April 2

## Events 
### Up to 1900 
* 999 &ndash; Pope Sylvester II is elected.
* 1285 &ndash; Pope Martin IV is elected.
* 1453 &ndash; The Ottoman Empire's Sultan Mehmed II begins the Siege of Constantinople.
* 1513 &ndash; Florida is sighted by a European for the first time.
* 1744 &ndash; The first official golf tournament is held in Leith, near Edinburgh, Scotland.
* 1783 &ndash; The Duke of Portland replaces the Earl of Shelburne as Prime Minister of Great Britain.
* 1800 &ndash; Ludwig van Beethoven leads the premiere of his First Symphony.
* 1801 &ndash; British forces under Horatio Nelson defeat Denmark in the naval Battle of Copenhagen.
* 1814 &ndash; The French senate declares Napoleon Bonaparte removed from power.
* 1845 &ndash; Armand Hippolyte Louis Fizeau and Jean Bernard Leon Foucault take the first photograph of the Sun.
* 1851 &ndash; Mongkut (Rama IV) is crowned King of Siam.
* 1865 &ndash; American Civil War: Jefferson Davis and his cabinet flee Richmond, Virginia.
* 1865 &ndash; American Civil War: The Siege of Petersburg is broken, as Union troops capture the trenches around Petersburg, Virginia.
* 1885 &ndash; Cree warriors attack the village of Frog Lake in Canada's Northwest Territories, killing 9 people.
* 1900 &ndash; The United States Congress passes the Foraker Act, giving Puerto Rico limited self–rule.

### 1901 &ndash; 2000 
* 1902 &ndash; The Electric Theater, the first full–time movie theater in the US, opens in Los Angeles, California.
* 1911 &ndash; Australia's first census is held.
* 1912 &ndash; The ill-fated RMS Titanic begins sea trials.
* 1917 &ndash; Woodrow Wilson asks US Congress for war with Germany.
* 1921 &ndash; The Autonomous Government of Khorasan, a military government covering present–day Iran, is created.
* 1930 &ndash; Haile Selassie becomes Emperor of Ethiopia.
* 1932 &ndash; Charles Lindbergh paid a $50,000 ransom for the return of his kidnapped son.
* 1943 &ndash; Off Bermuda, the British ship *Melbourne Star* is torpedoed by the German U–boat U 129. It explodes and sinks within two minutes, killing 114 people.
* 1945 &ndash; The Soviet Union and Brazil establish diplomatic relations.
* 1962 &ndash; In road use, the first official Panda crossing is opened outside Waterloo station in London.
* 1972 &ndash; Charlie Chaplin returns to the United States for the first time since being labeled as a Communist during the Red Scare of the 1950s.
* 1974 &ndash; The Westfalenstadion stadium in Dortmund is opened. It is currently the home of the Borussia Dortmund football team, and hosts international matches. 
* 1975 &ndash; Vietnam War: Thousands of civilian refugees flee from the Quang Ngai Province in front of advancing North Vietnamese forces.
* 1975 &ndash; The CN Tower in Toronto is completed.
* 1978 &ndash; The television show *Dallas* is shown for the first time.
* 1982 &ndash; The Falklands War begins, as Argentine forces invade.
* 1984 &ndash; Rakesh Sharma becomes the first Indian in space on board the Soyuz T–11.
* 1989 &ndash; Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev arrives in Havana, Cuba, for talks with Fidel Castro in an attempt to mend strained relations.
* 1991 &ndash; The eruption of the Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines begins.
* 1991 &ndash; Rita Johnston becomes the first female Premier of a Canadian province, in British Columbia.
* 1992 &ndash; Mafia boss John Gotti is convicted of murder and racketeering.
* 1998 &ndash; Former French minister Maurice Papon is found guilty of war crimes over the deportation of more than 1,700 Jews during World War II.

### From 2001 
* 2004 &ndash; Spanish police prevent an attempt by Islamist terrorists to blow up a high speed train near Madrid.
* 2005 &ndash; Pope John Paul II dies at the age of 84 years, after more than 26 years as Pope.
* 2006 &ndash; 60 tornadoes break out in the United States. Tennessee is the worst affected with 29 people killed.
* 2007 &ndash; A magnitude 8.1 earthquake hits the Solomon Islands, with resulting tsunamis destroying villages, killing 52 people, and making 5,000 homeless.
* 2011 &ndash; India wins the Cricket World Cup for the second time.
* 2012 &ndash; President of Hungary Pal Schmitt resigns after losing his doctorate in a Plagiarism scandal.
* 2013 &ndash; Major flooding affects Buenos Aires and La Plata in Argentina, killing 62 people.
* 2015 &ndash; A trawler sinks in the Sea of Okhotsk, west of Russia's far–eastern Kamchatka Peninsula, killing at least 50 sailors on board.
* 2015 &ndash; Al-Shabaab militants attack a university in Garissa, Kenya, killing 147 people. 
* 2019 &ndash; Abdelaziz Bouteflika resigns as President of Algeria with immediate effect, ending his almost–20–year Presidency, after several weeks of protests.
* 2019 &ndash; Lori Lightfoot is elected Mayor of Chicago, making her the first African American Lesbian woman chosen to govern a major city in the United States.

