April 2: Encyclopedia - April 2

April 2

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

April 2 - Events

• 69 - Galba, governor of Spain, names himself legatus senatus populique Romani, breaking the line of Roman emperors begun with Caesar and Augustus.
• 1453 - Mehmed II begins his siege of Constantinople (İstanbul), which would fall on May 29
• 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.
• 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.
• 1971 - The final broadcast of Dark Shadows aired on ABC-TV.
• 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.
• 1973 - Launch of LexisNexis computerized legal research service.
• 1975 - Vietnam War: Thousands of civilian refugees flee from the Quang Ngai Province in front of advancing North Vietnamese troops.
• 1978 - Prime-time Soap Opera Dallas premieres on CBS beginning a 13 year run.
• 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: 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands by Argentina. The disputed islands are later retaken by the United Kingdom.
• 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
• 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.
• 2005 - Pope John-Paul II dies. Hundreds of millions of Catholics mourn worldwide.

April 2 - Births

• 1510 - Ashikaga Yoshiharu, Japanese shogun (d. 1550)
• 1545 - Elizabeth of Valois, queen of Philip II of Spain (d. 1568)
• 1565 - Cornelis de Houtman, Dutch explorer (d. 1599)
• 1618 - Francesco Maria Grimaldi, Italian mathematician and physicist (d. 1663)
• 1653 - Prince George of Denmark, prince consort of Anne of England (d. 1708)
• 1719 - Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim, German poet (d. 1803)
• 1725 - Casanova, Italian adventurer and writer (d. 1798)
• 1788 - Francisco Balagtas, Filipino poet (d. 1862)
• 1798 - August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben, German poet (d. 1874)
• 1805 - Hans Christian Andersen, Danish writer (d. 1875)
• 1827 - William Holman Hunt, English painter (d. 1910)
• 1838 - Léon Gambetta, French statesman (d. 1882)
• 1840 - Émile Zola, French novelist and critic (d. 1902)
• 1862 - Nicholas Murray Butler, American president of Columbia University, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1947)
• 1867 - Eugen Sandow, German bodybuilder and circus performer (d. 1925)
• 1869 - Hughie Jennings, baseball player (d. 1928)
• 1875 - Walter Chrysler, American automobile pioneer (d. 1940)
• 1891 - Max Ernst, German painter (d. 1976)
• 1900 - Roberto Arlt, Argentine writer (d. 1942)
• 1908 - Buddy Ebsen, American actor and dancer (d. 2003)
• 1914 - Sir Alec Guinness, English actor (d. 2000)
• 1917 - Lou Monte, American singer (d. 1989)
• 1920 - Jack Webb, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1982)
• 1923 - G. Spencer-Brown, English mathematician
• 1925 - George MacDonald Fraser, English author
• 1926 - Sir Jack Brabham, Australian race car driver
• 1927 - Carmen Basilio, American boxer
• 1927 - Ferenc Puskás, Hungarian footballer
• 1927 - Kenneth Tynan, English critic and writer (d. 1980)
• 1928 - Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, American cardinal (d. 1996)
• 1928 - Serge Gainsbourg, French singer (d. 1991)
• 1934 - Paul Joseph Cohen, American mathematician
• 1934 - Brian Glover, British actor and wrestler (d. 1997)
• 1939 - Marvin Gaye, American singer (d. 1984)
• 1940 - Penelope Keith, English actress
• 1941 - Dr. Demento, American radio personality
• 1942 - Hiroyuki Sakai, Japanese chef
• 1945 - Linda Hunt, American actress
• 1945 - Don Sutton, baseball player
• 1947 - Emmylou Harris, American singer
• 1947 - Camille Paglia, American feminist writer
• 1948 - Steve Chambers, American stamp collector
• 1949 - Pamela Reed, American actress
• 1951 - Moriteru Ueshiba, Japanese martial artist
• 1953 - David Robinson, American musician
• 1953 - Debralee Scott, American actress (d. 2005)
• 1954 - Ron Palillo, American actor
• 1955 - Dana Carvey, American actor and comedian
• 1959 - Juha Kankkunen, Finnish race car driver
• 1960 - Linford Christie, British athlete
• 1961 - Christopher Meloni, American actor
• 1961 - Keren Woodward, British singer (Bananarama)
• 1962 - Pierre Carles, French documentarist
• 1962 - Mark Shulman, American children's author
• 1966 - Bill Romanowski, American football player
• 1967 - Greg Camp, American guitarist and songwriter (Smash Mouth)
• 1967 - Helen Chamberlain, British television presenter
• 1971 - Todd Woodbridge, Australian tennis player

April 2 - Deaths

• 1272 - Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1209)
• 1335 - Duke Henry of Carinthia
• 1412 - Ruy Gonzáles de Clavijo, Spanish traveler and writer
• 1502 - Prince Arthur Tudor, son of Henry VII of England (b. 1486)
• 1507 - Francis of Paola, Italian founder of the Order of the Minims (b. 1416)
• 1657 - Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1608)
• 1720 - Joseph Dudley, colonial Governor of Massachusetts (b. 1647)
• 1742 - James Douglas, Scottish physician and anatomist (b. 1675)
• 1747 - Johann Jacob Dillenius, German botanist (b. 1684)
• 1754 - Thomas Carte, English historian (b. 1686)
• 1787 - Thomas Gage, British general (b. 1719)
• 1801 - Thomas Dadford Junior, British canal engineer
• 1803 - Sir James Montgomery, 1st Baronet, Scottish politican and judge (b. 1721)
• 1817 - Johann Heinrich Jung, German author (b. 1740)
• 1827 - Ludwig Heinrich Bojanus, German physician and naturalist (b. 1776)
• 1865 - General A. P. Hill, American Confederate general (b. 1825)
• 1872 - Samuel Morse, American inventor (b. 1791)
• 1902 - Esther Morris, suffragist and first U.S. woman judge (b. 1814)
• 1914 - Paul von Heyse, German writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1830)
• 1922 - Hermann Rorschach, Swiss psychologist (b. 1884)
• 1928 - Theodore William Richards, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1868)
• 1930 - Empress Zauditu of Ethiopia (b. 1876)
• 1966 - C.S. Forester, British author (b. 1899)
• 1972 - Gil Hodges, American baseball player (b. 1924)
• 1974 - Georges Pompidou, President of France (b. 1911)
• 1987 - Buddy Rich, American drummer (b. 1917)
• 1994 - Betty Furness, American actress (b. 1916)
• 1995 - Harvey Penick, American golfer (b. 1904)
• 1995 - Hannes Alfvén, Swedish physicist (b. 1908)
• 2000 - Tommaso Buscetta, Italian gangster (b. 1928)
• 2001 - Charles Daudelin, Canadian artist (b. 1920)
• 2003 - Edwin Starr, American singer (b. 1942)
• 2005 - Pope John Paul II (b. 1920)

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "April 2", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki