02 April History
- 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.
02 April Birthdays
- 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.