## Births 
### Up to 1900 
* 742 &ndash; Charlemagne (d. 814)
* 1527 &ndash; Abraham Ortelius, Flemish mapmaker (d. 1598)
* 1545 &ndash; Elisabeth of Valois, French princess and Queen of Spain (d. 1568)
* 1565 &ndash; Cornelis de Houtman, Dutch explorer (d. 1599)
* 1614 &ndash; Jahanara Begum Sahib, Imperial princess and daughter of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal (d. 1681)
* 1618 &ndash; Francesco Maria Grimaldi, Italian mathematician and physicist (d. 1663)
* 1647 &ndash; Maria Sibylla Merian, German botanist (d. 1717)
* 1653 &ndash; Prince George of Denmark (d. 1708)
* 1719 &ndash; Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim, German poet (d. 1803)
* 1725 &ndash; Giacomo Casanova, Italian writer (d. 1798)
* 1745 &ndash; Richard Bassett, Governor of Delaware (d. 1815)
* 1788 &ndash; Francisco Balagtas, Filipino poet (d. 1862)
* 1788 &ndash; Wilhelmine Reichard, first female German balloonist (d. 1848)
* 1791 &ndash; David Henshaw, 14th United States Secretary of the Navy (d. 1852)
* 1792 &ndash; Francisco de Paula Santander, Colombian general and politician (d. 1840)
* 1798 &ndash; Hoffmann von Fallersleben, German poet (d. 1874)
* 1805 &ndash; Hans Christian Andersen, Danish writer and poet (d. 1875)
* 1814 &ndash; Erastus Brigham Bigelow, American inventor (d. 1879)
* 1826 &ndash; George II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen (d. 1914)
* 1827 &ndash; William Holman Hunt, English painter (d. 1910)
* 1838 &ndash; Léon Gambetta, French statesman (d. 1882)
* 1840 &ndash; Émile Zola, French writer (d. 1902)
* 1841 &ndash; Clement Ader, French aviation pioneer (d. 1926)
* 1852 &ndash; Frederick B. Fancher, Governor of North Dakota (d. 1944)
* 1862 &ndash; Nicholas Murray Butler, American philosopher, diplomat and educator (d. 1947)
* 1863 &ndash; William Adamson, Scottish trade union leader and politician (d. 1936)
* 1867 &ndash; Eugen Sandow, German bodybuilder and circus performer (d. 1925)
* 1869 &ndash; Hughie Jennings, American baseball player (d. 1928)
* 1875 &ndash; Walter Chrysler, American automobile pioneer (d. 1940)
* 1891 &ndash; Max Ernst, German painter (d. 1976)
* 1891 &ndash; Jack Buchanan, Scottish actor, singer, director and producer (d. 1957)
* 1898 &ndash; Harindranath Chatoopadhyay, Indian poet, actor and politician (d. 1990)
* 1899 &ndash; Heinrich Rau, German politician (d. 1961)
* 1900 &ndash; Robert Arlt, Argentine writer (d. 1942)

