History of Today in India – 02 April

Explore the history of today 02 April in India, including important events, famous personalities, and milestones for UPSC SSC,Banking & PSC exams.

Last updated on 02 April 2026, 04:24 AM

📜 Important Events on 02 April in World History

02 Apr 2025: Liberation Day tariffs: U.S. President Donald Trump announces sweeping worldwide tariffs. Read more
02 Apr 2024: Viertola school shooting: A 12-year-old pupil is killed and two others injured by a shooter of the same age in Vantaa, Finland. Read more
02 Apr 2021: At least 49 people are killed in a train derailment in Taiwan after a truck accidentally rolls onto the track. Read more
02 Apr 2021: A Capitol Police officer is killed and another injured when an attacker rams his car into a barricade outside the United States Capitol. Read more
02 Apr 2020: COVID-19 pandemic: The total number of confirmed cases reach one million. Read more
02 Apr 2015: Gunmen attack Garissa University College in Kenya, killing at least 148 people and wounding 79 others. Read more
02 Apr 2015: Four men steal items worth up to £200 million from an underground safe deposit facility in London's Hatton Garden area in what has been called the "largest burglary in English legal history." Read more
02 Apr 2014: A spree shooting occurs at the Fort Hood army base in Texas, with four dead, including the gunman, and 16 others injured. Read more
02 Apr 2012: A mass shooting at Oikos University in California leaves seven people dead and three injured. Read more
02 Apr 2012: UTair Flight 120 crashes after takeoff from Roshchino International Airport in Tyumen, Russia, killing 33 and injuring 10. Read more
02 Apr 2011: India wins the Cricket World Cup for the second time in history under the captaincy of MS Dhoni. Read more
02 Apr 2006: Over 60 tornadoes break out in the United States; Tennessee is hardest hit with 29 people killed. Read more
02 Apr 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. Read more
02 Apr 2002: Israeli forces surround the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, into which armed Palestinians had retreated. Read more
02 Apr 1992: In New York, Mafia boss John Gotti is convicted of murder and racketeering and is later sentenced to life in prison. Read more
02 Apr 1992: Forty-two civilians are massacred in the town of Bijeljina in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Read more
02 Apr 1991: Rita Johnston becomes the first female Premier of a Canadian province when she succeeds William Vander Zalm (who had resigned) as Premier of British Columbia. Read more
02 Apr 1989: Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev arrives in Havana, Cuba, to meet with Fidel Castro in an attempt to mend strained relations. Read more
02 Apr 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. Read more
02 Apr 1982: Falklands War: Argentina invades the Falkland Islands. Read more
02 Apr 1980: United States President Jimmy Carter signs the Crude Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act. Read more
02 Apr 1979: A Soviet bio-warfare laboratory at Sverdlovsk accidentally releases airborne anthrax spores, killing 66 plus an unknown amount of livestock. Read more
02 Apr 1976: Prince Norodom Sihanouk resigns as leader of Cambodia and is placed under house arrest. Read more
02 Apr 1975: Vietnam War: Thousands of civilian refugees flee from Quảng Ngãi Province in front of advancing North Vietnamese troops. Read more
02 Apr 1973: Launch of the LexisNexis computerized legal research service. Read more
02 Apr 1972: Actor Charlie Chaplin returns to the United States for the first time since being labeled a communist during the Red Scare in the early 1950s. Read more
02 Apr 1969: LOT Polish Airlines Flight 165 crashes into the Polica mountain near Zawoja, Poland, killing 53. Read more
02 Apr 1964: The Soviet Union launches Zond 1. Read more
02 Apr 1956: As the World Turns and The Edge of Night premiere on CBS. The two soaps become the first daytime dramas to debut in the 30-minute format. Read more
02 Apr 1954: A 19-month-old infant is swept up in the ocean tides at Hermosa Beach, California. Local photographer John L. Gaunt photographs the incident; 1955 Pulitzer winner "Tragedy by the Sea". Read more
02 Apr 1930: After the mysterious death of Empress Zewditu, Haile Selassie is proclaimed emperor of Ethiopia. Read more
02 Apr 1921: The Autonomous Government of Khorasan, a military government encompassing the modern state of Iran, is established. Read more
02 Apr 1917: American entry into World War I: President Wilson asks the U.S. Congress for a declaration of war on Germany. Read more
02 Apr 1912: The ill-fated RMS Titanic begins sea trials. Read more
02 Apr 1911: The Australian Bureau of Statistics conducts the country's first national census. Read more
02 Apr 1902: Dmitry Sipyagin, Minister of Interior of the Russian Empire, is assassinated in the Mariinsky Palace, Saint Petersburg. Read more
02 Apr 1902: "Electric Theatre", the first full-time movie theater in the United States, opens in Los Angeles. Read more
02 Apr 1885: Canadian Cree warriors attack the village of Frog Lake, killing nine. Read more
02 Apr 1865: American Civil War: Defeat at the Third Battle of Petersburg forces the Army of Northern Virginia and the Confederate government to abandon Richmond, Virginia. Read more
02 Apr 1863: American Civil War: The largest in a series of Southern bread riots occurs in Richmond, Virginia. Read more
02 Apr 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. Read more
02 Apr 1800: Ludwig van Beethoven leads the premiere of his First Symphony in Vienna. Read more

