1792 |
|
The United States authorizes the minting of the $10 Eagle, $5 half-Eagle & 2.50 quarter-Eagle gold coins as well as the silver dollar, dollar, quarter, dime & half-dime. |
1796 |
|
Haitian revolt leader Toussaint L’Ouverture takes command of French forces at Santo Domingo. |
1801 |
|
The British navy defeats the Danish at the Battle of Copenhagen. |
1865 |
|
Confederate President Jefferson Davis flees Richmond, Virginia as Grant breaks Lee’s line at Petersburg. |
1910 |
|
Karl Harris perfects the process for the artificial synthesis of rubber. |
1914 |
|
The U.S. Federal Reserve Board announces plans to divide the country into 12 districts. |
1917 |
|
President Woodrow Wilson presents a declaration of war against Germany to Congress. |
1917 |
|
Jeannette Pickering Rankin is sworn in as the first woman to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. |
1931 |
|
Virne “Jackie” Mitchell becomes the first woman to play for an all-male pro baseball team. In an exhibition game against the New York Yankees, she strikes out both Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. |
1932 |
|
Charles Lindbergh pays over $50,000 ransom for his kidnapped son. |
1944 |
|
Soviet forces enter Romania, one of Germany’s allied countries. |
1958 |
|
The National Advisory Council on Aeronautics is renamed NASA. |
1963 |
|
Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King begins the first non-violent campaign in Birmingham, Alabama. |
1982 |
|
Argentina invades the British-owned Falkland Islands. |
Born on April 2 |
742 |
|
Charlemagne, first Holy Roman Emperor. |
1725 |
|
Giovanni Casanova, Italian adventurer. |
1805 |
|
Hans Christian Andersen, Danish author of fairy tales. |
1834 |
|
Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi, sculptor. |
1840 |
|
Emile Zola, French novelist and activist. |
1875 |
|
Walter P. Chrysler, founder of Chrysler Automobile Company. |
1891 |
|
Max Ernst, German painter, sculptor and founder of surrealism. |
1905 |
|
Kurt Adler, American conductor. |
1905 |
|
Serge Lifar, dancer and opera director. |
1914 |
|
Alec Guinness, British actor. |
1948 |
|
Emmylou Harris, American singer. |