On this day in History - Apr. 2

• 0742 - Charlemagne was born († 0814). King of the Franks and emperor of the Romans.
• 0999 - Sylvester II was elected pope.
• 1118 - Baldwin I of Jerusalem dies; Baldwin Le Bourg is named his successor. Baldwin I had been the real founder of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem and the real force behind its expansion. Baldwin the second is his cousin and the choice of the various barons / Morte de Balduino I (rei de Jerusalém)
• 1212 - Exumação do corpo de São Isidro Labrador (1082-1172).
• 1272 - Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall dies (b. 1209). Holy Roman Emperor.
• 1284 - Nascimento de Eduardo II de Inglaterra
• 1285 - Honorius IV was elected pope / Início do pontificado do Papa Honório IV.
• 1335 - Duke Henry of Carinthia dies.
• 1348 - Andronicus IV Palaeologus was born (d. 1385). Eastern Roman Emperor.
• 1383 - Escritura de casamento da infanta D. Beatriz com D. João de Castela.
• 1412 - Ruy Gonzáles de Clavijo dies. Spanish traveler and writer.
• 1416 - Início do reinado de Afonso V, o Magnânimo - rei de Aragão.
• 1453 - Mehmed II begins his siege of Constantinople (İstanbul), which would fall on May 29.
• 1502 - Prince Arthur Tudor dies (b. 1486). Elder brother of Henry VIII of England.
• 1507 - Francis of Paola dies (b. 1416). Italian founder of the Order of the Minims.
• 1510 - Ashikaga Yoshiharu was born(† 1550). Ashikaga shogun.
• 1513 - Juan Ponce de Leon sets foot on Florida becoming the first known European to do so.
• 1521 - Martin Luther left for Worms. He had been summoned there by Church officials to be questioned about his writings.
• 1524 - At the age of 40, Swiss Protestant reformer Ulrich Zwingli (once a Catholic priest) married widow Anna Meyer. Their marriage lasted until Zwingli was killed at the Battle of Kappel in 1531.
• 1527 - Abraham Ortelius was born (d. 1598). Flemish cartographer and geographer.
• 1545 - Elizabeth of Valois was born († 1568). Queen of Philip II of Spain.
• 1550 - Jews were expelled from Genoa, Italy.
• 1565 - Cornelis de Houtman was born (d. 1599). Dutch explorer.
  
• 1565 - Isidoro Aliaga was born. Spanidh Archbishop.
• 1566 - Santa Maria Magdalena de Pazzi was born (canonized on 28 Apr 1669).Italian misticist and saint.
  
• 1587 - Virgínia Centurione was born (canonized on 18 May 2003).
• 1614 - Jahanara Begum Sahib was born (d. 1681). The eldest daughter of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal.
• 1618 - Francesco Maria Grimaldi was born (d. 1663). Italian mathematician and physicist.
• 1653 - Prince George of Denmark was born (d. 1708). Prince consort of Anne of England.
• 1657 - Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor dies (b. 1608).
• 1657 - Jean-Jacques Olier dies (b. 1608). French catholic priest, founder of the Society of Saint-Sulpice.
• 1709 - Giovanni-Battista Gaulli “Il Baciccio” dies (b. 08 May 1639). Italian Baroque painter.
• 1671 - Canonização de Rosa de Lima (1586 - 1617).
• 1681 - King Charles II of England officially proclaimed the charter he had granted in March to William Penn for the Quaker colony of Pennsylvania in North America.
• 1705 - Morte do compositor alemão Johann Löhner.
• 1719 - Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim was born (d. 1803). German poet.
• 1720 - Joseph Dudley dies (b. 1647). Colonial Governor of Massachusetts.
• 1725 - Giacomo Casanova was born in Venice, Italy († 4 Jun 1798). Adventurer (his name became synonymous for philanderer) and writer.
• 1733 - Giacomo Tritto was born. Italian composer.
• 1742 - James Douglas dies (b. 1675). Scottish physician and anatomist.
• 1747 - Johann Jacob Dillenius dies (b. 1684). German botanist.
• 1751 - John L. Smibert dies in Boston (b. 24 Mar 1688 in Edinburgh). Scottish born/ American Baroque painter specialized in Portraits.
• 1754 - Thomas Carte dies (b. 1686). English historian.
• 1755 - Commodore William James captures pirate fortress of Severndroog on west coast of India.