🎂 Important Births on 02 April in World History

02 Apr 2007: Brenda Fruhvirtová, Czech tennis player Brenda Fruhvirtová is a Czech professional tennis player.
She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 87, achieved on 29 July 2024. She reached a career-high ITF junior ranking of world No. 4, achieved on 13 December 2021. Read more
02 Apr 2005: Adrián Liso, Spanish footballer Adrián Liso Lahoz is a Spanish footballer who plays as a left winger for La Liga club Getafe, on loan from Zaragoza. Read more
02 Apr 2004: Diana Shnaider, Russian tennis player Diana Maximovna Shnaider is a Russian professional tennis player. She has a career-high rankings of world No. 11 in singles and No. 8 in doubles by the Women's Tennis Association, both achieved in 2025.
Shnaider has won five singles titles and two doubles titles on the WTA Tour, and was a silver medalist in women's doubles at the 2024 Paris Olympics partnering Mirra Andreeva. Read more
02 Apr 2002: Emma Myers, American actress Emma Elizabeth Myers is an American actress. She is best known for her breakthrough role as Enid Sinclair in the Netflix series Wednesday (2022–present). She has since appeared in the television series A Good Girl's Guide to Murder (2024–present), and in films such as Family Switch (2023) and A Minecraft Movie (2025), with the latter earning her a Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award. She was featured in the 2026 class of the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. Read more
02 Apr 2000: Rodrigo Riquelme, Spanish footballer Rodrigo Riquelme Reche, also known as Roro, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for La Liga club Real Betis and the Spain national team. Read more
02 Apr 2000: Josip Stanišić, Croatian footballer Josip Stanišić is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for Bundesliga club Bayern Munich. Born in Germany, he plays for the Croatia national team. Stanišić has featured most often as a right-back but also as a centre-back, left-back and wing-back at senior level. Read more
02 Apr 1997: Dillon Bassett, American race car driver Dillon W. Bassett is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro for his team, Bassett Racing. He and his family team also previously competed full-time in what is now the ARCA Menards Series East. He is the brother of Ronnie Bassett Jr., who also drives for and co-owns Bassett Racing. Read more
02 Apr 1997: Abdelhak Nouri, Dutch footballer Abdelhak "Appie" Nouri is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He operated primarily as an attacking midfielder, but could also be deployed as a winger. Read more
02 Apr 1997: Austin Riley, American baseball player Michael Austin Riley is an American professional baseball third baseman for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). The Braves selected him in the first round, 41st overall, of the 2015 MLB draft. Read more
02 Apr 1996: Zach Bryan, American singer-songwriter Zachary Lane Bryan is an American country singer-songwriter from Oologah, Oklahoma. After two self-produced studio albums, DeAnn (2019) and Elisabeth (2020), he signed with Warner Records to release his third album and major label debut American Heartbreak (2022), which peaked at number five on the Billboard 200 and was led by the Billboard Hot 100-top ten single "Something in the Orange". His self-titled fourth album (2023) debuted atop the Billboard 200, while its lead single, "I Remember Everything", peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100, Hot Country Songs, and Hot Rock & Alternative Songs charts simultaneously, also earning him a Grammy Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance. His fifth studio album, The Great American Bar Scene (2024), peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 and spawned the Billboard Hot 100 top-ten single "Pink Skies". Read more
02 Apr 1996: André Onana, Cameroonian footballer André Onana Onana is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Süper Lig club Trabzonspor, on loan from Premier League club Manchester United, and the Cameroon national team. Read more
02 Apr 1995: Zack Steffen, American soccer player Zackary Thomas Steffen is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Major League Soccer club Colorado Rapids and the United States national team. Read more
02 Apr 1994: Pascal Siakam, Cameroonian basketball player Pascal Siakam is a Cameroonian professional basketball player for the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A four-time NBA All-Star and two-time All-NBA selection, he won an NBA championship with the Toronto Raptors in 2019. Nicknamed "Spicy P", Siakam played college basketball for the New Mexico State Aggies and was named the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year in 2016. He was selected by Toronto with the 27th overall pick in the first round of the 2016 NBA draft. Read more
02 Apr 1993: Keshorn Walcott, Trinidadian javelin thrower Keshorn "Keshie" Walcott, ORTT is a Trinidadian track and field athlete who competes in the javelin throw. He is the 2012 Olympic champion and the 2025 World champion. He is the first Caribbean male athlete, as well as the first of African descent, to win the gold medal in a throwing event in the history of the Olympics. He is also the holder of the North, Central American and Caribbean junior record. Read more
02 Apr 1993: Bruno Zuculini, Argentine footballer Bruno Zuculini is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Racing Club. Read more
02 Apr 1991: Quavo, American rapper Quavious Keyate Marshall, better known by his stage name Quavo, is an American rapper and record producer. He was the frontman of the now-defunct hip-hop group Migos. Formed with his nephew Takeoff and their mutual friend Offset in 2008, the group released four commercially successful studio albums before disbanding in 2023. Read more
02 Apr 1990: Yevgeniya Kanayeva, Russian gymnast Evgeniya Olegovna Kanaeva OMF is a retired Russian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the only individual rhythmic gymnast in history to win two Olympic all-around gold medals, winning at the 2008 Summer Olympics, where she finished with 3.75 points ahead of silver medalist Inna Zhukova, and at the 2012 Summer Olympics, where she also became the oldest gymnast to win the Olympic gold. On 4 July 2013, Kanaeva received the International Fair Play Award for "Sport and Life". Read more
02 Apr 1990: Miralem Pjanić, Bosnian footballer Miralem Pjanić is a Bosnian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Regarded as one of the best midfielders of his generation, he is considered to be one of the greatest free-kick takers of all time. Read more
02 Apr 1990: Amr El Solia, Egyptian footballer Amr Mohamed Eid El Solia is an Egyptian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Egyptian Premier League club Ceramica Cleopatra and the Egypt national team. He featured in the 2021 AFCON final match against Senegal. Read more
02 Apr 1988: Ellen Adarna, Filipino actress, model and public figure Ellen Meriam Go Adarna-Ramsay is a Filipino former actress, model, and former internet celebrity. Her family owns various hotels, condominiums and Queensland and Madonna, a chain of motels in Cebu, Manila and Davao. They also own a temple in honor of her late grandmother. A Gravure model, Adarna has appeared in various magazine covers in the Philippines, such as Candy, FHM, Esquire, UNO, Preview, Speed and Women's Health. Read more
02 Apr 1988: Renée Good, American writer, poet and shooting victim (died 2026) Renée Nicole Macklin Good, a 37-year-old American woman, was fatally shot in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Jonathan Ross, on January 7, 2026. Good was in her car, stopped sideways in the street, which led Ross to circle her vehicle on foot. Other agents approached, and one ordered her to get out of the car while reaching through her open window. Good briefly reversed, then began moving forward and to the right, into the direction of traffic. At this point, Ross was standing at the front-left of the vehicle and fired three shots, killing her, as her vehicle passed him, turning away from him. The killing sparked national protests and multiple investigations. Read more
02 Apr 1988: Jesse Plemons, American actor Jesse Plemons is an American actor. Known for his work with auteurs and portrayal of eccentric characters, his accolades include a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor as well as nominations for an Academy Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two British Academy Film Awards and an Actor Award. Read more
02 Apr 1987: Pablo Aguilar, Paraguayan footballer Pablo César Aguilar Benítez is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays as a centre-back who plays for Sportivo Luqueño. Read more
02 Apr 1987: Shane Lowry, Irish Professional Golfer, winner of the 2019 Open Championship and European Team Member for the 2021 and 2023 Ryder Cups Shane Lowry is an Irish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. His notable victories include the Irish Open in 2009 as an amateur and the 2019 Open Championship. Read more
02 Apr 1986: Ibrahim Afellay, Dutch footballer Ibrahim Afellay is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or winger. He currently works for Dutch broadcaster NOS as a football pundit. Read more
02 Apr 1986: Andris Biedriņš, Latvian basketball player Andris Biedriņš is a Latvian former professional basketball player. He was drafted by the Golden State Warriors with the 11th overall pick in the 2004 NBA draft. Read more
02 Apr 1986: Drew Van Acker, American actor, model and producer Drew Van Acker is an American actor, model and producer. He is known for playing Jason DiLaurentis, the older brother of Alison DiLaurentis, on Freeform's Pretty Little Liars (2010–2017) and Ian Archer in Cartoon Network's Tower Prep (2010). He has also starred as Remi Delatour on Lifetime's Devious Maids (2013–2015), and as Detective Tommy Campbell on the 2017 CBS police drama Training Day. Van Acker also starred in Addison Rae's music video for "Diet Pepsi". Read more
02 Apr 1985: Thom Evans, Zimbabwean-Scottish rugby player Thom Evans is a Scottish former international rugby union player and model. He last played on the wing
for Glasgow Warriors in the Celtic League. Evans's rugby career ended aged 24 on his tenth appearance for Scotland when he suffered a serious neck injury. Read more
02 Apr 1985: Stéphane Lambiel, Swiss figure skater Stéphane Lambiel is a Swiss former competitive figure skater who now works as a coach and choreographer. He is a two-time (2005–2006) World champion, the 2006 Olympic silver medalist, a two-time Grand Prix Final champion, and a nine-time Swiss national champion. Lambiel is known for his spins and is credited with popularizing some spin positions. Read more
02 Apr 1984: Engin Atsür, Turkish basketball player Engin Atsür is a Turkish professional basketball player for Orlandina Basket of the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). Standing at 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m), he plays the point guard position. Atsür played college basketball at the North Carolina State University from 2003 to 2007. Read more
02 Apr 1984: Nóra Barta, Hungarian diver Nóra Barta is a Hungarian diver. She won the bronze medal in 3m Springboard event at the 2006 European Aquatics Championships and the silver in 1 m springboard event at the 2008 European Championships in Aquatics. Read more
02 Apr 1984: Jérémy Morel, French footballer Jérémy Morel is a former professional footballer who plays as a centre-back. Born in France, he played for the Madagascar national team. Read more
02 Apr 1984: Miguel Ángel Moyá, Spanish footballer Miguel Ángel Moyá Rumbo is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Read more
02 Apr 1983: Arthur Boka, Ivorian footballer Etienne Arthur Boka is an Ivorian former professional footballer who played as a left back for the Ivory Coast national team. At club level, he last played for Atlético de Marbella in the seventh-tier Primera Andaluza. Read more
02 Apr 1983: Maksym Mazuryk, Ukrainian pole vaulter Maksym Mazuryk is a Ukrainian pole vaulter. He was born in Donetsk. He is sporter of Fenerbahçe S.K. from Turkey. Read more
02 Apr 1982: Marco Amelia, Italian footballer Marco Amelia is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and last coached Serie D amateurs Sondrio. Read more
02 Apr 1982: David Ferrer, Spanish tennis player David Ferrer Ern is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in July 2013. Ferrer won 27 ATP Tour singles titles, including a Masters 1000 event at the 2012 Paris Masters. He was also the runner-up at the 2013 French Open, the 2007 Tennis Masters Cup, and six Masters events. A three-time Davis Cup champion with Spain, Ferrer has the thirteenth-highest career prize money earnings among male tennis players. With 734 career match wins, he holds the distinction of winning the most matches on the ATP Tour without having won a major; he is widely considered one of the best players not to have won a major. Read more
