IT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

— In 1564, All Fools’ Day is said to have originated when King Charles IX of France changed the calendar. Prior to the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, the date was observed as New Year’s Day by cultures as varied as the Roman and the Hindu. — In 1734, Canada's first lighthouse — at Louisbourg, N.S. — began operation. — In 1868, Canada's postal service established a uniform postal rate of three cents a letter. — In 1868, Canada celebrated its first April Fools’ Day on record. — In 1873, 547 people died when the liner Atlantic was wrecked on a reef near Mars Rock, outside Halifax harbour. — In 1918, the Royal Air Force was established in Britain. — In 1918, prohibition was declared in Alberta. — In 1924, the Royal Canadian Air Force was formed. — In 1927, RCA in Germany introduced the first automatic record changer. — In 1932, the RCMP absorbed the provincial police forces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Manitoba and Alberta. — In 1942, gasoline rationing went into effect and Canadians first became acquainted with ration books. Food ration cards were issued a few months later. Official rationing remained in effect for five years. — In 1949, Tupperware was patented in the U.S. — In 1955, the revised Criminal Code of Canada went into effect. The original code, based on English law, came into force on July 1, 1893. The 1955 revision reduced the number of sections from 1,100 to 753. — In 1960, Canada entered the jet age when TransCanada Air Lines (now Air Canada) began service between Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. — In 1968, the Board of Broadcast Governors became the Canadian Radio-Television Commission. The national broadcast regulator is now the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). — In 1969, Quebec legalized civil marriages. — In 1970, U.S. President Richard M. Nixon signed a measure banning cigarette advertising on radio and television, to take effect after Jan. 1, 1971. — In 1975, Canadian radio stations first started giving the temperature in Celsius. — In 1976, the Canadian Actors' Equity Association was formed, transferring 2,000 members from the U.S.-based Actors' Equity Association that had represented Canadian entertainers since 1954. — In 1983, thousands of anti-nuclear demonstrators formed a 22-kilometre human chain spanning three defence installations in rural England. — In 1992, the NHL Players Association launched the first full players’ strike in the league's 75-year history. The walkout ended after 10 days, with the players saying they’d made gains in free agency and licensing. — In 1999, dignitaries including Prime Minister Jean Chretien and Gov. Gen. Romeo LeBlanc dined on muskox, whale skin, Arctic char and raw seal to celebrate the creation of Nunavut in the eastern Arctic. Canada’s third territory gave the Inuit title to an area more than five times the size of Alberta. — In 2001, Halifax became the first municipality in North America to restrict the use of insecticides, pesticides and herbicides. — In 2003, Air Canada filed for bankruptcy protection. — In 2003, The World Health Organization issued a travel advisory for Hong Kong and China's Guangdong Province because of the SARS outbreak.