April 1

April 1 in the history of the Birmingham District:

• 2021: The 2021 Warrior Met Coal strike began.
• 2020: The 2021 World Games were postponed to 2022 due to the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic.
• 2014: The first Gardendale Board of Education was organized.
• 2006: Veterans Skate Park in Alabaster opened.
• 1998: An $80 million asbestos cleanup and renovation of the BellSouth Building was completed.
• 1991: Expo '91 opened as the centerpiece of the Festival of Arts Salute to the United Kingdom.
• 1986: The WTTO Tower was completed.
• 1974: The Auburn Plainsman published an April Fool edition as "The Auburn Tidesman", proclaiming that the university had been absorbed into the University of Alabama System.
• 1972: Badfinger and King Crimson performed at Municipal Auditorium.
• 1968: John Garrett began working as a traffic engineer for the city of Birmingham.
• 1951: The 117th Tactical Reconnaissance Group was activated for duty in the Korean War.
• 1927: Ground was broken for the Alabama Theatre.
• 1903: Sterling Foster became pastor of South Highland Presbyterian Church.
• 1899: Birmingham's first golf course, a 9-hole links for the Birmingham Golf Club in North Birmingham, was dedicated.
• 1892: The Sterling Dynamite Factory in Bessemer exploded, killing 4.
• 1884: John A. Milner finished staking out the right of way for Highland Avenue
• 1865: Troops under General Nathan Bedford Forrest made a failed stand against Wilson's Raid in Plantarsville, near Selma.

Business

• 1946: William Spencer III and Caldwell Marks purchased the Owen-Richards Company.

establishments

• 2016: The Red Cat coffee shop opened at LIV Parkside.
• 2008: Russellville's CB&S Bank opened its first Birmingham-area branch.
• 1972: BE&K was founded.
• 1903: The American Trust and Savings Bank opened.
• 1887: The L & N Station on 20th Street opened.

disestablishments

• 2011: The George F. Wheelock Co. was acquired by Mingledorff's Inc. of Norcross, Georgia.
• 1995: Amtrak's Gulf Breeze route made its final run from Birmingham to Mobile.
• 1972: The original Tutwiler Hotel closed its doors.

Spider Martin, born April 1, 1939

Individuals

Births

• 1984: Football player Johnny Baldwin was born in Bessemer.
• 1974: UAB Blazers basketball coach Jerod Haase was born in South Lake Tahoe, California.
• 1965: Purported visionary Marija Lunetti was born in Medjugorje, Yugoslavia
• 1962: Jewelry designer and metalsmith Stuart Cathey was born.
• 1946: Gus Mayer Men's Store clerk Murray Sokol was born in Bessemer.
• 1941: Football player Benny Nelson was born in Gadsden.
• 1939: Photographer Spider Martin was born in Fairfield.
• 1919: Baseball player Willie Patterson was born in Americus, Georgia.
• 1913: Baseball player Buster Bray was born in Birmingham.
• 1897: Blues singer Lucille Bogan was born in Amory, Mississippi.
• 1873: Governor Bibb Graves was born at Hope Hull, Montgomery County.
• 1862: Insurance executive, developer and Alabama National Guard officer Louis Clark was born in Marietta, Georgia.

Retirements

• 2015: Irondale Police chief Jerry McIntosh retired.
• 2000: Andy Straynar retired from Bogue's.

Deaths

• 2023: Rod Davis, dean of Howard College of Arts and Sciences
• 2011: Southern Danceworks founder Laura Knox died.
• 2010: Episcopal priest Edward J. Wilson died.
• 1974: Artist Arthur Bairnsfather died.
• 1935: Former Alderman Henry Stockmar died.
• 1898: Poet and novelist Margaret O'Brien Davis died.
• 1892: The Sterling Dynamite Factory in Bessemer exploded, killing 4.

Sports

• 1990: Neil Bonnett crashed in the TranSouth 500 at Darlington, South Carolina and subsequently retired from racing.