2nd April, on this day

68 Galba, governor of Hispania, names himself legatus senatus populique Romani, breaking the line of Roman emperors begun with Julius Caesar and Augustus.
999 Gerbert of Aurillac elected as 1st French Pope
1416 Alfonso V succeeds his father as king of Aragón
1453 Mehmed II begins his siege of Constantinople (Istanbul), which would fall on May 29.
1513 Explorer Juan Ponce de León claims Florida for Spain
1550 Jews are expelled from Genoa Italy
1559 England/France signs 1st Treaty of Le Cateau-Cambrésis
1590 States-General appoints earl Mauritius, viceroy of Utrecht
1595 Cornelis de Houtman's ships depart to Asia through Cape of Good Hope
1645 Robert Devereux resigns as parliament supreme commander
1745 Austria and Bavaria sign peace
1755 Commodore William James captures pirate fortress of Suvarnadurg on west coast of India.
1792 The Coinage Act is passed establishing the United States Mint. The Mint of the United States of America strikes its first silver dollars
1800 1st performance of Ludwig von Beethoven's 1st Symphony in C
1801 Battle of Copenhagen. British Admiral Horatio Nelson puts a telescope to his blind eye and ignores the command to cease fighting. He continues until the Danish fleet is defeated
1804 Forty merchantmen are wrecked when a convoy led by HMS Apollo runs aground off Portugal.
1810 Napoleon Bonaparte marries Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria.
1819 1st successful agricultural journal ("The American Farmer") begins
1827 Joseph Dixon begins manufacturing lead pencils
1845 H L Fizeau and J Leon Foucault take 1st photo of Sun
1860 1st Italian Parliament met at Turin
1863 Bread revolt in Richmond, VA
1864 Skirmish at Crump's Hill (Piney Woods), Louisiana
1864 Skirmish at Spoonville/Antoinem AR
1865 CSA President Jefferson Davis flees Confederate capital of Richmond VA
1865 General A P Hill is killed by a Federal Picket
1865 Lee's line is broken at Petersberg
1865 Battle of Fort Blakely AL and Selma AL
1865 Battle of Petersburg, VA (Fort Gregg, Sutherland's Station)
1866 President Andrew Johnson ends war in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia
1870 Victoria Woodhull is 1st woman to be nominated for US President
1872 George B Brayton patents gasoline powered engine
1877 1st Easter egg roll held on White House lawn
1877 The first Human Cannonball Act is performed at London's Amphitheatre when acrobat Lady Zazal, attached by elastic springs, is fired into a safety net
1883 Battle at Bamako French assault on Fabous arm forces attack
1884 London prison for debtors closed
1900 The Foraker Act passes through Congress, giving Puerto Ricans limited self-rule.
1902 Dmitry Sipyagin, Minister of Interior of the Russian Empire, is assassinated by a terrorist in the Marie Palace, St Petersburg.
1902 1st dedicated motion picture theater in US opens (Los Angeles CA)
1905 Cairo-Capetown railway opens
1908 Mills Committee declares baseball was invented by Abner Doubleday
1912 Titanic undergoes sea trials under its own power
1912 Sun Yet Sen forms Guomindang-Party in China
1916 German troops overtake Bois de Caillette
1917 President Woodrow Wilson asks Congress to declare war against Germany
1917
The Battle of Vimy Ridge commences when the Canada Corps launches an artillery bombardment of the German trenches. To that time, the biggest artillery bombardment in history.
1921 Professor Albert Einstein lectures in NYC on his new theory of relativity
1926 Riots between Moslems and Hindus in Calcutta
1930 1st New York-Bermuda airplane flight lands in Bermuda
1930 Haile Selassie is proclaimed emperor of Ethiopia.
1932 Charles Lindbergh turns over $50,000 as ransom for kidnapped son
1935 Mary Hirsch, becomes 1st woman licensed as a horse trainer
1935 Sir Watson-Watt patents RADAR
1941 German occupier disallows Dutch scouting association
