Historical Events on April 2, Facts & Special Events On This Day - CalendarZ

Historical Events on April 2

670
The second Shia Imam Hassan ibn Ali passes away after being poisoned
1513
Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León first sights land in what is now the United States state of Florida.
1755
Commodore William James captures the Maratha fortress of Suvarnadurg on west coast of India.
1792
The Coinage Act is passed establishing the United States Mint.
1800
Ludwig van Beethoven leads the premiere of his First Symphony in Vienna.
1801
French Revolutionary Wars: The British capture the Danish fleet.
1851
Rama IV is crowned King of Thailand.
1863
American Civil War: The largest in a series of Southern bread riots occurs in Richmond, Virginia.
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.
1885
Canadian Cree warriors attack the village of Frog Lake, killing nine.
1900
The United States Congress passes the Foraker Act, giving Puerto Rico limited self-rule.
1902
Dmitry Sipyagin, Minister of Interior of the Russian Empire, is assassinated in the Marie Palace, St Petersburg.
1902
"Electric Theatre", the first full-time movie theater in the United States, opens in Los Angeles.
1911
The Australian Bureau of Statistics conducts the country's first national census.
1912
The ill-fated RMS Titanic begins sea trials.
1917
World War I: United States President Woodrow Wilson asks the U.S. Congress for a declaration of war on Germany.
1921
The Autonomous Government of Khorasan, a military government encompassing the modern state of Iran, is established.
1930
After the mysterious death of Empress Zewditu, Haile Selassie is proclaimed emperor of Ethiopia.
1956
As the World Turns and The Edge of Night premiere on CBS-TV. The two soaps become the first daytime dramas to debut in the 30-minute format.
1972
Actor Charlie Chaplin returns to the United States for the first time since being labeled a communist during the Red Scare in the early 1950s.
1973
Launch of the LexisNexis computerized legal research service.
1975
Vietnam War: Thousands of civilian refugees flee from Quảng Ngãi Province in front of advancing North Vietnamese troops.
1979
A Soviet bio-warfare laboratory at Sverdlovsk accidentally releases airborne anthrax spores, killing 66 plus an unknown amount of livestock.
1980
United States President Jimmy Carter signs the Crude Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act.
1982
Falklands War: Argentina invades the Falkland Islands.
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.
1989
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev arrives in Havana, Cuba, to meet with Fidel Castro in an attempt to mend strained relations.
1991
Rita Johnston becomes the first female Premier of a Canadian province when she succeeds William Vander Zalm (who had resigned) as Premier of British Columbia.
1992
In New York, Mafia boss John Gotti is convicted of murder and racketeering and is later sentenced to life in prison.
1992
Forty-two civilians were massacred in the town of Bijeljina.
2002
Israeli forces surround the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem into which armed Palestinians had retreated.
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.
2006
Over 60 tornadoes break out in the United States; Tennessee is hardest hit with 29 people killed.
2012
A mass shooting at Oikos University in California leaves seven people dead and three injured.
2014
A spree shooting occurs at the Fort Hood army base in Texas, with four dead, including the gunman, and 16 others injured.
2015
Gunmen attack Garissa University College in Kenya, killing at least 148 people and wounding 79 others.

April 2 Birthdays