April 2 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

• 1513 – Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León first sights land in what is now the United States state of Florida.
• 1755 – Commodore William James captures the Maratha fortress of Suvarnadurg on west coast of India.
• 1792 – The Coinage Act is passed establishing the United States Mint.
• 1800 – Ludwig van Beethoven leads the premiere of his First Symphony in Vienna.
• 1800 – The Treaty of Constantinople establishes the Septinsular Republic, the first autonomous Greek state since the Fall of the Byzantine Empire.
• 1801 – French Revolutionary Wars: The British capture the Danish fleet.
• 1851 – Rama IV is crowned King of Thailand.
• 1863 – American Civil War: The largest in a series of Southern bread riots occurs in Richmond, Virginia.
• 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.
• 1885 – Canadian Cree warriors attack the village of Frog Lake, killing nine.
• 1900 – The United States Congress passes the Foraker Act, giving Puerto Rico limited self-rule.
• 1902 – Dmitry Sipyagin, Minister of Interior of the Russian Empire, is assassinated in the Marie Palace, Saint Petersburg.
• 1902 – “Electric Theatre”, the first full-time movie theater in the United States, opens in Los Angeles.
• 1911 – The Australian Bureau of Statistics conducts the country’s first national census.
• 1912 – The ill-fated RMS Titanic begins sea trials.
• 1917 – World War I: United States President Woodrow Wilson asks the U.S. Congress for a declaration of war on Germany.
• 1921 – The Autonomous Government of Khorasan, a military government encompassing the modern state of Iran, is established.
• 1930 – After the mysterious death of Empress Zewditu, Haile Selassie is proclaimed emperor of Ethiopia.
• 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.
• 1964 – The Soviet Union launches Zond 1.
• 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.
• 1973 – Launch of the LexisNexis computerized legal research service.
• 1975 – Vietnam War: Thousands of civilian refugees flee from Quảng Ngãi Province in front of advancing North Vietnamese troops.
• 1976 – Prince Norodom Sihanouk resigns as leader of Cambodia and is placed under house arrest.
• 1979 – A Soviet bio-warfare laboratory at Sverdlovsk accidentally releases airborne anthrax spores, killing 66 plus an unknown amount of livestock.
• 1980 – United States President Jimmy Carter signs the Crude Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act.
• 1982 – Falklands War: Argentina invades the Falkland Islands.
• 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.
• 1989 – Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev arrives in Havana, Cuba, to meet with Fidel Castro in an attempt to mend strained relations.
• 1989 – ASUS corporation is founded.
• 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.
• 1992 – In New York, Mafia boss John Gotti is convicted of murder and racketeering and is later sentenced to life in prison.
• 1992 – Forty-two civilians are massacred in the town of Bijeljina in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
• 2002 – Israeli forces surround the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem into which armed Palestinians had retreated.
• 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.
• 2006 – Over 60 tornadoes break out in the United States; Tennessee is hardest hit with 29 people killed.
• 2012 – A mass shooting at Oikos University in California leaves seven people dead and three injured.
• 2014 – A spree shooting occurs at the Fort Hood army base in Texas, with four dead, including the gunman, and 16 others injured.
• 2015 – Gunmen attack Garissa University College in Kenya, killing at least 148 people and wounding 79 others.
• 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.”

