April 2

This date in recent years

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

1 Events
2 Births
3 Deaths
4 External links

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Events

69 - Galba, governor of Spain, names himself legatus senatus populique Romani, breaking the line of Roman emperors begun with Julius 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.
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.
1900 The Foraker Act passes through Congress, giving Puerto Ricans limited self-rule.
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 airs 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 starts Project Gudmund to develop a new and larger car, later released as the Saab 99.
1971 - The final broadcast of Dark Shadows airs 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, and non-Catholics mourn worldwide.
2005 - James Stewart Jr. becomes first African American to win a major motorsports event.