April 2
Today in America's Present Past
1513 | Explorer Juan Ponce de León claimed Florida for Spain.
1788 | Federalist No. 77 published.
1792 | Congress: The Coinage Act was passed. This established the United States Mint and authorized the construction of a mint building in Philadelphia. It also made the dollar the official currency unit.
1814 | Entrepreneur Erastus Brigham Bigelow was born.
1827 | Entrepreneur Joseph Dixon began manufacturing lead pencils
1833 | General Thomas Howard Ruger was born.
1862 | Philosopher Nicholas Murray Butler was born.
1863 | Civil War: “Bread riots” started throughout the South.
1865 | Civil War: Battle of Fort Blakely, Alabama.
1865 | Civil War: Battle of Selma, Alabama.
1872 | Entrepreneur, painter, and inventor Samuel Morse died.
1875 | Entrepreneur Walter Chrysler was born.
1877 | POTUS: The first Easter egg roll was held on the White House lawn.
1902 | The first movie theatre opened in Los Angeles, California
1902 | Activist Esther Morris died.
1917 | Congress: Jeannette Rankin began her term as the first woman member of the House Of Representatives.
1917 | WWI: Democrat President Wilson asked Congress to declare war against Germany.
1928 | Chemist Theodore W. Richards died.
1932 | Charles Lindbergh paid $50,000 as ransom for his kidnapped son.
1939 | Musician Marvin Gaye was born.
1945 | Poet Anne Waldman was born.
1957 | Entrepreneur Hank Steinbrenner was born.
1965 | Police victim Rodney King was born.
1968 | Film: “2001: A Space Odyssey” debuted.
1978 | TV: “Dallas” debuted
1980 | SCOTUS: Justice Stanley Forman Reed died.
1986 | War on Terror: Four Americans killed at the TWA counter at the Athens, Greece airport by a bomb.
2012 | Sculptor Elizabeth Catlett died.
2015 | Cleric Robert Schuller died.