• 1763 - Giacomo Gotifredo Ferrari was born. Italian composer.
• 1781 - Bhagwan Swaminarayan was born (d. 1830). Religious leader.
• 1783 - William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck assume o cargo de primeiro-ministro britânico
• 1787 - Thomas Gage dies (b. 1719). British general.
• 1788 - Francisco Balagtas was born (d. 1862). Filipino poet.
• 1791 - Mirabeau [Honoré Gabriel Riqueti] dies (b. 1749). Conde de Mirabeau. French writer and statesman.
• 1792 - The Coinage Act is passed establishing the United States Mint.
• 1798 - August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben was born ( † 1874). German poet.
• 1799 - Nascimento de Charles Philip Yorke (4º conde de Hardwicke).
• 1800 - Manhattan Well Mystery: In New York City, the trial of Levi Weeks ends with an acquittal. Weeks was defended by Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr.
• 1801 - Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Copenhagen - The British destroy the Danish fleet.
• 1801 - Thomas Dadford Junior dies. British canal engineer.
• 1801 - Batalha naval de Copenhaga entre as frotas Britânica e Dinamarquesa. Comandada por Nelson a frota britânica destrói a frota dinamarquesa.
• 1803 - Sir James Montgomery, 1st Baronet dies (b. 1721). Scottish politician and judge.
• 1804 - Forty merchantmen are wrecked when a convoy led by HMS Apollo runs aground off Portugal.
• 1805 - Hans Christian Andersen was born in Odense († 1875). Danish writer.
• 1809 - Heinrich Hoffman was born (d. 1894). German physician, director of the state mental hospital in Frankfurt am Main and writer best known for Slovenly Peter.
• 1810 - Napoleon Bonaparte marries Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria / Casamento de Napoleão Bonaparte, imperador dos Franceses, com a arquiduquesa Maria Luísa de Áustria.
• 1810 - Kaspar Karsen was born († 24 Jul 1896). Dutch artist.
• 1811 - William Joseph Shayer Junior was born († 1892). British artist.
• 1814 - Erastus Brigham Bigelow was born (d. 1879). American inventor.
• 1817 - Johann Heinrich Jung dies (b. 1740). German author.
• 1822 - Nascimento em Lisboa de Luís Augusto Rebelo da Silva († 1871). Historiador, romancista e dramaturgo português.
• 1822 - Roque Sáenz Peña was born. President of Argentina (1910-1914).
• 1824 - John Johnson é enforcado por roubo e assassinato de um marinheiro.
• 1827 - William Holman Hunt was born in London († 07 Sep 1910). English Pre-Raphaelite painter.
• 1827 - Ludwig Heinrich Bojanus dies (b. 1776). German physician and naturalist.
• 1834 - Nasce o escultor francês Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi, autor da Estátua da Liberdade em Nova York.
• 1836 - Charles Dickens got married with Catherine Hogarth.
• 1837 - Johan Conrad Greive was born († 14 May 1891). Dutch artist.
• 1838 - Léon Gambetta was born (d. 1882). French statesman.
• 1840 - Émile Zola was born († 29 Sep 1902). French novelist and critic.
• 1845 - Philip Charles Durham dies (b. 1763). Royal Navy Admiral.
• 1854 - O semanário "Le Figaro" começa a publicar-se em Paris.
• 1861 - Uchimura Kanzowas born in Edo (now Tokyo) to a samurai family (d. 28 Mar 1930). Japanese religious thinker and critic who would exert an important, formative influence on many writers & intellectual leaders of modern Japan.
• 1862 - Nicholas Murray Butler was born. USA philosopher and teacher, Nobel Prize for Peace Paz in 1931.
• 1863 - Richmond Bread Riots: Food shortages incite hundreds of angry women to riot in Richmond, Virginia and demand the Confederate government to release emergency supplies.
• 1865 - American Civil War: Siege of Petersburg broken - Union troops capture the trenches around Petersburg, Virginia, forcing Confederate General Robert E. Lee to retreat.
• 1865 - American Civil War: Confederate President Jefferson Davis and most of his Cabinet flee the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia.
• 1865 - General A.P. Hill dies (b. 1825). Confederate commander.
• 1867 - Eugen Sandow was born ( † 1925). Body builder, circus performer.
• 1869 - Hughie Jennings was born († 1928). Baseball Hall of Famer.
