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April 01

Published in On this Day listing

1922 In reprisal for the murder of a policeman in north Belfast some hours earlier, uniformed RIC officers broke into Catholic homes in the area and murdered six civilians, including an eight-month-old child.
1966 Brian O’Nolan (54), novelist and satirist who wrote under the names Myles na gCopaleen and Flann O’Brien, died.
1918 The Royal Air Force (RAF) was formed through the amalgamation of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service.
1917 Scott Joplin (49), African-American composer and pianist known as the ‘King of Ragtime’, died in a mental institution.

On this Day

1972 Neil Blaney was expelled from Fianna Fáil for ‘conduct unbecoming a member of the organisation’.
1972 The Provisional IRA announced a ceasefire.
1917 The first of over one million troops of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), under General John J. ‘Black Jack’ Pershing, arrived in France.
1966 Peter Ward (18), a Catholic barman, was shot dead by the UVF in Malvern Street, off Belfast’s Shankill Road. Three members of the UVF, including Augustus ‘Gusty’ Spence, were later convicted of his murder.
1986 A referendum on making divorce available in the Irish Republic was defeated, with a vote of 63% against and 36% for, in a 62% turnout.
1996 Veronica Guerin (35), investigative journalist with the Sunday Independent, was shot dead in Dublin.
1981 The 22nd Dáil Éireann assembled. Garret Fitzgerald was elected taoiseach in a Fine Gael–Labour coalition government.
1963 US President John F. Kennedy arrived in Ireland on a four-day official visit.