02 Apr 1981: Michael Clarke, Australian cricketer Michael John Clarke is an Australian former cricketer. He was captain of the Australian cricket team in both Test and One Day International (ODI) between 2011 and 2015, leading Australia to victory in the 2015 Cricket World Cup. He also served as captain of the Twenty20 International (T20I) team between 2007 and 2010. With his time representing Australia, Clarke won multiple ICC titles with the team: the 2007 Cricket World Cup, the 2015 Cricket World Cup which he was the winning captain, and the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy. Read more
02 Apr 1981: Kapil Sharma, Indian stand-up comedian, television presenter and actor Kapil Sharma is an Indian stand-up comedian, television host, actor, dubbing artist, producer, and singer who primarily works in Hindi cinema. He is best known for hosting popular stand-up comedy and talk shows such as The Great Indian Kapil Show and The Kapil Sharma Show, and has received five Indian Television Academy Awards. Read more
02 Apr 1980: Avi Benedi, Israeli singer and songwriter Avi Benedi is an Israeli singer and songwriter. He has released three albums: Avi Benedi & Diamond Band in 2001, We Met Late in 2012. and Loco in 2017. Read more
02 Apr 1980: Adam Fleming, Scottish journalist Robert Adam Fleming is a Scottish journalist and presenter for BBC News. He was formerly its Chief Political correspondent, Brussels correspondent, and has previously worked for Daily Politics and Newsround. He co-presented the podcast and television programme Brexitcast, before becoming lead presenter of its successor, Newscast. Read more
02 Apr 1980: Gavin Heffernan, Canadian director and screenwriter Gavin Heffernan is a Canadian filmmaker, photographer, and producer. He co-wrote the psychological horror film The Taking of Deborah Logan (2014) and Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension (2015) with writing partner Adam Robitel. Also known for directing experimental visual works, primarily timelapse, featured in the Rolling Stones' 2015 Zip Code Tour as well as their 2016 Desert Trip shows. Heffernan also contributed visuals to Pink Floyd's Roger Waters' 2016 concerts, Paul Simon's 2018 Homeward Bound Farewell Tour, and John Mayer's 2022 Sob Rock tour. Read more
02 Apr 1980: Ricky Hendrick, American race car driver (died 2004) Joseph Riddick "Ricky" Hendrick IV was an American stock car racing driver and partial owner at Hendrick Motorsports, a NASCAR team that his father Rick Hendrick founded. He was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, on April 2, 1980, and began racing in Go Karts at a young age, then the Legends Series at fifteen. He competed in both the Busch Series and Craftsman Truck Series before his death from an airplane accident on October 24, 2004. He was killed with nine other family members and friends during the accident. Read more
02 Apr 1980: Wairangi Koopu, New Zealand rugby league player Dane Wairangi Manuera Koopu is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played for the New Zealand Warriors and the Melbourne Storm in the National Rugby League. Koopu primarily played in the second-row, and as a centre. He is fluent in Te Reo Maori and often appeared on Māori Television. Read more
02 Apr 1980: Carlos Salcido, Mexican international footballer Carlos Arnoldo Salcido Flores is a Mexican former professional footballer. He started his career as a centre-back and played most of it as left-back, then converted to defensive midfielder and ended it as centre-back. He won the 2012 Olympic gold medal. Read more
02 Apr 1977: Per Elofsson, Swedish skier Per Eilert Elofsson is a Swedish former cross-country skier who competed from 1997 to 2004. He won a bronze medal in the 10 km + 10 km combined pursuit at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, being upgraded from fourth place in 2004, after Spain's Johann Mühlegg got stripped of his gold medal due to the use of darboepotine. Read more
02 Apr 1977: Michael Fassbender, German-Irish actor and producer Michael Fassbender is a German-Irish actor, racing driver and producer. His accolades include a win for one Volpi Cup and nominations for two Academy Awards, four British Academy Film Awards and three Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, he was listed at number nine on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors. Read more
02 Apr 1977: Hanno Pevkur, Estonian lawyer and politician, Estonian Minister of Justice Hanno Pevkur is an Estonian politician who is currently the Minister of Defence. He is the former chairman of the Estonian Reform Party. Read more
02 Apr 1976: Andreas Anastasopoulos, Greek shot putter Andreas Anastasopoulos is a Greek track and field athlete in the shot put. From October 23, 2001 to October 22, 2003 he was suspended by the IAAF. Read more
02 Apr 1976: Rory Sabbatini, South African golfer Rory Mario Trevor Sabbatini is a South African-Slovak professional golfer. Sabbatini won six times on the PGA Tour between 2000 and 2011 and was runner-up in the 2007 Masters. He spent 21 weeks in the world top-10 in late-2007 and early-2008, with a high of 8th. Sabbatini won the silver medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics, representing Slovakia. Read more
02 Apr 1975: Nate Huffman, American basketball player (died 2015) Nathaniel Thomas Huffman was an American professional basketball player, who played most of his career with Maccabi Tel Aviv. He was the 2001 Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP, as well as the 2001 FIBA SuproLeague Player of the Year. Read more
02 Apr 1975: Randy Livingston, American basketball player Randy Livingston is an American former professional basketball player and current coach. He played parts of eleven seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for nine different teams. The national high school player in the country in 1993, Livingston's college and professional careers were marked by a series of injuries that hampered his play. Read more
02 Apr 1975: Katrin Rutschow-Stomporowski, German rower Katrin Rutschow-Stomporowski is a German rower and two-time Olympic gold medalist. Read more
02 Apr 1975: Pattie Mallette, Canadian author and film producer Patricia Mallette is the mother of Canadian pop singer Justin Bieber. She also managed her son's early career. Her autobiography, Nowhere but Up, was published in 2012 by Christian book publisher Revell, and was number 17 on the New York Times Best Seller list during its first week of release. Read more
02 Apr 1975: Pedro Pascal, Chilean and American actor José Pedro Balmaceda Pascal is a Chilean and American actor. Known for his portrayals of parental figures, he has starred in television series and blockbuster films. His accolades include an Actor Award, in addition to nominations for a Golden Globe Award and four Primetime Emmy Awards. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2023. Read more
02 Apr 1974: Tayfun Korkut, Turkish football manager and former player Tayfun Korkut is a football manager and former player. He was most recently the head coach of Hertha BSC. Born in Germany, he represented the Turkey national team internationally. Read more
02 Apr 1973: Dmitry Lipartov, Russian footballer Dmitry Viktorovich Lipartov is a former Russian professional footballer who played as a striker. Read more
02 Apr 1973: Roselyn Sánchez, Puerto Rican-American actress Roselyn Milagros Sánchez Rodríguez is a Puerto Rican singer-songwriter, dancer, model, actress, producer, and writer. On television, she is best known for her roles as Elena Delgado on the CBS police procedural Without a Trace (2005–2009), as Carmen Luna on the Lifetime comedy-drama Devious Maids (2013–2016), and as Elena Roarke on the new Fantasy Island (2021–2023). In film, Sánchez has appeared in Rush Hour 2 (2001), Boat Trip (2002), The Game Plan (2007), and Act of Valor (2012). Read more
02 Apr 1973: Aleksejs Semjonovs, Latvian footballer Aleksejs Semjonovs is a retired Latvian international football midfielder, who also holds the Russian nationality. He obtained a total number of nine caps for the Latvia national football team, scoring two goals. His last club was Dinaburg FC. He also played in Estonia and Russia during his career. Read more
02 Apr 1972: Eyal Berkovic, Israeli footballer Eyal Berkovic is an Israeli former professional association footballer, football coach, team owner and television talk show presenter. Read more
02 Apr 1972: Remo D'Souza, Indian choreographer and dancer Remo Gopi D'Souza is an Indian choreographer, film director, and producer. Over the course of his career spanning more than 25 years, D'Souza has choreographed more than 100 films. He is considered the most successful and renowned choreographer in the Hindi film industry and has served as a role model for many Indian choreographers. Additionally, he has been a judge on the dance reality show Dance Plus for seven consecutive seasons. Read more
02 Apr 1972: Calvin Davis, American sprinter and hurdler (died 2023) Calvin Davis was an American athlete who competed mainly in the 400 meters, though his fame came from his success in the 400 meter hurdles. Read more
02 Apr 1972: Zane Lamprey, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter Zane Lamprey is a comedian, actor, editor, producer, and writer for television and movies. Read more
02 Apr 1971: Edmundo Alves de Souza Neto, Brazilian footballer Edmundo Alves de Souza Oliveira, better known simply as Edmundo, is a Brazilian football pundit and retired footballer who played as a forward. Nicknamed O Animal, he was a talented yet controversial footballer and drew attention both for his skill, as well as for his volatile behaviour, both on and off the pitch. Read more
02 Apr 1971: Jason Lewry, English cricketer Jason Lewry is an English former cricketer. He was a left-handed batsman and a left-arm fast-medium bowler. Born in Worthing, he played for Sussex from the beginning of his career in 1994 until his retirement in 2009, a career spanning 16 years, in spite of numerous injuries. Read more
02 Apr 1971: Todd Woodbridge, Australian tennis player and sportscaster Todd Andrew Woodbridge, OAM is an Australian broadcaster and former professional tennis player. During his playing career, he formed multiple Grand-Slam winning doubles partnerships with Mark Woodforde and later Jonas Björkman. Read more
02 Apr 1969: Ajay Devgn, Indian actor, director, and producer Vishal Virender "Ajay" Devgan is an Indian actor, film director and producer who mainly works in Hindi films. He has appeared in over 100 films and has won numerous accolades, including four National Film Awards and four Filmfare Awards. In 2016, he was honoured by the Government of India with the Padma Shri, the country's fourth-highest civilian honour. Read more
02 Apr 1967: Greg Camp, American singer-songwriter and guitarist Gregory Dean Camp is an American guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist. He is best known as a founding member of the rock band Smash Mouth and served as a guitarist and songwriter across several stints. Camp is credited as one of the main songwriters for the band, and as such received a Grammy nomination for the song "All Star". Since leaving the band for a solo career in 2008, he has rejoined Smash Mouth periodically. Camp is currently a member of The Defiant. Read more
02 Apr 1967: Phil Demmel, American guitarist and songwriter Phil Demmel is an American musician who played lead guitar in the heavy metal band Machine Head between 2002 and 2018, making him their longest running member in that position. He has also performed with other artists such as Vio-lence, Torque, Metal Allegiance, BPMD, Kerry King and Category 7, and briefly with Slayer, Nonpoint, Overkill, Lamb of God and Testament as a fill-in guitarist. Read more
02 Apr 1966: Bill Romanowski, American football player and actor William Thomas Romanowski is an American former football linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. Nicknamed "Romo" and "RomoCop", he spent the majority of his career with the San Francisco 49ers and Denver Broncos. Read more
02 Apr 1966: Teddy Sheringham, English international footballer and coach Edward Paul (Teddy) Sheringham is an English football manager and former player. He played as a forward, mostly as a second striker, in a 24-year professional career. Sheringham was part of the Manchester United team that won the treble of the Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League in 1999. He scored the equalising goal and provided the assist for the club's winning goal in the 1999 UEFA Champions League final against Bayern Munich that sealed it, with both goals coming in injury time of the second half. Read more
02 Apr 1965: Rodney King, American victim of police brutality (died 2012) Rodney Glen King was an African American victim of police brutality. On March 3, 1991, he was severely beaten by officers of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) during his arrest after a high speed pursuit for driving while intoxicated on Interstate 210. An uninvolved resident, George Holliday, saw and filmed the incident from his nearby balcony and sent the footage, which showed King on the ground being beaten, to a local news station, KTLA. The station broadcast the film, which was rebroadcast by other stations, with this exposure precipitating riots. The incident was covered by news media around the world and caused a major public uproar. Read more
