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Happy April Fool’s Day! 

On April 1, 1945, American forces invaded Okinawa during World War II. 

On this date 

In 1789, the U.S. House of Representatives held its first full meeting, in New York City. Frederick Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania was elected the first House Speaker. 

In 1873, composer Sergei Rachmaninoff was born in Novgorod Province, Russia. 

In 1918, the Royal Air Force was established in Britain. 

In 1933, Nazi Germany began persecuting Jews with a boycott of Jewish-owned businesses. 

In 1946, tidal waves struck the Hawaiian islands, resulting in more than 170 deaths. 

In 1947, Greece’s King George II died. 

In 1970, President Nixon signed a measure banning cigarette advertising on radio and television, to take effect after Jan. 1, 1971. 

In 1977, the U.S. Senate followed the example of the House by adopting a stringent code of ethics requiring full financial disclosure and limits on outside income. 

In 1987, in his first major speech on the AIDS epidemic, President Reagan told doctors in Philadelphia, “We’ve declared AIDS public health enemy No. 1.” 

Ten years ago 

President Bush pledged the United States would help finance a $24 billion international aid fund for the former Soviet Union. The House ethics committee publicly identified 22 current and former lawmakers as the worst offenders in the House bank overdraft controversy. 

One year ago 

A U.S. Navy surveillance plane collided with a Chinese fighter over the South China Sea, then made an emergency landing on China’s Hainan island. Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was arrested on corruption charges after a 26-hour armed standoff with the police at his Belgrade villa. Notre Dame won its first national championship in women’s basketball, defeating Purdue, 66-64.