Births on April 2

• 742 – Charlemagne, Frankish king (d. 814)
• 1473 – John Corvinus, Hungarian noble (d. 1504)
• 1545 – Elisabeth of Valois (d. 1568)
• 1565 – Cornelis de Houtman, Dutch explorer (d. 1599)
• 1586 – Pietro Della Valle, Italian traveler (d. 1652)
• 1602 – Mary of Jesus of Ágreda, Franciscan abbess (d. 1665)
• 1618 – Francesco Maria Grimaldi, Italian mathematician and physicist (d. 1663)
• 1647 – Maria Sibylla Merian, German-Dutch botanist and illustrator (d. 1717)
• 1653 – Prince George of Denmark (d. 1708)
• 1696 – Francesca Cuzzoni, Italian operatic soprano (d. 1778)
• 1719 – Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim, German poet (d. 1803)
• 1725 – Giacomo Casanova, Italian explorer and author (d. 1798)
• 1788 – Francisco Balagtas, Filipino poet and author (d. 1862)
• 1788 – Wilhelmine Reichard, German balloonist (d. 1848)
• 1789 – Lucio Norberto Mansilla, Argentinian general and politician (d. 1871)
• 1792 – Francisco de Paula Santander, Colombian general and politician, 4th President of the Republic of the New Granada (d. 1840)
• 1798 – August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben, German poet and academic (d. 1874)
• 1805 – Hans Christian Andersen, Danish novelist, short story writer, and poet (d. 1875)
• 1814 – Henry L. Benning, American general and judge (d. 1875)
• 1814 – Erastus Brigham Bigelow, American inventor (d. 1879)
• 1827 – William Holman Hunt, English soldier and painter (d. 1910)
• 1835 – Jacob Nash Victor, American engineer (d. 1907)
• 1838 – Léon Gambetta, French lawyer and politician, 45th Prime Minister of France (d. 1882)
• 1840 – Émile Zola, French novelist, playwright, journalist (d. 1902)
• 1841 – Clément Ader, French engineer, designed the Ader Avion III (d. 1926)
• 1842 – Dominic Savio, Italian Catholic saint, adolescent student of Saint John Bosco (d. 1857)
• 1861 – Iván Persa, Slovenian priest and author (d. 1935)
• 1862 – Nicholas Murray Butler, American philosopher and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1947)
• 1869 – Hughie Jennings, American baseball player and manager (d. 1928)
• 1875 – Walter Chrysler, American businessman, founded Chrysler (d. 1940)
• 1875 – William Donne, English cricketer and captain (d. 1942)
• 1884 – J. C. Squire, English poet, author, and historian (d. 1958)
• 1891 – Jack Buchanan, Scottish entertainer (d. 1957)
• 1891 – Max Ernst, German painter, sculptor, and poet (d. 1976)
• 1891 – Tristão de Bragança Cunha, Indian nationalist and anti-colonial activist from Goa (d. 1958)
• 1896 – Johnny Golden, American golfer (d. 1936)
• 1898 – Harindranath Chattopadhyay, Indian poet, actor and politician (d. 1990)
• 1898 – Chiungtze C. Tsen, Chinese mathematician (d. 1940)
• 1900 – Roberto Arlt, Argentinian journalist, author, and playwright (d. 1942)
• 1900 – Anis Fuleihan, Cypriot-American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1970)
• 1900 – Alfred Strange, English footballer (d. 1978)
• 1902 – Jan Tschichold, German-Swiss graphic designer and typographer (d. 1974)
• 1903 – Lionel Chevrier, Canadian lawyer and politician, 27th Canadian Minister of Justice (d. 1987)
• 1906 – Alphonse-Marie Parent, Canadian priest and educator (d. 1970)
• 1907 – Harald Andersson, American-Swedish discus thrower (d. 1985)
• 1907 – Luke Appling, American baseball player and manager (d. 1991)
• 1908 – Buddy Ebsen, American actor and dancer (d. 2003)
• 1910 – Paul Triquet, Canadian general, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1980)
• 1910 – Chico Xavier, Brazilian spiritual medium (d. 2002)
• 1914 – Alec Guinness, English actor (d. 2000)
• 1919 – Delfo Cabrera, Argentinian runner and soldier (d. 1981)
• 1920 – Gerald Bouey, Canadian lieutenant and civil servant (d. 2004)
• 1920 – Jack Stokes, English animator and director (d. 2013)
• 1920 – Jack Webb, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1982)
• 1922 – John C. Whitehead, American banker and politician, 9th United States Deputy Secretary of State (d. 2015)
