April 2nd in History

Portrait of Charlemagne, by Albrecht Dürer

Today in History

  • Ponce de León sights Florida (1513)
  • The first United States Mint is established (1792)
  • Food shortages inspire riots against the Confederate government in Richmond (1863)
  • The first full-time movie theater in the US opens (1902)
  • The RMS Titanic begins sea trials (1912)
  • ቀዳማዊ ኃይለ ሥላሴ (Haile Selassie) becomes emperor of Ethiopia (1930)
  • As the World Turns and The Edge of Night premier on CBS (1956)
  • Construction begins on the CN Tower in Toronto, which becomes the world’s tallest free-standing structure (1975)
  • Children’s network Nickelodeon premiers (1979)
  • Argentina invades the Falklands (1982)

Birthdays

  • Charlemagne, emperor (either 742, 747, or 748)
  • Giacomo Casanova, adventurer and womanizer (1725)
  • Hans Christian Andersen, fairy tale author (1805)
  • Erastus Bigelow, weaving machine inventor (1814)
  • William Holman Hunt, painter (1827)
  • Émile Zola, author (1840)
  • Clément Ader, aircraft designer and inventor (1841)
  • Nicholas Murray Butler, Nobel Prize for Peace winner (1862)
  • Eugen Sandow, “father of modern bodybuilding (1867)
  • Hughie Jennings, baseball player and manager (1869)
  • Walter Chrysler, car manufacturer (1875)
  • Jack Buchanan, actor, singer, producer, director (1891)
  • Max Ernst, surrealist (1891)
  • Buddy Ebsen, actor and dancer (1908)
  • Alec Guinness, actor (1914)
  • Dabbs Greer, actor (1917)
  • Lou Monte, novelty recording artist (1917)
  • Jack Stokes, animation director (1920)
  • Jack Webb, actor, director, screenwriter, producer (1920)
  • Gloria Henry, actress (1923)
  • George MacDonald Fraser, author (1925)
  • Carmen Basilio, boxer,
  • Kenneth Tynan, critic (1927)
  • Carl Kassell, NPR journalist and judge of Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! (1934)
  • Dick Radatz, baseball player (1937)
  • Al Weis, baseball player (1938)
  • Marvin Gaye, singer-songwriter (1939)
  • Penelope Keith, actress (1940)
  • Dr. Demento, radio host (1941)
  • Leon Russell, singer-songwriter (1942)
  • 坂井 宏行 (Hiroyuki Sakai), “King of the Iron Chefs” (1942)
  • Linda Hunt, actress (1945)
  • Reggie Smith, baseball player (1945)
  • Don Sutton, baseball player (1945)
  • Emmylou Harris, singer-songwriter
  • Camille Paglia, author and critic (1947)
  • Joan D. Vinge, science fiction author (1948)
  • Ron Palillo, actor (1949)
  • Pamela Reed, actress (1949)
  • 岡本 綾子 (Ayato Okamoto), golfer (1951)
  • Debralee Scott, actress (1953)
  • Larry Drew, basketball player and coach (1958)
  • Christopher Meloni, actor (1961)
  • Billy Dean, country singer-songwriter (1962)
  • Clark Gregg, actor, director, and screenwriter (1962)
  • Shane and Sia Barbi, twin models (1963)
  • Pete Incaviglia, baseball player (1964)
  • Jonathan Sharkey, wrestler (1964)
  • Rodney King, police brutality victim (1965)
  • Adam Rodríguez, actor (1975)
  • Jaime Ray Newman, actress (1978)
  • Jeremy Bloom, skier (1982)
  • Jesse Plemons, actor (1968)

Deaths

  • Philip Charles Durham, admiral (1845)
  • A. P. Hill, Confederate general (1865)
  • Samuel Morse, code developer (1872)
  • Esther Hobart Morris, first female Justice of the Peace in the US (1902)
  • Paul Heyse, won the Nobel Prize for Literature (1914)
  • Theodore Richards, won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1928)
  • Hugo Sperrle, Luftwaffe field marshal (1953)
  • 戸田 城聖 (Jōsei Toda), leader of Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism (1958)
  • C. S. Forester, author (1966)
  • Franz Halder, German general and diarist (1972)
  • Gil Hodges, baseball player and manager (1972)
  • Georges Pompidou, French president (1974)
  • Buddy Rich, drummer (1987)
  • Betty Furness, actress (1994)
  • Harvey Penick, golfer and coach (1995)
  • Hannes Alfvén, won the Nobel Prize in Physics (1995)
  • Rob Pilatus, Milli Vanilli “singer” (1998)
  • John R. Pierce, engineer and science fiction writer (2002)
  • Edwin Starr, singer-songwriter (2003)
  • John Paul II, pontiff (2005)
  • Nina Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg, conspirator spoiuse (2006)
  • Paul Reed, actor (2007)
  • Mike Cuellar, baseball player (2010)
  • Elizabeth Catlett, sculptor (2012)
  • Chuck Fairbanks, football coach (2013)
  • Jesús Franco, director, writer, actor (2013)
  • Jane Henson, puppeteer and voice actress (2013)
  • Milo O’Shea, actor (2013)

Holidays and Celebrations

  • Hospital Admitting Clerks Day (United States and Canada)
  • International Children’s Book Day (international)
  • International Sing-Out Day™ (international)
  • Malvinas Day (Argentina)
  • National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day (US food holidays)
  • Pascua Florida Day (Florida)
  • Reconciliation Day (Ann Landers)
  • Дзень яднання народаў Беларусi i Расii (Dzień jadnannia narodaŭ Bielarusi i Rasii), Unity of Peoples of Russia and Belarus Day (Belarus)
  • วันอนุรักษ์มรดกไทย (Wan Anurak Moradok Thai), Thai Heritage Conservation Day (Thailand)
  • World Autism Awareness Day (international)
Informal and made-up holidays include National Ferret Day, National Love Your Produce Manager Day, and Paraprofessional Appreciation Day.
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April 2 is the 92nd day of the year (93rd in leap years). There are 273 days remaining until the end of the year.