| 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.
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        | 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)
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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
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