April 2

Events

• 1513 - Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León first sights land in what is now the United States state of Florida.
• 1755 - Commodore William James captures the Maratha fortress of Suvarnadurg on west coast of India.
• 1792 - The Coinage Act is passed establishing the United States Mint.
• 1800 - Ludwig van Beethoven leads the premiere of his First Symphony in Vienna.
• 1800 - The Treaty of Constantinople establishes the Septinsular Republic, the first autonomous Greek state since the Fall of the Byzantine Empire.
• 1801 - French Revolutionary Wars: The British capture the Danish fleet.
• 1851 - Rama IV is crowned King of Thailand.
• 1863 - American Civil War: The largest in a series of Southern bread riots occurs in Richmond, Virginia.
• 1865 - American Civil War: Defeat at the Third Battle of Petersburg forces the Army of Northern Virginia and the Confederate government to abandon Richmond, Virginia.
• 1885 - Canadian Cree warriors attack the village of Frog Lake, killing nine.
• 1900 - The United States Congress passes the Foraker Act, giving Puerto Rico limited self-rule.
• 1902 - Dmitry Sipyagin, Minister of Interior of the Russian Empire, is assassinated in the Marie Palace, Saint Petersburg.
• 1902 - "Electric Theatre", the first full-time movie theater in the United States, opens in Los Angeles.
• 1911 - The Australian Bureau of Statistics conducts the country's first national census.
• 1912 - The ill-fated begins sea trials.
• 1917 - World War I: United States President Woodrow Wilson asks the U.S. Congress for a declaration of war on Germany.
• 1921 - The Autonomous Government of Khorasan, a military government encompassing the modern state of Iran, is established.
• 1930 - After the mysterious death of Empress Zewditu, Haile Selassie is proclaimed emperor of Ethiopia.
• 1956 - As the World Turns and The Edge of Night premiere on CBS. The two soaps become the first daytime dramas to debut in the 30-minute format.
• 1964 – The Soviet Union launches Zond 1.
• 1972 - Actor Charlie Chaplin returns to the United States for the first time since being labeled a communist during the Red Scare in the early 1950s.
• 1973 - Launch of the LexisNexis computerized legal research service.
• 1975 - Vietnam War: Thousands of civilian refugees flee from Quảng Ngãi Province in front of advancing North Vietnamese troops.
• 1976 - Prince Norodom Sihanouk resigns as leader of Cambodia and is placed under house arrest.
• 1979 - A Soviet bio-warfare laboratory at Sverdlovsk accidentally releases airborne anthrax spores, killing 66 plus an unknown amount of livestock.
• 1980 - United States President Jimmy Carter signs the Crude Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act.
• 1982 - Falklands War: Argentina invades the Falkland Islands.
• 1986 - Alabama governor George Wallace, a former segregationist, best known for the "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door", announces that he will not seek a fifth four-year term and will retire from public life upon the end of his term in January 1987.
• 1989 - Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev arrives in Havana, Cuba, to meet with Fidel Castro in an attempt to mend strained relations.
• 1989 - ASUS corporation is founded.
• 1991 - Rita Johnston becomes the first female Premier of a Canadian province when she succeeds William Vander Zalm as Premier of British Columbia.
• 1992 - In New York, Mafia boss John Gotti is convicted of murder and racketeering and is later sentenced to life in prison.
• 1992 - Forty-two civilians are massacred in the town of Bijeljina in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
• 2002 - Israeli forces surround the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem into which armed Palestinians had retreated.
• 2004 - Islamist terrorists involved in the 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks attempt to bomb the Spanish high-speed train AVE near Madrid; the attack is thwarted.
• 2006 - Over 60 tornadoes break out in the United States; Tennessee is hardest hit with 29 people killed.
• 2012 - A mass shooting at Oikos University in California leaves seven people dead and three injured.
• 2014 - A spree shooting occurs at the Fort Hood army base in Texas, with four dead, including the gunman, and 16 others injured.