• 1923 – Gloria Henry, American actress
• 1923 – Johnny Paton, Scottish footballer, coach, and manager (d. 2015)
• 1923 – G. Spencer-Brown, English mathematician, psychologist, and author (d. 2016)
• 1924 – Bobby Ávila, Mexican baseball player (d. 2004)
• 1925 – George MacDonald Fraser, Scottish author and screenwriter (d. 2008)
• 1925 – Hans Rosenthal, German radio and television host (d. 1987)
• 1926 – Jack Brabham, Australian race car driver (d. 2014)
• 1926 – Rudra Rajasingham, Sri Lankan police officer and diplomat (d. 2006)
• 1927 – Carmen Basilio, American boxer and soldier (d. 2012)
• 1927 – Howard Callaway, American soldier and politician, 11th United States Secretary of the Army (d. 2014)
• 1927 – Rita Gam, American actress (d. 2016)
• 1927 – Billy Pierce, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 2015)
• 1927 – Kenneth Tynan, English author and critic (d. 1980)
• 1928 – Joseph Bernardin, American cardinal (d. 1996)
• 1928 – Serge Gainsbourg, French singer-songwriter, actor, and director (d. 1991)
• 1928 – Roy Masters, English-American radio host
• 1928 – David Robinson, Northern Irish horticulturist and academic (d. 2004)
• 1929 – Ed Dorn, American poet and educator (d. 1999)
• 1930 – Roddy Maude-Roxby, English actor
• 1931 – Vladimir Kuznetsov, Russian javelin thrower (d. 1986)
• 1932 – Edward Egan, American cardinal (d. 2015)
• 1933 – György Konrád, Hungarian sociologist and author
• 1934 – Paul Cohen, American mathematician and theorist (d. 2007)
• 1934 – Brian Glover, English wrestler and actor (d. 1997)
• 1934 – Carl Kasell, American journalist and game show host (d. 2018)
• 1934 – Richard Portman, American sound engineer (d. 2017)
• 1934 – Dovid Shmidel, Austrian-born Israeli rabbi
• 1936 – Shaul Ladany, Serbian-Israeli race walker and engineer
• 1937 – Dick Radatz, American baseball player (d. 2005)
• 1938 – John Larsson, Swedish 17th General of The Salvation Army
• 1938 – Booker Little, American trumpet player and composer (d. 1961)
• 1938 – Al Weis, American baseball player
• 1939 – Marvin Gaye, American singer-songwriter (d. 1984)
• 1939 – Anthony Lake, American academic and diplomat, 18th United States National Security Advisor
• 1939 – Lise Thibault, Canadian journalist and politician, 27th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec
• 1940 – Donald Jackson, Canadian figure skater and coach
• 1940 – Mike Hailwood, English motorcycle racer (d. 1981)
• 1940 – Penelope Keith, English actress
• 1941 – Dr. Demento, American radio host
• 1941 – Sonny Throckmorton, American country singer-songwriter
• 1942 – Leon Russell, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2016)
• 1942 – Roshan Seth, Indian-English actor
• 1943 – Michael Boyce, Baron Boyce, South African-English admiral and politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports
• 1943 – Caterina Bueno, Italian singer (d. 2007)
• 1943 – Larry Coryell, American jazz guitarist (d. 2017)
• 1943 – Antonio Sabàto, Sr., Italian actor
• 1944 – Bill Malinchak, American football player
• 1945 – Jürgen Drews, German singer-songwriter
• 1945 – Guy Fréquelin, French race car driver
• 1945 – Linda Hunt, American actress
• 1945 – Reggie Smith, American baseball player and coach
• 1945 – Don Sutton, American baseball player and sportscaster
• 1945 – Anne Waldman, American poet
• 1946 – Richard Collinge, New Zealand cricketer
• 1946 – David Heyes, English politician
• 1946 – Sue Townsend, English author and playwright (d. 2014)
• 1946 – Kurt Winter, Canadian guitarist and songwriter (d. 1997)
• 1947 – Paquita la del Barrio, Mexican singer-songwriter
• 1947 – Tua Forsström, Finnish writer
• 1947 – Emmylou Harris, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1947 – Camille Paglia, American author and critic
• 1948 – Roald Als, Danish author and illustrator
• 1948 – Dimitris Mitropanos, Greek singer (d. 2012)
• 1948 – Daniel Okrent, American journalist and author
