Paracultural Calendar for April 1 (no tricks)

[Mark Thibodeau]

On this day in *527*, Byzantine Emperor *Justin I* names his nephew *Justinian
I*, co-ruler and successor to the throne. And that's where we get *April
Fool's Day* from!

***

On this day in *528*, the daughter of Emperor *Xiaoming* of Northern Wei
was made the "Emperor" as a male heir of the late emperor by Empress *Dowager
Hu*, deposed and replaced by *Yuan Zhao* the next day; she was the first
female monarch in the History of China, but not widely recognized.

***

On this day in *1873*, the British steamer RMS Atlantic sinks off Nova
Scotia, killing 547.

***

On this day in *1924*, German rabble-rouser *Adolf Hitler* is sentenced to
five years in jail for his participation in the Beer Hall Putsch. He only
serves nine months of his sentence, during which time he writes *Mein Kampf*,
explaining his personal philosophy of government. Roughly ten years later,
in *1933*, the newly-elected Nazi Party organizes a boycott of Jewish-owned
businesses in Germany, a precursor to a series of laws that would
eventually come to be known as the Holocaust.

***

On this day in *1957*, the BBC broadcasts the spaghetti tree hoax on its
current affairs programme Panorama.

***

On this day in *1970*, President *Richard Nixon* signs the Public Health
Cigarette Smoking Act into law, requiring the Surgeon General's warnings on
tobacco products and banning cigarette advertisements on television and
radio in the United States, starting on *January 1, 1971*.

***

How appropriate is it that *American Motors* chose *April Fool's Day, 1970* to
introduce their latest model, the *Gremlin*?

***

On this day in *1999*, Nunavut is established as a semi-autonomous Canadian
territory carved out of the eastern part of the Northwest Territories.

***

On this day in *2004*, Google announces *Gmail* to the public.

***

On this day in *2011*, after protests against the burning of the Quran turn
violent, a mob attacks a United Nations compound in Mazar-i-Sharif,
Afghanistan, resulting in the deaths of thirteen people, including eight
foreign workers.
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