• 2015 - Gunmen attack Garissa University College in Kenya, killing at least 148 people and wounding 79 others.
• 2015 - Four men steal items worth up to £200 million from an underground safe deposit facility in London's Hatton Garden area in what has been called the "largest burglary in English legal history."

  Births

• 742 - Charlemagne, Frankish king
• 1473 - John Corvinus, Hungarian noble
• 1545 - Elisabeth of Valois
• 1565 - Cornelis de Houtman, Dutch explorer
• 1586 - Pietro Della Valle, Italian traveler
• 1602 - Mary of Jesus of Ágreda, Franciscan abbess
• 1618 - Francesco Maria Grimaldi, Italian mathematician and physicist
• 1647 - Maria Sibylla Merian, German-Dutch botanist and illustrator
• 1653 - Prince George of Denmark
• 1696 - Francesca Cuzzoni, Italian operatic soprano
• 1719 - Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim, German poet
• 1725 - Giacomo Casanova, Italian explorer and author
• 1788 - Francisco Balagtas, Filipino poet and author
• 1788 - Wilhelmine Reichard, German balloonist
• 1789 - Lucio Norberto Mansilla, Argentinian general and politician
• 1792 - Francisco de Paula Santander, Colombian general and politician, 4th President of the Republic of the New Granada
• 1798 - August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben, German poet and academic
• 1805 - Hans Christian Andersen, Danish novelist, short story writer, and poet
• 1814 - Henry L. Benning, American general and judge
• 1814 - Erastus Brigham Bigelow, American inventor
• 1827 - William Holman Hunt, English soldier and painter
• 1835 - Jacob Nash Victor, American engineer
• 1838 - Léon Gambetta, French lawyer and politician, 45th Prime Minister of France
• 1840 - Émile Zola, French novelist, playwright, journalist
• 1841 - Clément Ader, French engineer, designed the Ader Avion III
• 1842 - Dominic Savio, Italian Catholic saint, adolescent student of Saint John Bosco
• 1861 - Iván Persa, Slovenian priest and author
• 1862 - Nicholas Murray Butler, American philosopher and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1869 - Hughie Jennings, American baseball player and manager
• 1875 - Walter Chrysler, American businessman, founded Chrysler
• 1875 - William Donne, English cricketer and captain
• 1884 - J. C. Squire, English poet, author, and historian
• 1891 - Jack Buchanan, Scottish entertainer
• 1891 - Max Ernst, German painter, sculptor, and poet
• 1891 - Tristão de Bragança Cunha, Indian nationalist and anti-colonial activist from Goa
• 1896 - Johnny Golden, American golfer
• 1898 - Harindranath Chattopadhyay, Indian poet, actor and politician
• 1898 - Chiungtze C. Tsen, Chinese mathematician
• 1900 - Roberto Arlt, Argentinian journalist, author, and playwright
• 1900 - Anis Fuleihan, Cypriot-American pianist, composer, and conductor
• 1900 - Alfred Strange, English footballer
• 1902 - Jan Tschichold, German-Swiss graphic designer and typographer
• 1903 - Lionel Chevrier, Canadian lawyer and politician, 27th Canadian Minister of Justice
• 1906 - Alphonse-Marie Parent, Canadian priest and educator
• 1907 - Harald Andersson, American-Swedish discus thrower
• 1907 - Luke Appling, American baseball player and manager
• 1908 - Buddy Ebsen, American actor and dancer
• 1910 - Paul Triquet, Canadian general, Victoria Cross recipient
• 1910 - Chico Xavier, Brazilian spiritual medium
• 1914 - Alec Guinness, English actor
• 1919 - Delfo Cabrera, Argentinian runner and soldier
• 1920 - Gerald Bouey, Canadian lieutenant and civil servant
• 1920 - Jack Stokes, English animator and director
