1621 - The first Colonial treaty with the Native Americans was a defensive alliance made on Strawberry Hill, Plymouth, MA, between Massasoit, chief of the Wampanoags, and the Plymouth colonists, acting in behalf of King James I. They promised not to “doe hurt” to one another. If a Wampanoag broke the law, he was sent to Plymouth for punishment; if a colonist was the offender, he was sent to the Wampanaogs. The agreement in all its parts was kept by both parties for more than half a century.
    1634 - The first bridge built in the US spanned the Neponset River between Milton and Dorchester, MA. The authority to build the bridge and an adjoining mill was issued to Israel Stoughton by the Massachusetts General Court.
    1786 - A heavy snowstorm hit, bringing 12 inches from New Jersey to New Hampshire and prolonging winter into spring. This strong storm caused gale force winds and high tides. Five piers of the Charles Bridge were destroyed at Boston, Massachusetts.
    1789 - The U.S. House of Representatives held its first full meeting in New York City and elected Frederick Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania as its first Speaker.
    1807 - The famous "1807 spring storm" buried interior New England in snow and caused a great tide along the coast. Danville, Vermont received 30 inches of new snow, bringing their snow cover amount to 60 inches.
   1826 - Captain Samuel Morey of Orford, NH, received a patent on an internal-combustion engine, called “a gas or vapor engine” by its inventor. His engine had two cylinders, 180 degree cranks, poppet valves, a carburetor, an electric spark, and a water cooling device. He employed the vapor of spirits of turpentine and common air. A small tin dish contained the spirits, and the only heat he used was from a common table lamp. A rotary movement was obtained by means of a crank and flywheel, as in a steam engine.
    1833 – The Convention of 1833, a political gathering of settlers in Mexican Texas to help draft a series of petitions to the Mexican government, and a successor to the Convention of 1832, whose requests had not been addressed by the Mexican government, began in San Felipe de Austin.  William H. Wharton presided over the meeting. Although the convention's agenda largely mirrored that of the Convention of 1832, delegates also agreed to pursue independent statehood for the province, which was at the time part of the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas. Under the guidance of Sam Houston, former governor of Tennessee, a committee drafted a state constitution to submit to the Mexican Congress. The proposed constitution was largely patterned on US political principles, yet retained several Spanish customs. Delegates also requested customs exemptions and asked that a ban on immigration into Texas be lifted.  Some residents complained that this convention, like its predecessor, was illegal. Nevertheless, Stephen F. Austin journeyed to Mexico City to present the petitions to the government. Frustrated with the lack of progress, in October, Austin wrote a letter encouraging Texans to form their own state government. This letter was forwarded to the Mexican government and Austin was imprisoned in early 1834. During his imprisonment, the Mexican federal and state legislatures passed a series of measures to placate the colonists, including the introduction of trial by jury. Austin acknowledged that "[e]very evil complained of has been remedied."
     1841 - Brook Farm, history's most famous utopian community, is founded near West Roxbury, Massachusetts. Its primary appeal was to young Bostonians who shrank from the materialism of American life and the community was a refuge for dozens of transcendentalists, including Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathanial Hawthorne.
    1844 - Stuart Perry of New York City received a patent for both air-and water-cooled types and used turpentine gases as fuel. He called it a “gas engine.”
    1847 - Michigan becomes first state to abolish the death penalty.
    1853 - Prior to this date, the fire department of cities was composed of volunteers exclusively. The first department to be paid a salary was organized in Cincinnati, Ohio, through the efforts of Miles Greenwood. Members of the company received $60 a year, lieutenants $100, captains $150, pipe men and drivers, $365. The chief engineer received $1,000 a year and assistant engineers $300. 
    1865 - After withdrawing to Five Forks, VA, Confederate troops under George Pickett were defeated and cut off by Union troops. This defeat, according to many military historians, sealed the immediate fate of Robert E. Lee's armies at Petersburg and Richmond. Some 5000 Confederates prisoners were taken. On Apr 2, Lee informed Confederate President Jefferson Davis that he would have to evacuate Richmond. Davis and his cabinet fled by train to Danville, VA.
    1866 - Congress overrides President Andrew Johnson's veto of Civil Rights Bill, giving equal rights to all men born in the US, except Indians.