1941 USS Hornet with Jimmy Doolittles B-25 departs from San Francisco
1942 American bandleader Glenn Miller records "American Patrol"
1944 CPI-leader Palmiro Togliatti returns to Italy
1944 Dmitri Shostakovitch's 8th Symphony, premieres in New York
1944 Soviet Army marches into pro-German Romania
1945 1st US units reach east coast of Okinawa
1946 Founding of Britain's Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst
1953 Raab forms his 1st government in Austria
1954 Plans to build Disneyland 1st announced
1954 Transmission of the first episode of Britain's first TV soap opera: The Grove Family - named after the BBC's Lime Grove Studios in London
1955 Manchester United footballer Duncan Edwards makes his England debut at Wembley -the youngest England international. He's among the players killed in the Munich Air Crash in February 1958
1958 National Advisory Council on Aeronautics renamed NASA
1958 Antillean Brewery (Amstel beer) opens
1960 Cuba buys oil from USSR
1962 The first official Panda crossing is opened outside Waterloo station, London.
1963 Explorer 17 attains Earth orbit (254/914 km)
1963 USSR launches Luna 4; missed Moon by 8,500 km
1964 USSR launches Zond 1 to Venus; no data returned
1964 Josef Klaus succeeds Alfons Gorbach as chancellor of Austria
1964 Military coup in Brazil by General Castello Branco, President Goulart ousted
1965 Hochhuths play "Stellvertreter" banned in Italy
1966 Soviet Union's Luna 10 becomes 1st spacecraft to orbit Moon
1967 Actress Lynn Redgrave marries John Clark
1968 Beatles form Python Music Ltd
1968 Chad creates Union of Central African States
1970 2 men begin ascent of south face of Annapurna I, the highest final stage in a wall climb in the world
1970 Meghalaya becomes autonomous state within India's Assam state
1970 Qatar gains independence from Britain
1972 Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin visits Cairo Egypt
1972 Actor Charlie Chaplin returns to the United States for the first time since being labeled a communist in the early 1950s during the Red Scare.
1973 Ed Kemper stuffs mother's throat in disposal
1973 ITT pleads guilty to asking CIA to affect Chilean presidential election
1974 Arganat Committee publishes report concerning Yom Kippur War
1975 Thousands of civilian refugees flee from the Quang Ngai Province in front of advancing North Vietnamese troops.
1975 CN Tower completed in Toronto Ontario Canada: reaches 553.33 metres in height, becoming the world's tallest free-standing structure.
1976 Cambodia's Khieu Sampan succeeds prince Sihanouk as premier
1976 Portuguese constitution assumed
1977 Fleetwood Mac's "Rumors", album goes to number 1 and stays for 31 weeks
1977 Red Rum wins Grand National for third time
1977 Charlotte Brew becomes the first woman jockey to ride in the Grand National. Her horse, Barony Fort, falls at the 27th fence
1978 TV show "Dallas" premieres on CBS (as a 5 week mini-series)
1978 Velcro was 1st put on the market
1979 Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin visits Cairo Egypt/meets President Sadat
1980 U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs the Crude Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act in an effort to help the U.S. economy rebound.
1981 Belgium's 4th government of Martens resigns
1981 Heavy battle between Christian militia and Syrian army in East Lebanon
1982 Several thousand Argentine troops seize disputed Falkland (Malvinas) Islands
1984 Sqn Ldr Rakesh Sharma is launched aboard Soyuz T-11, and becomes the first Indian in space.
1985 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1986 4 US passengers killed by bomb at TWA counter Athens Airport Greece
1989 Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev arrives in Havana, Cuba to meet with Fidel Castro in an attempt to mend strained relations.