02 Apr 1964: Pete Incaviglia, American baseball player and coach Peter Joseph Incaviglia is an American professional baseball coach and former left fielder who is currently the manager for the Cleburne Railroaders of the American Association of Professional Baseball. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 12 seasons (1986–1998), for six different big league teams, and also spent one year in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Incaviglia was drafted in the first round by the Montreal Expos in the 1985 Major League Baseball draft out of Oklahoma State University, then was traded later that same year to the Texas Rangers. He debuted in the major leagues on April 8, 1986, without having spent any time in the minor leagues. His last MLB game was on September 27, 1998. Read more
02 Apr 1964: Jonathon Sharkey, American wrestler Jonathon Tepes Sharkey is an American former professional wrestler, and has been a candidate in multiple elections for public office. Read more
02 Apr 1963: Karl Beattie, English director and producer Karl Beattie is an English television director, producer and cameraman. Beattie and wife Yvette Fielding co-own and run Antix Productions. Read more
02 Apr 1963: Mike Gascoyne, English engineer Michael Robert Gascoyne is a British former Formula One designer and engineer. Read more
02 Apr 1962: Pierre Carles, French director and producer Pierre Carles is a French documentary filmmaker. He has been compared to Michael Moore for his use of the documentary form to denounce mainstream media, which he accuses of having conflicts of interest. Read more
02 Apr 1962: Billy Dean, American singer-songwriter and guitarist William Harold Dean Jr. is an American country music singer and songwriter. Read more
02 Apr 1962: Clark Gregg, American actor Robert Clark Gregg Jr. is an American actor, director, and screenwriter. He portrayed Phil Coulson in films and television series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe from 2008 to 2024, and voiced Coulson in an animated television series and video games. Read more
02 Apr 1961: Buddy Jewell, American singer-songwriter Buddy Jewell Jr. is an American country music singer who was the first winner on the USA Network talent show Nashville Star. Signed to Columbia Records in 2003, Jewell made his debut on the American country music scene with the release of his self-titled album, which produced the singles "Help Pour Out the Rain" and "Sweet Southern Comfort". Another album, Times Like These, followed in 2005. Read more
02 Apr 1961: Christopher Meloni, American actor Christopher Peter Meloni is an American actor. He is known for portraying NYPD Detective Elliot Stabler on the NBC legal drama series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and its spin-off Organized Crime (2021–present), for which he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. He also played Chris Keller on the HBO prison drama Oz (1998–2003), and starred in and executive produced the Syfy series Happy! (2017–2019). Read more
02 Apr 1961: Keren Woodward, English singer-songwriter Keren Jane Woodward is an English singer/songwriter and, with Sara Dallin and Siobhan Fahey, a founding member of the girl group Bananarama. In 1986, the trio reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 with their version of "Venus". Woodward and Dallin are the only constant members of Bananarama, and both have been a part of the group for over 40 years since 1979. Read more
02 Apr 1960: Linford Christie, Jamaican-English sprinter Linford Christie is a Jamaican-born British former sprinter and athletics coach. He is the only British man to have won gold medals in the 100 metres at all four major competitions open to British athletes: the Olympic Games, the World Championships, the European Championships and the Commonwealth Games. He was the first European athlete to break the 10-second barrier in the 100 m and held the British record in the event for close to 30 years. He is a former world indoor record holder over 200 metres, and a former European record holder in the 60 metres, 100 m and 4 × 100 metres relay. Read more
02 Apr 1960: Brad Jones, Australian race car driver Bradley Jones is an Australian former racing driver. Jones now acts as team co-principal with his brother Kim in the V8 Supercar racing team, Brad Jones Racing. Read more
02 Apr 1960: Pascale Nadeau, Canadian journalist Pascale Nadeau is a Canadian news presenter for Télévision de Radio-Canada from Quebec. Previously a daytime presenter for the all-news network Réseau de l'information and a local presenter for CBFT in Montreal, she has been the weekend presenter of the network's flagship newscast Le Téléjournal from September 2008 to 2021. Read more
02 Apr 1959: Gelindo Bordin, Italian runner Gelindo Bordin is an Italian former long distance runner, winner of the marathon race at the 1988 Summer Olympics. He is the first Italian to have won an Olympic gold in the marathon and the only male to win both the Boston Marathon and the Olympic gold medal in this event. Read more
02 Apr 1959: David Frankel, American director, producer, and screenwriter David Frankel is an American filmmaker. He directed The Devil Wears Prada (2006), Marley & Me (2008), Hope Springs (2012), Jerry & Marge Go Large (2022), and the first and fourth episodes of the Netflix miniseries Inventing Anna (2022). Read more
02 Apr 1959: Juha Kankkunen, Finnish race car driver Juha Matti Pellervo Kankkunen is a Finnish former rally driver. His factory team career in the World Rally Championship lasted from 1983 to 2002. He won 23 world rallies and four drivers' world championship titles, which were both once records in the series. Both Sébastien Loeb and Sébastien Ogier have since collected more world titles. Kankkunen's feat of becoming a world champion with three different manufacturers was unique until Ogier matched this achievement in 2020. Read more
02 Apr 1959: Yves Lavandier, French director and producer Yves Lavandier is a French film writer and director. Read more
02 Apr 1959: Badou Ezzaki, Moroccan footballer and manager Ezzaki "Zaki" Badou is a Moroccan football coach and former goalkeeper who currently manages the Niger national team. Read more
02 Apr 1958: Stefano Bettarello, Italian rugby player Stefano Bettarello is an Italian former rugby union player. He played as a fly-half for several clubs, mainly Rovigo and Benetton Treviso, winning an Italian Championship with each. Read more
02 Apr 1958: Larry Drew, American basketball player and coach Larry Donnell Drew is an American professional basketball coach and former player who serves as assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Read more
02 Apr 1957: Caroline Dean, English biologist and academic Dame Caroline Dean is a British plant scientist working at the John Innes Centre. She is focused on understanding the molecular controls used by plants to seasonally judge when to flower. She is specifically interested in vernalisation — the acceleration of flowering in plants by exposure to periods of prolonged cold. She has also served on the Life Sciences jury for the Infosys Prize from 2018. Read more
02 Apr 1957: Hank Steinbrenner, American businessman (died 2020) Henry George Steinbrenner III was an American businessman who was a part owner and co-chairman of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was the older brother of the team's principal owner and managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner. Read more
02 Apr 1955: Michael Stone, Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary Michael Anthony Stone is a British former militant who was a member of the Ulster Defence Association, a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. He was convicted of three counts of murder committed at an IRA funeral in 1988. In 2000, he was released from prison on licence under the Good Friday Agreement. In November 2006, Stone was charged with the attempted murder of Martin McGuinness and Gerry Adams, having been arrested attempting to enter the parliament buildings at Stormont while armed. He was convicted and sentenced in 2008 to a further 16 years' imprisonment, before being released on parole in 2021. Read more
02 Apr 1954: Gregory Abbott, American singer-songwriter and producer Gregory Joel Abbott is an American singer, musician, composer and producer. Although he continues to record to date, he is best known for his singles in the mid-1980s including his platinum single, "Shake You Down", from his 1986 debut album. Read more
02 Apr 1954: Donald Petrie, American actor and director Donald Mark Petrie is an American film director and actor. Read more
02 Apr 1953: Jim Allister, Northern Irish lawyer and politician James Hugh Allister is a Northern Irish unionist politician and barrister who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons for North Antrim since the 2024 general election. He founded the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) in 2007 and has led the party since its formation. Prior to his election to Westminster, Allister was a member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for North Antrim, having been first elected in the 2011 Assembly election. Read more
02 Apr 1953: Rosemary Bryant Mariner, 20th and 21st-century U.S. Navy aviator (died 2019) Captain Rosemary Bryant Mariner was an American pilot and one of the first six women to earn their wings as a United States Naval Aviator in 1974. She was the first female military pilot to fly a tactical jet and the first to achieve command of an operational aviation squadron. Read more
02 Apr 1953: Malika Oufkir, Moroccan Berber writer Malika Oufkir is a Moroccan writer and former victim of enforced disappearance. She is the daughter of General Mohamed Oufkir and a cousin of fellow Moroccan writer and actress Leila Shenna. Read more
02 Apr 1953: Debralee Scott, American actress (died 2005) Debralee Scott was an American actress best known for her roles on the sitcoms Welcome Back, Kotter; Angie; Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman; and Forever Fernwood. Read more
02 Apr 1953: James Vance, American author and playwright (died 2017) James Vance was an American comic book writer, author and playwright, best known for his work from Kitchen Sink Press and in particular the lauded Kings in Disguise. Read more
02 Apr 1952: Lennart Fagerlund, Swedish cyclist Lennart Fagerlund is a Swedish former cyclist. He competed in the individual road race and team time trial events at the 1972 Summer Olympics. His sporting career began with Mariestadcyclisten. Read more
02 Apr 1952: Will Hoy, English race car driver (died 2002) William Ewing Hoy was a British racing driver and the 1991 British Touring Car Champion, the highlight of a 20-year career in motor racing. Read more
02 Apr 1952: Leon Wilkeson, American bass player and songwriter (died 2001) Leon Russell Wilkeson was an American musician. He was the bassist of the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1972 until his death in 2001. Read more
02 Apr 1951: Ayako Okamoto, Japanese golfer Ayako Okamoto is a Japanese professional golfer. She won 62 tournaments internationally, including 17 on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour in the 1980s and 1990s. She is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. Read more
02 Apr 1950: Lynn Westmoreland, American politician Leon Acton "Lynn" Westmoreland Jr. is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for Georgia's 3rd congressional district from 2007 to 2017 and the 8th district from 2005 to 2007. He is a member of the Republican Party. Read more
02 Apr 1949: Paul Gambaccini, American-English radio and television host Paul Matthew Gambaccini is an American-British radio and television presenter and author. He is a dual citizen of the United States and United Kingdom, having become a British citizen in 2005. Read more
02 Apr 1949: Bernd Müller, German footballer Bernd Müller is a former East German footballer. Read more
02 Apr 1949: Pamela Reed, American actress Pamela Reed is an American actress. She is known for playing Arnold Schwarzenegger's police partner Phoebe O'Hara in the 1990 film Kindergarten Cop and portraying the matriarch Gail Green in Jericho. She appeared as Marlene Griggs-Knope on the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation, as well as the exasperated wife Alison Langley in Bean. Read more
02 Apr 1949: David Robinson, American drummer David Robinson is an American retired rock drummer. He has performed with many rock bands, including the Rising Tide, the Modern Lovers, the Pop!, DMZ and the Cars. In 2018, Robinson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Cars. To date, Robinson is also the only member of the Cars to not release a solo album. Read more
02 Apr 1948: Roald Als, Danish author and illustrator Roald Als is a Danish cartoonist best known for his editorial cartoons in Danish newspapers Weekendavisen and Politiken. Read more
02 Apr 1948: Dimitris Mitropanos, Greek singer (died 2012) Dimitris Mitropanos was a Greek singer. He was renowned for his mastery of laïkó, a Greek music style. Read more
02 Apr 1948: Daniel Okrent, American journalist and author