• 1948 – Joan D. Vinge, American author
• 1949 – Paul Gambaccini, American-English radio and television host
• 1949 – Bernd Müller, German footballer
• 1949 – Pamela Reed, American actress
• 1949 – David Robinson, American drummer
• 1950 – Lynn Westmoreland, American politician
• 1951 – Ayako Okamoto, Japanese golfer
• 1952 – Lennart Fagerlund, Swedish cyclist
• 1952 – Will Hoy, English race car driver (d. 2002)
• 1952 – Leon Wilkeson, American bass player and songwriter (d. 2001)
• 1953 – Jim Allister, Northern Irish lawyer and politician
• 1953 – Rosemary Bryant Mariner, 20th and 21st-century U.S. Navy aviator
• 1953 – Malika Oufkir, Moroccan Berber writer
• 1953 – Debralee Scott, American actress (d. 2005)
• 1953 – James Vance, American author and playwright (d. 2017)
• 1954 – Gregory Abbott, American singer-songwriter and producer
• 1954 – Donald Petrie, American actor and director
• 1955 – Michael Stone, Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary
• 1957 – Caroline Dean, English biologist and academic
• 1957 – Hank Steinbrenner, American businessman, co-owner of the New York Yankees
• 1958 – Stefano Bettarello, Italian rugby player
• 1958 – Larry Drew, American basketball player and coach
• 1959 – Gelindo Bordin, Italian runner
• 1959 – David Frankel, American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1959 – Juha Kankkunen, Finnish race car driver
• 1959 – Yves Lavandier, French director and producer
• 1959 – Badou Ezzaki, Moroccan footballer and manager
• 1960 – Linford Christie, Jamaican-English sprinter
• 1960 – Brad Jones, Australian race car driver
• 1960 – Pascale Nadeau, Canadian journalist
• 1961 – Buddy Jewell, American singer-songwriter
• 1961 – Christopher Meloni, American actor
• 1961 – Keren Woodward, English singer-songwriter
• 1962 – Pierre Carles, French director and producer
• 1962 – Billy Dean, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1962 – Clark Gregg, American actor
• 1963 – Karl Beattie, English director and producer
• 1963 – Mike Gascoyne, English engineer
• 1964 – Pete Incaviglia, American baseball player and coach
• 1964 – Jonathon Sharkey, American wrestler
• 1965 – Rodney King, American victim of police brutality (d. 2012)
• 1966 – Bill Romanowski, American football player and actor
• 1966 – Teddy Sheringham, English international footballer, striker and coach
• 1967 – Greg Camp, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1967 – Phil Demmel, American guitarist and songwriter
• 1969 – Ajay Devgan, Indian actor, director, and producer
• 1971 – Edmundo Alves de Souza Neto, Brazilian footballer
• 1971 – Jason Lewry, English cricketer
• 1971 – Todd Woodbridge, Australian tennis player and sportscaster
• 1972 – Remo D’Souza, Indian choreographer and dancer
• 1972 – Calvin Davis, American sprinter and hurdler
• 1972 – Zane Lamprey, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1973 – Dmitry Lipartov, Russian footballer
• 1973 – Roselyn Sánchez, Puerto Rican-American actress
• 1973 – Aleksejs Semjonovs, Latvian footballer
• 1974 – Tayfun Korkut, Turkish football manager and former player
• 1975 – Randy Livingston, American basketball player
• 1975 – Katrin Rutschow-Stomporowski, German rower
• 1976 – Andreas Anastasopoulos, Greek shot putter
• 1976 – Rory Sabbatini, South African golfer
• 1976 – Pattie Mallette, Canadian author and film producer
• 1977 – Per Elofsson, Swedish skier
• 1977 – Michael Fassbender, German-Irish actor and producer
• 1977 – Hanno Pevkur, Estonian lawyer and politician, Estonian Minister of Justice
• 1978 – Scott Lynch, American author
• 1978 – Ethan Smith, American actor, director, and producer
• 1979 – Jesse Carmichael, American keyboard player
• 1980 – Avi Benedi, Israeli singer and songwriter
• 1980 – Adam Fleming, Scottish journalist
• 1980 – Gavin Heffernan, Canadian director and screenwriter
• 1980 – Ricky Hendrick, American race car driver (d. 2004)