• 1920 - Jack Webb, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1922 - John C. Whitehead, American banker and politician, 9th United States Deputy Secretary of State
• 1923 - Gloria Henry, American actress
• 1923 - Johnny Paton, Scottish footballer, coach, and manager
• 1923 - G. Spencer-Brown, English mathematician, psychologist, and author
• 1924 - Bobby Ávila, Mexican baseball player
• 1925 - George MacDonald Fraser, Scottish author and screenwriter
• 1925 - Hans Rosenthal, German radio and television host
• 1926 - Jack Brabham, Australian race car driver
• 1926 - Rudra Rajasingham, Sri Lankan police officer and diplomat
• 1927 - Carmen Basilio, American boxer and soldier
• 1927 - Howard Callaway, American soldier and politician, 11th United States Secretary of the Army
• 1927 - Rita Gam, American actress
• 1927 - Billy Pierce, American baseball player and sportscaster
• 1927 - Kenneth Tynan, English author and critic
• 1928 - Joseph Bernardin, American cardinal
• 1928 - Serge Gainsbourg, French singer-songwriter, actor, and director
• 1928 - Roy Masters, English-American radio host
• 1928 - David Robinson, Northern Irish horticulturist and academic
• 1929 - Ed Dorn, American poet and educator
• 1930 - Roddy Maude-Roxby, English actor
• 1931 - Vladimir Kuznetsov, Russian javelin thrower
• 1932 - Edward Egan, American cardinal
• 1933 - György Konrád, Hungarian sociologist and author
• 1934 - Paul Cohen, American mathematician and theorist
• 1934 - Brian Glover, English wrestler and actor
• 1934 - Carl Kasell, American journalist and game show host
• 1934 - Richard Portman, American sound engineer
• 1934 - Dovid Shmidel, Austrian-born Israeli rabbi
• 1936 - Shaul Ladany, Serbian-Israeli race walker and engineer
• 1937 - Dick Radatz, American baseball player
• 1938 - John Larsson, Swedish 17th General of The Salvation Army
• 1938 - Booker Little, American trumpet player and composer
• 1938 - Al Weis, American baseball player
• 1939 - Marvin Gaye, American singer-songwriter
• 1939 - Anthony Lake, American academic and diplomat, 18th United States National Security Advisor
• 1939 - Lise Thibault, Canadian journalist and politician, 27th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec
• 1940 - Donald Jackson, Canadian figure skater and coach
• 1940 - Mike Hailwood, English motorcycle racer
• 1940 - Penelope Keith, English actress
• 1941 - Dr. Demento, American radio host
• 1941 - Sonny Throckmorton, American country singer-songwriter
• 1942 - Leon Russell, American singer-songwriter and pianist
• 1942 - Roshan Seth, Indian-English actor
• 1943 - Michael Boyce, Baron Boyce, South African-English admiral and politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports
• 1943 - Caterina Bueno, Italian singer
• 1943 - Larry Coryell, American jazz guitarist
• 1943 - Antonio Sabàto, Sr., Italian actor
• 1944 - Bill Malinchak, American football player
• 1945 - Jürgen Drews, German singer-songwriter
• 1945 - Guy Fréquelin, French race car driver
• 1945 - Linda Hunt, American actress
• 1945 - Reggie Smith, American baseball player and coach
• 1945 - Don Sutton, American baseball player and sportscaster
• 1945 - Anne Waldman, American poet
• 1946 - Richard Collinge, New Zealand cricketer
• 1946 - David Heyes, English politician
• 1946 - Sue Townsend, English author and playwright
• 1946 - Kurt Winter, Canadian guitarist and songwriter
• 1947 - Paquita la del Barrio, Mexican singer-songwriter
• 1947 - Tua Forsström, Finnish writer
• 1947 - Emmylou Harris, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1947 - Camille Paglia, American author and critic
• 1948 - Roald Als, Danish author and illustrator
• 1948 - Dimitris Mitropanos, Greek singer