    1877 - Birthday of Dr. Aurelia Henry Reinhardt in San Francisco.  She was the first woman elected moderator (the titular head) of the Unitarian Association (1940).  She was President of Mills College (1916) in Oakland, CA, the third oldest women's college in the U.S.  Died 1948.
http://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/unitarians/reinhardt.html
    1883 - Birthday of early movie great Lon Chaney in Colorado Springs, CO.  He is regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema, renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and afflicted characters, and his groundbreaking artistry with makeup.  Chaney is known for his starring roles in such silent horror films as “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (1923) and ”The Phantom of the Opera” (1925). His ability to transform himself using makeup techniques he developed earned him the nickname "The Man of a Thousand Faces".
    1887 - Thomas Edison devises a telephone design that becomes the basis for his later claim to the invention of the microphone.
    1889 - The first investment trust was the New York Stock Trust, New York City, a general portfolio statutory trust, with 50,000 shares at $10 each.
    1891 - The Wrigley Company was founded in Chicago.
    1895 - Vocalist Alberta Hunter was born in Memphis, Tennessee. One of the great ladies of the golden age of jazz, singer and composer, she gave up a very successful career to become a nurse. She practiced for 20 years and then made a show business comeback at age 82, packing them into New York nightclubs.
http://www.oafb.net/once25.html
http://www.redhotjazz.com/hunter.html
http://afgen.com/hunter.html
    1897 - Pianist Emma “Sweet” Barrett was born in New Orleans, LA
http://www.masters-of-photography.com/F/friedlander/friedlander_portraits68_sweet_emma
_barrett_new_orleans_1958_full.html http://www.allaboutjazz.com/reviews/r0301_057.htm
    1897 - Vocalist Lucille (Lucille Anderson) Bogan was born in Amory, MS
http://www.alamhof.org/boganl.htm
    1901 – Birthday of Whittaker Chambers, born Jay Vivian Chambers in Philadelphia.  An American writer and editor.  After his early years as a Communist Party USA member and Soviet spy, he renounced communism, became an outspoken opponent, and testified at Alger Hiss’ perjury and espionage trial. He described both events in his book “Witness”, published in 1952.  He died of a heart attack in 1961.  In 1984, President Reagan posthumously awarded Chambers the Presidential Medal of Freedom, for his contribution to "the century's epic struggle between freedom and totalitarianism.”
    1903 - Jackie Martin’s birthday.  Photographer-journalist, first official photographer of the U.S. Women's Army Corps (Auxiliary), first woman to be elected to the White House Photographers Association (1941), first woman art and photographic editor, and first woman sports editor, in addition to a distinguished newspaper career.
    1909 – Eddy Duchin was born in Cambridge, MA.  He was a popular American pianist and bandleader of the 1930s and 1940s, famous for his engaging onstage personality, his elegant piano style, and his fight against leukemia from which he died in NYC in 1951.
    1910 – Saxophonist Harry Carney’s birthday in Boston.  His virtuosity on the baritone sax influenced generations of subsequent players. He also performed on clarinet and bass clarinet, as well as alto sax in the early years of his career. Mainly known for his 45-year tenure in Duke Ellington’s Orchestra, Carney's strong, steady saxophone often served as the anchor of Duke's music.  Carney died in 1974.
http://www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/Delta/8586/carney.html
    1922 - Pianist Duke Jordan’s birthday, born Irving Sidney Jordan in Brooklyn, NY.  An imaginative and gifted pianist, Jordan was a regular member of Charlie Parker’s so-called "classic quintet" (1947–48), featuring Miles Davis.  He died in 2006.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/artist/glance/-/38031/qid=1017518470/
002-0163546-1162443
    1922 – William Manchester was born in Attleboro, MA.  His father served in the Marine Corps during World War I. After his father's death, and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he likewise enlisted in the Marine Corps.  He fought on Guadalcanal and was awarded a Purple Heart.  In 1947, Manchester went to work as a reporter for The Baltimore Sun. There he met journalist H.L. Mencken, who became and friend and mentor,  and became the subject of Manchester's master's thesis and first book, “Disturber of the Peace”.  His best-selling book, “The Death of a President” (1967), is a detailed account of the assassination of President Kennedy, who had been the subject of an earlier book by Manchester. In 1963, Manchester was commissioned by the Kennedy family to write the book.  Manchester, who retraced the movements of President Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald before the assassination, concluded, based on his study of Oswald's psychology and their similar training as Marine sharpshooters, that Oswald had acted alone.  Manchester died in 2004.