• 1872 - Samuel Morse dies (b. 1791). American inventor of Morse code.
• 1875 - Walter Chrysler was born († 1940). Automobile pioneer.
• 1881 - Johannes (or Jan) Tavenraat (or Tavenraet) dies (b. 20 Mar 1809). Rotterdam Dutch painter.
• 1883 - Paul Radin was born in Lodz, Poland (d. 1959). Ethnologist.
• 1889 - Charles Hall patented aluminum on this day.
• 1891 - Max Ernst was born († 1976). German-born French artist, founder of surrealism.
• 1894 - Fernando Afonso Geraldes Caldeira dies in Benfica, Lisbon (b. 7 Nov 1841 in Àgueda). Portuguese politician and poet.
• 1900 - The Foraker Act passes through Congress, giving Puerto Ricans limited self-rule.
• 1900 - Roberto Arlt was born. Argentine novelist and dramaturg.
• 1901 - Claude Thomas Stanfield Moore dies (b. 10 Jun 1853). British artist.
• 1902 - Dmitry Sipyagin, Minister of Interior of the Russian Empire, is assassinated by a terrorist in the Marie Palace, St Petersburg.
• 1902 - "Electric Theatre", the first full-time movie theater in the United States, opens in Los Angeles, California.
• 1902 - Jan Tschichold was born (d. 1974). German typographer.
• 1902 - Esther Morris dies (b. 1814). Suffragist and the first woman judge in U.S. history.
• 1903 - Lionel Chevrier was born (d. 1987). Canadian politician.
• 1905 - Hjalmar “Magnus” Munsterhjelm dies (b. 19 Oct 1840). Swedish French artist.
• 1907 - Luke Appling was born (d. 1991). Major League Baseball player.
• 1908 - Buddy Ebsen was born († 2003). American actor and dancer.
• 1910 - Francisco Cândido Xavier was born in Pedro Leopoldo - Minas Gerais. Brazilian medium and spiritist.
• 1910 - Paul Triquet was born (d. 1980). Canadian military officer.
• 1911 - O clube de futebol Guarani Futebol Clube é fundado na cidade de Campinas / Brasil
• 1914 - Sir Alec Guinness was born († 8 May 2000) . English actor.
• 1914 - Paul von Heyse dies (b. 1830). German writer Nobel Prize in Literature 1910.
• 1917 - The first woman ever elected to the U.S. Congress, Jeannette Rankin, takes her seat as a representative from Montana.
• 1917 - World War I: The Battle of Vimy Ridge commences when the Canada Corps launches an artillary bombardment of the German trenches. To that time, the biggest artillery bombardment in history.
• 1917 - World War I: U.S. President Woodrow Wilson asks the U.S. Congress for a declaration of war on Germany.
• 1917 - Lou Monte was born (d. 1989). American singer.
• 1920 - Jack Webb was born († 1982). American actor, director, producer.
• 1922 - Hermann Rorschach dies (b. 1884). Swiss psychologist.
• 1923 - G. Spencer-Brown was born. English mathematician.
• 1923 - Clifford Scott Green was born. American Federal Judge.
• 1925 - Hans Rosenthal was born († 1987) . Showmaster.
• 1925 - Pinheiro Correia, Sérgio da Silva e António Gouveia concluem o raid aéreo Lisboa-Guiné.
• 1926 - Jack Brabham was born. Grand Prix racer.
• 1926 - Salvador Caetano was born. Portuguese entrepreneur/ Nascimento de Salvador Caetano, industrial português.
• 1926 - George MacDonald Fraser was born. English author.
• 1926 - Sir Jack Brabham was born. Australian race car driver.
• 1927 - Carmen Basilio was born. American boxer.
• 1927 - Ferenc Puskás was born. Great Hungarian football (soccer) player.
• 1927 - Kenneth Tynan was born (d. 1980). English critic and writer.
• 1928 - Joseph Cardinal Bernardin was born (d. 1996). American cardinal.
• 1928 - Serge Gainsbourg was born ( † 1991). French singer.
• 1928 - Theodore William Richards dies (b. 1868). American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1930 - Haile Selassie is proclaimed emperor of Ethiopia.
• 1930 - Empress Zauditu of Ethiopia dies (b. 1876).
• 1932 - In New York, aviator Charles Lindbergh pays a ransom to secure the return of his kidnapped infant son; the baby is later found murdered.