### 1901 &ndash; 1950 
* 1906 &ndash; Dan K. Moore, Governor of North Carolina (d. 1986)
* 1907 &ndash; Luke Appling, American baseball player (d. 1991)
* 1912 &ndash; Herbert Mills, American singer (d. 1989)
* 1914 &ndash; Alec Guinness, English actor (d. 2000)
* 1916 &ndash; Oleg Lundstrem, Russian jazz composer and conductor (d. 2005)
* 1917 &ndash; Dabbs Greer, American actor (d. 2007)
* 1919 &ndash; Delfo Cabrera, Argentine long–distance runner (d. 1981)
* 1920 &ndash; Jack Webb, American actor, director and producer (d. 1982)
* 1922 &ndash; John C. Whitehead, American banker and politician (d. 2015)
* 1923 &ndash; Gloria Henry, American actress
* 1923 &ndash; G. Spencer-Brown, English polymath (d. 2016)
* 1925 &ndash; George MacDonald Fraser, British writer (d. 2008)
* 1925 &ndash; Hans Rosenthal, German radio and television presenter (d. 1987)
* 1926 &ndash; Jack Brabham, Australian racing driver (d. 2014)
* 1927 &ndash; Carmen Basilio, American boxer (d. 2012)
* 1927 &ndash; Ferenc Puskas, Hungarian footballer (d. 2006)
* 1927 &ndash; Rembert Weakland, former Archbishop of Milwaukee
* 1927 &ndash; Howard H. Callaway, American politician (d. 2014)
* 1927 &ndash; Ken Sansom, American actor (d. 2012)
* 1927 &ndash; Billy Pierce, American baseball player (d. 2015)
* 1927 &ndash; Rita Gam, American actress (d. 2016)
* 1928 &ndash; Joseph Bernardin, American cardinal (d. 1996)
* 1928 &ndash; Cheikh Hamidou Kane, Senegalese writer
* 1928 &ndash; Serge Gainsbourg, French singer, songwriter, actor and director (d. 1991)
* 1929 &ndash; Hans Koschnick, German politician (d. 2016)
* 1932 &ndash; Edward Egan, American Roman Catholic cardinal and former Archbishop of New York City (d. 2015)
* 1933 &ndash; György Konrád, Hungarian writer (d. 2019)
* 1934 &ndash; Richard Portman, American sound engineer (d. 2017)
* 1934 &ndash; Carl Kasell, American radio journalist and quiz show judge (d. 2018)
* 1936 &ndash; Shaul Ladany, Israeli Olympic race walker
* 1936 &ndash; Cynthia Lynn, American actress (d. 2014)
* 1938 &ndash; John Larsson, Swedish 17th General of the Salvation Army
* 1938 &ndash; Booker Little, American trumpeter and composer (d. 1961)
* 1939 &ndash; Marvin Gaye, American singer (d. 1984)
* 1939 &ndash; Lise Thibault, Quebec politician
* 1940 &ndash; Penelope Keith, British actress
* 1940 &ndash; Donald Jackson, Canadian figure skater
* 1940 &ndash; Mike Hailwood, English motorcycle racer and racing driver (d. 1981)
* 1941 &ndash; Dr. Demento, American radio presenter
* 1942 &ndash; Leon Russell, American pianist and conductor (d. 2016)
* 1942 &ndash; Roshan Seth, Indian–English actor
* 1943 &ndash; Tom Polanic, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2019)
* 1944 &ndash; Francisco Massiani, Venezuelan writer and painter (d. 2019)
* 1945 &ndash; Don Sutton, American baseball player
* 1945 &ndash; Linda Hunt, American actress
* 1946 &ndash; Sue Townsend, English novelist (d. 2014)
* 1946 &ndash; Kurt Winter, Canadian guitarist (d. 1997)
* 1947 &ndash; Emmylou Harris, American singer
* 1947 &ndash; Camille Paglia, American author
* 1947 &ndash; Tua Forsström, Finnish writer
* 1947 &ndash; Paquita la del Barrio, Mexican singer
* 1948 &ndash; Bob Lienhard, American basketball player (d. 2018)
* 1949 &ndash; Paul Gambaccini, American–British radio and television presenter

### 1951 &ndash; 1975 
* 1952 &ndash; Leon Wilkeson, American musician (Lynyrd Skynyrd) (d. 2001)
* 1953 &ndash; Krzysztof Krauze, Polish movie director, cinematographer and actor (d. 2014)
* 1954 &ndash; Gregory Abbott, American singer-songwriter and producer
* 1954 &ndash; Donald Petrie, American director
* 1957 &ndash; Barbara Jordan, American tennis player
* 1959 &ndash; David Frankel, American director, screenwriter and producer
* 1959 &ndash; Badou Ezzaki, Moroccan footballer and coach
* 1959 &ndash; Juha Kankkunen, Finnish rally driver
* 1960 &ndash; Linford Christie, British athlete
* 1961 &ndash; Christopher Meloni, American actor
* 1961 &ndash; Keren Woodward, British singer (Bananarama)
* 1962 &ndash; Pierre Carles, French director and producer
* 1962 &ndash; Clark Gregg, American actor, director and screenwriter
* 1963 &ndash; Shane Barbi and Sia Barbi, American models, writers and animal rights activists
* 1963 &ndash; Mike Gascoyne, British engineer
* 1965 &ndash; Rodney King, American victim of police brutality (d. 2012)
* 1965 &ndash; David Gamkrelidze, Georgian politician
* 1966 &ndash; Teddy Sheringham, English footballer
* 1967 &ndash; Greg Camp, American musician
* 1967 &ndash; Renée Estevez, American actress
* 1969 &ndash; Ajay Devgan, Indian actor, director and producer
* 1971 &ndash; Todd Woodbridge, Australian tennis player
* 1971 &ndash; Edmundo, Brazilian footballer
* 1971 &ndash; Zeebra, Japanese rapper
* 1973 &ndash; Tine Wittler, German actress and writer
* 1975 &ndash; Adam Rodriguez, American actor