    1923 - Residents in the eastern U.S. awoke on "April Fool's Day" to bitterly cold temperatures. The mercury plunged to -34 degrees at Bergland, MI and to 16 degrees in Georgia.
    1924 – Hitler was sentenced to five years in jail for his participation in the "Beer Hall Putsch". However, he spent only nine months in jail, during which he wrote “Mein Kampf”.
    1929 – Former Michigan Head Football Coach Bo Schembechler was born Glenn Edward Schembechler, Jr. in Barberton, OH.
    1932 - 500 school children, most with haggard faces and in tattered clothes, parade through Chicago's downtown section to the Board of Education offices to demand that the school system provide them with food.
    1933 – Debbie Reynolds was born Mary Frances Reynolds in El Paso.
    1934 – Jim Ed Brown, of the group, The Browns, was born in Sparkman, AR.  In 1959, The Browns scored their biggest hit when their folk-pop single “The Three Bells” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop and country charts. The song also peaked at No. 10 on Billboard's Rhythm and Blues listing. Remakes of the pop hits "Scarlet Ribbons" and "The Old Lamplighter" continued the hit streak, reaching the top 15 on Billboard's Pop and Country surveys. The trio had moderate successes on the country music charts for seven years thereafter. In 1963, they joined the Grand Ole Opry and in 1967 the group disbanded.
    1934 – One of the original Mets, Rod Kanehl was born in Wichita, KS.  Kanehl hit the first grand slam in Mets history on July 6, 1962 at the Polo Grounds in NYC.
    1935 - General Electric Co. announces the first radio tube made of metal. Metal tubes were smaller and lighter than the glass vacuum tubes used in earlier radios and they improved short-wave radio reception. Radio had started to catch on as an entertainment medium in the 1920s, and its popularity grew until the rise of television in the early 1940s.
    1936 - Vivian (Vickie) Adelberg Rudow’s birthday.  American composer, first woman to win first prize with straight 10s in the 14th International Electoacoustic Music Competition, Bourges, France, the largest and most important electronic music competition in the world. Her composition was “With Love”, a live cello, dialogue, and prepared tape. In 1977, her Kaddish won first prize in the International Double Reed Society Composition contest, solo division. She was the first Maryland composer to have her orchestral piece, “Force III”, performed in the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore (1982). Founder and artistic director/producer of Res Musica Baltimore, Inc. (now Res Music America, Inc.) (1980-1991), promoting music by American living composers. Produced 52 concerts and 22 Res Musica youth concerts for the Baltimore City Public Schools.
http://www.baltimorecomposersforum.org/members/
rudow_vivian_adelberg/personal_info.html
http://music.dartmouth.edu/~wowem/homework/rudow.html
    1939 – Knuckleballing Hall of Famer Phil Niekro was born in Blaine, OH.  He was inducted into the Hall in 1997. Niekro's 318 career victories are the most by a knuckleball pitcher and he ranks 16th on the overall all-time wins list.  He also won the Gold Glove Award five times. Niekro pitched for 20 seasons for the Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves.
    1940 - New York governor Herbert Lehman signed a bill legalizing pari-mutuel wagering at the state’s racetracks and outlawing bookmaking.
    1940 – Ali McGraw was born Elizabeth Alice McGraw in Pound Ridge, NY.
    1941 – A military coup overthrew the regime of ‘Abd al-Ilah and installed Rashid Ali as Prime Minister of Iraq.
    1942 - Cootie Williams Band records monk’s “Epistrophy,” Chicago, IL.
    1942 - Birthday of Samuel Delany in Harlem. Science fiction writer, composer, musician, social critic. Husband (1961-1980) of poet Marilyn Hacker, he remains active on the circuit today.
http://www.uic.edu/depts/quic/history/samuel_delaney.html
http://www2.pcc.com/staff/jay/delany/
http://epc.buffalo.edu/authors/delany/
    1945 - The Battle of Okinawa began on Easter Sunday.  The US 10th Army began Operation Iceberg, the invasion of the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa. Ground troops numbering 180,000 plus 368,000 men in support services made a total of 548,000 troops involved--the biggest amphibious operation of the Pacific war.