• 1948 - Daniel Okrent, American journalist and author
• 1948 - Joan D. Vinge, American author
• 1949 - Paul Gambaccini, American-English radio and television host
• 1949 - Bernd Müller, German footballer
• 1949 - Pamela Reed, American actress
• 1949 - David Robinson, American drummer
• 1950 - Lynn Westmoreland, American politician
• 1951 - Ayako Okamoto, Japanese golfer
• 1952 - Lennart Fagerlund, Swedish cyclist
• 1952 - Will Hoy, English race car driver
• 1952 - Leon Wilkeson, American bass player and songwriter
• 1953 - Jim Allister, Northern Irish lawyer and politician
• 1953 - Rosemary Bryant Mariner, 20th and 21st-century U.S. Navy aviator
• 1953 - Malika Oufkir, Moroccan Berber writer
• 1953 - Debralee Scott, American actress
• 1953 - James Vance, American author and playwright
• 1954 - Gregory Abbott, American singer-songwriter and producer
• 1954 - Donald Petrie, American actor and director
• 1955 - Michael Stone, Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary
• 1957 - Caroline Dean, English biologist and academic
• 1957 - Hank Steinbrenner, American businessman, co-owner of the New York Yankees
• 1958 - Stefano Bettarello, Italian rugby player
• 1958 - Larry Drew, American basketball player and coach
• 1959 - Gelindo Bordin, Italian runner
• 1959 - David Frankel, American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1959 - Juha Kankkunen, Finnish race car driver
• 1959 - Yves Lavandier, French director and producer
• 1959 - Badou Ezzaki, Moroccan footballer and manager
• 1960 - Linford Christie, Jamaican-English sprinter
• 1960 - Brad Jones, Australian race car driver
• 1960 - Pascale Nadeau, Canadian journalist
• 1961 - Buddy Jewell, American singer-songwriter
• 1961 - Christopher Meloni, American actor
• 1961 - Keren Woodward, English singer-songwriter
• 1962 - Pierre Carles, French director and producer
• 1962 - Billy Dean, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1962 - Clark Gregg, American actor
• 1963 - Karl Beattie, English director and producer
• 1963 - Mike Gascoyne, English engineer
• 1964 - Pete Incaviglia, American baseball player and coach
• 1964 - Jonathon Sharkey, American wrestler
• 1965 - Rodney King, American victim of police brutality
• 1966 - Bill Romanowski, American football player and actor
• 1966 - Teddy Sheringham, English international footballer, striker and coach
• 1967 - Greg Camp, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1967 - Phil Demmel, American guitarist and songwriter
• 1969 - Ajay Devgan, Indian actor, director, and producer
• 1971 - Edmundo Alves de Souza Neto, Brazilian footballer
• 1971 - Jason Lewry, English cricketer
• 1971 - Todd Woodbridge, Australian tennis player and sportscaster
• 1972 - Remo D'Souza, Indian choreographer and dancer
• 1972 - Calvin Davis, American sprinter and hurdler
• 1972 - Zane Lamprey, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1973 - Dmitry Lipartov, Russian footballer
• 1973 - Roselyn Sánchez, Puerto Rican-American actress
• 1973 - Aleksejs Semjonovs, Latvian footballer
• 1974 - Tayfun Korkut, Turkish football manager and former player
• 1975 - Randy Livingston, American basketball player
• 1975 - Katrin Rutschow-Stomporowski, German rower
• 1976 - Andreas Anastasopoulos, Greek shot putter
• 1976 - Rory Sabbatini, South African golfer
• 1976 - Pattie Mallette, Canadian author and film producer
• 1977 - Per Elofsson, Swedish skier
• 1977 - Michael Fassbender, German-Irish actor and producer
• 1977 - Hanno Pevkur, Estonian lawyer and politician, Estonian Minister of Justice
• 1978 - Scott Lynch, American author
• 1978 - Ethan Smith, American actor, director, and producer