### From 1976 
* 1977 &ndash; Michael Fassbender, German–Irish actor
* 1977 &ndash; Annett Louisan, German singer
* 1977 &ndash; Aiden Turner, British actor
* 1977 &ndash; Nicki Pedersen, Danish speedway rider
* 1978 &ndash; Grisella Siciliani, Argentine actress and singer
* 1979 &ndash; Lindy Booth, Canadian actress
* 1979 &ndash; Jesse Carmichael, American musician (Maroon 5)
* 1980 &ndash; Carlos Salcido, Mexican footballer
* 1980 &ndash; Adam Fleming, Scottish journalist
* 1981 &ndash; Michael Clarke, Australian cricketer
* 1981 &ndash; Kapil Sharma, Indian comedian
* 1981 &ndash; Bethany Joy Lenz, American actress, singer and filmmaker
* 1982 &ndash; Marco Amelia, Italian footballer
* 1982 &ndash; David Ferrer, Spanish tennis player
* 1982 &ndash; Jack Evans, American professional wrestler
* 1983 &ndash; Felix Borja, Ecuadorean footballer
* 1983 &ndash; Arthur Boka, Ivory Coast footballer
* 1983 &ndash; Laura Carmine Puerto, Puerto Rican–Mexican actress
* 1983 &ndash; Paul Capdeville, Chilean tennis player
* 1984 &ndash; Meryl Cassie, South African–New Zealand actress
* 1985 &ndash; Gordon Aikman, Scottish ALS campaigner (d. 2017)
* 1985 &ndash; Thom Evans, Scottish rugby player
* 1985 &ndash; Stéphane Lambiel, Swiss figure skater
* 1986 &ndash; Ibrahim Afellay, Dutch footballer
* 1986 &ndash; Lee DeWyze, American singer
* 1986 &ndash; Drew Van Acker, American actor
* 1986 &ndash; R3hab, Dutch DJ and record producer
* 1987 &ndash; Molly Smitten-Downes, English singer
* 1987 &ndash; Dalma Maradona, Argentine actress
* 1988 &ndash; Francesca Catalano, American actress
* 1990 &ndash; Yevgeniya Kanayeva, Russian gymnast
* 1990 &ndash; Miralem Pjanic, footballer from Bosnia and Herzegovina
* 1993 &ndash; Aaron Kelly, American singer
* 1993 &ndash; Bruno Zuculini, Argentine footballer

## Deaths 
### Up to 1900 
* 1118 &ndash; Baldwin I of Jerusalem (b. 1058)
* 1305 &ndash; Joan I of Navarre (b. 1273)
* 1506 &ndash; Prince Arthur Tudor of England (b. 1486)
* 1507 &ndash; Francis of Paola, Italian friar and saint (b. 1416)
* 1640 &ndash; Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski, Polish writer and poet (b. 1595)
* 1657 &ndash; Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1608)
* 1709 &ndash; Giovanni Battista Gaulli, Italian painter (b. 1639)
* 1720 &ndash; Joseph Dudley, English Governor of Massachusetts (b. 1647)
* 1742 &ndash; James Douglas, Scottish physician and anatomist (b. 1675)
* 1791 &ndash; Henri Gabriel Riqueti, French statesman (b. 1749)
* 1803 &ndash; Sir James Montgomery, 1st Baronet, Scottish politician and judge (b. 1721)
* 1817 &ndash; Johann Heinrich Jung, German writer (b. 1740)
* 1827 &ndash; Ludwig Heinrich Bojanus, German physician and naturalist (b. 1776)
* 1872 &ndash; Samuel F. B. Morse, American inventor (b. 1791)
* 1894 &ndash; Achille Vianelli, Italian painter (b. 1803)