    1946 - An 8.6 earthquake near the Aleutian Islands created a tsunami that struck the Hawaiian Islands killing 159, mostly in Hilo.
    1949 - The first television variety show series with an African-American cast was “Happy Pappy,” on WENR-TV, Chicago, IL. The program featured Ray Grant as master of ceremonies, the Four Vagabonds, and Modern Modes, and guests.
    1949 – Jimmy Cliff was born James Chambers in St. James, Jamaica.  A reggae musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer and actor, he is the only living musician to hold the Order of Merit, the highest honor that can be granted by the Jamaican government for achievements in the arts and sciences.
    1950 – Associate Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was born in Trenton, NJ.
    1953 - The first educational television station sponsored by a city was WQED, Channel 13, Pittsburgh, PA, and went on the air today. A second education channel, WQEX, Channel 16, was granted a license on July 16, 1958, making Pittsburgh the first city with two educational television stations.
    1954 - U.S. Air Force Academy was founded in Colorado. President Dwight Eisenhower signed a bill authorizing the establishment of an Air Force Academy, similar to West Point and Annapolis. On July 11, 1955, the first class was sworn in at Lowry Air Force Base. The academy moved to a permanent site near Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1958.
    1955 - Top Hits
“The Ballad of Davy Crockett” - Bill Hayes
“Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White” - Perez Prado
“Dance with Me Henry (Wallflower)” - Georgia Gibbs
“In the Jailhouse Now” - Webb Pierce
    1955 - Elvis Presley's fourth single, a cover of Arthur Gunter's "Baby, Let's Play House." backed with "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone," is released. Later in the month, Presley with Bill Black and Scotty Moore, head off to New York to audition for "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts," as has Pat Boone. Presley is rejected and Boone will win first place
    1955 - George Martin became head of A&R for Parlophone, which will lead to his producing the Beatles seven years later when they are signed to the label.
    1956 - Chet Huntley began his successful news career with NBC. He started as a reporter and analyst of the Sunday news series, "Outlook". Soon, he would be teamed with David Brinkley for election coverage. The duo would click and become co-anchors of "The Huntley-Brinkley Report" nightly on NBC with Huntley presenting news from the New York studio while Brinkley reported from Washington, DC. John Chancellor, who would become the sole anchor of the "NBC Nightly News" years later, was also a part of the broadcast giving comment and analysis on the day’s top news. Huntley and Brinkley closed each news broadcast with the trademark, “Good night Chet. Good night David”. And Tom Brokaw later added, “Good night from NBC News.”
    1956 - Elvis shoots a scene from “The Rainmaker” for his screen test at Paramount Studios in Hollywood.  Presley will eventually be passed over for this film, and his role taken by Burt Lancaster. Still impressed, however, Paramount and director Hal Wallis sign Elvis to a seven-year contract five days later.    
    1957 - Elvis Presley played two concerts before 23,000 people at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. Presley performed outside the US only four times in his career - the two concerts in Toronto, one the next night in Ottawa and a later performance in Vancouver.
    1957 - Cadence Records releases the Everly Brothers' "Bye Bye Love," a song rejected by 30 labels before Cadence picked it up. It will go to #2 on the pop chart and #1 on the Country & Western chart
    1957 - Frankie Lymon became the youngest act to ever headline London's Palladium when he performed there with the Teenagers
    1959 - Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon released "Tallahassee Lassie"
    1960 - The Boston Patriots of the American Football League made Wall Street history by becoming the first professional sports team to issue public stock.
    1960 - In Miami's Fontainebleu Hotel, Elvis Presley tapes his post-Army comeback special, Frank Sinatra's “Welcome Home, Elvis”, also starring Sammy Davis Jr., Nancy Sinatra, Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford. Elvis sings "Fame and Fortune" and "Stuck on You," as well as Sinatra's own "Witchcraft." Frank responds by singing "Love Me Tender."
    1960 - The first weather satellite, TIROS-1, was launched from Cape Canaveral.