• 1979 - Jesse Carmichael, American keyboard player
• 1980 - Avi Benedi, Israeli singer and songwriter
• 1980 - Adam Fleming, Scottish journalist
• 1980 - Gavin Heffernan, Canadian director and screenwriter
• 1980 - Ricky Hendrick, American race car driver
• 1980 - Wairangi Koopu, New Zealand rugby league player
• 1980 - Carlos Salcido, Mexican international footballer, defender
• 1981 - Michael Clarke, Australian cricketer
• 1981 - Kapil Sharma, Indian stand-up comedian, television presenter and actor
• 1982 - Marco Amelia, Italian footballer
• 1982 - Jeremy Bloom, American football player and skier
• 1982 - Jack Evans, American wrestler
• 1982 - David Ferrer, Spanish tennis player
• 1983 - Yung Joc, American rapper
• 1983 - Maksym Mazuryk, Ukrainian pole vaulter
• 1984 - Engin Atsür, Turkish basketball player
• 1984 - Nóra Barta, Hungarian diver
• 1984 - Jérémy Morel, French footballer
• 1985 - Thom Evans, Zimbabwean-Scottish rugby player
• 1985 - Stéphane Lambiel, Swiss figure skater
• 1986 - Ibrahim Afellay, Dutch footballer
• 1986 - Andris Biedriņš, Latvian basketball player
• 1986 - Lee DeWyze, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1987 - Pablo Aguilar, Paraguayan footballer
• 1987 - Marc Pugh, English footballer
• 1988 - Jesse Plemons, American actor
• 1990 - Yevgeniya Kanayeva, Russian gymnast
• 1990 - Miralem Pjanić, Bosnian footballer
• 1991 - Quavo, American rapper
• 1993 - Keshorn Walcott, Trinidadian javelin thrower
• 1997 - Dillon Bassett, American race car driver
• 1997 - Abdelhak Nouri, Dutch footballer

  Deaths

• 670 - Hasan ibn Ali the second Shia Imam
• 870 - Æbbe the Younger, Frankish abbess
• 872 - Muflih al-Turki, Turkish general
• 968 - Yuan Dezhao, Chinese chancellor
• 991 - Bardas Skleros, Byzantine general
• 1118 - Baldwin I, king of Jerusalem
• 1244 - Henrik Harpestræng, Danish botanical and medical author
• 1272 - Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall, English husband of Sanchia of Provence
• 1335 - Henry of Bohemia
• 1412 - Ruy González de Clavijo, Spanish explorer and author
• 1416 - Ferdinand I, king of Aragon
• 1502 - Arthur, prince of Wales
• 1507 - Francis of Paola, Italian friar and saint, founded the Order of the Minims
• 1511 - Bernard VII, Lord of Lippe, German nobleman
• 1640 - Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski, Polish author and poet
• 1657 - Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor
• 1657 - Jean-Jacques Olier, French priest, founded the Society of Saint-Sulpice
• 1672 - Pedro Calungsod, Filipino missionary and saint
• 1672 - Diego Luis de San Vitores, Spanish Jesuit missionary
• 1720 - Joseph Dudley, English politician, Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay
• 1742 - James Douglas, Scottish physician and anatomist
• 1747 - Johann Jacob Dillenius, German-English botanist and mycologist
• 1754 - Thomas Carte, English historian and author
• 1787 - Thomas Gage, English general and politician, Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay
• 1791 - Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau, French journalist and politician
• 1801 - Thomas Dadford, Jr., English engineer
• 1803 - Sir James Montgomery, 1st Baronet, Scottish judge and politician
• 1817 - Johann Heinrich Jung, German author and academic
• 1827 - Ludwig Heinrich Bojanus, German physician and educator
• 1845 - Philip Charles Durham, Scottish admiral and politician
• 1865 - A. P. Hill, American general
• 1872 - Samuel Morse, American painter and academic, invented the Morse code
• 1891 - Albert Pike, American lawyer and general
