April 2 - Definition and Overview

April 2 is the 92nd day of the year (93rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 273 days remaining.

Events

up to 19th century

• 1513 - Juan Ponce de Leon sets foot on Florida becoming the first known European to do so.
• 1755 - Commodore William James captures pirate fortress of Severndroog on west coast of India.
• 1792 - The Coinage Act is passed establishing the United States Mint.
• 1800 - Manhattan Well Mystery: In New York City, the trial of Levi Weeks ends with an acquittal. Weeks was defended by Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr.
• 1801 - Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Copenhagen - The British destroy the Danish fleet.
• 1863 - Richmond Bread Riots: Food shortages incite hundreds of angry women to riot in Richmond, Virginia and demand the Confederate government to release emergency supplies.
• 1865 - American Civil War: Siege of Petersburg broken - Union troops capture the trenches around Petersburg, Virginia, forcing Confederate General Robert E. Lee to retreat.
• 1865 - American Civil War: Confederate President Jefferson Davis and most of his Cabinet flee the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia.

20th century

1900s-1970s

• 1902 - "Electric Theatre", the first movie theater in the United States, opens in Los Angeles, California.
• 1917 - World War I: U.S. President Woodrow Wilson asks the U.S. Congress for a declaration of war on Germany.
• 1917 - The first woman ever elected to the U.S. Congress, Jeannette Rankin, takes her seat as a representative from Montana.
• 1930 - Haile Selassie is proclaimed emperor of Ethiopia.
• 1941 - The radio program Life of Riley aired for the first time.
• 1956 - General Motors board member Alfred P. Sloan steps down after 19 years as chairman with Albert Bradley as his successor.
• 1956 - As the World Turns and The Edge of Night first aired on the CBS network in the United States, as the first half-hour serial dramas.
• 1964 - The Saab board started Project Gudmund to develop a new and larger car, later released as Saab 99.
• 1972 - Actor Charlie Chaplin returns to the United States for the first time since being labeled a communist in the early 1950s during the Red Scare.
• 1972 - Vietnam War: Easter Offensive begins - North Vietnamese soldiers of the 304th Division take the northern half of Quang Tri Province.
• 1975 - Vietnam War: Thousands of civilian refugees flee from the Quang Ngai Province in front of advancing North Vietnamese troops.

1980s-1990s

• 1980 - U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs the Crude Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act in an effort to help the U.S. economy rebound.
• 1982 - Falklands War: Argentina invades the British-owned Falkland Islands starting the war.
• 1982 - John Chancellor helms the news desk at the NBC Nightly News for the final time, after eleven-and-a-half years.
• 1989 - Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev arrives in Havana, Cuba to meet with Fidel Castro in an attempt to mend strained relations.
• 1992 - In New York, Mafia boss John Gotti is convicted of murder and racketeering and is later sentenced to life in prison.
• 1992 - Pierre Bérégovoy becomes Prime Minister of France
• 1993 - Doom alpha version 0.4 is finished.

21st century

• 2002 - Israeli forces surrounded the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem which has around 200 Palestinians inside. A siege ensues.
• 2004 - Islamist terrorists involved in the 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks attempt a thwarted bombing of the Spanish high-speed train AVE near Madrid.

Births

up to 19th century

• 742 - Charlemagne, King of the Franks (d. 814)
• 1510 - Ashikaga Yoshiharu, Ashikaga shogun (d. 1550)
• 1725 - Casanova, adventurer and writer (d. 1798)
• 1798 - August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben, lyricist (d. 1874, writer of "Das Lied der Deutschen")
• 1805 - Hans Christian Andersen, writer (d. 1875)
• 1840 - Émile Zola, novelist and critic (d. 1902)
• 1867 - Eugen Sandow, body builder, circus performer (d. 1925)
• 1869 - Hughie Jennings, Baseball Hall of Famer (d. 1928)
• 1875 - Walter Chrysler, automobile pioneer (d. 1940)
• 1891 - Max Ernst, painter (d. 1976)

20th century

• 1908 - Buddy Ebsen, actor, dancer (d. 2003)
• 1914 - Sir Alec Guinness, actor (d. 2000)
• 1920 - Jack Webb, actor, director, producer (d. 1982)
• 1923 - G. Spencer-Brown, mathematician
• 1925 - George MacDonald Fraser, author
• 1925 - Hans Rosenthal, showmaster (d. 1987)
• 1926 - Jack Brabham, Grand Prix racer
• 1927 - Ferenc Puskás, Hungarian footballer
• 1927 - Carmen Basilio, boxer
• 1928 - Serge Gainsbourg, singer (d. 1991)
• 1934 - Paul Joseph Cohen, mathematician
• 1934 - Brian Glover, British actor, wrestler (d. 1997)
• 1939 - Marvin Gaye, singer (d. 1984)
• 1940 - Penelope Keith, actress
• 1945 - Linda Hunt, actress
• 1947 - Emmylou Harris, singer
• 1947 - Camille Paglia, feminist writer
• 1953 - David Robinson, musician
• 1960 - Linford Christie, British athlete
• 1962 - Mark Shulman, children's author
• 1986 - Chris Walberg, voice actor (Hey Arnold!)

Deaths

• 1335 - Henry, Duke of Carinthia and Carniola, Count of Tyrol
• 1502 - Prince Arthur Tudor, elder brother of Henry VIII of England
• 1657 - Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor
• 1747 - Johann Jacob Dillenius, botanist (b. 1684)
• 1801 - Thomas Dadford Junior, British canal engineer
• 1865 - General A.P. Hill, Confederate commander (b. 1825)
• 1872 - Samuel Morse, inventor of Morse code (b. 1791)
• 1902 - Esther Morris, suffragist and the first woman judge in U.S. history
• 1922 - Hermann Rorschach, psychologist (b. 1884)
• 1966 - C.S. Forester, author (b. 1899)
• 1974 - Georges Pompidou, President of France (b. 1911)
• 1987 - Buddy Rich, drummer (b. 1917)
• 1994 - Betty Furness, author
• 2003 - Edwin Starr, singer (b. 1942)
• 2003 - Terenci Moix, author

Holidays and observances

April 1 - April 3 - March 2 - May 2 -- listing of all days