    1961 - The Beatles begin their second, more successful string of gigs in Hamburg, the first of 92 nights at the Top Ten Club in the notorious Reeperbahn section of town. The lads will play seven hours a night, eight on weekends, with 15 minute breaks each hour, resulting in 503 total hours of live performance in just over three months. While in Germany, occasional member Stu Sutcliffe has his hair styled by his girlfriend, band photographer Astrid Kirchherr, into what would later be adopted by all band members as the "mop top."
    1963 - "The Doctors" premiered on NBC on the same day as ABC's long-running soap "General Hospital," providing viewers with a double dose of medical drama. The show was set at Hope Memorial Hospital and began as an anthology series that was subsequently transformed into a serial in 1964. Created by Orin Tovrov, "The Doctors" ran for 19 years. Ellen Burstyn, Anna Stuart, Nancy Pinkerton, Jonathan Hogan, Julia Duffy and Alec Baldwin are some of its famous alums.
    1963 - Longest newspaper strike in US history ends. The nine major papers in New York City ceased publication over 100 days ago.
    1963 - Top Hits
“He’s So Fine” - The Chiffons
“South Street” - The Orlons
“Rhythm of the Rain” - The Cascades
“Still” - Bill Anderson
    1963 - “General Hospital," premiered on TV.  ABC's longest-running soap revolves around the denizens of fictional Port Charles, NY. "GH" was created by Doris and Frank Hursley. John Beradino, who was with the show from the beginning until his death in May 1996, played the role of Dr. Steve Hardy, upstanding director of medicine and pillar of the community. In the '80s, story lines became unusual with plots involving international espionage, mob activity and aliens. The wedding of super couple Luke and Laura (Anthony Geary and Genie Francis) was a ratings topper. By the '90s, stories moved away from high-powered action to more conventional romance. Many actors received their big break on the show, including Demi Moore, Janine Turner, Jack Wagner, Richard Dean Anderson, Rick Springfield, John Stamos, Emma Samms, Mark Hamill, Finola Hughes, Ricky Martin and Tia Carrere.
    1967 – The Department of Transportation began as a cabinet-level department.
    1969 - The Beach Boys left the Capitol label, suing them for over $2 million in back royalties and announcing their intention to start their own label, Brother.
    1970 – “Woodstock”, the acclaimed musical documentary of the happening, premiered in Hollywood.
    1970 - Radio and television ads for cigarettes were banned by legislation signed by President Nixon. The ban went into effect Jan 1, 1971.
    1970 - BEIKIRCH, GARY B., Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company B, 5th Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces. Place and date: Kontum Province, Republic of Vietnam, 1 April 1970. Entered service at: Buffalo, N.Y. Born: 29 August 1947, Rochester, N.Y. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sgt. Beikirch, medical aid man, Detachment B-24, Company B, distinguished himself during the defense of Camp Dak Seang. The allied defenders suffered a number of casualties as a result of an intense, devastating attack launched by the enemy from well-concealed positions surrounding the camp. Sgt. Beikirch, with complete disregard for his personal safety, moved unhesitatingly through the withering enemy fire to his fallen comrades, applied first aid to their wounds and assisted them to the medical aid station. When informed that a seriously injured American officer was lying in an exposed position, Sgt. Beikirch ran immediately through the hail of fire. Although he was wounded seriously by fragments from an exploding enemy mortar shell, Sgt. Beikirch carried the officer to a medical aid station. Ignoring his own serious injuries, Sgt. Beikirch left the relative safety of the medical bunker to search for and evacuate other men who had been injured. He was again wounded as he dragged a critically injured Vietnamese soldier to the medical bunker while simultaneously applying mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to sustain his life. Sgt. Beikirch again refused treatment and continued his search for other casualties until he collapsed. Only then did he permit himself to be treated. Sgt. Beikirch's complete devotion to the welfare of his comrades, at the risk of his life are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the U.S. Army.