1992 Country singer Wynonna Judd's 1st appearance as a single act
1992 John Gotti found guilty in death of Paul Castallanos
1992 Space Shuttle STS-45 (Atlantis 11) lands
1992 Edith Cresson, France's 1st female premier, resigns
1993 Venezuelan DC-10 crashes at Margarita, killing 10
2002 Israeli forces surrounded the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem into which armed Palestinians retreated. A siege ensues.
2004 Islamist terrorists involved in the 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks attempt a thwarted bombing of the Spanish high-speed train AVE near Madrid.
2005 James Stewart Jr. becomes first African American to win a major motorsports event.
2006 Over 60 tornadoes breakout, hardest hit is Tennessee with 29 people killed.

2nd April 2006

US, UK urge speed in Iraq talks

Thais vote amid political crisis

Mobile phone TV begins in Japan

2nd April 2007

Tsunami sparks Solomons emergency

Argentina marks Falkland invasion

EMI takes locks off music tracks

2nd April 2008

Mugabe's Zanu-PF loses majority

Ahern to resign as Irish premier

'US allies' killed in Iraq ambush

2nd April 2009

G20 leaders seal $1tn global deal

Clashes at Nato summit protests

Bangladesh clamps down on beggars

2nd April 2010

13 Israeli air strikes hit Gaza

German soldiers killed in Afghanistan

Protest at Saudi sorcery sentence

Birthdates which occurred on 2nd April :