### 1901 &ndash; 2000 
* 1914 &ndash; Paul Johann Ludwig von Heyse, German writer (b. 1830)
* 1922 &ndash; Hermann Rorschach, Swiss psychologist (b. 1884)
* 1928 &ndash; Theodore William Richards, American chemist (b. 1868)
* 1930 &ndash; Empress Zauditu of Ethiopia (b. 1876)
* 1933 &ndash; Ranjitsinhji, Indian cricketer (b. 1872)
* 1948 &ndash; Sabahattin Ali, Turkish novelist, writer, poet and journalist (b. 1907)
* 1951 &ndash; Simon Barere, Russian pianist (b. 1896)
* 1958 &ndash; Tudor Davies, Welsh operatic tenor (b. 1892)
* 1972 &ndash; Gil Hodges, American baseball player and manager (b. 1924)
* 1972 &ndash; Toshitsugu Takamatsu, Japanese martial arts grandmaster (b. 1887)
* 1974 &ndash; Georges Pompidou, President of France (b. 1911)
* 1987 &ndash; Buddy Rich, American jazz drummer and bandleader (b. 1917)
* 1992 &ndash; Juan Gomez Gonzalez, Spanish footballer (b. 1954)
* 1994 &ndash; Betty Furness, American actress (b. 1916)
* 1995 &ndash; Hannes Alfvén, Swedish physicist (b. 1908)
* 1998 &ndash; Rob Pilatus, American model, dancer and singer (b. 1965)

### From 2001 
* 2001 &ndash; Jennifer Syme, American actress (b. 1972)
* 2005 &ndash; Pope John Paul II (b. 1920)
* 2006 &ndash; Nina von Stauffenberg, widow of Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (b. 1914)
* 2007 &ndash; Paul Reed, American actor (b. 1909)
* 2012 &ndash; Elizabeth Catlett, American–Mexican artist and sculptor (b. 1915)
* 2013 &ndash; Jesus Franco, Spanish movie director, writer, cinematographer and actor (b. 1930)
* 2013 &ndash; Jane Henson, American puppeteer and voice actress (b. 1934)
* 2013 &ndash; Milo O'Shea, Irish–American actor (b. 1926)
* 2013 &ndash; Maria Redaelli, Italian supercentenarian (b. 1899)
* 2014 &ndash; Urs Widmer, Swiss writer (b. 1938)
* 2014 &ndash; Carl Epting Mundy, Jr., American military officer (b. 1935)
* 2014 &ndash; Richard Brick, American movie producer (b. 1945)
* 2014 &ndash; Glyn Jones, South African actor, writer and director (b. 1931)
* 2014 &ndash; Lucy Hood, American television executive (b. 1958)
* 2014 &ndash; Consuelo Moure, Colombian actress (b. 1947)
* 2014 &ndash; Joseph Willaert, Belgian painter (b. 1936)
* 2015 &ndash; Luis Delgado Aparicio, Peruvian politician (b. 1940)
* 2015 &ndash; Manoel de Oliveira, Portuguese movie director and screenwriter (b. 1908)
* 2015 &ndash; Rudolph R. Perz, American advertising executive (b. 1925)
* 2015 &ndash; Olga Sawicka, Polish dancer and choreographer (b. 1932)
* 2015 &ndash; Robert H. Schuller, American televangelist (b. 1926)
* 2015 &ndash; Steve Stevaert, Belgian politician (b. 1954)
* 2015 &ndash; Doug Sax, American audio engineer (b. 1936)
* 2015 &ndash; Abdelhadi Tazi, Moroccan scholar and diplomat (b. 1921)
* 2016 &ndash; Gato Barbieri, Argentine musician and bandleader (b. 1932)
* 2016 &ndash; Gallieno Ferri, Italian comic book artist (b. 1929)
* 2016 &ndash; Boris Hybner, Czech actor and mime artist (b. 1941)
* 2016 &ndash; Amber Rayne, American pornographic actress (b. 1984)
* 2017 &ndash; Kenneth J. Donnelly, American politician (b. 1950)
* 2017 &ndash; Leonard Litwin, American real estate developer (b. 1914)
* 2018 &ndash; Susan Anspach, American actress (b. 1942)
* 2018 &ndash; Morris Halle, Latvian–American linguist (b. 1923)
* 2018 &ndash; Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, South African activist (b. 1936)
* 2019 &ndash; Jamshid Mashayekhi, Iranian actor (b. 1934)
* 2019 &ndash; J. Mahendran, Indian film director, screenwriter and actor (b. 1939)
* 2019 &ndash; Don Williamson, American businessman and politician (b. 1934)

## Observances 
* International Children's Book Day – Birthday of Hans Christian Andersen
* Thai Heritage Conservation Day
* World Autism Awareness Day
* Malvinas Day (Argentina)