• 1934 - Paul Joseph Cohen was born. American mathematician.
• 1934 - Brian Glover was born († 1997). British actor, wrestler.
• 1935 - O físico britânico Sir Watson Watt regista a patente do RADAR.
• 1936 - Jean-Baptiste Eugène Estienne dies (b. 1860). French general.
• 1937 - Dick Radatz was born (d. 2005). American baseball player.
• 1938 - Booker Littlewas born (d. 1961). American jazz trumpeter.
• 1938 - John Larsson was born. 17th General of The Salvation Army.
• 1938 - Whirlaway was born (d. 1953). American racehorse, 1941 Triple Crown Winner.
• 1939 - Marvin Gaye was born ( † 01 Apr 1984). Singer and songwriter.
• 1939 - Lise Thibault was born. Lieutenant-governor of Quebec.
• 1940 - Penelope Keith was born. English actress.
• 1941 - The radio program Life of Riley aired for the first time.
• 1941 - Dr. Demento was born. American radio personality.
• 1942 - Leon Russell was born. American blues-rock pianist/guitarist session musician.
• 1942 - Hiroyuki Sakai was born. Japanese chef.
• 1945 - The diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Brazil were established.
• 1945 - Don Sutton was born. Major League Baseball player.
• 1945 - Reggie Smith was born. Major League Baseball player.
• 1945 - Linda Hunt was born. Academy Award-winning actress: The Year of Living Dangerously [1983]; Silverado, Dune, Popeye, Kindergarten Cop, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Flying Nun.
• 1945 - Anne Waldman was born in Millville, New Jersey. American poet.
• 1946 - Kurt Winter was born (d. 1997). Canadian guitarist (The Guess Who).
• 1947 - Camille Paglia was born. American feminist writer.
• 1947 - Emmylou Harris was born. Grammy Award-winning singer: Elite Hotel [1976], Blue Kentucky Girl [1978], That Lovin’ You Feeling Again [with Roy Orbison - 1980], Trio [1987], At the Ryman [with the Nash Ramblers - 1992], Wrecking Ball [1996]; Mr. Sandman, The Last Waltz, Pledging My Love, In My Dreams, Amarillo, ’Till I Gain Control AgainSinger.
• 1948 - Dimitris Mitropanos was born. Greek singer.
• 1949 - Pamela Reed was born. American actress.
• 1949 - Paul Gambaccini was born. British television presenter.
• 1949 - Ron Palillo was born. American actor.
• 1951 - Ayako Okamoto was born. Japanese professional golfer.
• 1951 - Moriteru Ueshiba was born. Japanese martial artist.
• 1952 - Leon Wilkeson was born. American rock bassist (Lynyrd Skynyrd).
• 1952 - Pat Drummond was born. Australian singer-songwriter.
• 1952 - Thierry Le Luron was born (d. 1986). French humorist.
• 1953 - David Robinson was born. American musician.
• 1953 - Jim Allister was born. Northern Irish politician.
• 1953 - Debralee Scott was born (d. 2005). American actress.
• 1953 - Hugo Sperrle dies (b. 1885). German field marshal.
• 1954 - Ron Palillo was born. American actor.
• 1954 - Seamus O'Sheel dies (b. 1886). Irish-American bellettrist, poet.
• 1954 - Carl ‘Bobo’ Olson defeated Kid Gavilan to retain the world middleweight boxing title.
• 1954 - Susumu Hirasawa was born. Japanese electropop musician.
• 1955 - Dana Carvey was born. American actor.
• 1955 - Michael Stone was born. British terrorist.
• 1956 - General Motors board member Alfred P. Sloan steps down after 19 years as chairman with Albert Bradley as his successor.
• 1956 - As the World Turns and The Edge of Night first aired on the CBS network in the United States, as the first half-hour serial dramas.
• 1959 - Juha Kankkunen was born. Finnish race car driver.
• 1959 - Badou Zaki was born. Morrocan footballplayer and manager.
• 1960 - Linford Christie was born. British athlete.
• 1960 - Brad Jones was born. Australian racing driver.
• 1961 - Christopher Meloni was born. American actor.
• 1961 - Keren Woodward was born. British singer (Bananarama).
• 1962 - The first official Panda crossing is opened outside Waterloo station, London.
• 1962 - Mark Shulman was born. Children's author.
• 1962 - Pierre Carles was born. French documentarist.
• 1962 - Clark Gregg was born. American actor.