0742 Charlemagne 1st Holy Roman emperor (800-14)
1602 Maria de Jesus de Agreda [Maria Coronel] Spanish franciscan
1618 Francesco M Grimaldi mathematician/physicist (light defraction)
1628 Constantin Christian Dedekind composer
1632 Georg Caspar Weckler composer
1711 Jan Punt Dutch engraver/illustrator/actor (Gideonschool)
1713 Onno Zwier van Haren Frisian poet (Fatherland)
1725 Casanova writer
1728 Franz Asplmayr composer
1733 Giacomo Tritto composer
1735 Christian Gotthilf Tag composer
1735 Franz Volrath Buttstett composer
1740 Armand-Gaston Camus French CEO (Council of 500)
1763 Giacomo Gotifredo Ferrari composer
1798 Hoffmann von Fallersleben writer
1803 Franz Paul Lachner composer
1805 Hans Christian Andersen Denmark, author of 150 fairy tales
1806 Giacomo Antonelli Italian cardinal/Assistant Secretary of State for Pius IX
1814 Henry Lewis "Old Rock" Benning Brigadier General (Confederate Army)
1817 Teodulo Mabellini composer
1826 Philip Dale Roddey Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1897
1827 William Holdman Hunt English painter (Light of the World)
1833 Thomas Howard Ruger Brevet Major General (Union volunteers)
1834 Frédéric-Auguste Bertholdi France, sculptor (Statue of Liberty)
1840 Émile Zola France, novelist (Nana, J'Accuse)
1841 Clément Ader French engineer
1862 Nicholas Murray Butler US, Columbia University president/pacifist (Nobel 1931)
1863 Henry C Van de Velde Flemish painter/architect (Art Nouveau)
1868 Eduard Jacobs singer/pianist (Dutch cabaret)
1875 Walter Chrysler founded Chrysler car company
1877 Arnold Schering German musicologist (Humor, Heldentum, Tragik)
1891 Max Ernst Germany, painter/sculptor (founded surrealism)
1894 Rudolph P Cleveringa Dutch anti-nazi lawyer
1894 Walter Mittelholzer Swiss aviation pioneer (Swiss Air)
19-- Sam Anderson Wahpeton ND, actor (Sam Gorpley-Perfect Strangers)
1900 Heinrich Besseler German musicologist
1901 Anis Fuleihan composer
1902 Danilo Svara composer
1905 Serge Lifar Kiev, dancer, choreographer (Paris Opéra Ballet)
1905 Edmond Jouhaud General
1905 Kurt Adler therapist/writer
1907 Irene Mayer Selznick producer (Street Car Named Desire)
1908 Buddy Ebsen Belleville IL, actor (Beverly Hillbillies, Barnaby Jones)
1909 Jean Kurt Forest composer
1910 Arnie Herber NFL quarterback (Green Bay Packers, New York Giants)
1910 Joeri German Russian writer
1911 Charles "Honi" Coles tap dancer (Tap)
1914 Sir Alec Guinness [de Cuffe] London England, thespian (Colonel Nicholson-Bridge on River Kwai, Obi-Wan Kenobi-Star Wars, George Smiley-Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy)
1915 Antony Dornhorst professor of medicine
1915 Arthur Ballard artist
1917 Dabbs Greer Fairview MO, actor (Gunsmoke, Little House on Prairie)
1917 Lou Monte Lyndhurst NJ, singer (Peppino the Italian Mouse)
1919 Sir Ian Hunter England, impresario
1919 Antoon J Hubben Dutch mayor (Maasbree)/trade union leader
1920 Jack Webb Santa Monica CA, actor (Joe Friday-Dragnet)
1920 Lambertus van Straaten geologist (Waddenzee, Rhône-delta)
1922 Nikolaj G Bassov Russia, atomic physicist (laser, Nobel 1964)
1923 Sir Hugh Overton British diplomat
1923 Jacob "Jaap" Firet Dutch theologist (Agogisch Moment)
1924 Sir Denis Rooke CEO (British Gas)
1925 George MacDonald Fraser poet/author (Flashman at the Charge)
1926 Michael Rizzello sculpter/coin designer
1926 Elena Verdugo Hollywood CA, actress (Consuelo-Marcus Welby MD)
1927 Billy Pierce pitcher (Chicago White Sox) seven time all star
1928 Joseph "Cardinal" Bernardin of Chicago
1928 Rita Gam Pittsburgh PA, actress (Distortions, Hannibal, Sierra Baron, Mohawk)
1928 Serge Gainsbourg [Ginsburg] Russian/French singer (Ford Mustang)
1929 Catherine Gaskin romantic novelist (Fiona, Coporation Wife)
1929 Frans HJJ Andriessen Dutch MP (KVP/CDA)
1930 Girolamo Arriego composer
1930 W Hambleden Smith English newspaper magnate
1931 Imre Olsvai composer
1932 Mahmood Hussain Pakistani cricket swing bowler (68 wickets in 27 Tests)
1934 Brian Glover actor (McGuffin)
1934 Christopher France British permanent secretary (Department of Health)
1934 Sir Peter Middleton British permanent secretary (Treasury)