• 1980 – Wairangi Koopu, New Zealand rugby league player
• 1980 – Carlos Salcido, Mexican international footballer, defender
• 1981 – Michael Clarke, Australian cricketer
• 1981 – Kapil Sharma, Indian stand-up comedian, television presenter and actor
• 1982 – Marco Amelia, Italian footballer
• 1982 – Jeremy Bloom, American football player and skier
• 1982 – Jack Evans, American wrestler
• 1982 – David Ferrer, Spanish tennis player
• 1983 – Yung Joc, American rapper
• 1983 – Maksym Mazuryk, Ukrainian pole vaulter
• 1984 – Engin Atsür, Turkish basketball player
• 1984 – Nóra Barta, Hungarian diver
• 1984 – Jérémy Morel, French footballer
• 1985 – Thom Evans, Zimbabwean-Scottish rugby player
• 1985 – Stéphane Lambiel, Swiss figure skater
• 1986 – Ibrahim Afellay, Dutch footballer
• 1986 – Andris Biedriņš, Latvian basketball player
• 1986 – Lee DeWyze, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1987 – Pablo Aguilar, Paraguayan footballer
• 1987 – Marc Pugh, English footballer
• 1988 – Jesse Plemons, American actor
• 1990 – Yevgeniya Kanayeva, Russian gymnast
• 1990 – Miralem Pjanić, Bosnian footballer
• 1991 – Quavo, American rapper
• 1993 – Keshorn Walcott, Trinidadian javelin thrower
• 1997 – Dillon Bassett, American race car driver
• 1997 – Abdelhak Nouri, Dutch footballer

Deaths on April 2

• 670 – Hasan ibn Ali the second Shia Imam (b. 624)
• 870 – Æbbe the Younger, Frankish abbess
• 872 – Muflih al-Turki, Turkish general
• 968 – Yuan Dezhao, Chinese chancellor (b. 891)
• 991 – Bardas Skleros, Byzantine general
• 1118 – Baldwin I, king of Jerusalem
• 1244 – Henrik Harpestræng, Danish botanical and medical author
• 1272 – Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall, English husband of Sanchia of Provence (b. 1209)
• 1335 – Henry of Bohemia (b. 1265)
• 1412 – Ruy González de Clavijo, Spanish explorer and author
• 1416 – Ferdinand I, king of Aragon (b. 1379)
• 1502 – Arthur, prince of Wales (b. 1486)
• 1507 – Francis of Paola, Italian friar and saint, founded the Order of the Minims (b. 1416)
• 1511 – Bernard VII, Lord of Lippe, German nobleman (b. 1428)
• 1640 – Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski, Polish author and poet (b. 1595)
• 1657 – Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1608)
• 1657 – Jean-Jacques Olier, French priest, founded the Society of Saint-Sulpice (b. 1608)
• 1672 – Pedro Calungsod, Filipino missionary and saint (b. 1654)
• 1672 – Diego Luis de San Vitores, Spanish Jesuit missionary (b. 1627)
• 1720 – Joseph Dudley, English politician, Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay (b. 1647)
• 1742 – James Douglas, Scottish physician and anatomist (b. 1675)
• 1747 – Johann Jacob Dillenius, German-English botanist and mycologist (b. 1684)
• 1754 – Thomas Carte, English historian and author (b. 1686)
• 1787 – Thomas Gage, English general and politician, Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay (b. 1719)
• 1791 – Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau, French journalist and politician (b. 1749)
• 1801 – Thomas Dadford, Jr., English engineer (b. 1761)
• 1803 – Sir James Montgomery, 1st Baronet, Scottish judge and politician (b. 1721)
• 1817 – Johann Heinrich Jung, German author and academic (b. 1740)
• 1827 – Ludwig Heinrich Bojanus, German physician and educator (b. 1776)
• 1845 – Philip Charles Durham, Scottish admiral and politician (b. 1763)
• 1865 – A. P. Hill, American general (b. 1825)
• 1872 – Samuel Morse, American painter and academic, invented the Morse code (b. 1791)
• 1891 – Albert Pike, American lawyer and general (b. 1809)
• 1891 – Ahmed Vefik Pasha, Greek playwright and politician, 249th Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1823)
• 1894 – Achille Vianelli, Italian painter and academic (b. 1803)
• 1896 – Theodore Robinson, American painter and academic (b. 1852)
• 1914 – Paul Heyse, German author, poet, and translator, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1830)