• 1891 - Ahmed Vefik Pasha, Greek playwright and politician, 249th Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire
• 1894 - Achille Vianelli, Italian painter and academic
• 1896 - Theodore Robinson, American painter and academic
• 1914 - Paul Heyse, German author, poet, and translator, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1917 - Bryn Lewis, Welsh international rugby player
• 1923 - Topal Osman, Turkish colonel
• 1928 - Theodore William Richards, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1930 - Zewditu I of Ethiopia
• 1933 - Ranjitsinhji, Indian cricketer
• 1936 - Jean Baptiste Eugène Estienne, French general
• 1942 - Édouard Estaunié, French novelist
• 1948 - Sabahattin Ali, Turkish journalist, author, and poet
• 1953 - Hugo Sperrle, German field marshal
• 1966 - C. S. Forester, English novelist
• 1972 - Franz Halder, German general
• 1972 - Toshitsugu Takamatsu, Japanese martial artist and educator
• 1974 - Georges Pompidou, French banker and politician, 19th President of France
• 1977 - Walter Wolf, German academic and politician
• 1987 - Buddy Rich, American drummer, songwriter, and bandleader
• 1989 - Manolis Angelopoulos, Greek singer
• 1992 - Juanito, Spanish footballer and manager
• 1992 - Jan van Aartsen, Dutch politician
• 1994 - Betty Furness, American actress, consumer advocate, game show panelist, television journalist and television personality
• 1994 - Marc Fitch, British historian and philanthropist
• 1995 - Hannes Alfvén, Swedish physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1997 - Tomoyuki Tanaka, Japanese director and producer
• 1998 - Rob Pilatus, American-German singer-songwriter
• 2001 - Charles Daudelin, Canadian sculptor and painter
• 2002 - Levi Celerio, Filipino composer and songwriter
• 2002 - John R. Pierce, American engineer and author
• 2003 - Edwin Starr, American singer-songwriter
• 2004 - John Argyris, Greek computer scientist, engineer, and academic
• 2005 - Lillian O'Donnell, American crime novelist
• 2005 - Pope John Paul II
• 2006 - Lloyd Searwar, Guyanese anthologist and diplomat
• 2007 - Henry L. Giclas, American astronomer and academic
• 2008 - Yakup Satar, Turkish World War I veteran
• 2009 - Albert Sanschagrin, Canadian bishop
• 2009 - Bud Shank, American saxophonist and flute player
• 2010 - Chris Kanyon, American wrestler
• 2011 - John C. Haas, American businessman and philanthropist
• 2012 - Jesús Aguilarte, Venezuelan captain and politician
• 2012 - Elizabeth Catlett, American-Mexican sculptor and illustrator
• 2012 - Mauricio Lasansky, American graphic designer and academic
• 2013 - Fred, French author and illustrator
• 2013 - Jesús Franco, Spanish director, screenwriter, producer, and actor
• 2013 - Milo O'Shea, Irish-American actor
• 2014 - Glyn Jones, South African actor and screenwriter
• 2014 - Urs Widmer, Swiss author and playwright
• 2015 - Manoel de Oliveira, Portuguese actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 2015 - Robert H. Schuller, American pastor and author
• 2015 - Steve Stevaert, Belgian businessman and politician, Governor of Limburg
• 2016 - Gallieno Ferri, Italian comic book artist and illustrator
• 2016 - Robert Abajyan, Armenian sergeant

  Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
• *Abundius of Como
• *Amphianus of Lycia
• *Æbbe the Younger
• *Bronach of Glen-Seichis
• *Francis of Paola
• *Francisco Coll Guitart
• *Henry Budd
• *Nicetius of Lyon
• *Pedro Calungsod
• *Theodosia of Tyre
• *Urban of Langres
• *April 2
• International Children's Book Day
• Thai Heritage Conservation Day
• Unity of Peoples of Russia and Belarus Day
• World Autism Awareness Day