• 1962 - Mark Shulman was born. American children's author.
• 1963 - Mike Gascoyne was born. British engineer.
• 1964 - The Saab board started Project Gudmund to develop a new and larger car, later released as Saab 99.
• 1964 - Pete Incaviglia was born. American baseball player.
• 1965 - Rodney King was born. American victim of police brutality.
• 1966 - Bill Romanowski was born. American football player.
• 1966 - Garnet Silk was born (d. 1994). Jamaican singer.
• 1966 - Teddy Sheringham was born in Walthamstow, London. English football (soccer) player (Manchester United).
• 1966 - C.S. Forester dies (b. 1899). British author.
• 1967 - Greg Camp was born. American musician (Smash Mouth).
• 1967 - Helen Chamberlain was born. British television presenter.
• 1967 - Adrian Mole was born. Fictional character created by Sue Townsend.
• 1970 - Roselyn Sanchez was born. Puerto Rican actress.
• 1971 - Todd Woodbridge was born. Australian tennis player.
• 1971 - ZEEBRA was born. Japanese hip hop artist.
• 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.
• 1972 - Vietnam War: Easter Offensive begins - North Vietnamese soldiers of the 304th Division take the northern half of Quang Tri Province.
• 1972 - Chico Slimani was born. Moroccoan-British singer.
• 1972 - Gil Hodges dies (b. 1924). American baseball player.
• 1972 - Franz Halder dies (b. 1884). German general.
• 1972 - Toshitsugu Takamatsu dies (b. 1887). Japanese Martial Arts Grandmaster.
• 1973 - Launch of LexisNexis computerized legal research service.
• 1974 - 46th Annual Academy Awards presentation at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. Hosting the cerimony were John Huston, David Niven, Burt Reynolds, and Diana Ross. The Best Picture of the Year Award went to " The Sting" (producers: Tony Bill, Michael Phillips, Julia Phillips). The Sting won six additional Oscars: Director (George Roy Hill); Art Direction (Henry Bumstead)and Set Decoration (James Payne); Costume Design (Edith Head); Film Editing (William Reynolds); Scoring/Original Song Score/Adaptation: (Marvin Hamlisch); Writing/Original Story/Screenplay based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced (David S. Ward); plus three additional nominations. Oscar winners: Best Actor: Jack Lemmon for Save the Tiger; Best Actress: Glenda Jackson for A Touch of Class; Best Supporting Actor: John Houseman for The Paper Chase; Best Supporting Actress: Tatum O’Neal for Paper Moon; and Best Music/Song: The Way We Were - Marvin Hamlisch (music), Alan and Marilyn Bergman (lyrics) from the movie of the same title.
• 1974 - Håkan Hellström was born. Swedish musician.
• 1974 - Georges Pompidou dies (b. 1911).President of France.
• 1975 - Vietnam War: Thousands of civilian refugees flee from the Quang Ngai Province in front of advancing North Vietnamese troops.
• 1975 - Construction of the CN Tower is completed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada: it reaches 553.33 metres in height, becoming the world's tallest free-standing structure.
• 1975 - Adam Rodriguez was born. American actor.
• 1976 - A Constituição da República Portuguesa ( pós 25 Abril 74) é promulgada no decorrer da última sessão da Assembleia Constituinte.
• 1976 - Andreas Anastasopoulos was born. Greek shot putter.
• 1976 - Rory Sabbatini was born. South African golfer.
• 1977 - Michael Fassbender was born. Actor.
• 1977 - Jelena Abbou was born. Serbian fitness model.
• 1978 - John Gall was born. American baseball player.
• 1979 - Jesse Carmichael was born. American musician (Maroon 5).
• 1980 - U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs the Crude Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act in an effort to help the U.S. economy rebound.
• 1980 - Carlos Salcido was born. Mexican footballer.
• 1980 - Adam Fleming was born. English news reporter.
• 1980 - Ricky Hendrick was born. NASCAR driver and owner.
• 1981 - Bethany Joy Lenz-Galeotti was born. American actress.
• 1981 - Michael Clarke was born. Australian cricketer.
• 1982 - Falklands War: Argentina invades the British-owned Falkland Islands starting the war.
• 1982 - John Chancellor helms the news desk at the NBC Nightly News for the final time, after eleven-and-a-half years.
• 1982 - Jeremy Bloom was born. American skier and football player.