1934 Diane Cilento Rabaul,, actress (Hombre, Tom Jones, Wicker Man)
1935 Sharon Acker Toronto Ontario Canada, actress (Della Street-Perry Mason 1973)
1936 Jack Brabham Australia, race car driver (world champion 1966)
1937 Paul E Kanjorski (Representative-Democrat-PA, 1985- )
1939 Marvin P Gaye Jr Washington DC, singer (Sexual Healing)
1940 Penelope Keith British actress (Norman Conquests, Priest of Love)
1940 Peter Haining writer/editor (Anatomy of Witchcraft)
1941 Leon Russell Lawton KS, pianist/singer (Carny)
1942 Graham Bright private secretary to British PM
1943 Glen Dale [Richard Garforth] rock vocalist (Fortunes Deal)
1943 Larry Coryell Galveston TX, jazz guitarist (11th House)
1945 Don Sutton baseball pitcher (Los Angeles Dodgers)
1945 Linda Hunt Morristown NJ, actress (Bostonians, Eleni, Silverado)
1945 Lord Skelmersdale British minister (C)
1946 Kurt Winter rocker (The Guess Who)
1946 Lynda Carr educationist
1946 Richard Collinge cricketer (New Zealand record wicket-taker (116) before Hadlee)
1947 Emmylou Harris Birmingham AL, country singer (Together Again)
1947 Camille Paglia Endicott NY, actress (Female Misbehavior, It's Pat)
1948 Joan D Vinge American writer (Tangled Up In Blue, The Snow Queen, Catspaw)
1948 Eleanor Margaret Burbridge astronomer/educator
1948 Joan [Carol] D[ennison] Vinge US, sci-fi author (2 Hugos, Dune)
1948 Kerry Minnear rocker (Gentle Giant)
1948 Marlene Floyd LPGA golfer
1949 Paul Gambaccini British disc jockey
1949 Pamela Reed Tacoma WA, actress (Grand, Kindergarten Cop, Home Court)
1951 Ayako Okamoto Hiroshima Japan, LPGA golfer (1990 Sara Lee)
1952 Dan Halldorson Winnipeg Manitoba Canada, Canadian Tour golfer (1985 World Cup)
1952 Joseph Kent Massey Oklahoma City OK, soling yachter (Olympics-bronze-1996)
1952 Leon Wilkerson rocker (Lynard Skynard)
1953 Debralee Scott Elizabeth NJ, actress (Cathy-Mary Hartman, Angie)
1953 David Robinson drummer (Cars)
1954 Ron Palillo Cheshire CT, actor (Arnold Horshack-Welcome Back Kotter)
1956 Farrukh Zaman lefty cricket spinner (bowled 10 overs Pakistan vs New Zealand 1976)
1959 Adrian Meagher Australian baseball pitching coach (Olympics-1996)
1959 Brian Goodell US, 400 meter/1500 meter freestyle swimmer (Olympics-2 gold-1976)
1959 Carmen Ayala-Troncoso New York NY, 5K runner
1959 Dean Townson St Petersburg FL, singer (Pirates of the Mississippi-Fred Jake)
1959 Gelindo Bordin Italian marathon runner (Olympics-gold-1988)
1959 Ken Macleay cricketer (at Bedford-on-Avon Australian ODI medium pacer)
1959 Victoria Jackson Miami FL, comedian (Saturday Night Live, Casual Sex)
1960 Linford Christie St Andrews Jamaica, 4x100 meter runner (Olympics-gold 1992
1961 Cindy Mackey Athens GA, LPGA golfer (1986 MasterCard International Pro-Am)
1961 Gijs Steinmann Dutch soccer player (Go Ahead Eagles)
1961 Keren Jane Woodward Bristol England, rock vocalist (Bananarama-Venus)
1962 Alex Tripolski Israel, Men's Shooting 50 meter air pistol (Olympics-16th-1996)
1962 Billy Dean Quincy FL, country singer (Billy the Kid)
1962 Bruce Kozerski NFL tackle/guard (Cincinnati Bengals)
1963 Dermot Reeve England, cricketer (in Hong Kong England all-rounder 1992)
1964 Pete Incaviglia Pebble Beach CA, outfielder (Philadelphia Phillies)
1965 Rodney King Sacramento CA, black motorist beaten by Los Angeles cops
1966 Andrei Kovalev NHL forward (Belarus, Olympics-98)
1966 Bill Romanowski NFL linebacker (Eagles, Denver Broncos-Superbowl 32)
1966 Willie Green NFL wide receiver (Denver Broncos-Superbowl 32)
1969 Yj Nagata [Yuji] wrestler (NJPW)
1970 Jerry Reynolds NFL guard/tackle (New York Giants)
1970 Jon Lieber Council Bluffs IA, pitcher (Pittsburgh Pirates)
1970 Marcus Christensen Toronto Ontario Canada, figure skater (1995 Canadian-2nd)
1970 Tammi Reiss WNBA guard (Utah Starzz)
1971 James Ransom Toronto Ontario Canada, Epee fencer (Olympics-96)
1971 Jenny Craig Miss Georgia-USA (1996)
1971 Todd Woodbridge Sydney Australia, tennis star ('95 doubles Wimbledon)
1972 Graham Hood Winnipeg Manitoba Canada, 1.5k runner (Olympics-92, 96)
1975 Deedee Magno rocker (Party-Rodeo, That's Why)

