Viertola school shooting
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..
April-2
Historical Events on April 2
April
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2021 Hualien train derailment
At least 49 people are killed in a train derailment in Taiwan after a truck accidentally rolls onto the track.
2021
United States Capitol Police
A Capitol Police officer is killed and another injured when an attacker rams his car into a barricade outside the United States Capitol.
2021
COVID-19 pandemic
COVID-19 pandemic: The total number of confirmed cases reach one million.
2020
Garissa University College attack
Gunmen attack Garissa University College in Kenya, killing at least 148 people and wounding 79 others.
2015
Hatton Garden safe deposit burglary
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.".
2014 Fort Hood shootings
A spree shooting occurs at the Fort Hood army base in Texas, with four dead, including the gunman, and 16 others injured.
2014
2012 Oikos University shooting
A mass shooting at Oikos University in California leaves seven people dead and three injured.
2012
UTair Flight 120
UTair Flight 120 crashes after takeoff from Roshchino International Airport in Tyumen, Russia, killing 33 and injuring 10.
2012
India national cricket team
India wins the Cricket World Cup for the second time in history under the captaincy of MS Dhoni.
2011
Tornado
2006
Over 60 tornadoes break out in the United States; Tennessee is hardest hit with 29 people killed..
Islamism
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.
2004
Israel
Israeli forces surround the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, into which armed Palestinians had retreated.
2002
New York (state)
In New York, Mafia boss John Gotti is convicted of murder and racketeering and is later sentenced to life in prison.
1992
Bijeljina massacre
Forty-two civilians are massacred in the town of Bijeljina in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
1992
Rita Johnston
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..
Soviet Union
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev arrives in Havana, Cuba, to meet with Fidel Castro in an attempt to mend strained relations.
1989
Alabama
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.
1986
Falklands War
Falklands War: Argentina invades the Falkland Islands.
1982
Jimmy Carter
United States President Jimmy Carter signs the Crude Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act.
1980
Sverdlovsk anthrax leak
1979
A Soviet bio-warfare laboratory at Sverdlovsk accidentally releases airborne anthrax spores, killing 66 plus an unknown amount of livestock..
Norodom Sihanouk
Prince Norodom Sihanouk resigns as leader of Cambodia and is placed under house arrest.
1976
Vietnam War
Vietnam War: Thousands of civilian refugees flee from Quảng Ngãi Province in front of advancing North Vietnamese troops.
1975
LexisNexis
Launch of the LexisNexis computerized legal research service.
1973
Charlie Chaplin
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.
1972
LOT Polish Airlines Flight 165
1969
LOT Polish Airlines Flight 165 crashes into the Polica mountain near Zawoja, Poland, killing 53..
Zond 1
The Soviet Union launches Zond 1.
1964
As the World Turns
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.
1956
Hermosa Beach, California
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".
1954
Zewditu
After the mysterious death of Empress Zewditu, Haile Selassie is proclaimed emperor of Ethiopia.
1930
Autonomous Government of Khorasan
1921
The Autonomous Government of Khorasan, a military government encompassing the modern state of Iran, is established..
American entry into World War I
American entry into World War I: President Wilson asks the U.S. Congress for a declaration of war on Germany.
1917
Titanic
The ill-fated RMS Titanic begins sea trials.
1912
Australian Bureau of Statistics
The Australian Bureau of Statistics conducts the country's first national census.
1911
Dmitry Sipyagin
Dmitry Sipyagin, Minister of Interior of the Russian Empire, is assassinated in the Mariinsky Palace, Saint Petersburg.
1902
Movie theater
1902
"Electric Theatre", the first full-time movie theater in the United States, opens in Los Angeles..
Cree
Canadian Cree warriors attack the village of Frog Lake, killing nine.
1885
Third Battle of Petersburg
American Civil War: Defeat at the Third Battle of Petersburg forces the Army of Northern Virginia and the Confederate government to abandon Richmond, Virginia.
1865
American Civil War
American Civil War: The largest in a series of Southern bread riots occurs in Richmond, Virginia.
1863
French Revolutionary Wars
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.
1801
Ludwig van Beethoven
1800
Ludwig van Beethoven leads the premiere of his First Symphony in Vienna..
Coinage Act of 1792
The Coinage Act is passed by Congress, establishing the United States Mint.
1792
Commodore (Royal Navy)
Commodore William James captures the Maratha fortress of Suvarnadurg on the west coast of India.
1755
Juan Ponce de León
Having spotted land on March 27, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León comes ashore on what is now the U.S. state of Florida, landing somewhere between the modern city of St. Augustine and the mouth of the St. Johns River.
1513