    1970 - LEMON, PETER C., Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company E, 2d Battalion, 8th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division. place and date: Tay Ninh province, Republic of Vietnam, 1 April 1970. Entered service at: Tawas City, Mich. Born: 5 June 1950, Toronto, Canada. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sgt. Lemon (then Sp4c.), Company E, distinguished himself while serving as an assistant machine gunner during the defense of Fire Support Base Illingworth. When the base came under heavy enemy attack, Sgt. Lemon engaged a numerically superior enemy with machine gun and rifle fire from his defensive position until both weapons malfunctioned. He then used hand grenades to fend off the intensified enemy attack launched in his direction. After eliminating all but 1 of the enemy soldiers in the immediate vicinity, he pursued and disposed of the remaining soldier in hand-to-hand combat. Despite fragment wounds from an exploding grenade, Sgt. Lemon regained his position, carried a more seriously wounded comrade to an aid station, and, as he returned, was wounded a second time by enemy fire. Disregarding his personal injuries, he moved to his position through a hail of small arms and grenade fire. Sgt. Lemon immediately realized that the defensive sector was in danger of being overrun by the enemy and unhesitatingly assaulted the enemy soldiers by throwing hand grenades and engaging in hand-to-hand combat. He was wounded yet a third time, but his determined efforts successfully drove the enemy from the position. Securing an operable machine gun, Sgt. Lemon stood atop an embankment fully exposed to enemy fire, and placed effective fire upon the enemy until he collapsed from his multiple wounds and exhaustion. After regaining consciousness at the aid station, he refused medical evacuation until his more seriously wounded comrades had been evacuated. Sgt. Lemon's gallantry and extraordinary heroism, are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the U.S. Army.
    1970 - After one year as an American League expansion team, the Seattle Pilots moved to Milwaukee and became the Brewers. Automobile dealer Bud Selig purchased the team for $10.8 million.
    1970 - Ringo Starr entered Abbey Road alone for what would be the very last Beatles session, overdubbing percussion on "The Long and Winding Road," "Across The Universe," and "I Me Mine." Producer Phil Spector wrapped things up by applying strings to all three.
    1971 - Top Hits
“Me and Bobby McGee” - Janis Joplin
“Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)” - The Temptations
“Proud Mary” - Ike & Tina Turner
“After the Fire is Gone” - Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn
    1971 - Six months after his death, Jimi Hendrix's "The Cry of Love" goes gold. It is the last LP on which the guitarist was a willing participant and some say it might have gone higher than #3 had it not been for an LP by another deceased rock star, "Pearl," by Janis Joplin.
    1972 - The Major League Baseball Players Association went on strike for the first time, with the principal issue being contributions to the major league pension plan. The strike lasted 12 days and wiped out 86 regular season games.
    1976 - Jimmy Buffett's "Margaritaville" is released.
    1976 - Apple Computer was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne to sell the Apple I personal computer kit. The kits were computers single handedly designed and hand-built by Wozniak and were first shown to the public at the Homebrew Computer Club. The Apple I was sold as a motherboard (with CPU, RAM, and basic textual-video chips), which is less than what is now considered a complete personal computer. The Apple I went on sale in July 1976 and was market-priced at $666.66 ($2,763 in 2015 dollars, adjusted for inflation).  Apple was incorporated January 3, 1977, without Wayne, who sold his share of the company back to Jobs and Wozniak for $800.   Apple is the world’s second-largest information technology company by revenue after Samsung Electronics, and the world’s third-largest mobile phone maker. On November 25, 2014, in addition to being the largest publicly-traded corporation in the world by market capitalization, Apple became the first U.S. company to be valued at over $700 billion. As of 2014, Apple employs 72,800 permanent full-time employees, maintains 437 retail stores in fifteen countries, and operates the online Apple Store and iTunes Store, the latter of which is the world's largest music retailer.  Apple's worldwide annual revenue in 2014 totaled $182 billion (FY end October 2014).
    1976 – Conrail took over operations from seven bankrupt railroads in the northeast… Penn Central, Ann Arbor Railroad, Erie Lackawanna Railway, Lehigh Valley Railroad, Reading Company, Central Railroad of New Jersey,  and Lehigh and Hudson River Railway.
    1979 - Top Hits
“Tragedy” - Bee Gees
“What a Fool Believes” - The Doobie Brothers
“Sultans of Swing” - Dire Straits
“I Just Fall in Love Again” - Anne Murray
    1979 – Iran became an Islamic republic by a 99% vote, officially overthrowing the Shah.
    1985 - In one of the greatest upsets in NCAA basketball tournament history, the Villanova University Wildcats upset the Hoyas of Georgetown University, 66-64, in the championship game. The Wildcats shot lights out in one of the more torrid shooting display in NCAA Tournament history.  They made 70% of their shots from the field and converted 22 of 27 free throws.