Daniel Okrent is an American writer and editor. He is best known for having served as the first public editor of The New York Times newspaper, inventing Rotisserie League Baseball, and for writing several history books.. In November 2011, Last Call won the Albert J. Beveridge prize, awarded by the American Historical Association to the year's best book of American history. His most recent book is The Guarded Gate: Bigotry, Eugenics, and the Law That Kept Two Generations of Jews, Italians, and Other European Immigrants Out of America (2019). Read more
02 Apr 1948: Joan D. Vinge, American author Joan D. Vinge is an American science fiction author. She is known for her Hugo Award–winning novel The Snow Queen (1980) and its sequels, her series about a telepath named Cat, and her Heaven's Chronicles books. She also is the author of The Random House Book of Greek Myths (1999). Read more
02 Apr 1947: Paquita la del Barrio, Mexican singer, songwriter and actress (died 2025) Francisca Viveros Barradas, known professionally as Paquita la del Barrio, was a Mexican singer. She was a Grammy-nominated performer of rancheras, boleros and other traditional and contemporary Mexican musical genres. Read more
02 Apr 1947: Tua Forsström, Finnish writer Tua Birgitta Forsström is a Finland-Swedish writer who writes in Swedish. She was awarded the Nordic Council Literature Prize in 1998 for the poetry collection Efter att ha tillbringat en natt bland hästar. Forsström's work is known for its engagement with the Finnish landscape, travel and conflicts within relationships. She often uses quotations in her work, sometimes placing them directly into her poems and at other times using them as introductions or interludes in her sequences. She has used quotations from Egon Friedell, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Hermann Hesse and Friedrich Nietzsche. In the collection After Spending a Night Among Horses (1997) Forsström uses quotations from the Andrei Tarkovsky film Stalker, they are placed as interludes in a sequence of pieces and sit alone on the page, without direct reference to their source on the page, leaving this to a Notes & Quotations section at the end of the book. Read more
02 Apr 1947: Emmylou Harris, American singer-songwriter and guitarist Emmylou Harris is an American singer, songwriter, musician, bandleader, and activist. She is considered one of the leading music artists behind the country rock genre in the 1970s and the Americana genre in the 1990s. Her music united both country and rock audiences in live performance settings. Her characteristic voice, musical style and songwriting have been acclaimed by critics and fellow recording artists. Read more
02 Apr 1947: Camille Paglia, American author and critic Camille Anna Paglia is an American academic, social critic and feminist. Paglia was a professor at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1984 until the university's closure in 2024. She is critical of many aspects of modern culture and is the author of Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson (1990) and other books. She is also a critic of contemporary American feminism and of post-structuralism, as well as a commentator on multiple aspects of American culture such as its visual art, music, and film history. Read more
02 Apr 1946: Richard Collinge, New Zealand cricketer Richard Owen Collinge is a former New Zealand cricketer, who played 35 Tests and 15 ODIs. He was a New Zealand Cricket Almanack Player of the Year in 1971. Read more
02 Apr 1946: David Heyes, English politician David Alan Heyes is a British Labour Party politician and former Member of Parliament (MP) for Ashton-under-Lyne from 2001 to 2015. Read more
02 Apr 1946: Sue Townsend, English author and playwright (died 2014) Susan Lillian Townsend was an English writer and humorist whose work encompasses novels, plays and works of journalism. She was best known for creating the character Adrian Mole. Read more
02 Apr 1946: Kurt Winter, Canadian guitarist and songwriter (died 1997) Kurt Frank Winter was a Canadian guitarist and songwriter, best known as a member of The Guess Who. Read more
02 Apr 1945: Jürgen Drews, German singer-songwriter Jürgen Ludwig Drews is a German schlager singer. Read more
02 Apr 1945: Guy Fréquelin, French race car driver Guy Fréquelin is a French former rally and sports car driver. Read more
02 Apr 1945: Linda Hunt, American actress Linda Hunt is an American actress. She made her film debut playing Mrs. Oxheart in Popeye (1980). Her portrayal of the male character Billy Kwan in The Year of Living Dangerously (1982) won her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, making her the first person to win an Oscar for portraying a character of the opposite sex. Hunt has also appeared in films such as Dune (1984), Silverado (1985), Eleni (1985), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Pocahontas (1995), Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World (1998), and Stranger Than Fiction (2006). Read more
02 Apr 1945: Reggie Smith, American baseball player and coach Carl Reginald Smith is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder and afterwards served as a coach and front office executive. He also played in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for two seasons at the end of his playing career. During a seventeen-year MLB career (1966–1982), Smith appeared in 1,987 games, hit 314 home runs with 1,092 RBI and batted .287. He was a switch-hitter who threw right-handed. In his prime, he had one of the strongest throwing arms of any outfielder in the MLB. Smith played at least seventy games in thirteen different seasons, and in every one of those thirteen seasons, his team had a winning record. Read more
02 Apr 1945: Don Sutton, American baseball player and sportscaster (died 2021) Donald Howard Sutton was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Sutton won a total of 324 games, pitched 58 shutouts including five one-hitters and ten two-hitters, and led the National League in walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP) four times. He is seventh on baseball's all-time strikeout list with 3,574. Read more
02 Apr 1945: Anne Waldman, American poet Anne Waldman is an American poet.
Since the 1960s, Waldman has been an active member of the Outrider experimental poetry community as a writer, performer, collaborator, professor, editor, scholar, and cultural/political activist. She has also been connected to the Beat Generation poets. Read more
02 Apr 1944: Bill Malinchak, American football player William John Malinchak is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver and special teams ace in the National Football League (NFL) during the 1960s and 1970s. He played college football for the Indiana Hoosiers Read more
02 Apr 1943: Michael Boyce, Baron Boyce, South African-English admiral and politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (died 2022) Admiral of the Fleet Michael Cecil Boyce, Baron Boyce was a British Royal Navy officer who also sat as a crossbench member of the House of Lords until his death in November 2022. Read more
02 Apr 1943: Caterina Bueno, Italian singer (died 2007) Caterina Bueno was an Italian singer and folk music historian. Read more
02 Apr 1943: Larry Coryell, American jazz guitarist (died 2017) Larry Coryell was an American jazz guitarist, widely considered the "godfather of fusion". Alongside Gábor Szabó, he was a pioneer in melding jazz, country and rock music. Coryell was also a music teacher and a writer, penning a monthly column for Guitar Player magazine from 1977 to 1989. He collaborated with a number of other high-profile musicians, including John McLaughlin, Chick Corea, Miroslav Vitouš, Billy Cobham, Lenny White, Emily Remler, Al Di Meola, Paco de Lucía, Steve Morse and others. Read more
02 Apr 1943: Antonio Sabàto, Sr., Italian actor (died 2021) Antonio Sabàto Sr. was an Italian actor, best known for his starring roles in Spaghetti Western and poliziotteschi films. He was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actor for his performance in Grand Prix (1966). Read more
02 Apr 1942: Leon Russell, American singer-songwriter and pianist (died 2016) Leon Russell was an American musician and songwriter who was involved with numerous bestselling records during his 60-year career that spanned multiple genres, including rock and roll, country, gospel, bluegrass, rhythm and blues, southern rock, blues rock, folk, surf and the Tulsa sound. His recordings earned six gold records and he received two Grammy Awards from seven nominations. In 1973 Billboard named Russell the "Top Concert Attraction in the World". In 2011, he was inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Read more
02 Apr 1942: Roshan Seth, Indian-English actor Roshan Seth is a British-Indian actor, writer and theatre director who has worked in the United Kingdom, United States and India. He began his acting career in the early 1960s in the UK, but left acting the following decade and moved to India to work as a journalist. In the 1980s, he rose to prominence for his comeback performance as Jawaharlal Nehru in Richard Attenborough's Academy Award-winning film Gandhi, which brought him a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and reignited his interest in acting. Read more
02 Apr 1941: Dr. Demento, American radio host Barret Eugene Hansen, also known professionally as Dr. Demento, is a retired American radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and unusual recordings from the dawn of the phonograph to the present. Read more
02 Apr 1941: Sonny Throckmorton, American country singer-songwriter James Fron "Sonny" Throckmorton is an American country music songwriter. He has had more than 1,000 of his songs recorded by various country singers. He has also had minor success as a recording artist, having released two major-label albums: The Last Cheater's Waltz in 1978 on Mercury Records and Southern Train in 1986 on Warner Bros. Records. Throckmorton is a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and has been awarded Songwriter of the Year by both Broadcast Music Incorporated and the Nashville Songwriters Association International. Read more
02 Apr 1940: Donald Jackson, Canadian figure skater and coach Donald George Jackson is a Canadian retired figure skater. He is the 1962 World Champion, four-time Canadian national champion, and 1960 Olympic bronze medallist. At the 1962 World Figure Skating Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia, he landed the first triple Lutz jump in international competition and won the world title. Read more
02 Apr 1940: Mike Hailwood, English motorcycle racer (died 1981) Stanley Michael Bailey Hailwood was a British racing driver and motorcycle road racer, who competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing from 1958 to 1967, and Formula One between 1963 and 1974. Nicknamed "the Bike", Hailwood was a nine-time Grand Prix motorcycle World Champion, with four titles in the premier 500cc class with MV Agusta, and won 76 motorcycle Grands Prix across 10 seasons. Read more
02 Apr 1940: Penelope Keith, English actress Dame Penelope Anne Constance Keith is an English actress and presenter, active in film, radio, stage and television and primarily known for her roles in the British sitcoms The Good Life and To the Manor Born. She succeeded Lord Olivier as president of the Actors' Benevolent Fund after his death in 1989, and was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to the arts and to charity. Read more
02 Apr 1939: Marvin Gaye, American singer-songwriter (died 1984) Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. was an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. Commonly referred to as the "Prince of Motown" and "Prince of Soul", he helped to shape the sound of Motown and soul music in the 1960s and 1970s. A cultural icon, Gaye is often considered one of the greatest singers and songwriters of all time. Read more
02 Apr 1939: Anthony Lake, American academic and diplomat, 18th United States National Security Advisor William Anthony Kirsopp Lake is an American diplomat and political advisor who served as the 17th United States National Security Advisor from 1993 to 1997 and as the sixth Executive Director of UNICEF from 2010 to 2017. Read more
02 Apr 1939: Lise Thibault, Canadian journalist and politician, 27th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec Lise Thibault DStJ is a Canadian politician who served as the 27th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec from 1997 to 2007. She later spent six months in jail for misuse of public funds, which she was ordered to repay the government. As of 2026, she is the only Canadian vice-regal representative to have been incarcerated. Read more
02 Apr 1938: John Larsson, Swedish 17th General of The Salvation Army (died 2022) John Alfred Larsson was a Swedish Salvationist, writer and composer of Christian music and hymns, who was the 17th General of The Salvation Army. Read more
02 Apr 1938: Booker Little, American trumpet player and composer (died 1961) Booker Little Jr. was an American jazz trumpeter and composer. He appeared on many recordings in his short career, both as a sideman and as a leader. Little performed with Max Roach, John Coltrane, and Eric Dolphy and was strongly influenced by Sonny Rollins and Clifford Brown. He died aged 23. Read more
02 Apr 1938: Al Weis, American baseball player Albert John Weis is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as an infielder from 1962 to 1971 for the Chicago White Sox and the New York Mets. A light-hitting batter with only seven career home runs, he is notable for hitting a dramatic home run in Game 5 of the 1969 World Series. He was a switch hitter until the end of the 1968 season, after which he batted exclusively right-handed. Read more
02 Apr 1937: Dick Radatz, American baseball player (died 2005) Richard Raymond Radatz was an American relief pitcher in Major League Baseball. Nicknamed "The Monster", the 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m), 230 lb (100 kg) right-hander had a scorching but short-lived period of dominance for the Boston Red Sox in the early 1960s. Radatz is reported to have gotten his nickname during a game against the New York Yankees in Boston in 1963 in which he came in to pitch with the bases loaded and no one out. He consecutively struck out Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, and Elston Howard, after which Mantle grumbled about Radatz being "that monster". Over his career, Radatz struck out Hall of Famer Mantle 44 times in 63 at-bats. Read more
02 Apr 1936: Shaul Ladany, Serbian-Israeli race walker and engineer Shaul Paul Ladany is an Israeli Holocaust survivor, racewalker and two-time Olympian. He holds the world record in the 50-mile walk (7:23:50), and the Israeli national record in the 50-kilometer walk (4:17:07). He is a former world champion in the 100-kilometer walk. Read more
02 Apr 1934: Paul Cohen, American mathematician and theorist (died 2007) Paul Joseph Cohen was an American mathematician, best known for his proofs that the continuum hypothesis and the axiom of choice are independent from Zermelo–Fraenkel set theory, for which he was awarded a Fields Medal. Read more
02 Apr 1934: Brian Glover, English wrestler and actor (died 1997) Brian Glover was an English actor and writer. He worked as a teacher and professional wrestler before commencing an acting career which included films, many roles on British television and work on the stage. His film appearances include Kes (1969), An American Werewolf in London (1981) and Alien 3 (1992). Read more
02 Apr 1934: Carl Kasell, American journalist and game show host (died 2018) Carl Ray Kasell was an American radio personality. He was a newscaster for National Public Radio, and later was the official judge and scorekeeper of the weekly news quiz show Wait Wait… Don't Tell Me! until his retirement in 2014. Read more
02 Apr 1934: Richard Portman, American sound engineer (died 2017) Richard Portman was an American sound engineer. He won an Academy Award for Best Sound and was nominated for ten more in the same category. He worked on more than 160 films between 1963 and 2004. Portman later taught at Florida State University; he died of complications after a fall. Read more
02 Apr 1934: Dovid Shmidel, Austrian-born Israeli rabbi Dovid Shmidel of Bnei Brak is a rabbi and the Chairman of Asra Kadisha. He was involved in struggles against excavations at various locations including at the Tomb of Maimonides in Tiberias in 1956 and at Israel's Highway 6; as well as at the disputed tomb of Antigonus II Mattathias in East Jerusalem. For an entire year, Shmidel was occupied with preserving the old Jewish cemetery in Egypt. Read more
02 Apr 1933: György Konrád, Hungarian sociologist and author (died 2019) György (George) Konrád was a Hungarian novelist, pundit, essayist and sociologist known as an advocate of individual freedom. Read more
02 Apr 1932: Edward Egan, American cardinal (died 2015) Edward Michael Egan was an American Catholic prelate who served as bishop of Bridgeport in Connecticut from 1988 to 2000 and as archbishop of New York from 2000 to 2009. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 2001. Read more
02 Apr 1931: Keith Hitchins, American historian (died 2020) Keith Arnold Hitchins was an American historian and a professor of Eastern European history at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, specializing in Romania and its history. Read more
02 Apr 1931: Vladimir Kuznetsov, Russian javelin thrower (died 1986) Vladimir Vasilyevich Kuznetsov was a Soviet Russian javelin thrower. Read more
02 Apr 1930: Roddy Maude-Roxby, English actor Roderick A. Maude-Roxby is an English retired actor. He has appeared in numerous films, such as Walt Disney's The Aristocats, where he voiced the greedy butler Edgar Balthazar ; Unconditional Love; and Clint Eastwood's White Hunter Black Heart, playing Thompson. Read more
02 Apr 1929: Ed Dorn, American poet and educator (died 1999) Edward Merton Dorn was an American poet and teacher often associated with the Black Mountain poets. His most famous work is Gunslinger (1968). Read more
02 Apr 1928: Joseph Bernardin, American cardinal (died 1996) Joseph Louis Bernardin was an American Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Cincinnati in Ohio from 1972 until 1982, and as Archbishop of Chicago in Illinois from 1982 until his death from pancreatic cancer. Bernardin was elevated to the cardinalate in 1983 by Pope John Paul II. Read more
02 Apr 1928: Serge Gainsbourg, French singer-songwriter, actor, and director (died 1991) Serge Gainsbourg was a French singer-songwriter, actor, composer, and director. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provocative releases which caused uproar in France, dividing public opinion. His artistic output ranged from his early work in jazz, chanson, and yé-yé to later efforts in rock, zouk, funk, reggae, and electronica. Gainsbourg's varied musical style and individuality make him difficult to categorise, although his legacy has been firmly established and he is often regarded as one of the world's most influential popular musicians. Read more
02 Apr 1928: Roy Masters, English-American radio host (died 2021) Roy Masters was an English-born American author, radio personality, businessman and hypnotist. He was the creator of a type of mindfulness meditation exercise, which has appeared in his books and recordings. Masters was the founder of the Oregon non-profit organization, The Foundation of Human Understanding. His forays into radio broadcasting included his own show, Advice Line, and the Talk Radio Network, a long time popular conservative talk radio syndicator. Read more
02 Apr 1928: David Robinson, Northern Irish horticulturist and academic (died 2004) David Willis Robinson was a Northern Irish horticultural scientist who made contributions to the national and international fields of horticulture and agriculture, with more than 120 publications. After a working life in research, in retirement he became a journalist and television/radio presenter and a leader of gardening tours. He cultivated and managed the Earlscliffe Gardens at the Baily, Howth, County Dublin, Ireland. Read more
