April 1, 1789
To General Knox, Washington wrote: “My movements to the chair of government will be accompanied by feelings, not unlike those of a culprit, who is going to the place of his execution; so unwilling am I, in the evening of a life nearly consumed in public cares, to quit a peaceful abode for an ocean of difficulties, without that competency of political skill, abilities, and inclination, which are necessary to manage the helm. I am sensible that I am embarking the voice of the people, and a good name of my own on this voyage; but what returns will be made for them, Heaven alone can foretell. Integrity and firmness are all I can promise.”
Veteran reunion, Shiloh National Military Park
April, 1895
On April 1, 1775 Boonesborough was established…
“Not far from them both were grouped some of the grandest trees that ever delighted the human eye. Four of them were especially noticeable. Of these, three were immense sycamores, whose white trunks had been polished by the incessant touch of the salt-hunting elk and buffalo and deer, and one was an elm so magnificent in size and so exceptional in its proportions and in the spread of its far-reaching branches that one who saw it in all its glory, and had a soul to appreciate it, called it “divine.”‘ Near by the ancient river ran solemn and beautiful, deep down between the rugged steepness of its southern side and the wooded heights and everlasting hills that shut in the other shore. The natural charms of the distant treaty ground of Sycamore Shoals were strangely duplicated in the camping-ground of “Sycamore Hollow.” And here, on the 1st of April, 1775. about a mile and a quarter below the mouth of Otter Creek, Boone and his harassed and tired woodsmen unloaded their horses, cooked a simple meal, and, after a good long rest, began the erection of several log huts for temporary shelter and defense. They were located “about sixty yards from the river, something over two hundred yards southwest of the lick, and constituted what was immediately named “Fort Boone.”
From: Boonesborough; its founding, pioneer struggles, Indian experiences, Transylvania days, and revolutionary annals
By George Washington Ranck, published in 1901
https://archive.org/details/boonesboroughits00ran/page/20/mode/1up
Source says not in copyright
Image: A drawing of Fort Boonesborough via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
The William Wrigley Jr. Company was founded on April 1, 1891 in Chicago. The company was known for Wrigley Field, The Wrigley Building and of course, Wrigley’s chewing gum. This 1920 advertisement shows all three varieties and solid reasons to happily chew the day away.
Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain in the US.
Samuel F. B. Morse plaque – Old Post Office Bldg, 7th Sts between F and G NW, Washington D.C.
On April 1, 1845, Samuel Morse’s telegraph system was officially opened to the public by the Post Office Department.
Image from dbking • CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
“Ah! You April Fool!”
A sketch from 1826 of children playing an April Fool’s Day prank on a man
via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Lon Chaney Sr. was born on April 1, 1883 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
“The Man of a Thousand Faces”
Image: Lon Chaney c. 1920 via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
On April 1, 1945 the largest amphibious invasion of the Pacific theater during WWII began on Okinawa.
Image: U.S Marines assault a ridge supported by bazookas four days later on Okinawa via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
On April 1, 1967, the U.S. Department of Transportation was formed.
The first Secretary of Transportation was WWII veteran Alan S. Boyd.
Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Seattle Municipal Railway employees pose for a group portrait outside the Jefferson Street Car Barn.
April 1, 1924
via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
On April 1, 1789 Frederick Muhlenberg of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania was elected as the first U.S. Speaker of The House.
Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Young Woman in the Woods
(1879)
by American artist Edwin Austin Abbey who was born in Philadelphia on April 1, 1852
Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
American entertainer
Jane Powell (born Suzanne Lorraine Burce on April 1, 1929) was a celebrated Hollywood actress and singer known for her bright soprano voice and charm. Signing her first MGM contract at just 14 years old, she rose to fame in the 1940s and 1950s, often typecast as a teenager. Powell starred in classics like “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” and “Royal Wedding,” and later transitioned to stage and television, leaving a lasting legacy until her passing in 2021.
Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
American actress Debbie Reynolds was born on April 1, 1932 in El Paso, Texas.
In 1948, during the Miss Burbank beauty contest (that she won), she was noticed by two talent scouts from MGM and Warner Bros.
They each flipped a coin to determine who would sign Debbie. Warner Bros. won the toss, but a few years later she was doing movies with MGM.
One of those movies was Singin’ In The Rain.
Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
On April 1, 1853, Cincinnati established the nation’s first fully paid, professional fire department, replacing its volunteer companies and inaugurating a new era of municipal firefighting.
Cincinnati’s move to a fully paid fire department in 1853 sparked a wave of innovation that reshaped American firefighting. The 1884 Ahrens steam engine shown here — photographed in 1990 — captures that legacy: a Cincinnati‑built, horse‑drawn rig with its driver in a red fire helmet holding a Dalmatian.
Image via Wikimedia Commons
General Hospital debuted on April 1, 1963, and eventually became the longest-running American soap opera currently in production. This image from the spring of that inaugural season features Mae Clarke, whose brief tenure as Nurse Marge Brown helped launch the series before she was written out later that month. She appears here alongside original cast member John Beradino, the former Major League infielder whose portrayal of Dr. Steve Hardy anchored the series for decades. Their work unfolded within a world first shaped by Frank and Doris Hursley, the husband-and-wife writing team whose early scripts established the foundation of what would become a defining American daytime drama.
Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