    1985 - David Lee Roth quit Van Halen shortly after releasing his version of The Beach Boys', "California Girls", which featured Carl Wilson on background vocals. Roth's record actually sold slightly better than the original. He was replaced by Sammy Hagar later in the year.
    1985 - The long-awaited album, "We Are the World", was finally released. Eight rock stars donated previously unreleased material for the LP. With sales in excess of 20 million copies, it is one of the fewer than 30 all-time singles to have sold at least 10 million copies worldwide. The song, "We Are the World", was number five, and moving up, on the "Billboard" magazine pop singles chart this day. The promotion and merchandise aided the success of "We Are the World" and raised over $63 million for humanitarian aid in Africa and the US.
    1986 - In Washington State, 35,000 employees in female-dominated jobs began receiving $41 million in pay equity payments.
    1987 - 45 cities in the southeastern US reported new record low temperatures for the date. Morning lows of 37 degrees at Apalachicola, Florida, 34 degrees at Jacksonville, Florida, 30 degrees at Macon, Georgia, and 22 degrees at Knoxville, Tennessee were records for the month of April.
    1987 - Top Hits
Lean on Me - Club Nouveau
Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now - Starship
Tonight, Tonight, Tonight - Genesis
Small Town Girl - Steve Wariner
    1988 - A major winter storm battered the western high plains. Rye, Colorado was buried under 34 inches of snow. 19 inches was measured at Sharon Springs, Kansas and up to 17 inches fell in the Oklahoma panhandle
    1990 - Los Angeles Lakers Michael Cooper and Byron Scott appeared on an LA radio show and were informed during the broadcast that they had been traded to the Los Angeles Clippers for Benoit Benjamin and Jeff Martin. Lakers teammate Mychal Thompson called the show to say that the two wouldn’t be missed. Host Joe McConnell then reminded his guests and his listeners that it was April Fools’ Day.
    1990 - Thunderstorms produced severe weather in Texas, from southern Arkansas and northern Louisiana to southern Georgia, and from northern South Carolina to the Upper Ohio Valley during the day and evening. Thunderstorms spawned a tornado at Evergreen, AL, and there were more than eighty reports of large hail and damaging winds. Thunderstorms produced baseball size hail north of Bastrop, LA, and produced damaging winds which injured one person west of Meridian, MS.
    1993 - Thousands of people stood in the rain at a pro-environment rally in Portland, Oregon. Neil Young, David Crosby, Kenny Loggins and the Wilson Sisters were among the performers.
    1994 - Top Hits
“The Sign” - Ace of Base
“Bump N Grind” - R. Kelly
“Without You/Never Forget You” - Mariah Carey
“The Power of Love”- Celine Dion
    1996 - Rallying from a 6-0 deficit, the Mets beat the Cardinals, 7-6, making it the biggest Opening Day comeback of the century.
    1997 - Setting a record for the most runs scored in one inning of an Opening Day contest this century, the Padres score 11 runs in the bottom of the sixth inning en route to a 12-5 rout of Mets. Chris Gomez, Rickey Henderson and Quilvio Veras lead the attack with back-to-back-to-back home runs.
    1999 - Top Hits
“Believe” - Cher
“Heartbreak Hotel” - Whitney Houston Feat. Faith Evans
“Every Morning” - Sugar Ray
“What’s It Gonna Be?” - Busta Rhymes Featuring Jane
    2001 - In the first major league game ever played Puerto Rico, the Blue Jays defeat the Rangers, 8-1 in the major league season opener. Making his Texas debut, $252 million shortstop Alex Rodriguez gets the season's first hit and scores the first run, but also makes a throwing error on his first chance.
    2001 – A Navy surveillance jet collided with a Chinese fighter jet. The Navy crew made an emergency landing in Hainan and was detained.
    2002 - Maryland defeated Indiana 64-52 in the championship game to win their first ever and only national championship.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/
college/2002/ncaa_tourney/news/2002/04/01/maryland_indiana_ap
    2003 - Top Hits
“In Da Club” - 50 Cent
“Ignition” - R. Kelly
“Miss You” - Aaliyah
“All I Have” - Jennifer Lopez Featuring LL Cool J

NCAA Basketball Champions This Date
    1985 - Villanova
    1992 - Duke
    1996 - Kentucky
    2002 - Maryland