02 Apr 1927: Carmen Basilio, American boxer and soldier (died 2012) Carmen Basilio was an American professional boxer who was a two-time Undisputed Welterweight Champion and Undisputed Middleweight champion, beating Sugar Ray Robinson for the latter title. An iron-chinned pressure fighter, Basilio was a combination puncher who had great stamina and eventually wore many of his opponents down with vicious attacks to the head and body. Read more
02 Apr 1927: Howard Callaway, American soldier and politician, 11th United States Secretary of the Army (died 2014) Howard Hollis "Bo" Callaway was an American businessman and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served in the United States House of Representatives from 1965 to 1967 and as the United States secretary of the Army from 1973 to 1975. Read more
02 Apr 1927: Rita Gam, American actress (died 2016) Rita Gam was an American film and television actress and documentary filmmaker. She won the Silver Bear for Best Actress. Read more
02 Apr 1927: Billy Pierce, American baseball player and sportscaster (died 2015) Walter William Pierce was an American starting pitcher in Major League Baseball between 1945 and 1964 who played most of his career for the Chicago White Sox. He was the team's star pitcher in the decade from 1952 to 1961, when they posted the third best record in the major leagues, and received the Sporting News Pitcher of the Year Award for the American League (AL) in 1956 and 1957 after being runner-up in both 1953 and 1955. A seven-time All-Star, he led the AL in complete games three times despite his slight build, and in wins, earned run average (ERA) and strikeouts once each. He pitched four one-hitters and seven two-hitters in his career, and on June 27, 1958 came within one batter of becoming the first left-hander in 78 years to throw a perfect game. Read more
02 Apr 1927: Kenneth Tynan, English author and critic (died 1980) Kenneth Peacock Tynan was an English theatre critic and writer. Initially making his mark as a critic at The Observer, he praised John Osborne's Look Back in Anger (1956) and encouraged the emerging wave of British theatrical talent. Read more
02 Apr 1926: Jack Brabham, Australian race car driver (died 2014) Sir John Arthur Brabham was an Australian racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from 1955 to 1970. Brabham won three Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won in 1959, 1960 and 1966, and won 14 Grands Prix across 16 seasons. He co-founded Brabham in 1960, leading the team to two World Constructors' Championship titles, and remains the only driver to have won the World Drivers' Championship in an eponymous car. Read more
02 Apr 1926: Rudra Rajasingham, Sri Lankan police officer and diplomat (died 2006) Rudra Srichandra Rajasingham was a Sri Lankan police officer and diplomat. He was the Inspector General of Police and Sri Lankan Ambassador to Indonesia. Read more
02 Apr 1925: George MacDonald Fraser, Scottish author and screenwriter (died 2008) George MacDonald Fraser was a British author and screenwriter. He is best known for a series of works that featured the character Flashman. Over the course of his career he wrote eleven novels and one short-story collection in the Flashman series of novels, as well as non-fiction, short stories, novels and screenplays—including those for the James Bond film Octopussy, The Three Musketeers and an adaptation of his own novel Royal Flash. Read more
02 Apr 1925: Hans Rosenthal, German radio and television host (died 1987) Hans Rosenthal was a German radio editor, director, and one of the most popular German radio and television hosts of the 1970s and 1980s. Read more
02 Apr 1924: Bobby Ávila, Mexican baseball player (died 2004) Roberto Francisco Ávila González, known as "Beto" in Mexico and as "Bobby" in the United States, was a Mexican professional baseball second baseman. Read more
02 Apr 1923: Gloria Henry, actress (died 2021) Gloria Henry was an American actress, best known for her role as Alice Mitchell, Dennis' mother, from 1959 to 1963 on the CBS family sitcom Dennis the Menace. Read more
02 Apr 1923: Johnny Paton, Scottish footballer, coach, and manager (died 2015) John Aloysius Paton was a Scottish professional football player, manager, coach, scout and later a professional snooker referee. He began his career in Scotland with Celtic and played in the Football League for Chelsea, Brentford and Watford. Paton later managed Watford and Arsenal 'A'. Read more
02 Apr 1923: G. Spencer-Brown, English mathematician, psychologist, and author (died 2016) George Spencer-Brown was an English polymath best known as the author of the 1969 book Laws of Form, a study of mathematics and philosophy. He described himself as a "mathematician, consulting engineer, psychologist, educational consultant and practitioner, consulting psychotherapist, author, and poet". Read more
02 Apr 1922: John C. Whitehead, American banker and politician, 9th United States Deputy Secretary of State (died 2015) John Cunningham Whitehead was an American banker and civil servant, a board member of the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation, and, until his resignation in May 2006, chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. Read more
02 Apr 1920: Gerald Bouey, Canadian lieutenant and civil servant (died 2004) Gerald Keith Bouey was a Canadian economist who served as the fourth governor of the Bank of Canada from 1973 to 1987, succeeding Louis Rasminsky. He was succeeded by John Crow. Read more
02 Apr 1920: Jack Stokes, English animator and director (died 2013) John Albert Stokes was a British animation director best known for his work on the 1968 Beatles film Yellow Submarine. Read more
02 Apr 1920: Jack Webb, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1982) John Randolph Webb was an American actor, television producer, director, and screenwriter, most famous for his role as Joe Friday in the Dragnet franchise, which he created. He was also the founder of his own production company, Mark VII Limited. Read more
02 Apr 1919: Delfo Cabrera, Argentinian runner and soldier (died 1981) Delfo Cabrera Gómez was an Argentine athlete, winner of the marathon race at the 1948 Summer Olympics in one of the most dramatic finishes in athletics history. Read more
02 Apr 1914: Alec Guinness, English actor (died 2000) Sir Alec Guinness was an English actor. In the BFI listing of the 100 most important British films of the 20th century, he was the single most noted actor, represented across nine films—six in starring roles and three in supporting roles—including five directed by David Lean and four from Ealing Studios. He won an Academy Award, a BAFTA, a Golden Globe, a Tony Award and a Volpi Cup. In 1959, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to the arts. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960, the Academy Honorary Award for lifetime achievement in 1980 and the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award in 1989. Read more
02 Apr 1910: Paul Triquet, Canadian general, Victoria Cross recipient (died 1980) Brigadier-General Paul Triquet was a Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest and most prestigious award for valour in the presence of the enemy that can be awarded to British and other Commonwealth forces. Triquet held the rank of captain at the time of his VC award and went on to achieve the rank of brigadier-general. Read more
02 Apr 1910: Chico Xavier, Brazilian spiritual medium (died 2002) Chico Xavier or Francisco Cândido Xavier, born Francisco de Paula Cândido, was a popular Brazilian philanthropist and spiritist medium. During a period of 60 years, he wrote over 490 books and several thousand letters claiming to use a process known as "psychography". Books based on old letters and manuscripts were published posthumously, bringing the total number of books to 496. Read more
02 Apr 1908: Buddy Ebsen, American actor and dancer (died 2003) Buddy Ebsen, also known as Frank "Buddy" Ebsen, was an American actor and dancer, widely known for his role as Jed Clampett in the CBS television sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies (1962–1971) as well his title role in the television detective drama Barnaby Jones (1973–1980). Read more
02 Apr 1907: Harald Andersson, American-Swedish discus thrower (died 1985) Harald "Slaktarn" Andersson was a Swedish discus thrower. In 1934 he won a European title and held the world record for eight months. The same year he was awarded the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal. Read more
02 Apr 1907: Luke Appling, American baseball player and manager (died 1991) Lucius Benjamin Appling, nicknamed "Old Aches and Pains", was an American professional baseball shortstop who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball for the Chicago White Sox (1930–1950). He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1964. Read more
02 Apr 1906: Alphonse-Marie Parent, Canadian priest and educator (died 1970) Alphonse-Marie Parent was a Canadian priest, educator and academic administrator. He is best known for having given his name to the Parent Report on the reform of Quebec's education system. Read more
02 Apr 1903: Lionel Chevrier, Canadian lawyer and politician, 27th Canadian Minister of Justice (died 1987) Lionel Chevrier was a Canadian politician who was a Member of Parliament and cabinet minister. Read more
02 Apr 1902: Jan Tschichold, German-Swiss graphic designer and typographer (died 1974) Jan Tschichold (German pronunciation: [jan ˈtʃɪçɔlt]; born Johannes Tzschichhold;, also known as Iwan Tschichold or Ivan Tschichold, was a German calligrapher, typographer and book designer. He played a significant role in the development of graphic design in the 20th century – first, by developing and promoting principles of typographic modernism, and subsequently idealizing conservative typographic structures. His direction of the visual identity of Penguin Books in the decade following World War II served as a model for the burgeoning design practice of planning corporate identity programs. He also designed the typeface Sabon. Read more
02 Apr 1902: Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe (died 1994) Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, known to adherents of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement as the Lubavitcher Rebbe or simply the Rebbe, was an Orthodox rabbi and the Rebbe of the Lubavitch Hasidic dynasty. He is considered one of the most influential Jewish leaders of the 20th century. Read more
02 Apr 1900: Roberto Arlt, Argentinian journalist, author, and playwright (died 1942) Roberto Arlt was an Argentine novelist, storyteller, playwright, and journalist. Read more
02 Apr 1900: Anis Fuleihan, Cypriot-American pianist, composer, and conductor (died 1970) Anis Fuleihan was a Cypriot-born American composer, conductor and pianist. Read more
02 Apr 1900: Alfred Strange, English footballer (died 1978) Alfred Henry Strange was an English footballer who played most of his career as a half back with Sheffield Wednesday. He won 20 caps for England, including three as captain. Read more
02 Apr 1898: Harindranath Chattopadhyay, Indian poet, actor and politician (died 1990) Harindranath Chattopadhyay was an Indian English poet, dramatist, actor, musician, and a member of the 1st Lok Sabha from Vijayawada constituency. He was the younger brother of Sarojini Naidu, the second woman President of the Indian National Congress and first Indian woman to hold the position, and Virendranath Chattopadhyay, an international communist revolutionary. The Government of India awarded him the civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan in 1973. Read more
02 Apr 1898: Chiungtze C. Tsen, Chinese mathematician (died 1940) Chiungtze C. Tsen, given name Chiung, was a Chinese mathematician born in Nanchang, Jiangxi. He is known for his work in algebra. He was one of Emmy Noether's students at the University of Göttingen, Germany. Read more
02 Apr 1896: Johnny Golden, American golfer (died 1936) Johnny Golden was an American professional golfer. Read more
02 Apr 1891: Jack Buchanan, Scottish entertainer (died 1957) Walter John Buchanan was a British theatre and film actor, singer, dancer, producer and director. Read more
02 Apr 1891: Max Ernst, German painter, sculptor, and poet (died 1976) Max Ernst was a German-born painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and surrealism in Europe. He had no formal artistic training, but his experimental attitude toward the making of art resulted in his invention of frottage—a technique that uses pencil rubbings of textured objects and relief surfaces to create images—and grattage, an analogous technique in which paint is scraped across canvas to reveal the imprints of the objects placed beneath. Ernst is noted for his unconventional drawing methods as well as for creating novels and pamphlets using the method of collages. He served as a soldier for four years during World War I, which left him shocked, traumatised and critical of the modern world. During World War II he was designated an "undesirable foreigner" while living in France. Read more
02 Apr 1891: Tristão de Bragança Cunha, Indian nationalist and anti-colonial activist from Goa (died 1958) Tristão de Bragança Cunha, better known as T. B. Cunha, was a Goan nationalist and anti-colonial activist. Referred to as the "Father of Goan nationalism", he was the organiser of the first movement to end Portuguese rule in Goa. Read more
02 Apr 1888: Neville Cardus, English cricket and music writer (died 1975) Sir John Frederick Neville Cardus, CBE was an English writer and critic. From an impoverished home background, and mainly self-educated, he became The Manchester Guardian's cricket correspondent in 1919 and its chief music critic in 1927, holding the two posts simultaneously until 1940. His contributions to these two distinct fields in the years before the Second World War established his reputation as one of the foremost critics of his generation. Read more
02 Apr 1884: J. C. Squire, English poet, author, and historian (died 1958) Sir John Collings Squire was an English writer, most notable as editor of the London Mercury, a major literary magazine in the interwar period. He antagonised several eminent authors, but attracted a coterie that was dubbed the Squirearchy. He was also a poet and historian, who captained a famous literary cricket-team called the Invalids. Read more
02 Apr 1875: Walter Chrysler, American businessman, founded Chrysler (died 1940) Walter Percy Chrysler was an American industrial pioneer in the automotive industry, automotive industry executive, and the founder and namesake of American Chrysler Corporation. Read more
02 Apr 1875: William Donne, English cricketer and captain (died 1942) William Stephens Donne was an English cricket player, and former president of the Rugby Football Union, and was a member of the cricket team that won a gold medal at the 1900 Summer Olympics. Read more
02 Apr 1870: Edmund Dwyer-Gray, Irish-Australian politician, 29th Premier of Tasmania (died 1945) Edmund John Chisholm Dwyer-Gray was an Irish-Australian politician, who was the 29th Premier of Tasmania from 11 June to 18 December 1939. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). Read more
02 Apr 1869: Hughie Jennings, American baseball player and manager (died 1928) Hugh Ambrose Jennings was an American professional baseball player, coach and manager from 1891 to 1925. Jennings was a leader, both as a batter and as a shortstop, with the Baltimore Orioles teams that won National League championships in 1894, 1895, and 1896. During those three seasons, Jennings had 355 runs batted in and hit .335, .386, and .401. Read more
02 Apr 1862: Nicholas Murray Butler, American philosopher and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1947) Nicholas Murray Butler was an American philosopher, diplomat, and educator. Butler was president of Columbia University, president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, and the late James S. Sherman's replacement as William Howard Taft’s running mate in the 1912 United States presidential election. The New York Times printed his Christmas greeting to the nation for many years during the 1920s and 1930s. Read more
02 Apr 1861: Iván Persa, Slovenian priest and author (died 1935) Iván Persa was a Hungarian Slovene Roman Catholic priest and writer. Read more
02 Apr 1842: Dominic Savio, Italian Catholic saint, adolescent student of Saint John Bosco (died 1857) Dominic Savio was a 19th-century Italian teenager who was a student of John Bosco and became a Catholic saint. He was studying to be a priest when he became ill and died at the age of 14, possibly from pleurisy. He was noted for his piety and devotion to the Catholic faith, and was canonized a saint by Pope Pius XII in 1954. Read more
02 Apr 1841: Clément Ader, French engineer, designed the Ader Avion III (died 1926) Clément Ader was a French inventor and engineer who was born near Toulouse in Muret, Haute-Garonne, and died in Toulouse. He is remembered primarily for his pioneering work in aviation. In 1870 he was also one of the pioneers in the sport of cycling in France. Read more
02 Apr 1840: Émile Zola, French novelist, playwright, journalist (died 1902) Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism. He was a major figure in the political liberalization of France and in the exoneration of the falsely accused and convicted army officer Alfred Dreyfus, which is encapsulated in his renowned newspaper opinion headlined J'Accuse…! Zola was nominated for the first and second Nobel Prizes in Literature in 1901 and 1902. Read more
02 Apr 1838: Léon Gambetta, French lawyer and politician, 45th Prime Minister of France (died 1882) Léon Gambetta was a French lawyer and republican politician who proclaimed the French Third Republic in 1870 and played a prominent role in its early government. Read more
02 Apr 1835: Jacob Nash Victor, American engineer (died 1907) Jacob Nash Victor, son of Henry Clay Victor and Gertrude Nash, was a civil engineer who worked as General Manager of the California Southern Railroad, a subsidiary of Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Victor oversaw the construction in the early 1880s of the California Southern between Colton and Barstow, California, including the section that is now one of the busiest rail freight routes in the United States, Cajon Pass. Read more
02 Apr 1827: William Holman Hunt, English soldier and painter (died 1910) William Holman Hunt was an English painter and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. His paintings were notable for their great attention to detail, vivid colour, and elaborate symbolism. These features were influenced by the writings of John Ruskin and Thomas Carlyle, according to whom the world itself should be read as a system of visual signs. For Hunt, it was the duty of the artist to reveal the correspondence between sign and fact. Of all the members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, Hunt remained most true to their ideals throughout his career. He was always keen to maximise the popular appeal and public visibility of his works. Read more
02 Apr 1814: Henry L. Benning, American general and judge (died 1875) Henry Lewis Benning was a Confederate general who commanded infantry in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. He was also a lawyer, legislator, and associate judge in the Georgia Supreme Court. Following the Confederacy's defeat, he returned to his native Georgia, where he resumed his legal practice. Read more
02 Apr 1814: Erastus Brigham Bigelow, American inventor (died 1879) Erastus Brigham Bigelow was an American inventor of weaving machines. Read more
02 Apr 1805: Hans Christian Andersen, Danish novelist, short story writer, and poet (died 1875) Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Read more

