All Events

Historical Events on April 2

  • Third Battle of Petersburg

    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.

  • Woodrow Wilson

    1917

    World War I: United States President Woodrow Wilson asks the U.S. Congress for a declaration of war on Germany.

  • Quảng Ngãi Province

    1975

    Vietnam War: Thousands of civilian refugees flee from Quảng Ngãi Province in front of advancing North Vietnamese troops.

  • 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands

    1982

    Falklands War: Argentina invades the Falkland Islands.

  • Stand in the Schoolhouse Door

    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.

  • Mikhail Gorbachev

    1989

    Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev arrives in Havana, Cuba, to meet with Fidel Castro in an attempt to mend strained relations.

  • John Gotti

    1992

    In New York, Mafia boss John Gotti is convicted of murder and racketeering and is later sentenced to life in prison.

  • Siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem

    2002

    Israeli forces surround the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem into which armed Palestinians had retreated.

  • 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks

    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.