April 1 in History
1572 — The “Watergeuzen” (Sea Beggars) capture Den Briel, a small seaport in the Netherlands province of South Holland. They also swiftly take Vlissingen. In the Eighty Years’ War (1568-1648), this provides the first foothold on land for the rebels — Calvinist Dutch nobles who, from 1566, oppose Spanish rule in their country — to conquer the northern Netherlands and establish an independent Dutch Republic.
1578 — William Harvey, the first known physician to describe completely the blood circulation system, is born in Folkestone, England.
1815 — Otto von Bismarck (the Iron Chancellor), ruler of first Prussia and then all of Germany, is born on his family’s estate in the Prussian heartland west of Berlin.
1873 — Sergey Rachmaninov, pianist and Russian Romantic composer, is born in Oneg.
1920 — Toshiro Mifune, Japanese writer, actor (“Seven Samurai”, TV miniseries “Shogun”), is born in Qingdao, Shandong, China (where his parents work as Methodist missionaries).
1945 — Easter Sunday, the American assault on Okinawa, Japan, begins. It takes three months of heavy fighting and casualties for the US to secure the island.
1965 — Helena Rubinstein, 94, Polish cosmetics entrepreneur, dies in NYC.
1976 — Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne found Apple Computer Company. Wayne sells his share for $800, and later accepts $1 500 to forfeit any claims against Apple.
1980 — The Southern African Development Coordination Conference is established by nine countries (Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe) with the Lusaka declaration, mainly to co-ordinate development projects to lessen economic dependence on South Africa.
1991 — Martha Graham, 96, modern dance pioneer, dies in NYC.
2001 — A bomb attack at a concert attended by 100 000 fans in the Kurunegala soccer stadium, Sri Lanka, and the subsequent stampede, leave 11 people dead and 200 injured.
2004 — Google introduces Gmail.
2010 — John Forsythe, 92, actor (“Charlie’s Angels”, “Dynasty”), dies in Santa Ynez, California. 2013 — The Al-Yawm daily says Saudi Arabia’s religious police are now allowing women to ride motorbikes and bicycles but only in restricted, recreational areas, accompanied by a male relative and dressed in an abaya.