🕊️ Important Deaths on 02 April in World History

02 Apr 2025: Khamtai Siphandone, Laotian politician, 4th President of Laos (born 1924) General Khamtai Siphandone was a Laotian politician who served as the chairman of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party from 1992 to 2006 and as the fourth president of Laos from 1998 to 2006, when he was replaced by Choummaly Sayasone. He joined the Indochinese Communist Party in 1954 and became a member of the Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party in 1956. Read more
02 Apr 2024: Jerry Abbott, American country music songwriter and record producer (born 1942) Jerry Bob Abbott was an American country music songwriter and record producer. He was the father of heavy metal musicians Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrell, both formerly of Pantera and Damageplan. Read more
02 Apr 2024: John Barth, American writer (born 1930) John Simmons Barth was an American writer best known for his postmodern and metafictional fiction. His most highly regarded and influential works were published in the 1960s, and include The Sot-Weed Factor, a whimsical retelling of Maryland's colonial history; Giles Goat-Boy, a satirical fantasy in which a university is a microcosm of the Cold War world; and Lost in the Funhouse, a self-referential and experimental collection of short stories. He was co-recipient of the National Book Award in 1973 for his episodic novel Chimera. Read more
02 Apr 2024: Maryse Condé, Guadeloupean novelist, critic, and playwright (born 1934) Maryse Condé was a French novelist, critic, and playwright from the French Overseas department and region of Guadeloupe. She was also an academic, whose teaching career took her to West Africa and North America, as well as the Caribbean and Europe. As a writer, Condé is best known for her novel Ségou (1984–1985). Read more
02 Apr 2024: Christopher Durang, American playwright (born 1949) Christopher Ferdinand Durang was an American playwright known for works of outrageous and often absurd comedy. His work was especially popular in the 1980s, though his career seemed to get a second wind in the late 1990s. Read more
02 Apr 2024: Larry Lucchino, American attorney and baseball executive (born 1945) Lawrence Lucchino was an American lawyer and Major League Baseball executive. He served as president of the Baltimore Orioles, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the San Diego Padres, and president and CEO of the Boston Red Sox. He was also chairman of the Worcester Red Sox, the Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox; chairman of The Jimmy Fund, the philanthropic arm of the Dana–Farber Cancer Institute; and president and CEO emeritus of Fenway Sports Group, the parent company of the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool F.C. Lucchino played college basketball for the Princeton Tigers. Read more
02 Apr 2024: John Sinclair, American poet (born 1941) John Alexander Sinclair Jr. was an American poet, writer, and political activist from Flint, Michigan. Sinclair's defining style is jazz poetry, and he released most of his works in audio formats. Most of his pieces include musical accompaniment, usually by a varying group of collaborators dubbed Blues Scholars. Read more
02 Apr 2024: Juan Vicente Pérez, Venezuelan supercentenarian (born 1909) Juan Vicente Pérez Mora was a Venezuelan supercentenarian who, until his death aged 114 years, 311 days, was the world's oldest verified living man following the death of Spain's Saturnino de la Fuente García on 18 January 2022. Read more
02 Apr 2022: Estelle Harris, American actress and comedian (born 1928) Estelle Harris was an American actress and comedian, known for her exaggeratedly shrill voice. She was best known for her role as Estelle Costanza on Seinfeld. Her other roles included the voice of Mrs. Potato Head in the Toy Story franchise, Muriel in The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, and Mama Gunda in Tarzan II. During her career, Harris starred in various television commercials. Read more
02 Apr 2021: Simon Bainbridge, British composer (born 1952) Simon Bainbridge was a British composer. He was also a professor and head of composition at the Royal Academy of Music, London, and visiting professor at the University of Louisville, Kentucky, in the United States. Read more
02 Apr 2017: Alma Delia Fuentes, Mexican actress (born 1937) Alma Delia Susana Fuentes González was a Mexican actress of film, television, and theatre. Read more
02 Apr 2016: Gallieno Ferri, Italian comic book artist and illustrator (born 1929) Gallieno Ferri was an Italian comic book artist and illustrator. He was born in Genoa. Read more
02 Apr 2016: Robert Abajyan, Armenian sergeant (born 1996) Robert Abajyan was an Armenian junior sergeant in the Republic of Artsakh Defense Army. He was posthumously awarded the "Hero of Artsakh" which is the highest honorary title of the self-declared Republic of Artsakh. Read more
02 Apr 2015: Manoel de Oliveira, Portuguese actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1908) Manoel Cândido Pinto de Oliveira was a Portuguese film director and screenwriter born in Cedofeita, Porto. He first began making films in 1927, when he and some friends attempted to make a film about World War I. In 1931, he completed his first film Douro, Faina Fluvial, a documentary about his home city Porto made in the city-symphony genre. He made his feature film debut in 1942 with Aniki-Bóbó and continued to make shorts and documentaries for the next 30 years, gaining a minimal amount of recognition without being considered a major filmmaker. Read more
02 Apr 2015: Robert H. Schuller, American pastor and author (born 1926) Robert Harold Schuller was an American Christian televangelist, pastor, motivational speaker, and author. Over five decades, Schuller pastored his church in Garden Grove, California starting in 1955. The weekly broadcast of Hour of Power television program followed, which he hosted as a taped version of his weekly Sunday service, began in 1970, and he led until his retirement in 2006. His grandson, Bobby Schuller, carries on the Hour of Power, which has aired for over fifty years. During his time as a minister, Schuller oversaw the construction of two churches in Garden Grove, California. The first church built under his tenure was the Garden Grove Community Church chapel which seated 500, and the second was the much larger Crystal Cathedral, which has a capacity of 2,200. Read more
02 Apr 2015: Steve Stevaert, Belgian businessman and politician, Governor of Limburg (born 1954) Steve Stevaert was a Belgian politician of the Flemish Socialist Party: the SP.A. Read more
02 Apr 2014: Urs Widmer, Swiss author and playwright (born 1938) Urs Widmer was a Swiss novelist, playwright, an essayist, and a short story writer. Read more
02 Apr 2013: Fred, French author and illustrator (born 1931) Frédéric Othon Théodore Aristidès, known by his pseudonym Fred, was a French cartoonist in the Franco-Belgian comics tradition. He is best known for his series Philémon. Read more
02 Apr 2013: Jesús Franco, Spanish director, screenwriter, producer, and actor (born 1930) Jesús Franco Manera, also commonly known as Jess Franco, was a Spanish filmmaker, composer, and actor, known as a highly prolific director of low-budget exploitation and B-movies. He worked in many different genres during his career, but was best known for his horror and erotic films, often incorporating surrealist elements. Read more
02 Apr 2013: Milo O'Shea, Irish-American actor (born 1926) Milo Donal O'Shea was an Irish actor. He received nomination for the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer for his breakthrough role of Leopold Bloom in Ulysses (1967), and was twice nominated for the Tony Award for Best Lead Actor in a Play for his performances in Broadway productions of Staircase (1968) and Mass Appeal (1982). Read more
02 Apr 2012: Jesús Aguilarte, Venezuelan captain and politician (born 1959) Jesús Aguilarte was the Governor of Apure State in Venezuela from 1999 to 2000, and from 2004 to 2011. He died in a Maracay hospital on April 2, 2012, after being attacked by a gunman on March 24, 2012. He was 53. Read more
02 Apr 2012: Elizabeth Catlett, American-Mexican sculptor and illustrator (born 1915) Elizabeth Catlett, born as Alice Elizabeth Catlett, also known as Elizabeth Catlett Mora was an American and Mexican sculptor and graphic artist best known for her depictions of the Black-American experience in the 20th century, which often focused on the female experience. She was born and raised in Washington, D.C., to parents working in education, and was the grandchild of formerly enslaved people. It was difficult for a black woman then to pursue a career as a working artist. Catlett devoted much of her career to teaching. However, a fellowship awarded to her in 1946 allowed her to travel to Mexico City, where she settled and worked with the Taller de Gráfica Popular for twenty years and became head of the sculpture department for the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas. In the 1950s, her main means of artistic expression shifted from print to sculpture, though she never gave up the former. Read more
02 Apr 2012: Mauricio Lasansky, American graphic designer and academic (born 1914) Mauricio Leib Lasansky was an Argentine artist and educator known both for his advanced techniques in intaglio printmaking and for a series of 33 pencil drawings from the 1960s titled "The Nazi Drawings." Lasansky, who migrated to and became a citizen of the United States, established the program in printmaking at the University of Iowa, which offered the first Master of Fine Arts program in the field in the United States. Sotheby's identifies him as one of the fathers of modern printmaking. Read more
02 Apr 2011: John C. Haas, American businessman and philanthropist (born 1918) John Charles Haas was an American businessman and philanthropist, at one time considered the second richest man in Philadelphia. He was the chairman of global chemical company Rohm and Haas from 1974 to 1978. Under his leadership, the family's William Penn Foundation became a $2 billion grantmaking institution, ranking as one of the largest such institutions in the United States. Read more
02 Apr 2010: Chris Kanyon, American wrestler (born 1970) Christopher Morgan Klucsarits was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1994 to 2004, under the ring names Chris Kanyon, Kanyon, and Mortis. Read more
02 Apr 2009: Albert Sanschagrin, Canadian bishop (born 1911) Albert Sanschagrin, O.M.I. was Bishop Emeritus of Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada, and the oldest Canadian bishop of the Roman Catholic Church at the time of his death. Read more
02 Apr 2009: Bud Shank, American saxophonist and flute player (born 1926) Clifford Everett "Bud" Shank Jr. was an American alto saxophonist and flautist. He rose to prominence in the early 1950s playing lead alto and flute in Stan Kenton's Innovations in Modern Music Orchestra and throughout the decade worked in various small jazz combos. He spent the 1960s as a first-call studio musician in Hollywood. In the 1970s and 1980s, he performed regularly with the L. A. Four. Shank ultimately abandoned the flute to focus exclusively on playing jazz on the alto saxophone. He also recorded on tenor and baritone sax. His most famous recording is probably the version of "Harlem Nocturne" used as the theme song in Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer. He is also known for the soundtrack recordings with his group to the surfing films of Bruce Brown in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and for the alto flute solo on the song "California Dreamin'" recorded by the Mamas & the Papas in 1965. Read more
02 Apr 2008: Yakup Satar, Turkish World War I veteran (born 1898) Yakup Satar was a Turkish and Ottoman soldier who is believed to have been the last Ottoman veteran of the First World War. He died at age 110. Read more
02 Apr 2007: Henry L. Giclas, American astronomer and academic (born 1910) Henry Lee Giclas was an American astronomer and a discoverer of minor planets and comets. best known for hiring Robert Burnham Jr. at the Lowell Observatory. He worked on a notable proper motion survey with several relatively nearby stars bearing his name such as Giclas 99-49. Read more
02 Apr 2006: Lloyd Searwar, Guyanese anthologist and diplomat (born 1925) Lloyd Searwar was a career Guyanese diplomat, and later the Director of the Foreign Service Institute in Guyana. Read more
02 Apr 2005: Lillian O'Donnell, American crime novelist (born 1926) Lillian O'Donnell was an American crime novelist notable for being one of the first to introduce a female police officer as the lead character in a book series. Read more
02 Apr 2005: Pope John Paul II (born 1920) Pope John Paul II was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death in 2005. He was the first non-Italian pope since Adrian VI in the 16th century, as well as the third-longest-serving pope in history, after St. Peter and Pius IX. Read more
02 Apr 2004: John Argyris, Greek computer scientist, engineer, and academic (born 1913) Johann Hadjiargyris FRS was a Greek pioneer of computer applications in science and engineering, among the creators of the finite element method (FEM), and later Professor at the University of Stuttgart and Director of the Institute of Structural Mechanics and Dynamics in Aerospace Engineering. Read more
02 Apr 2003: Edwin Starr, American singer-songwriter (born 1942) Charles Edwin Hatcher , known by his stage name Edwin Starr, was an American singer and songwriter. He is best remembered for his Norman Whitfield-produced Motown singles of the 1970s, most notably the number-one hit "War". Read more
02 Apr 2002: Levi Celerio, Filipino composer and songwriter (born 1910) Levi Celerio was a Filipino composer and lyricist who is credited with writing over 4,000 songs. Celerio was recognized as a National Artist of the Philippines for Music and Literature in 1997. Read more
02 Apr 2002: John R. Pierce, American engineer and author (born 1910) John Robinson Pierce, was an American electrical engineer and author. He did extensive work concerning radio communication, microwave technology, computer music, psychoacoustics, and science fiction. Additionally to his professional career he wrote science fiction for many years using the names John Pierce, John R. Pierce, and J. J. Coupling. Born in Des Moines, Iowa, he earned his PhD from Caltech, and died in Sunnyvale, California, from complications of Parkinson's Disease. Read more
02 Apr 2001: Charles Daudelin, Canadian sculptor and painter (born 1920) Charles Daudelin, was a French Canadian pioneer in modern sculpture and painting. He worked in a wide variety of media, including painting, metal and ceramic sculpture, jewelry, and marionettes which he made with his wife, Louise. Read more
