

1891: The London-Paris telephone connection was formally opened.

1918: The British Royal Air Force was created. 

1924: The Royal Canadian Air Force was formed. Moreover Adolf Hitler was sentenced to five years in jail for treason.

1925: The first transmission of Danish state radio had gone on air.

1929: The then ruling Austrian government had fallen.

1933: Nazi Germany had begun persecution of Jews by boycotting Jewish businesses.

1941: The US Navy had taken over the Treasure Island (San Francisco Bay).

The Nazis had forbidden Jews access to local cafés.

The pro-German Rashid Ali al-Ghailani had grabbed power in Iraq.

1935: India's central banking institution; the Reserve Bank of India was formed.

1952: The United States had performed nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.

1955: An armed military action was taken against bureaucratic strike in Amsterdam.

1960: France had exploded its second atom bomb.

1967: The United States Department of Transportation had commenced operations.

1970: US President Richard Nixon had signed the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act into law, requiring the Surgeon General's warnings on tobacco products and banning cigarette advertising on television and radio in the United States with effect from January 1, 1971.

1971: United Kingdom had lifted all restrictions on gold ownership.

1973: Japan had allowed its citizens to own gold.

1979: Iran was proclaimed an Islamic Republic following the fall of Raza Shah Pahlavi.

1991: The US Supreme Court had ruled jurors could not be barred from serving due to race and the Warsaw Pact was officially dissolved.

1992: World's seven wealthiest nations had agreed on dishing out $24 billion aid for the former USSR.

2001: Same-sex marriage had become legal in the Netherlands - first country in the world.

2004: Google had introduced G-mail, though the launch was met with skepticism on account of the launching date.

2008: The Pentagon had made public a legal memo dated March 14, 2003, which approved the use of harsh interrogation techniques against terror suspects.

2009: Benjamin Netanyahu had assumed office as Israel's Prime Minister for a second time.

As far as the month of April is concerned, it doesn't bring many fond memories for the sitting Pakistani Premier Nawaz Sharif because on April 18, 1993, the then President Ghulam Ishaq Khan had dissolved the National Assembly, hence dismissing his first government. Resultantly, Balkh Sher Mazari had taken oath as caretaker Pakistani prime minister.

By the way it was on April 6, 2000 that Nawaz Sharif was sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of hijacking and terrorism.

As far as Pakistan and other national politicians are concerned, the month of April has brought both good and bad events for them.

Here follows some April events with reference to Pakistan and its key politicians:

On April 17, 1953, Muhammad Ali Bogra was sworn in as Pakistan's Prime Minister.

On April 18, 1959, the Ayub Khan government had taken over dailies "The Pakistan Times," the "Daily Imroze" and the weekly "Lail-o-Nihar."

On April 21, 1963, the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors had adopted the code of Press Ethics.

On April 14, 1972, the first session of National Assembly was held and Bhutto was elected country's President.

On April 21, 1972, Martial Law in Pakistan was lifted and constitutional rule was restored in the country. Hamoodu-ur-Rehman was sworn in as the Chief Justice of Pakistan.

On April 10, 1973, the Constitution of Pakistan was enacted by the National Assembly.

On April 4, 1979, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was hanged in Rawalpindi jail.

On April 27, 1984, a ban was imposed on use of Islamic nomenclature by the Ahmadis.

On April 10, 1986, Benazir Bhutto had returned to her homeland after a long and painful exile.

It was also on April 10, 1988 that an Army ammunition depot was blown up at Ojhri Camp, Rawalpindi; killing more than 100 people.

Imran Khan would surely remember the month of April too because on April 25, 1996, he had launched a new political party, Pakistan Tehrek-e-Insaf (PTI).