On this day: April 2

Events on April 2

• 1513 Having spotted land on March 27, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León comes ashore on what is now the U.S. state of Florida, landing somewhere between the modern city of St. Augustine and the mouth of the St. Johns River. Wikipedia
• 1725 J. S. Bach's cantata Bleib bei uns, denn es will Abend werden, BWV 6, is first performed in Leipzig on Easter Monday. Wikipedia
• 1800 Ludwig van Beethoven leads the premiere of his First Symphony in Vienna. Wikipedia
• 1801 French Revolutionary Wars: In the Battle of Copenhagen a British Royal Navy squadron defeats a hastily assembled, smaller, mostly-volunteer Dano-Norwegian Navy at high cost, forcing Denmark out of the Second League of Armed Neutrality. Wikipedia
• 1860 The first modern Italian Parliament is opened in Turin, following the annexation of Central Italy into the Kingdom of Sardinia. Wikipedia
• 1863 American Civil War: The largest in a series of Southern bread riots occurs in Richmond, Virginia. Wikipedia
• 1865 American Civil War: On the third attempt, Union forces captured Petersburg, Virginia, although Confederate officials and most of their remaining troops were able to escape. Wikipedia
• 1912 The ill-fated RMS Titanic begins sea trials. Wikipedia
• 1921 The Autonomous Government of Khorasan, a military government encompassing the modern state of Iran, is established. Wikipedia
• 1930 After the mysterious death of Empress Zewditu, Haile Selassie is proclaimed emperor of Ethiopia. Wikipedia
• 1968 2001: A Space Odyssey, the epic science fiction film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, premiered at the Uptown Theater in Washington, D.C. Wikipedia
• 1975 Vietnam War: Thousands of civilian refugees flee from Quảng Ngãi Province in front of advancing North Vietnamese troops. Wikipedia
• 1976 Prince Norodom Sihanouk resigns as leader of Cambodia and is placed under house arrest. Wikipedia
• 1980 United States President Jimmy Carter signs the Crude Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act. Wikipedia
• 1986 Alabama governor George Wallace, a former segregationist, best known for the "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door", announces that he will not seek a fifth four-year term and will retire from public life upon the end of his term in January 1987. Wikipedia
• 1989 Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev arrives in Havana, Cuba, to meet with Fidel Castro in an attempt to mend strained relations. Wikipedia
• 1992 Forty-two civilians are massacred in the town of Bijeljina in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Wikipedia
• 1992 In New York, Mafia boss John Gotti is convicted of murder and racketeering and is later sentenced to life in prison. Wikipedia
• 2002 Israeli forces surround the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, into which armed Palestinians had retreated. Wikipedia
• 2002 Second Intifada: Palestinian militants sought refuge from advancing Israeli forces in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, beginning a month-long siege. Wikipedia
• 2004 Islamist terrorists involved in the 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks attempt to bomb the Spanish high-speed train AVE near Madrid; the attack is thwarted. Wikipedia
• 2006 Over 60 tornadoes break out in the United States; Tennessee is hardest hit with 29 people killed. Wikipedia
• 2015 Gunmen attack Garissa University College in Kenya, killing at least 148 people and wounding 79 others. Wikipedia
• 2020 COVID-19 pandemic: The total number of confirmed cases reach one million. Wikipedia
• 2021 At least 49 people are killed in a train derailment in Taiwan after a truck accidentally rolls onto the track. Wikipedia
• 2025 Liberation Day tariffs: U.S. President Donald Trump announces sweeping worldwide tariffs. Wikipedia

Born on April 2

• 181 Emperor Xian of Han, Chinese emperor (died 234) Wikipedia
• 747 Charlemagne, Frankish king (died 814) Wikipedia
• 1647 Maria Sibylla Merian, German-Dutch botanist and illustrator (died 1717) Wikipedia
• 1725 Giacomo Casanova, Italian explorer and author (died 1798) Wikipedia
• 1755 Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, French lawyer and politician (died 1826) Wikipedia
• 1805 Hans Christian Andersen, Danish novelist, short story writer, and poet (died 1875) Wikipedia
• 1838 Léon Gambetta, French lawyer and politician, 45th Prime Minister of France (died 1882) Wikipedia
• 1840 Émile Zola, French novelist, playwright, journalist (died 1902) Wikipedia
• 1842 Dominic Savio, Italian Catholic saint, adolescent student of Saint John Bosco (died 1857) Wikipedia
• 1862 Nicholas Murray Butler, American philosopher and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1947) Wikipedia
• 1875 Walter Chrysler, American businessman, founded Chrysler (died 1940) Wikipedia
• 1891 Tristão de Bragança Cunha, Indian nationalist and anti-colonial activist from Goa (died 1958) Wikipedia
• 1891 Max Ernst, German painter, sculptor, and poet (died 1976) Wikipedia
• 1914 Alec Guinness, English actor (died 2000) Wikipedia
• 1926 Jack Brabham, Australian race car driver (died 2014) Wikipedia
• 1928 Serge Gainsbourg, French singer-songwriter, actor, and director (died 1991) Wikipedia
• 1939 Marvin Gaye, American singer-songwriter (died 1984) Wikipedia
• 1969 Ajay Devgn, Indian actor, director, and producer Wikipedia
• 1975 Pedro Pascal, Chilean and American actor Wikipedia
• 1977 Michael Fassbender, German-Irish actor and producer Wikipedia
• 1986 Ibrahim Afellay, Dutch footballer Wikipedia
• 1990 Miralem Pjanić, Bosnian footballer Wikipedia

Died on April 2

• 670 Hasan ibn Ali the second Shia Imam (born 624) Wikipedia
• 1502 Arthur, prince of Wales (born 1486) Wikipedia
• 1657 Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor (born 1608) Wikipedia
• 1791 Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau, French journalist and politician (born 1749) Wikipedia
• 1872 Samuel Morse, American painter and academic, invented the Morse code (born 1791) Wikipedia
• 1914 Paul Heyse, German author, poet, and translator, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1830) Wikipedia
• 1928 Theodore William Richards, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1868) Wikipedia
• 1972 Franz Halder, German general (born 1884) Wikipedia
• 1974 Georges Pompidou, French banker and politician, 19th President of France (born 1911) Wikipedia
• 1995 Hannes Alfvén, Swedish physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1908) Wikipedia
• 2005 Pope John Paul II (born 1920) Wikipedia
• 2015 Manoel de Oliveira, Portuguese actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1908) Wikipedia
• 2022 Estelle Harris, American actress and comedian (born 1928) Wikipedia
• 2024 Maryse Condé, Guadeloupean novelist, critic, and playwright (born 1934) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Abundius of Como Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Amphianus of Lycia Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Æbbe the Younger Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Bronach of Glen-Seichis (Irish martyrology) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Elisabetta Vendramini Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Francis of Paola Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Francisco Coll Guitart Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Henry Budd (Anglican Church of Canada) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Laura Evangelista Alvarado Cardozo Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Nicholas Charnetsky Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Nicetius of Lyon Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Theodosia of Tyre Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Urban of Langres Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Vilmos Apor Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: April 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• International Children's Book Day (International) Wikipedia
• Thai Heritage Conservation Day (Thailand) Wikipedia
• Unity of Peoples of Russia and Belarus Day (Belarus) Wikipedia
• World Autism Awareness Day (International) Wikipedia
• Malvinas Day (Argentina) Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “April 2” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.