APRIL 2

• 1513 - Juan Ponce de Leon sets foot on Florida becoming the first known European to do so.
• 1792 - The Coinage Act is passed establishing the United States Mint.
• 1801 - Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Copenhagen - The British destroy the Danish fleet.
• 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 - President Woodrow Wilson asks Congress for a declaration of war on Germany.
• 1982 - Falklands War: Argentina invades the British-owned Falkland Islands starting the war.
• 1992 - In New York, Mafia boss John Gotti is convicted of murder and racketeering and is later sentenced to life in prison.
• 1993 - Doom alpha version 0.4 is finished.
• 2002 - Israeli forces surrounded the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem which has around 200 Palestinians inside. A siege ensues.

Births

• 742 - Charlemagne, King of the Franks (+ 814)
• 1725 - Casanova, adventurer and writer (+ 1798)
• 1798 - August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben, lyricist (+ 1874, writer of "Das Lied der Deutschen")
• 1805 - Hans Christian Andersen, writer (+ 1875)
• 1834 - Frédéric Bartholdi, sculptor (+ 1904)
• 1840 - Emile Zola, novelist and critic (+ 1902)
• 1867 - Eugene Sandow, body builder, circus performer (+ 1925)
• 1875 - Walter Chrysler, automobile pioneer (+ 1940)
• 1891 - Max Ernst, painter (+ 1976)
• 1908 - Buddy Ebsen, actor, dancer
• 1914 - Sir Alec Guinness, actor (+ 2000)
• 1920 - Jack Webb, actor, director, producer (+ 1982)
• 1925 - Hans Rosenthal, showmaster (+ 1987)
• 1925 - George MacDonald Fraser, author
• 1927 - Ferenc Puskás, Hungarian footballer
• 1928 - Serge Gainsbourg, singer (+ 1991)
• 1934 - Brian Glover, British actor, wrestler (+ 1997)
• 1934 - Paul Joseph Cohen, mathematician.
• 1939 - Marvin Gaye, singer (+ 1984)
• 1940 - Penelope Keith, actress
• 1947 - Camille Paglia, feminist writer
• 1947 - Emmylou Harris, singer

Deaths

• 1502 - Prince Arthur Tudor, elder brother of Henry VIII of England
• 1865 - General A.P. Hill, Confederate commander
• 1872 - Samuel Morse, inventor of Morse code (1791)
• 1922 - Hermann Rorschach, psychologist (1884)
• 1966 - C.S. Forester, author
• 1974 - Georges Pompidou, President of France
• 1987 - Buddy Rich, drummer
• 1994 - Betty Furness, author
• 2003 - Edwin Starr, singer
• 2003 - Terenci Moix, author

Holidays and observances

See Also:

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

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December