• 1917 – Bryn Lewis, Welsh international rugby player (b.1891)
• 1923 – Topal Osman, Turkish colonel (b. 1883)
• 1928 – Theodore William Richards, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1868)
• 1930 – Zewditu I of Ethiopia (b. 1876)
• 1933 – Ranjitsinhji, Indian cricketer (b. 1872)
• 1936 – Jean Baptiste Eugène Estienne, French general (b. 1860)
• 1942 – Édouard Estaunié, French novelist (b. 1862)
• 1948 – Sabahattin Ali, Turkish journalist, author, and poet (b. 1907)
• 1953 – Hugo Sperrle, German field marshal (b. 1885)
• 1966 – C. S. Forester, English novelist (b. 1899)
• 1972 – Franz Halder, German general (b. 1884)
• 1972 – Toshitsugu Takamatsu, Japanese martial artist and educator (b. 1887)
• 1974 – Georges Pompidou, French banker and politician, 19th President of France (b. 1911)
• 1977 – Walter Wolf, German academic and politician (b. 1907)
• 1987 – Buddy Rich, American drummer, songwriter, and bandleader (b. 1917)
• 1989 – Manolis Angelopoulos, Greek singer (b. 1939)
• 1992 – Juanito, Spanish footballer and manager (b. 1954)
• 1992 – Jan van Aartsen, Dutch politician (b. 1909)
• 1994 – Betty Furness, American actress, consumer advocate, game show panelist, television journalist and television personality (b. 1916)
• 1994 – Marc Fitch, British historian and philanthropist (b. 1908)
• 1995 – Hannes Alfvén, Swedish physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1908)
• 1997 – Tomoyuki Tanaka, Japanese director and producer (b. 1910)
• 1998 – Rob Pilatus, American-German singer-songwriter (b. 1965)
• 2001 – Charles Daudelin, Canadian sculptor and painter (b. 1920)
• 2002 – Levi Celerio, Filipino composer and songwriter (b. 1910)
• 2002 – John R. Pierce, American engineer and author (b. 1910)
• 2003 – Edwin Starr, American singer-songwriter (b. 1942)
• 2004 – John Argyris, Greek computer scientist, engineer, and academic (b. 1913)
• 2005 – Lillian O’Donnell, American crime novelist (b. 1926)
• 2005 – Pope John Paul II (b. 1920)
• 2006 – Lloyd Searwar, Guyanese anthologist and diplomat (b. 1925)
• 2007 – Henry L. Giclas, American astronomer and academic (b. 1910)
• 2008 – Yakup Satar, Turkish World War I veteran(b. 1898)
• 2009 – Albert Sanschagrin, Canadian bishop (b. 1911)
• 2009 – Bud Shank, American saxophonist and flute player (b. 1926)
• 2010 – Chris Kanyon, American wrestler (b. 1970)
• 2011 – John C. Haas, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1918)
• 2012 – Jesús Aguilarte, Venezuelan captain and politician (b. 1959)
• 2012 – Elizabeth Catlett, American-Mexican sculptor and illustrator (b. 1915)
• 2012 – Mauricio Lasansky, American graphic designer and academic (b. 1914)
• 2013 – Fred, French author and illustrator (b. 1931)
• 2013 – Jesús Franco, Spanish director, screenwriter, producer, and actor (b. 1930)
• 2013 – Milo O’Shea, Irish-American actor (b. 1926)
• 2014 – Glyn Jones, South African actor and screenwriter (b. 1931)
• 2014 – Urs Widmer, Swiss author and playwright (b. 1938)
• 2015 – Manoel de Oliveira, Portuguese actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1908)
• 2015 – Robert H. Schuller, American pastor and author (b. 1926)
• 2015 – Steve Stevaert, Belgian businessman and politician, Governor of Limburg (b. 1954)
• 2016 – Gallieno Ferri, Italian comic book artist and illustrator (b. 1929)
• 2016 – Robert Abajyan, Armenian sergeant (b. 1996)

Holidays and observances on April 2

• Christian feast day:
  • Abundius of Como
  • Amphianus of Lycia
  • Æbbe the Younger
  • Bronach of Glen-Seichis (Irish martyrology)
  • Francis of Paola
  • Francisco Coll Guitart
  • Henry Budd (Anglican Church of Canada)
  • Nicetius of Lyon
  • Pedro Calungsod
  • Theodosia of Tyre
  • Urban of Langres
  • April 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• International Children’s Book Day (International)
• Thai Heritage Conservation Day (Thailand)
• Unity of Peoples of Russia and Belarus Day (Belarus)
• World Autism Awareness Day (International)