02 Apr 1998: Rob Pilatus, American-German singer-songwriter (born 1965) Robert Pilatus was a German singer, dancer, and model. He was a member of the pop music duo Milli Vanilli with Fab Morvan. Read more
02 Apr 1997: Tomoyuki Tanaka, Japanese director and producer (born 1910) Tomoyuki "Yūkō" Tanaka was a Japanese film producer, best known as the creator of Godzilla. He produced most of the installments in the Godzilla series, beginning in 1954 with Godzilla and ending in 1995 with Godzilla vs. Destoroyah. He was one of the most prolific Japanese producers of all time, having worked on more than 200 films, including over 80 tokusatsu films and six of Akira Kurosawa's films, notably Yojimbo and Kagemusha. Read more
02 Apr 1995: Hannes Alfvén, Swedish physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1908) Hannes Olof Gösta Alfvén was a Swedish electrical engineer, plasma physicist and winner of the 1970 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). He described the class of MHD waves now known as Alfvén waves. He was originally trained as an electrical power engineer and later moved to research and teaching in the fields of plasma physics and electrical engineering. Alfvén made many contributions to plasma physics, including theories describing the behavior of aurorae, the Van Allen radiation belts, the effect of magnetic storms on the Earth's magnetic field, the terrestrial magnetosphere, and the dynamics of plasmas in the Milky Way galaxy. Read more
02 Apr 1994: Betty Furness, American actress, consumer advocate, game show panelist, television journalist and television personality (born 1916) Elizabeth Mary Furness was an American actress, consumer advocate, and current affairs commentator. Read more
02 Apr 1994: Marc Fitch, British historian and philanthropist (born 1908) Marcus Felix Brudenell Fitch , was an English historian and philanthropist. Read more
02 Apr 1992: Juanito, Spanish footballer and manager (born 1954) Juan Gómez González, known as Juanito, was a Spanish footballer who played as a forward. Read more
02 Apr 1992: Jan van Aartsen, Dutch politician (born 1909) Johannes "Jan" van Aartsen was a Dutch jurist and politician of the Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP). Read more
02 Apr 1989: Manolis Angelopoulos, Greek singer (born 1939) Manolis Angelopoulos was a Greek singer of Gypsy origin. Read more
02 Apr 1987: Buddy Rich, American drummer, songwriter, and bandleader (born 1917) Bernard "Buddy" Rich was an American jazz drummer, songwriter, conductor, and bandleader. He is considered one of the most influential drummers of all time. Read more
02 Apr 1977: Walter Wolf, German academic and politician (born 1907) Walter Wolf was a German politician and member of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). Read more
02 Apr 1974: Georges Pompidou, French banker and politician, 19th President of France (born 1911) Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou was a French politician who served as President of France from 1969 until his death in 1974. He had previously served from 1962 to 1968 as Prime Minister of France under President Charles de Gaulle, with whom he was closely associated throughout his career. Read more
02 Apr 1972: Franz Halder, German general (born 1884) Franz Halder was a German general and the chief of staff of the Army High Command (OKH) in Nazi Germany from 1938 until September 1942. During World War II, he directed the planning and implementation of Operation Barbarossa, the 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union. Halder became instrumental in the radicalisation of warfare on the Eastern Front. He had his staff draft both the Commissar Order and the Barbarossa decree that allowed German soldiers to execute Soviet citizens for any reason without fear of later prosecution, leading to numerous war crimes and atrocities during the campaign. After the war, he had a decisive role in the development of the myth of the clean Wehrmacht. Read more
02 Apr 1972: Toshitsugu Takamatsu, Japanese martial artist and educator (born 1887) Toshitsugu Takamatsu was a Japanese martial artist and teacher of Bujinkan founder Masaaki Hatsumi. He has been called "The Last Shinobi" by Bujinkan instructor Wolfgang Ettig. Read more
02 Apr 1966: C. S. Forester, English novelist (born 1899) Cecil Louis Troughton Smith, best known by his pen name C.S. Forester, was an English novelist known for writing tales of naval warfare, such as the 12-book Horatio Hornblower series depicting a Royal Navy officer during the Napoleonic Wars. Read more
02 Apr 1954: Hoyt Vandenberg, US Air Force general (born 1899) Hoyt Sanford Vandenberg was a United States Air Force general. He served as the second Chief of Staff of the Air Force, and the second Director of Central Intelligence. Read more
02 Apr 1953: Hugo Sperrle, German field marshal (born 1885) Hugo Wilhelm Sperrle was a German military aviator in World War I and a Generalfeldmarschall in the Luftwaffe during World War II. Read more
02 Apr 1948: Sabahattin Ali, Turkish journalist, author, and poet (born 1907) Sabahattin Ali was a Turkish novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. Read more
02 Apr 1942: Édouard Estaunié, French novelist (born 1862) Édouard Estaunié was a French novelist. Estaunié trained as a scientist and engineer, working at the Post and Telegraph service and training further in Holland, before turning to the novel in 1891. In 1904, he devised the word "telecommunication" in his Traité pratique de télécommunication électrique. He was elected to the Académie française in 1923. He was also a reviewer, critic, and homme de lettres as well as a novelist. Read more
02 Apr 1936: Jean Baptiste Eugène Estienne, French general (born 1860) Jean Baptiste Eugène Estienne was a general of artillery and a specialist in military engineering, one of the founders of modern French artillery and French military aviation, and the creator of the French tank arm. He is considered by many in France to be the Père des Chars. Read more
02 Apr 1933: Ranjitsinhji, Indian cricketer (born 1872) Colonel Kumar Sri Sir Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji II, often known as Ranji or K. S. Ranjitsinhji, was an Indian cricketer who later became ruler of his native Indian princely state of Nawanagar, from 1907 to 1933. The main part of his cricket career was from 1893 to 1904 when, as one of the greatest batsmen of his time, he played for Cambridge University, Sussex, London County and, in 15 Test matches, for England. Read more
02 Apr 1930: Zewditu I of Ethiopia (born 1876) Zewditu was Empress of Ethiopia from 1916 until her death in 1930. She officially adopted the regnal name "Zewditu" at the beginning of her reign, which was triggered by the dethroning of Lij Iyasu in 1916. Her coronation was held on February 11, 1917, in the Cathedral of St. George in Addis Ababa—a capital founded by her father. Forty years old and childless when crowned, she is the first and only empress regnant of the Ethiopian Empire. Described as the first modern female head of a nation in Africa, she was the last female Ethiopian head of state until the 2018 election of Sahle-Work Zewde as president. Her reign, which she is said to have closely patterned after the legacy of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, is noted for the reforms of her Regent and heir apparent Ras Tafari Makonnen – changes which she was at best ambivalent and often stridently opposed to, due to her staunch conservatism and strong religiosity. Read more
02 Apr 1928: Theodore William Richards, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1868) Theodore William Richards was an American physical chemist and the first American scientist to receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, earning the award "in recognition of his exact determinations of the atomic weights of a large number of the chemical elements." Read more
02 Apr 1923: Topal Osman, Turkish colonel (born 1883) Hacı Topal Osman Ağa, was a Turkish officer, a militia leader of the National Forces, a volunteer regiment commander of the Turkish army during the Turkish War of Independence who eventually rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel, and was a perpetrator of the Armenian and Pontic genocides. Besides the Greeks and Armenians, he also terrorised the local Muslim population who opposed him. Read more
02 Apr 1917: Bryn Lewis, Welsh international rugby player (born 1891) Major Brinley Lewis, known as Bryn Lewis, was a Welsh international rugby union wing who played club rugby for Newport and Cambridge University. He is one of twelve Welsh internationals to have died in active duty during World War I. Read more
02 Apr 1914: Paul Heyse, German author, poet, and translator, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1830) Paul Johann Ludwig von Heyse was a German writer and translator. A member of two important literary societies, the Tunnel über der Spree in Berlin and Die Krokodile in Munich, he wrote novels, poetry, 177 short stories, and about sixty dramas. The sum of Heyse's many and varied productions made him a dominant figure among German men of letters. He was awarded the 1910 Nobel Prize in Literature "as a tribute to the consummate artistry, permeated with idealism, which he has demonstrated during his long productive career as a lyric poet, dramatist, novelist and writer of world-renowned short stories." Wirsen, one of the Nobel judges, said that "Germany has not had a greater literary genius since Goethe." Heyse is the fifth oldest laureate in literature, after Alice Munro, Jaroslav Seifert, Theodor Mommsen and Doris Lessing. Read more
02 Apr 1896: Theodore Robinson, American painter and academic (born 1852) Theodore Robinson was an American painter best known for his Impressionist landscapes. He was one of the first American artists to take up Impressionism in the late 1880s, visiting Giverny and developing a close friendship with Claude Monet. Several of his works are considered masterpieces of American Impressionism. Read more
02 Apr 1894: Achille Vianelli, Italian painter and academic (born 1803) Achille Vianelli or Vianelly was an Italian painter of landscapes with genre scenes, often in watercolor. Read more
02 Apr 1891: Albert Pike, American lawyer and general (born 1809) Albert Pike was an American author, poet, orator, editor, lawyer, jurist and Confederate States Army general who served as an associate justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court in exile from 1864 to 1865. He had previously served as a senior officer of the Confederate States Army, commanding the District of Indian Territory in the Trans-Mississippi Theater. A prominent member of the Freemasons, Pike served as the Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council, Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction from 1859 to 1891. Read more
02 Apr 1891: Ahmed Vefik Pasha, Greek playwright and politician, 249th Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (born 1823) Ahmed Vefik Pasha was an Ottoman statesman, diplomat, scholar, playwright, and translator during the Tanzimat and First Constitutional Era periods. He was commissioned with top-rank governmental duties, including presiding over the first Ottoman Parliament in 1877. He also served as Prime Minister for two brief periods. He also established the first Ottoman theatre and initiated the first Western style theatre plays in Bursa and translated Molière's major works. His portrait was depicted on the Turkish postcard stamp dated 1966. Read more
02 Apr 1872: Samuel Morse, American painter and academic, invented the Morse code (born 1791) Samuel Finley Breese Morse was an American inventor and painter. After establishing his reputation as a portrait painter, Morse, in his middle age, contributed to the invention of a single-wire telegraph system based on European telegraphs. He was a co-developer and the namesake of Morse code in 1837 and helped to develop the commercial use of telegraphy. Read more
02 Apr 1865: A. P. Hill, American general (born 1825) Ambrose Powell Hill Jr. was a Confederate general who was killed in the American Civil War. He is usually referred to as A. P. Hill to differentiate him from Confederate general Daniel Harvey Hill, who was unrelated. Read more
02 Apr 1845: Philip Charles Durham, Scottish admiral and politician (born 1763) Admiral Sir Philip Charles Henderson Calderwood Durham, GCB was a Royal Navy officer whose service in the American War of Independence, French Revolutionary War and Napoleonic Wars was lengthy, distinguished and at times controversial. Read more
02 Apr 1827: Ludwig Heinrich Bojanus, German physician and educator (born 1776) Ludwig Heinrich Bojanus Latinized as Ludovicus Henricus Bojanus was a Franco-German physician, comparative anatomist, and naturalist who spent most of his active career teaching veterinary medicine at Vilnius University in Vilnius, then within the Russian Empire. His greatest work was a two-volume folio on the anatomy of the turtle Emys orbicularis published in 1819 and 1821. The Organ of Bojanus of molluscs is named after him. The Triassic mammal Lisowicia bojani was named in his honour in 2019. Read more
02 Apr 1817: Johann Heinrich Jung, German author and academic (born 1740) Johann Heinrich Jung, better known by his assumed name Heinrich Stilling, was a German author. He is often called by both surnames as "Jung-Stilling". Read more
02 Apr 1803: Sir James Montgomery, 1st Baronet, Scottish judge and politician (born 1721) Sir James Montgomery, 1st Baronet Stanhope, FRSE was a Scottish advocate, judge, country landowner, agriculturalist and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1766 to 1775. In 1783 he was a joint founder of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Read more
02 Apr 1801: Thomas Dadford, Jr., English engineer (born 1761)

Thomas Dadford Jr. was an English canal engineer, who came from a family of canal engineers. He first worked with his father in the north of Britain on the Stour and the Trent, but later independently, contributing to a number of canal schemes, mainly in Monmouthshire and Glamorganshire but also in Montgomeryshire and Ellesmere, before dying at the age of 40. Read more

Why is 02 April Important in World History?

Several significant political, cultural, educational, and sporting events took place on 02 April, making it an important topic for general knowledge and competitive examinations.

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What happened on 02 April in World history?

On 02 April, several important historical events, notable births, and major milestones occurred in World history.

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