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Deaths which occurred on April 2nd:
1118 Boudouin I of Bologne/Edessa, 1st crusader/king of Jerusalem, dies
1416 Ferdinand I the Justified, king of Aragon/Sicily, dies at 52
1502 Arthur English crown prince/husband of Catharina of Aragón, dies
1640 Matthias C Sarbiewski [Sarbievius], Polish jesuit/poet, dies at 45
1657 Ferdinand III King of Hungarian/Bohemia/German Emperor, dies at 48
1705 Johann Lohner composer, dies at 59
1747 Johann J Dillenius German botanist, dies at 63
1758 Johann Balthasar Konig composer, dies at 67
1784 Pierre Leclair composer, dies at 74
1803 Hieronymus van Alphen Dutch attorney/poet (church hymns), dies at 56
1831 Charles Felix blind King of Sardina (1821-31), dies at 74
1852 Theodor Althaus writer, dies
1865 Richard Cobden founder Anti-Corn-Law League, dies at 60
1865 Ambrose Powell Hill Confederate General, killed in action at 39
1872 Samuel F B Morse developer of electric telegraph, dies at 80
1876 Paul van Vlissingen Dutch ship owner, dies at 78
1890 Marinus Campbell bibliographer, dies at 70
1892 Willem J d'Ablaing van Giessenburg Dut baron/genealogist, dies at 79
1910 Boyd Alexander English explorer (Niger to the Nile), murdered at 37
1910 Friedrich von Bodelschwingh German theologist, dies at 79
1928 Theodore Richards US chemist (atomic weight, Nobel 1914), dies
1932 Hugo Kaun composer, dies at 69
1933 K S Ranjitsinhji cricketer (989 Test runs, 1st-class average 56), dies
1937 Nathan Birnbaum Austria philosopher (Zionism), dies at about 72
1938 Alice Berend writer, dies
1941 Paul Teleki premier Hungary, dies
1944 Mikulas Moyzes composer, dies at 71
1947 Joseph Hardstaff cricket (311 runs in 5 Tests for England 1907-08), dies
1951 Simon Barere pianist, dies while perfoming at Carnegie Hall
1952 Bernard F Lyot French astronomer (chronograph, Lyot-filter), dies at 55
1953 Jean Epstein French director (Vive la Vie), dies at 56
1956 Albert de Bassompierre Belgium ambassador to Tokyo, dies at 82
1956 Chester Clute actor (Niagara Falls), dies at 65
1956 Philippo de Pisis Italian painter, dies at 59
1959 Benjamin Christensen Danish actor (Barnet, Mockery), dies at 79
1961 August Defresne Dutch director (Anno Christi 969), dies at 67
1961 Wallingford Riegger US composer (Bacchangle), dies at 75
1965 Renzo Bossi composer, dies at 81
1966 Cecil Scott Forester English author (Horatio Hornblower), dies at 66
1969 Fortunio Bonanova actor (My Best Gal, Havana Rose), dies at 74
1972 Gil Hodges manager (New York Mets), dies of heart attack at 57
1974 Douglass Dumbrille actor (Mr Deed Goes to Town), dies at 84
1974 Georges Pompidou French President, dies in Paris at 62
1976 Ray Teal actor (Sheriff Roy Coffee-Bonanza), dies at 74
1979 Carroll D Rosenbloom Los Angeles Rams president, dies at 72
1979 Ivan Barrow cricketer (11 Tests for West Indies 1930-39), dies
1980 Dick Howorth cricketer (England slow lefty all-rounder late 40's), dies
1987 Buddy Rich drummer/orchestra leader (Away We Go), dies at 69
1990 Aldo Fabrizi actor (Postman Goes to War, Open City), dies at 85
1992 Paula Kelly singer/actress (Sweet Charity), dies at 72
1993 Eugenie Leontovitch actress (4 Sons, Homicidal), dies at 93
1993 Klaas Schenk Dutch speed skater/coach/father of Ard, dies at 86
1994 Richard Davies actor (Pvt Buckaroo), dies of heart attack at 79
1995 Hannes Alfven physicist (Nobel prize), dies at 86
1995 Harvey Penick premier golf instructor/author, dies at 90
1995 Julius Arthur Hemphill saxophonist, dies at 57
1997 Tomoyuki Tanaka producer (Godzilla), dies of a stroke at 86

Golden Link 1/ On this day 2nd April

Golden Link 2/ On this day 2nd April

Golden Link 3/ On this day 2nd April