Monday, April 1, 2024

Same-sex marriage in the Netherlands was legalized, making it the first country to do so.

An American Lockheed EP-3 and a Chinese Shenyang J-8 collided in mid-air off Hainan, resulting in an international dispute between the two countries.

The longest prison riot in British penal history began at Strangeways Prison in Manchester, lasting 25 days.

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded Apple Computer, Inc. (first logo pictured).

A man ignited tires in the crater of Mount Edgecumbe, prompting a false eruption scare later revealed as an April Fools' hoax.

U.S. president Richard Nixon signed the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act into law, requiring that a prominent warning by the surgeon general be placed on cigarette packages.

The American Motors Corporation introduced its Gremlin, promoted as America's first subcompact car.

The Hawker Siddeley Harrier, the first operational fighter aircraft with V/STOL capabilities, entered service with the Royal Air Force.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service, the tenth novel of Ian Fleming's James Bond series, was released in the United Kingdom.

The British Army's Mobile Defence Corps, intended to assist with civil defence after a nuclear attack, was established by royal warrant.

Israel enacted a citizenship law, prior to which the country technically had no citizens.

Soviet border guards opened fire on civilians attempting to cross the border from the Soviet Union to Romania near Fântâna Albă, killing between 44 and 3,000 people.