1 April in Indian and World History is celebrated, observed, and remembered for various reasons. 1 April is the birth anniversary of Guru Tegh Bahadur, Shivakumara Swami, Tarun Gogoi, Mohammad Hamid Ansari, Ajit Laxman Wadekar, and Siddhartha Roy.
1 April is also observed as the death anniversary of Palghat Kollengode Viswanathan Narayanaswamy.
Birth Anniversary
1 April in Indian history is celebrated as the birth anniversary of the following personalities:
Guru Tegh Bahadur (1 April 1621 – 11 November 1675) was the ninth of ten Gurus who founded the Sikh religion and he was head of the followers of Sikhism from 1665 until his beheading in 1675. Guru Tegh Bahadur was executed (by beheading) on the orders of Aurangzeb. His martyrdom is remembered as the Shaheedi Divas of Guru Tegh Bahadur every year on 24 November, according to the Nanakshahi calendar. He was born on 1 April 1621 in Amritsar, Punjab.
Shivakumara Swami (1 April 1907 – 21 January 2019) is a humanitarian, spiritual leader and educator. He became part of Siddaganga Matha in 1930 and became head of the Matha in 1941. Before his death, he was one of the oldest people living in India. He lived for 111 years, 295 days. In 2015, he was honoured with Padma Bhushan, India’s third-highest civilian award by the government of India. He was born on 1 April 1907 in Magadi, Kingdom of Mysore.
Tarun Gogoi (1 April 1936 – 23 November 2020) is an Indian politician who served as the Chief Minister of Assam from 2001 to 2016. He was affiliated with Indian National Congress (INC). He was posthumously awarded the Padma Bhushan, India’s third-highest civilian honour in 2021. He was born on 1 April 1936 in Jorhat, Assam Province, British India.
Mohammad Hamid Ansari is an Indian politician and retired Foreign Service officer. He was the 12th Chairman of Rajya Sabha and the 12th Vice President of India from 2007 to 2017. Ansari was born on 1 April 1937 in Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India.
Ajit Laxman Wadekar (1 April 1941 – 15 August 2018) is an Indian cricketer. He played for the Indian national team between 1966 and 1974. He was described as an “aggressive batsman”. He was honoured with Arjuna Award in 1967 and later in 1972, he was also conferred Padmashri, India’s fourth-highest civilian honour. He was born on 1 April 1941 in the Bombay Presidency, British India.
Siddhartha Roy, an Indian structural biologist, biophysicist, and former Director of the Indian Institute of Chemical Biology. He is well known for his studies on bacteriophage lambda and protein synthesis. In 1999, he was honoured by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research with the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology for his immense contribution to Biological sciences. He was born on 1 April 1954 in West Bengal, India.
Read More: 30 March in Indian and World History
Death Anniversary
1 April in Indian history is observed as the death anniversary of the following personalities:
Palghat Kollengode Viswanathan Narayanaswamy (15 November 1923 – 1 April 2002) was an Indian musician. He was one of the finest Carnatic music vocalists of the 20th century. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy’s Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1986. He died on 1 April 2002 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
Read More: 29 March in Indian and World History
Notable events on 1 April in Indian and World History
1 April 1809 – Nikolai Gogol, a Russian novelist, short story writer and playwright of Ukrainian origin, was born.
1 April 1837 – Jorge Isaacs, a Colombian writer, politician and soldier, was born.
1 April 1865 – Richard Adolf Zsigmondy, was an Austrian-born chemist. In 1925, Richard Adolf Zsigmondy was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, was Born.
1 April 1868 – Edmond Rostand – a French poet and dramatist – was born.
1 April 1899 – Dame Jean Macnamara, an Australian medical doctor and scientist, best known for her contributions to children’s health and welfare, was born.
1 April 1911 – Kedarnath Agarwal, a Hindi language poet and writer., was born.
1 April 1914 – Sawong Supsamruay, a Thai comedian and actor, was born.
1 April 1929 – Payut Ngaokrachang, a Thai cartoonist and animator, was born.
1 April 1935 – The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is the central bank of India, which was established.
1 April 1940 – Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan social, environmental and a political activist, was born.
1 April 1973 – Project Tiger, a project to conserve tiger, was first initiated
1 April 1981– Eua Sunthornsanan, a singer, and Thai composer, died.
1 April 1991 – Martha Graham – an American modern dancer and choreographer – died
1 April 2004 – Google announces Gmail to the public.
1 April 1944 – Navigation errors lead to an accidental American bombing of the Swiss city of Schaffhausen.
1 April 1945 – The Tenth United States Army attacks the Thirty-Second Japanese Army on Okinawa.
Important Days
April 1st, often known as April Fools’ Day, is a day celebrated in various countries around the world with pranks, hoaxes, and practical jokes. However, beyond the playful tradition of April Fools’ Day, several other significant events have occurred on this date throughout history. Here are some important days on April 1st:
- April Fools’ Day: As mentioned, April 1st is globally recognized as April Fools’ Day, where people play pranks and practical jokes on each other.
- 1 April is also observed as Odisha Foundation Day. On 1 April 1936, Odisha was separated from Bihar and Orissa Province. These states were earlier part of Bengal but were bifurcated into separate states in 1936.
- Formation of NATO: On April 1, 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was established. NATO is a political and military alliance of 30 countries from North America and Europe, formed to ensure the collective defense of its members.
- Census Day (United States): In the United States, April 1st is observed as Census Day during years when a decennial census is conducted. Census Day marks the reference date for respondents to report demographic information to the U.S. Census Bureau.
- Cyprus National Day: April 1st is celebrated as Cyprus National Day, commemorating the anniversary of the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus in 1960.
- Edible Book Day: April 1st is also recognized as Edible Book Day, an annual event where participants create edible works of art inspired by books or literary themes.