Today in History, 4/1

1318: Berwick-upon-Tweed is captured back from the English by the Scottish.
1789: In New York City, the US House of Representatives holds its first meeting and elects the first Speaker of the House, Frederick Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania.1826: Samuel Morey patents the internal combustion engine.1867: Singapore becomes a British colony.
1873: The British steamer SS Atlantic sinks off of Nova Scotia, killing 547.1883: Lon Chaney, Sr. is born.1885: Wallace Beery is born.1901: Whittaker Chambers is born. He was a spy for the Soviet Union before defecting to the US.1918: The Royal Air Force is created by merging the Royal Flying Service and the Royal Naval Air Service.
1924: Adolf Hitler is sentenced to five years in jail for his participation in the Beer Hall Putsch. He only winds up spending nine months in jail, during which time he writes Mein Kampf.
1930: Grace Lee Whitney is born. She is best known for playing Yeoman Janice Rand on Star Trek.1932: Gordon Jump is born. He played Mr. Carlson on WKRP.

1933: Nazi Germany begins persecuting Jews with a boycott of Jewish-owned businesses.
1945: The American invasion of Okinawa begins.
1946: A 7.8 magnitude earthquake near the Aleutian Islands creates a tsunami that strikes the Hawaiian Islands, killing 159.
1948: The Soviets set up a land blockade of West Berlin.
1950: Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is born.
1953: Barry Sonnenfeld is born. He was the cinematographer for Raising Arizona and Miller's Crossing and has since moved into the director's chair.1954: President Eisenhower authorizes the creation of the US Air Force Academy in Colorado.
1960: The first weather satellite, TIROS-1, is launched from Cape Canaveral.1963: General Hospital debuts on ABC.
1970: President Nixon signs legislation banning cigarette ads on TV and radio.
1976: Apple Computer is formed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.
1984: Marvin Gaye is gunned down by his father in a dispute over misplaced busniess documents.

1999: Nunavut is established as a Canadian territory, carved out of the eastern section of the Northwest Territory.

Today in History elements mostly cribbed from The History Channel, Wikipedia, The New York Times, The Jewish World Review, The Writer's Almanac and anything else I can dig up.