1789
The U.S. House of Representatives held its first full meeting in New York; Frederick Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania was elected the first House speaker.
1815
Prussian/German statesman Otto von Bismarck was born in Schoenhausen.
1865
During the Civil War, Union forces led by Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan routed Confederate soldiers under the command of Maj. Gen. George Pickett in the Battle of Five Forks in Virginia.
1924
Adolf Hitler was sentenced to five years in prison for his role in the Beer Hall Putsch in Munich. (Hitler was released in Dec. 1924; during his time behind bars, he wrote his autobiographical screed, “Mein Kampf.”)
1933
Nazi Germany staged a daylong national boycott of Jewish-owned businesses.
1945
American forces launched the amphibious invasion of Okinawa during World War II. (U.S. forces succeeded in capturing the Japanese island on June 22.)
1954
The United States Air Force Academy was established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
1962
The Katherine Anne Porter novel “Ship of Fools,” an allegory about the rise of Nazism in Germany, was published by Little, Brown & Co. on April Fool’s Day.
1970
President Richard M. Nixon signed a measure banning cigarette advertising on radio and television, to take effect after Jan. 1, 1971.
1972
The first Major League Baseball players’ strike began; it lasted 12 days.
1975
With Khmer Rouge guerrillas closing in, Cambodian President Lon Nol resigned and fled into exile, spending the rest of his life in the United States.
1984
Recording star Marvin Gaye was shot to death by his father, Marvin Gay Sr. in Los Angeles, the day before his 45th birthday. (The elder Gay pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, and received probation.)
1992
The National Hockey League Players’ Association went on its first-ever strike, which lasted 10 days.
2005
The Vatican reported that Pope John Paul II was near death, his breathing shallow and his heart and kidneys failing.
President Bill Clinton’s former national security adviser, Sandy Berger, pleaded guilty to sneaking classified documents out of the National Archives; he was later sentenced to two years’ probation.
2010
Roman Catholic cardinals across Europe used their Holy Thursday sermons to defend Pope Benedict XVI from accusations he’d played a role in covering up sex abuse scandals.
Dayton denied the previous year’s national champs another title as the Flyers beat North Carolina 79-68 to win the NIT.
Actor John Forsythe, 92, died in Santa Ynez, California.
2014
Mocking his critics, President Barack Obama boasted that 7.1 million people had signed up for his health care law, and said “the debate over repealing this law is over.”
Congress demanded answers from General Motors’ new CEO, Mary Barra, on why the automaker had taken 10 years to recall cars with a faulty ignition switch linked at that time to 13 traffic deaths; Barra acknowledged that the company took too long to act.