• 1982 - Jack Evans was born. American wrestler.
• 1982 - Leyla Milani was born. Canadian actress and model.
• 1982 - Marco Amelia was born. Italian World Cup-winning footballer.
• 1982 - Bianca Chatfield was born. Australian netballer.
• 1983 - Felix Borja was born. Ecuadorian footballer.
• 1983 - Paul Capdeville was born. Chilean tennis player.
• 1983 - Yung Joc was born. American rapper.
• 1983 - Clara Nunes dies (b. 1943). Brazilian popular singer and sambist.
• 1984 - Sqn Ldr Rakesh Sharma is launched aboard Soyuz T-11, and becomes the first Indian in space.
• 1984 - Ashley Peldon was born. American actress.
• 1984 - Meryl Cassie was born. New Zealand actress.
• 1986 - A bomb on a TWA plane flying from Rome to Athens exploded, killing four Americans.
• 1986 - Chris Walberg was born. Voice actor (Hey Arnold!).
• 1987 - Buddy Rich dies (b. 1917). American drummer.
• 1988 - Francisco José Lopes da Costa dies in Sintra (b. 12 Aug. 1900). Portuguese poet.
• 1989 - Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev arrives in Havana, Cuba to meet with Fidel Castro in an attempt to mend strained relations.
• 1989 - Clare Thomas was born. English actress.
• 1991 - The first female Premier of a Canadian province takes office. Rita Johnston succeeds William Vander Zalm, who resigned, as Premier of British Columbia.
• 1991 - Taylor Henderson was born. Australian musician.
• 1992 - In New York, Mafia boss John Gotti is convicted of murder and racketeering and is later sentenced to life in prison.
• 1992 - Pierre Bérégovoy becomes Prime Minister of France.
• 1992 - Tomisaburo Wakayama dies (b. 1929). Japanese actor.
• 1992 - Juan Gómez González dies (b. 1954). Spanish footballplayer.
• 1993 - Doom alpha version 0.4 is finished.
• 1994 - Betty Furness dies (b. 1916). American author.
• 1995 - Domingos Castro, Portuguese runner, wins Marathon of Paris.
• 1995 - Harvey Penick dies (b. 1904). American golfer.
• 1995 - Hannes Alfvén dies (b. 1908). Swedish physicist.
• 1996 - Lech Walesa, ex presidente da Polonia, regressa como electricista nos estaleiros de Gdansk, após a sua derrota nas eleições.
• 1998 - Rob Pilatus dies (b. 1965). American model and entertainer (Milli Vanilli).
• 2000 - Tommaso Buscetta dies (b. 1928). Sicilian mafioso and pentito.
• 2001 - Charles Daudelin dies (b. 1920). Canadian artist.
• 2001 - Jennifer Syme dies (b. 1972). American actress.
• 2002 - Israeli forces surrounded the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem which has around 200 Palestinians inside. A siege ensues.
• 2003 - Special operations forces rescue U.S. soldier Jessica Lynch, who was captured in the early days fighting in Iraq.
• 2003 - Terenci Moix dies. Spanish author.
• 2003 - Edwin Starr dies (b. 1942). American singer.
• 2003 - Beatrice Riese dies at 86. Abstract artist and collector born in The Hague, Netherlands.
• 2004 - Bulgaria, Eslovaquia, Eslovenia, Estonia, Letonia, Lituania y Rumania se asocian OTAN cómo miembros completos.
• 2004 - Lynne Cheney, wife of the United States Vice-president, halts the reissue of her lesbian romance novel, "Sisters," originally published in 1981.
• 2004 - Islamist terrorists involved in the 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks attempt a thwarted bombing of the Spanish high-speed train AVE near Madrid.
• 2004 - John Argyris dies (b. 1913). Greek aeronautical engineer.
• 2005 - Pope John Paul II (Karol Wojtyła) dies on Vatican at the age of 84, after more than 26 years as the head of the Roman Catholic Church. Pope John Paul II, who was the first non-Italian pope in 455 years and the first from a Slavic country.
• 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.
• 2006 - Nina Schenk von Stauffenberg dies (b. 1913). German wife of freedom fighter Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg.
• 2007 - Paul Reed dies (b. 1909). American actor.
• International Children's Book Day.
• Malvinas Day in Argentina.
  
• Sizdah be dar in Iran.
  
• Saint Franciscus of Paola.