On This Day in History: April 1

St. Louis IX of France is canonized as a saint by Pope Boniface VIII on August 11, 1297, following a detailed papal inquest, only 27 years after his death during the Eighth Crusade in Tunis in 1270. He was known for his deep personal piety, dedication to the poor and his sense of justice. Expand +

The Battle of Saintes takes place on April 1, 1351 during the Hundred Years' War between England and France. French forces were besieging the town of Saint-Jean-d'Angély when an English relief force arrived. resulting in an English victory bur they were unable to resupply the besieged  town. 

The Straits Settlements, comprised of Singapore, Malacca and Penang, officially became a crown colony under direct British control on April 1, 1867. A ceremony at the Town Hall in Singapore marked the transfer of the Straits Settlements from the jurisdiction of British India to the direct administration of the Crown. Harry St. George Ord was appointed the first governor of the new crown colony.

Adolf Hitler was sentenced on April 1, 1924, to the minimum allowable sentence of five years at Landsberg Prison after he was found guilty of high treason, following his failed 1923 "Beer Hall Putsch". Expand +

The Battle of Okinawa starts on April 1, 1945, as more than 60,000 soldiers and US Marines of the US Tenth Army stormed ashore at Okinawa. Savage fighting erupted at the island’s southern end as the US forces encountered a network of Japanese inland defenses. Expand +

A massive 8.6 magnitude earthquake occurs in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska on April 1, 1946. Huge tsunami waves reached more than 100 feet above sea level, near the source of the earthquake, at Unimak Island and completely destroyed the brand new, U.S. Coast Guard's Scotch Cap lighthouse built with steel-reinforced concrete, killing all 5 crew members. Expand +

The Canadian Territory of Nunavut was officially established on April 1, 1999, in response to petitions, going back to the mid 1970's, by the Intuit people, who are indigenous to the land, for greater control over their affairs. The Territory was created by dividing the Northwest, marking the first major change to Canada's political map since 1949. Expand +

The Netherlands, becomes the first country to legalize same-sex marriage on April 1, 2001. The legislation had been approved by the Dutch Parliament the prior year, allowing same-sex couples to marry on the same terms as heterosexual couples. The first, same-sex marriages were officiated by the mayor of Amsterdam on this historic date.

Google launches Gmail on April 1, 2004, such a revolutionary concept at the time, that shortly after The Associated Press published a story about Gmail, readers began contacting the news agency telling them that it had to be a Google April Fools joke. Five years later more than a billion people were using Gmail.